Red Seas Under Red Skies Readalong Week 3

Week three of the Red Seas Under Red Skies Readalong hosted by the Little Red Reviewer is upon us and the readers have seen Locke and Jean finally take to the water with their pirate ship. This week’s questions come from Ashley of SF Signal who is available on twitter at @ohthatashley.

Was anyone else tired after reading this section?

No! I’m a veteran of the Monkey Island campaigns! I made the mistake of watching one of those awful Pirates of the Caribbean films which never seem to have a beginning or end. Or good story. Or acting.

1. Locke and Jean’s ability to find themselves at the center of a serious mess seems unparalleled. At this point, do you think that Stragos will get the return he expects on his investment in them?

Locke and Jean’s abilities to get stuck in a huge mess is where the entertainment comes in. The fact that the people involved in these schemes have audacious plans make the adventures so exciting. I’m beginning to wonder whether Stragos wants them to be successful pirates or if there’s something else afoot. Is there something up with the ship that Drakasha now owns? A concealed bomb?

 

2. Merrain’s activities after our boys leave Windward Rock are interesting. What do you think her plans are?

Didn’t I say there was something suspicious about her last week? My opinion is split as to whether she’s an agent of the Bondsmagi or she’s loyal to Selendri (sisters in arms as members of the Archon’s eyes) which would make Requin and Selendri much more devious and better connected than Locke and the Archon have given them credit for and much more formidable.

3. Does anyone know why having cats aboard the ship is so important?
As Allie and I both discovered last week, cats on ships was quite common in the past since they were used to kill vermin.

4. The word “mutiny” creates a lot of mental pictures. Were you surprised? Why or why not?

I was not surprised at all. Locke is no ship’s captain. Lord knows why the Archon thought this plan might work. Like I said last week Locke is not a seadog, he has no experience as a captain and when he was put to the test he was almost sunk. The crew had every right to mutiny because he almost got them killed.

5. Ah, the Poison Orchid. So many surprises there, not the least of which were the captain’s children. Did you find the young children a natural part of the story?

This world is different to our own but having your own kids on a pirate ship? Really? Either there’s a lack of good babysitters in the Ghostwind islands or these pirates are very worried about assassination/kidnap attempts. I think the kids face more danger on the pirate ship. Their presence compromises the crew – what if an enemy boarded and snatched them? I guess this is how children are raised in Drakasha’s culture, spending so long at sea makes them experts…

6. Jean is developing more and more as a character as we get further in to the book. Ezri makes the comment to him that “Out here, the past is a currency, Jerome. Sometimes it’s the only one we have.” I think several interesting possibilities are coming into play regarding Jean and Ezri. What about you?

Aawww. Jean’s fallen for Ezri. Seriously, this book is expanding his character a lot which is good. So far Jean has had to subsume his needs and personality into Locke’s schemes and watch out for Locke but now Ezri has caught Jean’s eye he finds he’s having to divide his attention. I don’t think the boys will let a girl come between them but there will be a lot of fireworks. Judging by the description of Ezri, she’s built like a little tea pot – short and stout – and she’s also capable of knocking men’s teeth out so I’ll leave her be. Personally I prefer tall and slender pirate girls. My favourite female pirate has to be Nami with her wonderful orange hair and lust for gold and lucre.

 

7. As we close down this week’s reading, the Thorn of Camorr is back! I love it, even with all the conflict.  Several things from their Camorri background have come back up. Do you think we will see more Camorri characters?

After suffering a series of disasters at sea it seems like Locke’s getting into his stride by talking his way into the good graces of the crew. While I cannot see his Camorri background getting much of a play here I bet he’s getting his confidence back.