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And onward! This week's section also contains some of my favorite chapters. As you might be able to tell by the fact that I had about 4,000 to say about them, and I could have said more. ^^;;
And with that said...
Chapter 9: This chapter opens with more Sleeman hypocrisy. On the one hand, here’s the present day company decrying the decadence of Indian elites, and on the other Sleeman happily out-decadencing them. Blech.
Also, maybe not summarily executing locals is a an even better way to quell local concerns? Just saying.
Sleeman’s reassurances to Blake in regard to Pursloe’s statements to Avery are anything but reassuring. Neither, for that matter, is his statement about Mountstuart.
I would love to know what Mir Aziz thinks of the School of Industry and the rest of it; it’s telling that he doesn’t offer his opinion to Avery, isn’t it?
At least Avery gets some information on Mountstuart out of someone at last. Mountstuart’s abrupt shift in attitude toward Jubblepore and Sleeman is as alarming as it is intriguing. Having read the book several times now, I can think of several more reasons why than I did on the first go-through. But even on the first read, Mountstuart wearing native clothes and hanging out in bazaars? Avery, does this ring a bell?
And a dinner party? Oh dear, where have we read about one of those before?
But alas, Avery seems most concerned about Mountstuart’s criticisms of Jubblepore. Because by now it’s pretty clear to us readers what must have happened.
Out of all the Jubblepore personnel, it turns out that Hogwood is the canniest. He takes a risk, barters some information, and earns some equally useful information from Avery in return. And holy crap, Avery, by now you should know that anytime you tell someone to keep what you’re about to say “in strictest confidence” the exact opposite is going to happen. Gaaaaah. Why do, human?
Avery’s “they knew each other, a long time ago. But I do not think they were friends” really set my headcanon wheels spinning. And then the conversation ends, with some strong reassurances from Hogwood, and the realization for readers that Hogwood is a lot cannier than Avery. D: D: D:
Poor Avery. You can tell he’s so relieved to be in the company of English-speaking Europeans (and ladies. Ladies!) and it turns into Tonight We Dine In Hell.
I kind of feel like Carter slips in having the ladies compete for Blake’s attention. I get what she’s trying to do here: reinforce that he’s an object of fascination. But. I have yet to meet any woman who enjoys the job of making nice to antisocial dudes to make the gathering more enjoyable. Primping and gazing at Avery? Sure. He’d return their attention. But Blake? I think it would be one and done once he rebuffed them the first time.
Nice pass interference by Mrs. Sleeman here. We don’t see much of her but she seems very much her husband’s political equal.
And here goes Blake again, proving Sleeman hasn’t reflected on the Feringhea interview.
Jesus, Sleeman, do the Thugs “lie incessantly” or just confess under torture to whatever untrue thing you want them to say? This little speech is particularly infuriating because he gets some of it right: Indian people have been mistreated by their governments for generations. But now they’re being mistreated by yours and no one even asked you to be there. Particularly when your government’s track record of mistreating its own people is so exemplary.
Poor Avery is just twisting in the wind at this point. His whole life, he’s been taught that gossip and snide comments behind hands are how civilized people call each other out, and here is Blake flinging it right in their faces. And he puts it in stark terms: is the population better off at war but without European colonizers, or at peace under the yoke of European exploitation? It becomes very clear here that Blake and Sleeman are irreconcilably divided on the Company’s presence, for all their shared admiration for Indian culture.
(Aside: interesting timeline tidbit here. Blake’s been in India for “more than sixteen years” at this point.)
But, in a small but significant piece of character development, Avery leaves with Blake instead of staying behind to commiserate with the Major’s guests, or even just enjoy the drinking and the female company.
To head in a more superficial direction, I love that Avery thinks of Indian clothing, scarred, grizzled, and creased as what Blake looks like when he’s being himself.
And to return to the more serious direction, Blake seriously miscalculates here. Blake! Avery left the party! To try to talk things out with you privately! And you just asjkd$ing write him off.
It’s understandable what Avery does next, and Blake has kind of earned it.
Chapter 10: Welcome to Part Three! Chapter 10 is another favorite of mine.
I love Mir Aziz teaching Avery Hindi, and Avery’s grudging willingness to try (even in the face of Sameer’s mockery). We also get some backstory for Aziz, which is fascinating. So interesting that the first Company man he met gave him the sword and saber he still carries to this day. I also like that Aziz’s story very much parallel’s Blake’s rise, albeit on the other side of the equation. That’s a nice narrative flourish. And I would love to know more about Aziz’s wives and children.
And now we start to get intimations that not all is well on the road to Doora. Oh Avery, your question (They will only bring down the Company on their heads) is the answer to your question!
Second battle! And Avery acquits himself just as well as he did during the first one, and against a much more formidable opponent. Nice work saving Blake’s life (!) and winning over Sameer.
Also, Avery: your question is the answer to your question! Major Sleeman is trying to have you killed. Except here is Mir Aziz, with a convincing alternate hypothesis. I don’t know what to think at this point. I love the joking about omens between Avery and Aziz. Poor Blake, so very visibly happier at the chance to drop European customs for Indian ones.
I wonder, though, how the Company knew Blake was going to go to Doora, versus any other Indian state. It would make more sense if the letter of introduction come from Company officers in Jubblepore, but Blake says it came from Government House. This is something that’s never been entirely clear to me while reading.
Crouch-Symington is as much of a tool as his name makes it sound like he’ll be. (T__T) One thing I really like about this book, though, is how many shades of empire Carter gives us. So far we’ve seen Calcutta society’s version of “rich Westerners living it up at the beach resort,” Sleeman’s crusading zeal to remake India in his ideal image, and now Crouch-Symington’s moralizing diplomatic ineptness, and how all of these pieces (for good and ill) fail to play nicely with each other.
I love the extended set pieces in the Rao’s palaces. These are so wonderfully described I can picture it all in my head like a movie. (And also, gah! Are there things about Indian culture that are not great? Yes. But these are not people who need anyone else to civilize them.)
