Gorgeous. There are so many levels to this story, and it is such a wonderful, complete creation. As others have said, I love the Beasts - Frisby is delightful, and I would love to read Nitka's story, so that we understand what her background is and how she came to be Captain - and I also loved the hints of future intimacy between Cor and Aravis, with the lacing of her dress and the acknowledgement of how much they have already done for each other.
What was most striking to me when reading this was the physical symbolism we get with their "adventure" in the castle and on the beach. They begin upstairs, on the surface level of themselves, acting as they always have, and then they find a hidden passageway that takes them down multiple levels - down into the castle, and down into themselves, until they emerge on the beach and are talking about much more important and intimate things, particularly Shasta's fears about his new life, and whether he will be able to reconcile the old life with the new. And then, of course, the sunrise - always a symbol of fresh starts and new days.
And the discussion of Gods, oh, the discussion of Gods. I adored it. Aslan is everywhere, by many names, and I was thrilled with how clear you made that, in Aravis's comments about the gods of Calormen, and Aslan's explicit ackowledgement that he has always heard Cor and Aravis, no matter what name they were praying to. What a wonderful way to bring in a god for Calormen - Mesopotamia seems like a particularly appropriate place to borrow a god from, for some reason. :) Thank you so much for such a wonderful tale.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-27 04:37 pm (UTC)What was most striking to me when reading this was the physical symbolism we get with their "adventure" in the castle and on the beach. They begin upstairs, on the surface level of themselves, acting as they always have, and then they find a hidden passageway that takes them down multiple levels - down into the castle, and down into themselves, until they emerge on the beach and are talking about much more important and intimate things, particularly Shasta's fears about his new life, and whether he will be able to reconcile the old life with the new. And then, of course, the sunrise - always a symbol of fresh starts and new days.
And the discussion of Gods, oh, the discussion of Gods. I adored it. Aslan is everywhere, by many names, and I was thrilled with how clear you made that, in Aravis's comments about the gods of Calormen, and Aslan's explicit ackowledgement that he has always heard Cor and Aravis, no matter what name they were praying to. What a wonderful way to bring in a god for Calormen - Mesopotamia seems like a particularly appropriate place to borrow a god from, for some reason. :) Thank you so much for such a wonderful tale.