TIG: About the names of some of the main characters

[Javier]

I'm currently reading Chapter 6, so maybe this has a hidden meaning I'm not aware yet, or probably it's just coincidence, but I noticed this about the names of the four main characters (as of that chapter):

Alessan, Baerd, Catriana, Devin.

I'll keep a close eye on the next character whose name starts with an E.

[Nimrod]

Hmmm, Weird, I didn't give it much importance... Did I miss something?

[Javier]

No, I just thought it was interesting, just as Stan Lee's characters have the same first letter in the first name and last name. I'm terrible coming up with names when I make characters, so maybe I'll use Kay's method next time.

Or probably it's just a silly thing and coincidence, as I said.

[Charles]

Interesting (there is an E) but I think it may just be coincidence as many characters met later on don't follow that pattern.

[Joshua]

It might not be accidental, maybe a subtle way to help us tell the characters apart, I used to do it in English lessons.

[Joe Informatico]

Joshua wrote: "It might not be accidental, maybe a subtle way to help us tell the characters apart, I used to do it in English lessons."

Heh, you reminded me of the caption for this webcomic.

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

I don't think it's an accident. This book is a carefully crafted one. It feels like checklists and outlines were done, and certainly maps were made.

[Chaz]

The sixth member of their party is Erlein. The fifth member has two names, neither of which fit the pattern.

[Javier]

Yes, it's not really a pattern, or it's not the whole one, but I'm now past half the length of the book and I've noticed lots of names beginning with letters A to E, some S, and then some few other letters, some of them unique to a single character.

Maybe it's not a pattern and it's a cultural thing, maybe names in the Palm are more common using those five letters (they talk about some names being more common than others in the book). Five fingers in a palm, five common letters…

I reckon I'm probably reading too much into it, and it's hard to tell when I'm not even finished.

I like when authors hide things like that, initials, palindromes, pop culture references (but not in my fantasy books, thank you), numbers… and I tend to look for them when reading. Of course, I end with lots of false positives…