Babafunmise Adebowale
asked
Sebastien de Castell:
This question contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[Hi, I have a few questions regarding nephenia and kellen's relationship and nephenia particularly. First question, in charmcaster, why did nephenia go with the comfort boy(prostitute) even after she met kellen and did she sleep with him (comfort boy) ? Was it to send a message to kellen ? I'm still in book 4 but i can't wrap my head around it and it ruins my immersion so i paused and decided to ask. thanks (hide spoiler)]
Sebastien de Castell
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[It's always difficult for me to answer questions like these, because while straightforward on the surface, they ask that I canonically establish something that isn't in the text. This means you're asking about my intention. That's a perfectly fine thing to ask, but the problem is that I hold to the principle of reader-response theory, which (in a nutshell) argues that a story takes place between a reader and a text – not between an author and what they intended to write. In other words, it really doesn't matter what I meant to say about Nephenia and the comfort artisan – only what you as the reader take from it.
So, do you think she slept with him? It's not in the text, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. Why do you think she chose to spend time with this stranger instead of Kellen?
Now, because it generally annoys people off when I'm cagey about what I intended, I'll tell you my interpretation of those parts of the book, though with the proviso that my interpretation isn't any more relevant than yours:
1. When I read the story, I feel like when Kellen and Nephenia reunite he kind of has this instant expectation that they're supposed to become a couple of some kind. Furthermore, he keeps expecting Nephenia to still be the girl he knew back home.
2. Nephenia's been through not only massively traumatic events in her own life, but come to define herself very differently from who she was and who Kellen seems to expect her to be.
3. Kellen's also traumatized from the events of his life (as evidenced by his frequent panics over Ferius getting hurt because of him), but he's handling it by trying to take control of himself and the world around him.
4. Nephenia meets a nice young man at the tavern. Unlike Kellen, she's not prejudiced against him because he's a comfort artisan. Should she be? Well, that's up to the reader. Either way, the two strike up a conversation and she goes for a walk with him.
5. That's it. She went for a walk with him. They had a nice talk. End of scene. It bothered Kellen because, well, he's Kellen, but he really needs to get over those things if he wants to become a complete person – and especially if he ever wants to start a genuine relationship with Nephenia built on respect for who they are and not projected nostalgia for who they might have been.
So that's how I read it . . . but wait! There's a whole other way to interpret those scenes.
1. When they first see each other again, Nephenia kisses Kellen. She kisses him! That's got to mean something, right? That comes with some sense of promise, doesn't it?
2. Kellen's not quite sure how he feels about all this yet. He needs a little time to think – besides, he's worried about Ferius who nearly died.
3. Nephenia, either because she's trying to provoke Kellen or maybe because she's trying so hard to appear "worldly" that she doesn't consider the implications of her choices, lets the comfort artisan pick her up.
4. Having allowed herself to be pulled into this awkward situation, and having observed how Ferius seemed to think it was perfectly cool to go to take a comfort artisan up to her own room, ends up sleeping with this guy.
5. Embarrassed, she never talks about it again.
Either interpretation of the text is valid. Not only that – interpreting the text isn't even a choice on our part. From your question, I get the sense that Nephenia's behaviour troubled you – might, in fact, make it harder to trust her when she appears later on in the series. That's good. She's an unusual person who's been through some very difficult times. She's also young and still finding her way, just like Kellen.
So what did she really do and why did she do it?
You tell me. (hide spoiler)]
So, do you think she slept with him? It's not in the text, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen. Why do you think she chose to spend time with this stranger instead of Kellen?
Now, because it generally annoys people off when I'm cagey about what I intended, I'll tell you my interpretation of those parts of the book, though with the proviso that my interpretation isn't any more relevant than yours:
1. When I read the story, I feel like when Kellen and Nephenia reunite he kind of has this instant expectation that they're supposed to become a couple of some kind. Furthermore, he keeps expecting Nephenia to still be the girl he knew back home.
2. Nephenia's been through not only massively traumatic events in her own life, but come to define herself very differently from who she was and who Kellen seems to expect her to be.
3. Kellen's also traumatized from the events of his life (as evidenced by his frequent panics over Ferius getting hurt because of him), but he's handling it by trying to take control of himself and the world around him.
4. Nephenia meets a nice young man at the tavern. Unlike Kellen, she's not prejudiced against him because he's a comfort artisan. Should she be? Well, that's up to the reader. Either way, the two strike up a conversation and she goes for a walk with him.
5. That's it. She went for a walk with him. They had a nice talk. End of scene. It bothered Kellen because, well, he's Kellen, but he really needs to get over those things if he wants to become a complete person – and especially if he ever wants to start a genuine relationship with Nephenia built on respect for who they are and not projected nostalgia for who they might have been.
So that's how I read it . . . but wait! There's a whole other way to interpret those scenes.
1. When they first see each other again, Nephenia kisses Kellen. She kisses him! That's got to mean something, right? That comes with some sense of promise, doesn't it?
2. Kellen's not quite sure how he feels about all this yet. He needs a little time to think – besides, he's worried about Ferius who nearly died.
3. Nephenia, either because she's trying to provoke Kellen or maybe because she's trying so hard to appear "worldly" that she doesn't consider the implications of her choices, lets the comfort artisan pick her up.
4. Having allowed herself to be pulled into this awkward situation, and having observed how Ferius seemed to think it was perfectly cool to go to take a comfort artisan up to her own room, ends up sleeping with this guy.
5. Embarrassed, she never talks about it again.
Either interpretation of the text is valid. Not only that – interpreting the text isn't even a choice on our part. From your question, I get the sense that Nephenia's behaviour troubled you – might, in fact, make it harder to trust her when she appears later on in the series. That's good. She's an unusual person who's been through some very difficult times. She's also young and still finding her way, just like Kellen.
So what did she really do and why did she do it?
You tell me. (hide spoiler)]
More Answered Questions
Patricio Danos
asked
Sebastien de Castell:
In Amazon, there's 2 versions of Queenslayer coming on May for Kindle. One is almost half the price of the other. Why is that? Here are the links: 1 - https://www.amazon.com/Spellslinger-5-Queenslayer-Sebastien-Castell-ebook/dp/B07KV27MS7 2 - https://www.amazon.com/Queenslayer-Spellslinger-Book-Sebastien-Castell-ebook/dp/B07H7R611T/
Abdul Malik
asked
Sebastien de Castell:
What Genre would you consider "The Greatcoats" to be? Or well maybe should I say sub-genre (for example Grimdark etc) I have read quite a few books after finishing the Greatcoats saga, but I haven't found a series like this. Its really hard to explain but this series in general had a very special feel to it. Hope triumphing over despair?
Beverly
asked
Sebastien de Castell:
I know you have plans for another series featuring different characters with maybe some walk on parts for our beloved Falcio, Kest, and Brasti. Being a fan of those characters, that is like offering a child a piece of candy but only allowing one lick and then taking it away. Like Michael J Sullivan has done with his Riyria characters, maybe, you could give us some standalone books featuring our favorite Greatcoats?
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more