I do love that Blake now trusts Avery enough to bring him along, even though he’s clearly worried Avery is going to misstep and muck everything up. I also love that Avery seems even more awed by the Rao’s palace than by society buildings in Calcutta. You also get a sense (although Avery doesn’t seem aware of it himself) at how straitjacketed everyone is by form and ceremony. But alas, Avery is too busy stewing over what he believes to be the affront to him and Blake. Dude! You two are not the most important guys in the room, not by a long shot.
I would dearly love to know what’s in the letter Blake presented to the Rao.
Noting here for later reference that Blake asked the Rao about Mountstuart.
I <3 Avery being happier at taking quarters in an Indian building than at the Residency. Small steps!
I also love Avery just lolling around and totally pulling the wool over Blake’s eyes to follow him. Team Avery! And thanks to his new canniness, he finally gets to see the Blake & Mir Aziz Traveling Show. And oh, Blake being so obviously happy just for having spent time talking to locals in the local language—I totally get this! The poor guy. You can tell he’s found his home, and it’s not in European society. Also, does he have rheumatism?
I would love to be in his head, btw, when he figures out Avery totally scoped him and Aziz at the bazaar. Even more confirmation of what a confidence boost fluency and acceptance by locals are to Blake; this makes the later books so sad.
Despite what Blake says, I don’t think the execution is particularly humane (no executions are). I would love to have Blake’s answer to Avery’s question.
More lovely description, this time of the Rao’s banquet. I just enjoy these scenes so much. Avery’s near faux pas are just icing on the cake. And you can tell Blake is enjoying getting to explain things to a captive audience. Also, poor Avery, just letting those jewels lie where they’ve fallen. I really, really feel for him here. And I’m also cheering. He’s learned some impulse control!
And finally: Fanny Parkes! I just love Carter’s take on her so much. This is a woman who is just very much her own person, and if you dislike it you can take a hike. That is cool in any age, but particularly so in one where women had to work so much harder to achieve Parkes’ level of independence and education.
This is truly a meeting of the minds, and again, I feel so bad for Blake here. You can tell he just wants someone to geek out with, and finally he has found that person. I like her basically pulling a Blake here: being unapologetically opinionated and even a little provoking to test whether the people she’s speaking to are worth her time.
Noting here that Parkes came to India 15 years ago. Also, Blake flirting with her! Gah! This is such a fun scene, and so surprising the first time I read the book. I love the nudge-nudge, wink-wink between them on Sleeman. Also, “two handsome company officers”!
I like how Parkes is a bit more suspicious of Blake when she realizes he knows so much about her. And then…they met in Calcutta! And learned from the same language teachers. Suddenly, their awesomeness begins to make more sense. Also, if that was around 15 years ago, and Blake looked like “a shrimp of a boy” but was “older than he looked” about how old would that make him? I love her memories of Blake as a thief and a hellion with a potty mouth: I can absolutely see this. Also noting this description for later chapters.
Also, we know that Blake speaks: Bengali, English, Farsi, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Pashto, and Urdu, and Sanskrit. Holy crap. I aspire to this, and I want his teachers and protips.
Also, Team Parkes! I love that she’s able to figure out the real reason for his visit. And oh, I feel so bad for her when she realizes that at least some of his flirting was meant to get her to spill the beans. And then she still agrees to help him anyway. Poor Avery is so outclassed by these two.
And the chapter ends with an epistolary exposition dump that makes me really hope we’ll get to meet the Begum in a future chapter.
Chapter 11: The shikar! This is probably my second favorite chapter of the book. I totally agree with Blake about the “sport” of the event, which is the 19th-century version of shooting big game from helicopters. Points to the Rao for putting Blake & Co. with a bunch of Europeans who dislike them. Nice to see him getting some digs in here.
And then, all hell breaks loose.
I kind of melt at Blake dropping his second F-bomb of the book here. Like, holy crap, where is that ironclad composure now? And then, “Don’t worry,” I shouted, “I’m an excellent shot! It’s all I’m good for!”
TEAM AAAAAAAAAAAVERY!!!!!!!~~~
Like, I just love this so, so much. Blake is absolutely getting his just desserts here; this is his weeks of biases and casual dismissal and failure to take Avery into his confidence coming home to roost but now it matters to him.
I just love Avery in full-on hunter mode here. And Blake forced to chase him into the undergrowth and beg him to go back. Which he doesn’t. Also: “I shook my head and smiled, pointing down. “You came after me.”
Is there a typo here though: “Well, he’s a rather awful fellow,” he said, “but we cannot leave him to the beast.” “He” makes it seem like Blake says this, but from context (and characterization) it seems to fit better with Avery.
And holy shit, Blake telling Avery not to point his gun at him. Like, even now, he doesn’t fully trust him.
The scenes that follow are super tense. You really get the sense that a tiger could burst out of the undergrowth at any moment and drag one or both of them off.
I feel bad for Crouch-Symingtonand kind of wish it had been Sleeman or Pursloe instead. Or Collinson.
More tense scenesetting. You can tell Blake is sweating bullets here. And again: TEAM AVERY! Taking out the tiger and saving the mahout’s life. And then the mind-to-mind to get Blake’s musket, compensate for the misaligned sight, and kill a man standing sideways to him.
I love this exchange between Avery and the Rao. Avery is trying, even though the customs are unfamiliar and contrary to him, and he’s probably in shock as well. He’s certainly rattled by having killed another man.
Blake figuring out the sabotage to the Rao’s musket and interceding on Avery’s behalf is excellent. And I like Avery pinging on certain words in an unintelligible stream.
Blake and Mir Aziz protecting Avery on the ride back to the palace is love. I love the unintentional h/c of Avery’s convalescence. The repartee between Blake and Avery here is some of my favorite in the book. And Avery, thinking first of the mahout despite Blake needling him about his lost fortune: also love.
And oh, Avery once again having to insist that no, he really does want to do his duty and find Mountstuart just makes my heart break. Like, how much evidence do you need, Blake? And instead he pokes Avery into admitting he just wants to go home and see his family.
