SPOILERS: Pandering to the base?

[Idleness]

So, sometimes it's nice to see a familiar face in a new story - or a familiar archetype or trope from the rest of the author's ouvre.

Sometimes it doesn't work so well. I think for me, T&S got this wrong about as much as it got it right. I think I'm feeling a bit of fatigue with the number of familiar faces (re?) introduced to us in T&S. Perhaps on one level I'm being unfair here. I always knew we'd have Ozorne, Varice, and Lindhall Reed - those three are pretty much inescapable.

But we also have Tristan, Gissa, Sarge/Musenda, and the Graveyard Hag. Then there are the little nods to the Coopers in books. Plus another animal god and magical creature thrown in there.

So while it's sometimes nice to see old friends (or enemies), do you begin to feel that perhaps there is a point where a decision to include an already known character or well worn trope from existing canon is the best storytelling choice, or is it squandered opportunity to choose something different?

How different (or better or worse?) do you think Arram's story might have been if some of these characters weren't included, or had their parts reduced? If you were picking up a Tortall book for the first time with T&S, do you think you would find these characters interesting?

[devilinthedetails]

Interesting topic. I think every writer has quirks, and one of Tammy's is that she definitely loves to include recurring characters. That is on full display in T&S as you point out, Idleness. To me, I see both the positives and the negatives of that trait in T&S as I do throughout her works. I also feel that Tammy's innate love of recurring characters was magnified in T&S because of the nature of writing a prequel where not only do most of us already know the rough outline of the plot (in terms of how the story ends and other main points) but we also are already familiar with a lot of the main characters such as Varice and Ozorne. The very nature of a prequel sort of invites the inclusion of recurring characters but there is the risk of going overboard (one of the reasons why I think writing a prequel well is extremely difficult).

I loved what was done with Varice in T&S (she was my favorite character in the book), and I thought the portrayal of Ozorne's mental instabilities and developing dark side was handled well overall. Lndhall Reed I thought might even have gotten more screen time than he did, so I can't complain about what Tammy did with any of those characters. In fact, she exceeded my expectations with Varice and Ozorne.

As far as Sarge goes, he was one of my favorite background characters in Immortals, and I found his backstory in that series compelling, but when he appeared on the second page of T&S, I admit to an "oh no" feeling. I'm kind of conflicted about the inclusion of Sarge in T&S. I like that we learn more about Sarge's past since this was probably the best opportunity for that (unless Tammy wanted to give him a short story of his own) but Sarge and Numair's shared history also make it weird that it was never brought up in the Immortals quartet. You just get the sense that Sarge wasn't originally part of Numair's backstory but now he is. It's not a contradiction so much as a niggling detail.

I also think it has the effect of making the world and particularly Carthak feel smaller. For instance, in the real world, if I meet two people who aren't related in any obvious way (friends, family, business partners, etc) from China I wouldn't assume they knew each other from back in China since China is a huge country with a massive population. Same thing kind of applies to Carthak for me. It's a gigantic, multi-ethnic empire. Does everyone who comes from there really know one another? I doubt it but sometimes Tammy makes it seem as if they do. Of course, that is a fairly common problem in fantasy, but to me it does undermine the scope of a world and just makes an empire seem more like a small town where everyone knows everybody else. It also just feels very coincidental.

In terms of your more general question, I feel that a recurring character's presence should seem natural in the current story and not as if it were an intrusion on the narrative. That means the character's presence should contribute something to the main story line and major character's development if they play a significant role (as, for instance, Ozorne and Varice do in T&S, or, for a different series, Raoul in POTS where he becomes a huge mentor and father figure for Kel).

For a more minor recurring character, I feel like the narrative shouldn't focus excessive attention on them (the literary equivalent of having the character jumping up and down, waving their hands while shouting, "I'm over here; look at me!"). A more minor reoccurring character should blend into the background and not really stand out as special (except to readers who want to impart that special excitement but it shouldn't be part of the text itself, in my opinion). We should be able to tell who the character is and what the character's role is but we shouldn't feel as if a grand ado has taken place over a character with a small part in the narrative. That to me screams "author intrusion."

