Full Fathom Five Read-a-Long Week No.3

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Full Fathom Five is the the third book in the Craft Sequence, however, each book stands alone. Want to know a little bit about the other books? Check out our reviews here:

Three Parts Dead | Two Serpents Rise

Week 1: July 20 Ch 1-13 – hosted by Allie from Tethyan Books
Week 2: July 27 Ch 14-32 – hosted by Lynn from Little Lion Lynnet’s
Week 3: August 3 Ch 33-50 – hosted by Heather from The Bastard Title
Week 4: August 10 Ch 50-62 – hosted by Lisa from Over the Effing Rainbow

1. Kai and Izza finally meet face-to-face. What do you think about their confrontation? Did it go as you expected, or did they surprise you?

Wendy: I am not sure if I had any expectations of their confrontation, but it certainly wasn’t unusual. Izza’s mistrust and anger were understandable, but Kai has a cool head so she handled the situation well.

Tiara: Really didn’t have any expectations as far as a confrontation would go. I’m not even sure I really thought it’d be a “confrontation” more than Izza making herself “visible” for the sake of letting Kai know that she’s watching her. I think I had too many other grand theories building in my head that much of this part of the book confirmed.

Mogsy: Went about as I expected. Izza may  have mastered the tough act, but she’s first and foremost a thief and not someone I can picture committing more serious crimes. So despite all her threats, I really doubted she would have resorted to truly hurting Kai.

2. Poor Margot. Do you trust that Claude just did a stupid thing and didn’t believe Kai when he needed to, or do you think he has a bigger role in the conspiracy? And who is behind the mysterious murdering Penitent?

Wendy: I think it was a stupid decision, but perhaps one he can’t avoid because of his conditioning. I think the murder Penitent and the Watch are under the control of Jace. 

Tiara: Both. Bigger role and stupid decision. I think the Penitents do more to a a person’s mind than we think, and while I think that Claude probably didn’t mean to do what he did, he was probably compelled to do what he did. I pretty much think Jace is the main villain and have for a while for various reasons that that would be too long for me to go into, but some people have heard ALL about my Jace theories.

Mogsy: I was so mad at Claude. What part of “Don’t tell anyone, this can mean someone’s life (or mine) on the line” do you not understand, CLAUDE?! Worst part is, he didn’t tell just one person, he told several. It was stupid, but I also agree with Wendy that it could be the result of Penitent conditioning. In which case, I think Kai should have known and been more circumspect about trusting him. I too think that Jace is behind the murdering Penitent, but I’m stumped as to what he might have done to get it to kill.

3. Kai and Teo’s conversation about evolution and creation myths, science vs. belief, was really striking. Which side of the philosophical argument would you lean towards?

Wendy: I like that the conversation covered the concept of both existing together. Ideally, I believe in evolution, but I believe in the importance of the creation myths to every culture that has them. Those myths and our beliefs shape who we are.

Tiara: Neither. I’m middle of the road. Both arguments were created well, and as Kai said, there’s no reason that creation myths and evolution can’t coexist in the world or even that one person could believe both. Hasn’t the History Channel been doing those schlocky shows for years on how the Bible and science could coexist and explain each. Maybe theories like that are created to reconcile people’s beliefs, but the story of one’s people and culture are a very important part of the sociological scope of people’s origins and beliefs.

Mogsy: I see the merits behind both arguments. You should know though, my university degree was a Specialist in Anthropological Sciences, which included both a biological and a cultural component. I studied human evolution and paleoanthropology quite extensively as a result, but I also found creation myths to be a fascinating topic in my cultural anthro courses. Creation myths are perhaps the most important cultural and religious traditions in any human society, and they have an important place in our history. We have to consider and respect them if we are to develop a deeper and more complete understanding of our species.

4. So we know now that all of the idols and Izza’s gods are different facets of a single goddess. How do you think this development might affect the different characters, and Kavekanan society as a whole?

Wendy: Someone mentioned Makawe coming back and being put into an idol. I really liked that concept. This is different but I think along the same lines. The goddess that the people thought had not returned has always been here, trapped by a corporation that is using her as a source of revenue and control.

