SPOILER ALERT!
Reading these discussion questions will tell you how most of the story questions are answered. If you don’t want to know the ending, DON’T READ AHEAD!!
1. Humpty Dumpty: Part I opens with the famous English nursery rhyme. Do you think its inclusion is a reference to a character, relationship, or something else?
2. Impermanence: Everlasting change and forward motion (versus stasis and/or reversal) are twin themes in the novel. How were these themes woven into the story? Were there particular scenes, sayings, or dialog that seemed to underscore the overarching theme of impermanence?
3. Memento Mori: Remember that you will die. It’s a dark little saying with an egalitarian message. Its point? In death, we are all equal. Thoughts?
4. Ichabye: In each book, Noon’s mother has given her a “growing gift.” (In Dark Light of Day, it was an evergreen. In Fiery Edge of Steel, it was seeds and medicinal herbs. In White Heart of Justice, it was gardening tools). Why do you think Aurelia sent Noon an Angel prayer primer?
5. Icarus: Part II opens with Oscar Wilde’s well-known quote about the tragic Greek hero. What allusions to this myth are included in the novel? Do you think one particular character embodied Icarus more than the others? If so, who and why?
6. Names Have Power: Chapter 19’s title was a reference to Ari – his birth (Rafe gave him the name Bhereg as an infant), death (he was killed when the Magna Fax exploded), and life. Do you think names have power? If so, how? Do you think names can impact a person’s life, future, or fate?
7. Guard the Guards: Who did you think Displodo was? Did you suspect Kalchoek? Was Cliodna’s involvement a surprise?
8. Worst Enemy: Which characters were their own worst enemy? Who and how? Are some of those characters more sympathetic than others? If so, why?
9. Is Love the Ultimate Panacea? Ichabye saved Noon twice. Rafe cured Noon of the curse of Eidolon’s Alternate Ending by casting a love spell. Do you think Cliodna could have been cured? Why or why not?
10. The Ending: Watch a woman become the artisan of her own fortune. Do you think Noon was referring to Tenacity? Or herself? What do you think is next for Noon?
JILL ARCHER 