[Idleness]

Mar 3, 2018 1:01:20 GMT 10 devilinthedetails said:

I also think it has the effect of making the world and particularly Carthak feel smaller. For instance, in the real world, if I meet two people who aren't related in any obvious way (friends, family, business partners, etc) from China I wouldn't assume they knew each other from back in China since China is a huge country with a massive population. Same thing kind of applies to Carthak for me. It's a gigantic, multi-ethnic empire. Does everyone who comes from there really know one another? I doubt it but sometimes Tammy makes it seem as if they do. Of course, that is a fairly common problem in fantasy, but to me it does undermine the scope of a world and just makes an empire seem more like a small town where everyone knows everybody else. It also just feels very coincidental.

Yes, I think this is what I was trying to articulate, and I agree completely. There is no reason why Arram/Numair has to meet Sarge before he's in Tortall. In the meantime, we could be getting to know some entirely new characters in Carthak, perhaps people he has to leave behind, or who we at least don't know what their eventual fate is.

I think I also felt Arram had been a little... short changed? Is his story not able to be interesting all on its own without all of these inserts from other Tortall adventures? Does his later role in the Immortals War have to be so heavily alluded to by at least two gods? There's kind of another incongruity there; I thought the GH said in the Emperor Mage that she was wooed by Ozorne in the beginning, and that the reason she wanted to get rid of him later was due to his actions, his choices, and his hubris after he had been on the throne some time. This suggests perhaps perhaps his role in the Immortals War wasn't necessarily forseen, and if I recall correctly, the queen of Chaos uses whatever tools are lying around that she can lay her hands on, and he was it. Isn't Daine also pretty much opportunistically used as a tool by the GH? So equally, why should Arram be special now, when the gods have already pretty much admitted to winging it?

Anyway, I think I'm disappointed we spent so much time faffing around with this stuff when Arram could have been meeting and interacting with more new characters, and getting into scrapes with them, and that wouldn't necessarily take anything away from the continuity with the other canon.

In terms of other inserts - I found the scenes of Daine's pregnancy and shapeshifting baby etc etc in the Tricksters duology to be particularly nauseating. Those are bits of author's indulgence that probably should have hit the cutting room floor (in my opinion!). But as they were completely tangential to the main plot, it's easier to ignore them.

[devilinthedetails]

Mar 3, 2018 12:43:09 GMT 10 Idleness said:

Mar 3, 2018 1:01:20 GMT 10 devilinthedetails said:

I also think it has the effect of making the world and particularly Carthak feel smaller. For instance, in the real world, if I meet two people who aren't related in any obvious way (friends, family, business partners, etc) from China I wouldn't assume they knew each other from back in China since China is a huge country with a massive population. Same thing kind of applies to Carthak for me. It's a gigantic, multi-ethnic empire. Does everyone who comes from there really know one another? I doubt it but sometimes Tammy makes it seem as if they do. Of course, that is a fairly common problem in fantasy, but to me it does undermine the scope of a world and just makes an empire seem more like a small town where everyone knows everybody else. It also just feels very coincidental.

Yes, I think this is what I was trying to articulate, and I agree completely. There is no reason why Arram/Numair has to meet Sarge before he's in Tortall. In the meantime, we could be getting to know some entirely new characters in Carthak, perhaps people he has to leave behind, or who we at least don't know what their eventual fate is.

I think I also felt Arram had been a little... short changed? Is his story not able to be interesting all on its own without all of these inserts from other Tortall adventures? Does his later role in the Immortals War have to be so heavily alluded to by at least two gods? There's kind of another incongruity there; I thought the GH said in the Emperor Mage that she was wooed by Ozorne in the beginning, and that the reason she wanted to get rid of him later was due to his actions, his choices, and his hubris after he had been on the throne some time. This suggests perhaps perhaps his role in the Immortals War wasn't necessarily forseen, and if I recall correctly, the queen of Chaos uses whatever tools are lying around that she can lay her hands on, and he was it. Isn't Daine also pretty much opportunistically used as a tool by the GH? So equally, why should Arram be special now, when the gods have already pretty much admitted to winging it?

Anyway, I think I'm disappointed we spent so much time faffing around with this stuff when Arram could have been meeting and interacting with more new characters, and getting into scrapes with them, and that wouldn't necessarily take anything away from the continuity with the other canon.