Tiara: Well, from what I gather from the story, the people have already been told their gods would return, and it seems they are in ways they aren’t expecting. To be honest, I’m pretty sure that Mako is Makawe, so I’m just going to put that out there now. I’m sure most of the characters would be jubilant, except for those who have made idols a big business, probably especially Jace. But I don’t feel his motivations for not wanting the gods to return has everything to do with money. Also, some people may shiver at the return. Idols  are safe, mindless things to Pilgrims. Gods are something infinitely real and scary. 

Mogsy: I think it would shake up the island for sure. So much of their economy is tied up in the idols. I think for those with financial interests, it would lead to instability if not outright bad news.

5. Why do you think Teo threw her bracelet into the pool?

Wendy: Some sort of warning. Something to return for later.

Tiara: Am I allowed to use gifs? Ah, well, I’ll use a hashtag instead: #KanyeShrug. Her words seem to point to some experiment she was trying and got results she hadn’t expected.

Mogsy: For it to act like a beacon of some sort? Maybe?

6. Uh, oh, Jace. All signs are starting to point to Jace being the architect of this conspiracy. Signs can be wrong, of course. But where do you think we’ll go from his surprise appearance? If he did know about the goddess in the pool all along, why do you think he would have covered it up?

Wendy: Pretty sure Jace is Smiling Jack but I don’t believe he is a straight up big bad. I am certain he knows all the details and the goddess is no surprise to him, but I suspect he us a high end cog in this wheel. I also think he wanted Kai in on this because they share the level of devotion to their job (something Twilling chose not to get into), but because of Kai’s ignorance of the truth, her obsession caused her to mess up this particular instance too much which alerted the clients. I also think there is more to the clients than just people who quietly invest their funds and sit up only when things go wrong. Kai made it clear that she wanted Margot protected because the Grimwalds were mafia dangerous. I suspect they have their skeletal fingers more deeply secured in this process, and Jace fulfills those obligations.

Tiara: I doubt these signs are wrong. I think Jace is acting purely in his own self interests. I think he believes that he’s doing what’s best for his nation. Do I believe he’s working with anyone else? No. I think the Grimwald’s, much like the Iskari, are just looking for a lawsuit and purchase to find a way to get into the nation more as these books are just as political and mired in law as books not about gods. I think they are the real red herrings of the book because they’re expected to be behind all this drama, and I just don’t think so. I think that Jace either a.) doesn’t want the loss of business and subsequent power or b.) he’s in some sort of denial about the gods. What I mean by that is, we’ve learned the idols in the pool are all one goddess broken into many aspects, it’s possible he might believe the goddess to be “corrupted” because she’s not whole. He knows what he’s doing. He obviously doesn’t respect this goddess and doesn’t see her as “his” or his people’s goddess. I think the order of Margot’s death had more to do with protecting this information getting out about the idols, which Margot might’ve eventually revealed something pertinent in his poems if he’d been left to his own devices.

Mogsy: Is Jace the architect? I don’t know, but he’s part of the conspiracy, all right. With us nearing the conclusion of the book, I’m sure the next step will be him regaling us with all his schemes and why he did it. I honestly don’t feel confident enough to speculate further at this point. There have been so many red herrings, I’ve developed and tossed out more theories than I can count. I’m not 100% sure that Jace is the mastermind behind everything; he may be the player or the pawn, but I do have a sneaking suspicion he’s not alone in this, whether he knows it or not.

Bonus (silly) question: what possible reason could a skeleton Craftsman have for poolside tanning?

Mogsy: I think we’re thinking about this the wrong way. If pale bones are perceived as the desirable trait in skeletal culture, the skeleton lounging in the sun isn’t tanning; he or she is bleaching.

Wendy: I am laughing too hard at Mogsy’s response to even attempt to think of something.

Tiara: Ha! I was thinking bleaching, too, but they also sit out and do the same thing when the moon is out. So, maybe they have a crap sense of timing as well.