Like Feringhea, the Rao is another character I wish we got to see more of than we do. He’s as canny in his way as Blake or Parkes, having to play politics as he does to maintain his position. And he’s just as much a fish out of water, too. It’s one of the saddest thing about the books that these characters can’t realistically join forces to make things better, even though I really do like Carter’s realism here as well. Speaking of realism: I love that Avery says “maharaja” and Blake says “maharaj” here.
Avery biting his tongue here is great: he’s learned to trust Blake even when his prior training would argue against it.
The transliterated Hindi drove me nuts. Like Avery, I could pick out some words, but they were the least important ones. And poor Avery…236 pages into the book people are still doing the “parents spelling words so their kids can’t understand” thing to him.
Remember Blake asking the Rao about Mountstuart in the last chapter? And the Rao not answering? But he just happened to wear Mountstuart’s signet ring to this meeting? He is easily Blake’s strategic equal and I love it.
This exchange about “you were the boy”; oh my do the plot bunny wheels turn. There is just so much fodder in that poem.
The conversation about Henry Derozio is fascinating. You really get a senses of the Rao’s impossible position. Additional confirmation here that Mountstuart just likes getting a rise out of people.
Date confirmations: if Blake came to India at 14 or 15 around 15 years ago, he’d be about 30 now. I’'s also nice to have Blake personally confirming a lot of what’s been said about him by other characters. Also, good work on the assist there, Avery.
And more confirmation from the Rao that the prologue probably occurred to Mountstuart, in Jubblepore. This is not looking good for Our Heroes, a fact that is confirmed by the Rao’s account of Mountstuart’s actions and the reason he’s in possession of the signet ring. Again, more Hindi of which Avery (and I) only understand the least important bits. >.<
I think Avery probably scores a point with the Rao with his choice of question, and then nails it conclusively with his insistence that he do his duty, even to the detriment of his personal wellbeing.
The Rao calling Avery back to hand him the bag just left me with such a warm glow. Level cleared, Avery. Level cleared.
Chapter 12: Before we begin, a request: would everybody please stop rubbing Avery’s face in these gems he’s not allowed to keep?
Anyway.
Nice that Avery remembered the monkey when Blake did not. And did he not mention it during the interview because he lacked just that last bit of self-confidence to try, or because he’s salty about Blake and the Rao’s back-and-forth about him in Hindi? At any rate, I love that Avery calls Blake out on it here.
Plus: finding out that Blake and the Rao had a private Avery Compliment Fest in Hindi made me *heart eyes* the first time I read this book. By this point the books is being written pretty much directly to my shippy kink specifications and I love it.
Also! We finally get enough information to confirm our educated guesses as to Blake’s age and put some timelines together. He’s a few years older than Derozio, who died at the age of 22 seven years ago, so Blake is about 31 to 32 currently and has been in India for 18 or so years. And. I love that it takes 244 pages for us to get this information.
I think I would really have liked Derozio.
I get a kick out of Avery being wise enough to Blake to not ask too much about Thomas Paine. At this stage, I think the knowledge might have fried his brain. 😉
But, holy crap, Blake, when are you ever going to learn? JFC, sending Avery to Mirzapore with your dispatches? After he singlehandedly salvaged your chances of ever find Mountstuart? Dick move, dude.
I’m as upset as Avery at this point.
I’m so glad he calls Blake out on his bullshit, in terms Blake can’t easily dismiss. And yes, Blake has a point about being young, but for a dude who’s spent his life doing what he feels he must and not what would be easiest, to tell Avery to do what’s easiest is disingenuous at best.
And Avery is close to tears over it. OMG my heart breaks.
It’s terrible, but I love knowing that their only interactions after this were to fight over Avery going back, and I freely admit that I would have read pages transcribing them as Carter cared to write.
As an aside, this chapter just added more fodder to my Blake-and-Mountstuart headcanon.
Proper Avery refusing to take Blake’s hand, and Blake forcing him to anyway is just guuuuuh.
And once more: TEAM AVERY!! I love, love, love that he planned a way around Blake’s foolishness with Sameer on the dl. And that he managed to convince Sameer to go back. And that Sameer and Avery speak enough of each other’s languages at this point to plot successfully and are close enough to one another that Blake doesn’t realize what they’re up to while they’re at it.
I love the image of Avery riding up to the camp at dusk and being like, Yo, here I am. Blake’s face must have been epic.
Blake resorting once again to age is infuriating. And then Avery earnestly presses his case once more. I was just overjoyed with his character progression at this point.
The next three pages are just hard reading. Blake, Avery, and Mir Aziz all know they are walking right into death, basically, and do it anyway. Aziz’s foreshadowing with the owl omen is super effective; I love how Carter subtly built up this part of his character over previous chapters so that it can work as well as it does here now.
Given how competent and capable of acting at the drop of a pin Avery is, it must have taken a lot of will power to sit as he saw his weapons being sneaked away, as he recognized the Thuggee SOP in their seating arrangements, as he senses the person coming up behind him
And oh shit! Lights out!
これで以上です。
And with that said...
Chapter 9: This chapter opens with more Sleeman hypocrisy. On the one hand, here’s the present day company decrying the decadence of Indian elites, and on the other Sleeman happily out-decadencing them. Blech.
Also, maybe not summarily executing locals is a an even better way to quell local concerns? Just saying.
Sleeman’s reassurances to Blake in regard to Pursloe’s statements to Avery are anything but reassuring. Neither, for that matter, is his statement about Mountstuart.
I would love to know what Mir Aziz thinks of the School of Industry and the rest of it; it’s telling that he doesn’t offer his opinion to Avery, isn’t it?
At least Avery gets some information on Mountstuart out of someone at last. Mountstuart’s abrupt shift in attitude toward Jubblepore and Sleeman is as alarming as it is intriguing. Having read the book several times now, I can think of several more reasons why than I did on the first go-through. But even on the first read, Mountstuart wearing native clothes and hanging out in bazaars? Avery, does this ring a bell?
And a dinner party? Oh dear, where have we read about one of those before?
But alas, Avery seems most concerned about Mountstuart’s criticisms of Jubblepore. Because by now it’s pretty clear to us readers what must have happened.