In terms of other inserts - I found the scenes of Daine's pregnancy and shapeshifting baby etc etc in the Tricksters duology to be particularly nauseating. Those are bits of author's indulgence that probably should have hit the cutting room floor (in my opinion!). But as they were completely tangential to the main plot, it's easier to ignore them.

Yeah, I don't think there was any reason that Arram needed to know Sarge from Carthak (it wasn't implied in Wild Magic that they had known each other before they came to Trotall, for example), and it might have been more interesting to meet people we hadn't already gotten to know in other series and to see the people that Arram will have to leave behind when he flees Carthak or who have a fate that we don't already know.

You raise good points about the Graveyard Hag's intervention as well. I admit that I often find the rules of divine intervention to be pretty contradictory across many fantasy novels which is a reason why I often don't enjoy it as much as other aspects of fantasy works. In general, I prefer more human agency and choice to divine intervention and fate.

I wasn't a fan of the Daine's pregnancy and shapeshifter baby interludes in the Trickster's Duology either. They did feel like self-indulgence or fan pandering from Tammy, and frankly I found the shapeshifting baby idea a little bizarre.

[Rachy]

I just typed up a long response to this and it lost it, so this might be a bit disjointed.

I had read this thread before I read the book, so I was quite concerned heading in, but I don’t think it was too bad. I think that both fan pandering and fan entitlement are both a huge issue for developing and creating media in this time, because everyone is so present. The rise of fandom has expanded from message boards that are relatively fan safe spaces into general social media, and instead of writing a letter to send via air mail to your favourite author/actor etc, you can send them a message instantly. The isolation is gone, and it’s something interesting to think about if you want to be a creator of media.

SPOILER: Click to show

I did enjoy both Sarge and Enzi, though I disliked and didn’t see the need for a gladiator plot to be present. I think that I could have done with fewer appearances of both. For Sarge I think one impactful appearance would have been good, and then they meet up in Tortall years later, both freed. I think we will be seeing more of Sarge, however, and I’m thinking that they will end up escaping together. Enzi I think also could have been a couple of appearances - I don’t mind the warning for EM, because I read that as it wasn’t just Ozorne ruining Carthak, Carthak is already on a downward slide and Ozorne increases the speed and steepens the slide. I wouldn’t have minded, if, as you said, we saw GH in an Ozorne context instead of a Arram context too. Enzi did seem like he spent more time in Mortal Realms though.

I did expect the horse wild magic lady to end up being Onua, so that she wasn’t was nice.

I liked the first book nod to Rosto Cooper the Younger, but Farmer’s mention with a 300 year old book felt a little painful. I didn’t mind Si-Cham, because he’s current and fits, though I was surprised that we didn’t get a Roger mention, or a Thom or Alanna mention - those I did expect and wouldn’t have seen as pandering too much.

So I think there were nods, but I think it could have veered into significant pandering, eg. badger god/Weiryn appearances, and I think more of the GH. I think Tristan and Gissa weren’t unexpected, as we knew that Numair knew them from Carthak, but I think if they took a step into baddie level instead of jealous classroom rivals, perhaps so. Chioke ends up being Ozorne’s head mage, we see in EM, but if we see any other mages Numair battles against its probably a bit too far - there are other schools of magic, and Numair is quite young (so there would be older mages).

[devilinthedetails]

I would have preferred a single scene with Sarge like you describe, Rachy. It was just too much for me having Sarge continually pop up in Arram's life. Things like Arram meeting Sarge's extended family and juggling for them and giving them presents just really stretched my suspension of disbelief. I definitely got the sense that if we hadn't already known Sarge from Immortals, we wouldn't be spending time meeting a random gladiator's extended family. It felt as if it were something that was thrown in to make me think, "Oh, cute, Numair juggling for Sarge's relatives." Of course, people's mileage and appreciation for such moments will vary, and that's fine. For me what is too much might be just right for someone else. Literature is ultimately very subjective, and I totally respect each reader's right to enjoy whatever they want in a book. My opinion is definitely not a universal standard or superior to anyone else's:) It's just my personal taste.

