![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Goblin Emperor read-along Chapter 2
Jan. 13th, 2019 09:58 pmIt’s time for chapter 2! There won’t be any spoilers for the book in this one, as the chapter is very short and mostly setup
Link to previous chapter
2. The Radiance of Cairado
Characters we meet: I don’t think we meet anyone new who will be a recurring character so I’m not going to write them down. It’s just the airship crew and now that I think about it I don’t think they get names.
Summary: Maia, the messenger (who still doesn’t have a name) and Setheris board the airship The Radiance of Cairado and begin their journey to the court. Maia is ogled by the other passengers, who somehow know who and what he is despite the airship accident only having happened the previous day… (maybe they have twitter/news that works very quickly?) Maia is kind to the crew, making a good first impression, ponders about what it means that he’s now the Emperor and how Setheris can’t hurt him anymore.
We find out Maia’s mom died when he was eight and he only met his father once at the funeral where he called Maia a ‘whelp’ and Maia’s mother was his fourth wife.
Commentary: Nothing much happens in this chapter, but I found myself wishing this book had a map of the world, how does it have all the other staples of a fantasy book with a chapter index and a glossary but no map? It’s kind of hard for me to visualize the size of the empire and it would just be cool to see what the world looked like.
We find out that Setheris has been physically abusive towards Maia and that Maia has permanent scars on his arm from when he was 15 and fell against a burning iron grate in front of the fireplace after Setheris hit him.
It seems that Setheris did not hit Maia as often or not as hard(?) after that. “He had been a good deal more circumspect with his fists”
Maia has a great moment here where he figures out that Setheris won’t be able to hurt him anymore, “it occurred to Maia that if Setheris ever struck him again, it would mean a death sentence. The idea was dizzying”
After the realization Maia feels able to rebel against Setheris (maybe for the first time) by not inviting him to the cockpit to view the sunrise.
Maia also very insightfully thinks to himself after they leave Setheris behind angry and humiliated that: “ Maia reminded himself that glee was unbefitting an emperor [...] I must not acquire a taste for this pleasure. It was heady, but he knew it was also poison”
So he’s already able to make the choice that just because he now has the ability and power to take revenge on Setheris for what he had to endure in his care as a child that he’s not going to become like Setheris. It’s a really powerful statement I think and something a lot of people are unable to do. A lot of people who have been hurt are prone to then take that out on anyone else they are able to, unless they just turn that inward and instead hurt themselves.
I think that’s the most important moment in this chapter, as we learn something really fundamental about Maia and what kind of person he is.
Link to previous chapter
2. The Radiance of Cairado
Characters we meet: I don’t think we meet anyone new who will be a recurring character so I’m not going to write them down. It’s just the airship crew and now that I think about it I don’t think they get names.
Summary: Maia, the messenger (who still doesn’t have a name) and Setheris board the airship The Radiance of Cairado and begin their journey to the court. Maia is ogled by the other passengers, who somehow know who and what he is despite the airship accident only having happened the previous day… (maybe they have twitter/news that works very quickly?) Maia is kind to the crew, making a good first impression, ponders about what it means that he’s now the Emperor and how Setheris can’t hurt him anymore.
We find out Maia’s mom died when he was eight and he only met his father once at the funeral where he called Maia a ‘whelp’ and Maia’s mother was his fourth wife.
Commentary: Nothing much happens in this chapter, but I found myself wishing this book had a map of the world, how does it have all the other staples of a fantasy book with a chapter index and a glossary but no map? It’s kind of hard for me to visualize the size of the empire and it would just be cool to see what the world looked like.
We find out that Setheris has been physically abusive towards Maia and that Maia has permanent scars on his arm from when he was 15 and fell against a burning iron grate in front of the fireplace after Setheris hit him.
It seems that Setheris did not hit Maia as often or not as hard(?) after that. “He had been a good deal more circumspect with his fists”
Maia has a great moment here where he figures out that Setheris won’t be able to hurt him anymore, “it occurred to Maia that if Setheris ever struck him again, it would mean a death sentence. The idea was dizzying”
After the realization Maia feels able to rebel against Setheris (maybe for the first time) by not inviting him to the cockpit to view the sunrise.
Maia also very insightfully thinks to himself after they leave Setheris behind angry and humiliated that: “ Maia reminded himself that glee was unbefitting an emperor [...] I must not acquire a taste for this pleasure. It was heady, but he knew it was also poison”
So he’s already able to make the choice that just because he now has the ability and power to take revenge on Setheris for what he had to endure in his care as a child that he’s not going to become like Setheris. It’s a really powerful statement I think and something a lot of people are unable to do. A lot of people who have been hurt are prone to then take that out on anyone else they are able to, unless they just turn that inward and instead hurt themselves.
I think that’s the most important moment in this chapter, as we learn something really fundamental about Maia and what kind of person he is.