Out of all the Jubblepore personnel, it turns out that Hogwood is the canniest. He takes a risk, barters some information, and earns some equally useful information from Avery in return. And holy crap, Avery, by now you should know that anytime you tell someone to keep what you’re about to say “in strictest confidence” the exact opposite is going to happen. Gaaaaah. Why do, human?
Avery’s “they knew each other, a long time ago. But I do not think they were friends” really set my headcanon wheels spinning. And then the conversation ends, with some strong reassurances from Hogwood, and the realization for readers that Hogwood is a lot cannier than Avery. D: D: D:
Poor Avery. You can tell he’s so relieved to be in the company of English-speaking Europeans (and ladies. Ladies!) and it turns into Tonight We Dine In Hell.
I kind of feel like Carter slips in having the ladies compete for Blake’s attention. I get what she’s trying to do here: reinforce that he’s an object of fascination. But. I have yet to meet any woman who enjoys the job of making nice to antisocial dudes to make the gathering more enjoyable. Primping and gazing at Avery? Sure. He’d return their attention. But Blake? I think it would be one and done once he rebuffed them the first time.
Nice pass interference by Mrs. Sleeman here. We don’t see much of her but she seems very much her husband’s political equal.
And here goes Blake again, proving Sleeman hasn’t reflected on the Feringhea interview.
Jesus, Sleeman, do the Thugs “lie incessantly” or just confess under torture to whatever untrue thing you want them to say? This little speech is particularly infuriating because he gets some of it right: Indian people have been mistreated by their governments for generations. But now they’re being mistreated by yours and no one even asked you to be there. Particularly when your government’s track record of mistreating its own people is so exemplary.
Poor Avery is just twisting in the wind at this point. His whole life, he’s been taught that gossip and snide comments behind hands are how civilized people call each other out, and here is Blake flinging it right in their faces. And he puts it in stark terms: is the population better off at war but without European colonizers, or at peace under the yoke of European exploitation? It becomes very clear here that Blake and Sleeman are irreconcilably divided on the Company’s presence, for all their shared admiration for Indian culture.
(Aside: interesting timeline tidbit here. Blake’s been in India for “more than sixteen years” at this point.)
But, in a small but significant piece of character development, Avery leaves with Blake instead of staying behind to commiserate with the Major’s guests, or even just enjoy the drinking and the female company.
To head in a more superficial direction, I love that Avery thinks of Indian clothing, scarred, grizzled, and creased as what Blake looks like when he’s being himself.
And to return to the more serious direction, Blake seriously miscalculates here. Blake! Avery left the party! To try to talk things out with you privately! And you just asjkd$ing write him off.
It’s understandable what Avery does next, and Blake has kind of earned it.
Chapter 10: Welcome to Part Three! Chapter 10 is another favorite of mine.
I love Mir Aziz teaching Avery Hindi, and Avery’s grudging willingness to try (even in the face of Sameer’s mockery). We also get some backstory for Aziz, which is fascinating. So interesting that the first Company man he met gave him the sword and saber he still carries to this day. I also like that Aziz’s story very much parallel’s Blake’s rise, albeit on the other side of the equation. That’s a nice narrative flourish. And I would love to know more about Aziz’s wives and children.
And now we start to get intimations that not all is well on the road to Doora. Oh Avery, your question (They will only bring down the Company on their heads) is the answer to your question!
Second battle! And Avery acquits himself just as well as he did during the first one, and against a much more formidable opponent. Nice work saving Blake’s life (!) and winning over Sameer.
Also, Avery: your question is the answer to your question! Major Sleeman is trying to have you killed. Except here is Mir Aziz, with a convincing alternate hypothesis. I don’t know what to think at this point. I love the joking about omens between Avery and Aziz. Poor Blake, so very visibly happier at the chance to drop European customs for Indian ones.
I wonder, though, how the Company knew Blake was going to go to Doora, versus any other Indian state. It would make more sense if the letter of introduction come from Company officers in Jubblepore, but Blake says it came from Government House. This is something that’s never been entirely clear to me while reading.
Crouch-Symington is as much of a tool as his name makes it sound like he’ll be. (T__T) One thing I really like about this book, though, is how many shades of empire Carter gives us. So far we’ve seen Calcutta society’s version of “rich Westerners living it up at the beach resort,” Sleeman’s crusading zeal to remake India in his ideal image, and now Crouch-Symington’s moralizing diplomatic ineptness, and how all of these pieces (for good and ill) fail to play nicely with each other.
I love the extended set pieces in the Rao’s palaces. These are so wonderfully described I can picture it all in my head like a movie. (And also, gah! Are there things about Indian culture that are not great? Yes. But these are not people who need anyone else to civilize them.)
I do love that Blake now trusts Avery enough to bring him along, even though he’s clearly worried Avery is going to misstep and muck everything up. I also love that Avery seems even more awed by the Rao’s palace than by society buildings in Calcutta. You also get a sense (although Avery doesn’t seem aware of it himself) at how straitjacketed everyone is by form and ceremony. But alas, Avery is too busy stewing over what he believes to be the affront to him and Blake. Dude! You two are not the most important guys in the room, not by a long shot.
I would dearly love to know what’s in the letter Blake presented to the Rao.
Noting here for later reference that Blake asked the Rao about Mountstuart.
I <3 Avery being happier at taking quarters in an Indian building than at the Residency. Small steps!
I also love Avery just lolling around and totally pulling the wool over Blake’s eyes to follow him. Team Avery! And thanks to his new canniness, he finally gets to see the Blake & Mir Aziz Traveling Show. And oh, Blake being so obviously happy just for having spent time talking to locals in the local language—I totally get this! The poor guy. You can tell he’s found his home, and it’s not in European society. Also, does he have rheumatism?
I would love to be in his head, btw, when he figures out Avery totally scoped him and Aziz at the bazaar. Even more confirmation of what a confidence boost fluency and acceptance by locals are to Blake; this makes the later books so sad.
Despite what Blake says, I don’t think the execution is particularly humane (no executions are). I would love to have Blake’s answer to Avery’s question.
More lovely description, this time of the Rao’s banquet. I just enjoy these scenes so much. Avery’s near faux pas are just icing on the cake. And you can tell Blake is enjoying getting to explain things to a captive audience. Also, poor Avery, just letting those jewels lie where they’ve fallen. I really, really feel for him here. And I’m also cheering. He’s learned some impulse control!
And finally: Fanny Parkes! I just love Carter’s take on her so much. This is a woman who is just very much her own person, and if you dislike it you can take a hike. That is cool in any age, but particularly so in one where women had to work so much harder to achieve Parkes’ level of independence and education.
This is truly a meeting of the minds, and again, I feel so bad for Blake here. You can tell he just wants someone to geek out with, and finally he has found that person. I like her basically pulling a Blake here: being unapologetically opinionated and even a little provoking to test whether the people she’s speaking to are worth her time.
Noting here that Parkes came to India 15 years ago. Also, Blake flirting with her! Gah! This is such a fun scene, and so surprising the first time I read the book. I love the nudge-nudge, wink-wink between them on Sleeman. Also, “two handsome company officers”!
I like how Parkes is a bit more suspicious of Blake when she realizes he knows so much about her. And then…they met in Calcutta! And learned from the same language teachers. Suddenly, their awesomeness begins to make more sense. Also, if that was around 15 years ago, and Blake looked like “a shrimp of a boy” but was “older than he looked” about how old would that make him? I love her memories of Blake as a thief and a hellion with a potty mouth: I can absolutely see this. Also noting this description for later chapters.
Also, we know that Blake speaks: Bengali, English, Farsi, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Pashto, and Urdu, and Sanskrit. Holy crap. I aspire to this, and I want his teachers and protips.
Also, Team Parkes! I love that she’s able to figure out the real reason for his visit. And oh, I feel so bad for her when she realizes that at least some of his flirting was meant to get her to spill the beans. And then she still agrees to help him anyway. Poor Avery is so outclassed by these two.
And the chapter ends with an epistolary exposition dump that makes me really hope we’ll get to meet the Begum in a future chapter.
Chapter 11: The shikar! This is probably my second favorite chapter of the book. I totally agree with Blake about the “sport” of the event, which is the 19th-century version of shooting big game from helicopters. Points to the Rao for putting Blake & Co. with a bunch of Europeans who dislike them. Nice to see him getting some digs in here.
And then, all hell breaks loose.
I kind of melt at Blake dropping his second F-bomb of the book here. Like, holy crap, where is that ironclad composure now? And then, “Don’t worry,” I shouted, “I’m an excellent shot! It’s all I’m good for!”
TEAM AAAAAAAAAAAVERY!!!!!!!~~~
Like, I just love this so, so much. Blake is absolutely getting his just desserts here; this is his weeks of biases and casual dismissal and failure to take Avery into his confidence coming home to roost but now it matters to him.
I just love Avery in full-on hunter mode here. And Blake forced to chase him into the undergrowth and beg him to go back. Which he doesn’t. Also: “I shook my head and smiled, pointing down. “You came after me.”
Is there a typo here though: “Well, he’s a rather awful fellow,” he said, “but we cannot leave him to the beast.” “He” makes it seem like Blake says this, but from context (and characterization) it seems to fit better with Avery.
And holy shit, Blake telling Avery not to point his gun at him. Like, even now, he doesn’t fully trust him.
The scenes that follow are super tense. You really get the sense that a tiger could burst out of the undergrowth at any moment and drag one or both of them off.
I feel bad for Crouch-Symington
More tense scenesetting. You can tell Blake is sweating bullets here. And again: TEAM AVERY! Taking out the tiger and saving the mahout’s life. And then the mind-to-mind to get Blake’s musket, compensate for the misaligned sight, and kill a man standing sideways to him.
I love this exchange between Avery and the Rao. Avery is trying, even though the customs are unfamiliar and contrary to him, and he’s probably in shock as well. He’s certainly rattled by having killed another man.
Blake figuring out the sabotage to the Rao’s musket and interceding on Avery’s behalf is excellent. And I like Avery pinging on certain words in an unintelligible stream.
Blake and Mir Aziz protecting Avery on the ride back to the palace is love. I love the unintentional h/c of Avery’s convalescence. The repartee between Blake and Avery here is some of my favorite in the book. And Avery, thinking first of the mahout despite Blake needling him about his lost fortune: also love.
And oh, Avery once again having to insist that no, he really does want to do his duty and find Mountstuart just makes my heart break. Like, how much evidence do you need, Blake? And instead he pokes Avery into admitting he just wants to go home and see his family.
Like Feringhea, the Rao is another character I wish we got to see more of than we do. He’s as canny in his way as Blake or Parkes, having to play politics as he does to maintain his position. And he’s just as much a fish out of water, too. It’s one of the saddest thing about the books that these characters can’t realistically join forces to make things better, even though I really do like Carter’s realism here as well. Speaking of realism: I love that Avery says “maharaja” and Blake says “maharaj” here.
Avery biting his tongue here is great: he’s learned to trust Blake even when his prior training would argue against it.
The transliterated Hindi drove me nuts. Like Avery, I could pick out some words, but they were the least important ones. And poor Avery…236 pages into the book people are still doing the “parents spelling words so their kids can’t understand” thing to him.
Remember Blake asking the Rao about Mountstuart in the last chapter? And the Rao not answering? But he just happened to wear Mountstuart’s signet ring to this meeting? He is easily Blake’s strategic equal and I love it.
This exchange about “you were the boy”; oh my do the plot bunny wheels turn. There is just so much fodder in that poem.
The conversation about Henry Derozio is fascinating. You really get a senses of the Rao’s impossible position. Additional confirmation here that Mountstuart just likes getting a rise out of people.
Date confirmations: if Blake came to India at 14 or 15 around 15 years ago, he’d be about 30 now. I’'s also nice to have Blake personally confirming a lot of what’s been said about him by other characters. Also, good work on the assist there, Avery.
And more confirmation from the Rao that the prologue probably occurred to Mountstuart, in Jubblepore. This is not looking good for Our Heroes, a fact that is confirmed by the Rao’s account of Mountstuart’s actions and the reason he’s in possession of the signet ring. Again, more Hindi of which Avery (and I) only understand the least important bits. >.<
I think Avery probably scores a point with the Rao with his choice of question, and then nails it conclusively with his insistence that he do his duty, even to the detriment of his personal wellbeing.
The Rao calling Avery back to hand him the bag just left me with such a warm glow. Level cleared, Avery. Level cleared.
Chapter 12: Before we begin, a request: would everybody please stop rubbing Avery’s face in these gems he’s not allowed to keep?
Anyway.
Nice that Avery remembered the monkey when Blake did not. And did he not mention it during the interview because he lacked just that last bit of self-confidence to try, or because he’s salty about Blake and the Rao’s back-and-forth about him in Hindi? At any rate, I love that Avery calls Blake out on it here.
Plus: finding out that Blake and the Rao had a private Avery Compliment Fest in Hindi made me *heart eyes* the first time I read this book. By this point the books is being written pretty much directly to my shippy kink specifications and I love it.
Also! We finally get enough information to confirm our educated guesses as to Blake’s age and put some timelines together. He’s a few years older than Derozio, who died at the age of 22 seven years ago, so Blake is about 31 to 32 currently and has been in India for 18 or so years. And. I love that it takes 244 pages for us to get this information.
I think I would really have liked Derozio.
I get a kick out of Avery being wise enough to Blake to not ask too much about Thomas Paine. At this stage, I think the knowledge might have fried his brain. 😉
But, holy crap, Blake, when are you ever going to learn? JFC, sending Avery to Mirzapore with your dispatches? After he singlehandedly salvaged your chances of ever find Mountstuart? Dick move, dude.
I’m as upset as Avery at this point.
I’m so glad he calls Blake out on his bullshit, in terms Blake can’t easily dismiss. And yes, Blake has a point about being young, but for a dude who’s spent his life doing what he feels he must and not what would be easiest, to tell Avery to do what’s easiest is disingenuous at best.
And Avery is close to tears over it. OMG my heart breaks.
It’s terrible, but I love knowing that their only interactions after this were to fight over Avery going back, and I freely admit that I would have read pages transcribing them as Carter cared to write.
As an aside, this chapter just added more fodder to my Blake-and-Mountstuart headcanon.
Proper Avery refusing to take Blake’s hand, and Blake forcing him to anyway is just guuuuuh.
And once more: TEAM AVERY!! I love, love, love that he planned a way around Blake’s foolishness with Sameer on the dl. And that he managed to convince Sameer to go back. And that Sameer and Avery speak enough of each other’s languages at this point to plot successfully and are close enough to one another that Blake doesn’t realize what they’re up to while they’re at it.
I love the image of Avery riding up to the camp at dusk and being like, Yo, here I am. Blake’s face must have been epic.
Blake resorting once again to age is infuriating. And then Avery earnestly presses his case once more. I was just overjoyed with his character progression at this point.
The next three pages are just hard reading. Blake, Avery, and Mir Aziz all know they are walking right into death, basically, and do it anyway. Aziz’s foreshadowing with the owl omen is super effective; I love how Carter subtly built up this part of his character over previous chapters so that it can work as well as it does here now.
Given how competent and capable of acting at the drop of a pin Avery is, it must have taken a lot of will power to sit as he saw his weapons being sneaked away, as he recognized the Thuggee SOP in their seating arrangements, as he senses the person coming up behind him
And oh shit! Lights out!
これで以上です。
From:
Chapter 9
Hogwood finally giving info! Mountstuart apparently just ‘randomly’ became rude to Sleeman - which, uh, he quite obviously deserves it. Interesting that from this the main cause of the split seems to be Mountstuart acting reasonably, trying to assimilate instead of conquer. Also an interesting note on his disappearance, considering what we saw happening to a monkey at the beginning of the book…
Nooooo Avery, don’t betray Blake! Hogwood is not your friend
The dinner scene is interesting. Nobody mentioning the brutality and contradictions of the hanging, all dancing around the subject. I find it interesting that the ladies are trying to draw Blake’s eye instead of Avery’s - who, as you said, is handsome and young and willing to gossip - just how handsome is he??? Blake’s reaction to the hard labour comment from the doctor is fascinating, and also well justified. I love that he calls out so much hypocrisy throughout this. And that bit where he says “Once I would’ve agreed with you” and acknowledges his own change of opinion and developing thoughts is really interesting and great. The conversation between Blake and Sleeman is really just FASCINATING here & I was glued to it.
Avery being all :( at Blake not including him is sad, and also frustrating. The thing is, he really would accept it all if Blake just communicated with him for five seconds!
AVERY NO! DON’T BETRAY BLAKE!
From:
Chapter 10
Nooooo, Avery and Blake stop wasting all the progress you’ve made :(. On the flipside, Avery and Aziz bonding again is sweet, if slightly embarrassing for poor Avery! Great that we finally get a bit more of Aziz’s story.
I love that A wants to help now. The sense of fear is very intense here, which is should be because it’s then followed by another attack! Must confess, I’ve read these books many times now and did not remember that at ALL. Avery again acquits himself very well here, and Blake is obviously very admiring. But the question remains, as Avery asks himself… why are they being attacked so often?
Another conversation between Avery and Blake! Love that Avery is all ??? about Blake attempting to lecture him on manners, Blake has a point but Avery’s confusion does seem justified. XD It looks like Doora is going to be a big deal for our heroes.
Bearded Blake! I do love a good beard…
Blake being intimidating again, he really is very good at manipulating people when he has to. Blake obviously thinking that the resident is an idiot is great.
I like the visit to the palace! Love that you can tell Avery is actually quite excited here, his inner nerd coming out again. I also love Blake stage managing Avery, and Avery actually listening to what he says. The initial meeting - confrontation, really - with the rao is fascinating; Avery has no idea what is going on, but there are so many layers to it.
Avery loves their new, less company improved dwellings! He’s both a romantic and a good lad at heart.
Avery following Blake immediately, instead of just sitting in their rooms and sulking as before, is great. As is the way Blake works to get information, the way he insinuates himself in is so interesting. I also love afterwards, when Avery just reveals that he has followed Blake! Blake pretends to be a little annoyed about it, but I think he’s secretly quite impressed by Avery’s nerve. It’s all certainly progress. As is Blake setting Avery gently right on his assumptions, and Avery actually considering that instead of flying off the handle.
Another execution. Love that Avery is all :( about it. It is definitely brutal in it’s own way, but Blake pointing out hypocrisy again is quite interesting. Obviously I’m looking at this from a modern POV, I’m from the UK where we haven’t had executions for going on seventy years now, and so I think all executions are bad… But the company really has no room to judge, when they’re also killing people.
The opening to the banquet is impressive! You definitely get Avery’s sense of wonder. I find it adorable that he was so awed by the white tigers, and also headcanon that Blake found it pretty adorable too. I love that Blake saves Avery from eating the almond paste, and keeps gently guiding him. I also love that our heroes are now comfortable enough with each other to joke around a bit, to the point that Blake makes Avery snort!
The visit to Parkes is so interesting on every level! I especially love Blake getting all animated, and when she finally gets into the differences between then and now, assimilation and open curiosity being replaced with a very conservative sense of superiority. I also really enjoy the image of baby Blake, who was apparently an absolute hellion. And then the chapter ends with a letter and the promise of a tiger hunt, which I am very into...
From:
Chapter 11
Avery being a total NERD about getting to go on a tiger hunt is so endearing. I obviously have the very modern attitude of “no, don't hunt tigers!” But boy is he cute here. Also love that he and Sameer seem to finally be bonding! Always sad that we don't get any more Sameer after this book, I want him and Avery to have bff adventures.
Shit goes wrong SO QUICKLY here, from the subtle build of it being all disorganised to the platform outright fucking collapsing. Poor resident, what a way to go.
AVERRRRRRRY! Just running straight after the tiger!! I love him. This entire scene is just golden, and I have a lot to say about it. Blake swearing, and being so obviously concerned for Avery’s life! Avery being all “It’s the only thing I’m good for!” And GOING ANYWAY. Blake chasing after him in concern, and Avery being as pleased as PUNCH over that (methinks i detect a crush ;)). The both of them being all “well the resident is awful but I guess we should help”. Blake agreeing to go along with Avery, despite all of his reservations, and Avery GRINNING at that. Avery being disappointed in himself that he didn’t one shot the tiger, and looking to Blake for approval in that regard (praise kink much?)
And then, as a finale, Avery saving the rao in THE MOST BADASS WAY POSSIBLE OMG. First from the tiger, and then from his sardar! I really do think this chapter shows Avery to his best advantage, at least in this book. He’s definitely a man of action, a touch foolish and reckless but capable of making extremely on point decisions in the most stressful of situations. In my headcanon this is possibly the point where Blake is all “oh no, I love him”. XD
And then Blake and Aziz deliberately protecting Avery! ADORABLE.
Avery wanting a ruby! Poor baby. I love this conversation between him and Blake. Avery laughing! Avery initially being a bit naive on what’s going on, and Blake gently setting him straight. Blake being openly grateful to Avery for winning him an audience with the rao! And then Blake gently poking Avery into admitting what he’s been threatened with, how much he wants to go home and how close he is with Louisa.
And then the audience with the rao! The Rao is, as you say, SUCH an interesting character. I love his reveal that he can speak English, and just his cutting through of all the bullshit. I love his speech on how the company has changed, and how he is well aware of all the insults done to him. I also love how the Mountstuart mystery is deepening - I find the hints at his relationship with Blake really interesting, and I have to wonder how much of their dynamic influences Blake’s dynamic with Avery.
Such a good chapter! <3
From:
Chapter 12
I like the intimacy of Avery and Blake’s conversation near the beginning. Avery trusting Blake’s judgement is great. Blake telling Avery to keep the jewels, even despite it being illegal, is also pretty great even if Avery is confused by it. I like Avery calling Blake out for the ‘boy’ comment, and then Blake telling him that he was actually complimenting him (albeit in the most roundabout way possible). Also like the picture of a younger Blake, carried away by ideas and so very passionate - I can imagine Avery being drawn to that side of him, almost despite himself.
As a side note: I’ve always pictured Blake as in his late thirties at the youngest! I think I’m probably going to keep that picture in my head, even if the books say differently. Early thirties seems far too young for him, as he’d be about my husband’s age if that was the case, and… Also I must admit that on a shippy note I do like a very meaty age gap between him and Avery. XD
Blake attempting to send Avery away is HEARTBREAKING. It is literally just to protect him, which is kind of shippy in itself, but come on Blake! Avery obviously doesn’t want to go!
Their first parting is so sweet and sorrowful. I especially like Blake trying to shake Avery’s hand, and Avery refusing it. And Then Blake does it anyway, as a goodbye and a sign of respect! They’ve come so far… And then Avery follows after them anyway and refuses to be sent away again! As you said: TEAM AVERY!!!
The final section, where they’re waiting for stuff to happen, really is delightfully ominous. I love that the last thing Blake thinks to say, before he might well be murdered, is reassurance for Avery. It really does sum up their relationship at this point.
From:
Re: Chapter 9
This is very telling on Sleeman and the Company's part: they claim to be in India to make it a better place for the inhabitants, and that they're treating them better than the Indian rulers, but when it comes right down to it they act just as badly. And then justify it with, "Oh, well, they wouldn't respect us if we didn't act exactly like the people we're here to replace, so just ignore the
manhypocrisy behind the curtain."Given what Blake's seen of Jubblepore, I think you're spot on that Sleeman's dislike of the Rao sends him straight into Doora, because he knows he'll probably get a straight(er) answer from the Rao, and because it's probably where Mountstuart would have gone, given that he was probably of the same opinion as Blake about the place.
Mountstuart apparently just ‘randomly’ became rude to Sleeman - which, uh, he quite obviously deserves it. Interesting that from this the main cause of the split seems to be Mountstuart acting reasonably, trying to assimilate instead of conquer. Also an interesting note on his disappearance, considering what we saw happening to a monkey at the beginning of the book…
I wonder if the anger over Mountstuart's assimilation isn't actually well-founded concern: Sleeman and several of his goons are fluent in the local languages, so they must know what's being said about their methods in the bazaar, right? That's not something they have to worry about most European society cottoning on to, but with Mountstuart it's definitely a worry, particularly if a sudden coldness on his part were to indicate that he's on to what they're up to. And yes, the monkey and its demise are ominous...
The dinner scene is interesting. Nobody mentioning the brutality and contradictions of the hanging, all dancing around the subject.
The social dynamics here are fascinating. On the one hand, you have everyone trying to pretend they're back home enjoying all the comforts of home, and on the other pretending that hangings-as-entertainment don't happen there either. (Which, given Avery's reminiscences we know for certain that they do.) And then, because most of these people probably don't speak any Indian languages, they just have to trust that what Sleeman et al. are doing is just, and that it's making them safer. Which are both assumptions you might be forgiven for questioning given the scene at the hanging's aftermath. And that's probably a pretty uncomfortable place to be in, mentally.
I find it interesting that the ladies are trying to draw Blake’s eye instead of Avery’s - who, as you said, is handsome and young and willing to gossip - just how handsome is he???
I know!! He's apparently cleaned up quite a bit, as Avery himself noticed earlier. :)
I love that he calls out so much hypocrisy throughout this. And that bit where he says “Once I would’ve agreed with you” and acknowledges his own change of opinion and developing thoughts is really interesting and great.
Exactly! I love all the little bits that are parceled out to us over the course of the novel about what's happened to Blake to make him into the (on the surface) prickly and disagreeable person he is when the novel opens. It wouldn't be apparent to many--any, probably--of the people there, but I think at least some of Blake's clear distaste during this scene is directed at himself for who he had been, in addition to all the people he's confronting who are still very much of those opinions.
The thing is, he really would accept it all if Blake just communicated with him for five seconds!
AVERY NO! DON’T BETRAY BLAKE!
I know! And because he doesn't, things unravel rather badly (although we don't necessarily know about this for quite some time). And it's totally believable for Blake to still not trust Avery with what he's uncovered about Jubblepore's inner workings, but oh, is it frustrating, because we immediately see the results when Avery feels himself backed into a corner by Blake's actions and goes to spill the beans. D:
From:
Re: Chapter 10
And equal parts wonderful and frustrating for readers, because by this time I was asking myself: are these attacks happening because of Jubblepore's protection doesn't extend this far? Because the locals are angry about what the Company is doing in Jubblepore? Or because of what B&A did while in Jubblepore? And the first time I read it, I just didn't know! It was as disorienting for me as it would have been for Avery.
Another conversation between Avery and Blake! Love that Avery is all ??? about Blake attempting to lecture him on manners, Blake has a point but Avery’s confusion does seem justified.
This is so great because you can really see it sinking in for Avery that Blake has a much better handle on things than either Avery or than Avery's given him credit for thus far, and you can just see him doing the mental equivalent of *confused puppy head tilt* as he tries to figure it all out. It's certainly not intuitive for him, given what society's taught him about class, nationality, and the rest of it.
Bearded Blake! I do love a good beard…
YES. I love that he gets to go around bearded and in Indian clothing for much of this novel (and was initially bummed when I found out the next one was set in London and that wouldn't be happening anymore.) (*^ ^*);
Blake obviously thinking that the resident is an idiot is great.
You can just see his mental eye roll here, and I love it. Avery's reaction to the palace is fascinating and telling, because although he's obviously awed, he still hasn't put two and two together: you can't build on this scale and organize on this scale without being, I dunno...civilized? And yet he still hasn't made that leap. On the one hand, India is exotic beauty to his mind, but on the other it's a lawless, uncultured place that needs a guiding European hand. There's so much cognitive dissonance going on, and I feel sympathy for Blake having confronted this over and over and over...
Blake pretends to be a little annoyed about it, but I think he’s secretly quite impressed by Avery’s nerve. It’s all certainly progress. As is Blake setting Avery gently right on his assumptions, and Avery actually considering that instead of flying off the handle.
There's so much great character development here. I think they're both learning that they get more results from the other through patience and explanation (and in Avery's case, a dose of minor trickery!) than immediately shutting the other down for being "wrong" about whatever the situation at hand is. I think Blake is indeed quite secretly impressed, not least because he can identify with Avery's approach for solving that problem--it's what Blake would surely have done in his shoes--and he liked being surprised by it.
Obviously I’m looking at this from a modern POV, I’m from the UK where we haven’t had executions for going on seventy years now, and so I think all executions are bad… But the company really has no room to judge, when they’re also killing people.
Yup. I just can't see that execution is ever really just or humane, especially because the chances are so high that someone might be executed in error and there is no way to ever fix that. But the scene does nicely illustrate that hypocrisy you mention, and also the fact that the local populace wasn't objecting to the hangings in Jubblepore because they were executions, but because they didn't view them as legitimate. We certainly don't see a riot following the execution in Doora.
I find it adorable that he was so awed by the white tigers, and also headcanon that Blake found it pretty adorable too. I love that Blake saves Avery from eating the almond paste, and keeps gently guiding him. I also love that our heroes are now comfortable enough with each other to joke around a bit, to the point that Blake makes Avery snort!
Absolutely! And I think it's another little surprising or endearing moment for Blake too, because we certainly get hints throughout the books that he likes tigers himself (he stops Avery from shooting the tiger on the road to Jubblepore, and I think he has an illustration of tigers in his rooms in London, too). I kinda felt for Avery in the banquet scene--*I* would have been disappointed at not getting to eat the almond paste too. XD
And I totally hadn't thought about it that way, but you're right--getting Blake to snort is an Achievement Unlocked for sure. :D
I really wish we could have had more of Parkes' recalling Blake as a young kid, because a) I just want more of this, b) hers would be a fascinating narrative voice to have it in, and c) how awesome would it have been if she could have been Blake's pseudoparent instead of Mountstuart?