I didn't mind the mention of Si-Cham, and like you, I actually expected a nod to Roger that never came. Roger being such a powerful mage and spending so much time in Carthak, I would have found a reference to him more fitting with the story than the Farmer mention. The Farmer mention made me roll my eyes a bit when I was reading. I didn't really notice the Rosto Cooper the Younger mention, which to me means that it flowed well enough in the story that it didn't call attention to itself, so I would consider that well done. I think references like that should be so subtle that they don't really jump out to the reader unless the reader wants to see them though again that is a matter of my personal preference.

I expected to meet Gissa and Tristan, and I didn't mind doing so. I just wish we had gotten to meet more new students (we briefly get to know some of Arram's roommates but that's about it). I guess I expected a school story to have more of a school feel. One of the things I loved about the Alanna books and even more so the Kel ones was the friendship circles and the existence of people who were more casual acquaintances, almost background characters who we knew a bit about beyond just their names. I understand that Arram's friendship circle was pretty established with Varice and Ozorne, but I was kind of disappointed that we didn't really meet many students we didn't already know. In Kel's books, for example, we learn little details about minor characters like Prosper (what kind of magic he's got) or Balduin (he started page training late) that to me enrich the atmosphere. Similarly in the Alanna books we learn things about Alanna's year-mates like Geoffrey is a pretty good swordsman. Arram didn't need to be Mr. Popular, but he seemed very disconnected, isolated, and oblivious to most of the student body. I think if we had gotten a more varied cast of characters, the inclusion of Gissa and Tristan would have maybe felt more natural. Again, this is a matter of taste, since I know not everyone loves the school story aspect of the Kel books or the Alanna ones, but for me, that was something that Tammy always did well. I hoped to see more of that dynamic in the university in Carthak in more of an academic setting than a militaristic one if that makes sense.

[aki]

devilinthedetails

I didn't realize until you mentioned it, but I agree that I wished we could have seen more of the student body in this story book. The point about having more new characters overall is a good one. It wouldn't have been that hard to have a bully from Arram's younger years show up in the upper academy and cause trouble at some point, or for one of Lindhall's other student's to get a mention, especially as both Ozorne and Arram end up moving in to his area. You'd think that there would be mention of the other students studying directly under him and living in those quarters.

One minor character I think that this was done well with was the lead of Ozorne's guards at the university. I listened to the audiobook, so I'm sure I can't spell his name right just from listening to it. Either way, he seemed to have depth and even though it wasn't explored it was nice to see. I also liked the tiger gladiator trainer a lot, though she isn't in most of the book. It would have been nice to see more characters at the school, especially more young characters getting that same treatment.

That being said, I think it makes sense that we don't see a lot of the other student body in this book. Arram, Ozorne, and Varice are all younger than the Upper Academy students. They don't fit in, that's why they are frequently by themselves. Arram in particular does not attend 'regular' group classes. Throughout the book most of his classes are him ALONE being tutored by a single master. He's also very shy. Even among Ozorne and Varice he doesn't talk a lot and doesn't easily share his true feelings. So I understand why there aren't a lot of other student characters seen in this book, but I think it could have been done and it would have improved my enjoyment of the book.

As for all the other reappearances, this did not bother me as much. I actually liked Musenda's (again, I have the audiobook so apologies for spelling) character and I had no idea that it was Sarge we were reading about until near the end. However, I also did not catch the references to most other characters that you did, such as Rosto Cooper or Farmer. So I think that definitely is a difference in reading experience that likely contributed to my heightened opinion of it. One thing I did NOT like about Sarge's character in the book was that he didn't really seem to have any flaws? He was always just this kind powerful person and it would have been nice to see more of his struggles. Obviously being a gladiator in itself is a struggle, but I would have liked to see more from him on a personal level, so I could see how that recurrence of a character could grow tiresome.

However, I think the heavy focus on his character and the gladiators in particular will be important in the next book, so I think that's why there may have been focus on them. The Gladiator Arena seems to be the point when Arram realizes he really doesn't like Carthak and doesn't want to stay there which I think will become a main point of contention between him and Ozorne in the next book and I also think that Sarge will be key to his survival in and escape to Tortall. However, only time will tell.

Of course I have always wanted to see the arena explored more in depth in TP's books since its not the first time it's been mentioned so that is another bias

[devilinthedetails]

Mar 28, 2018 15:42:18 GMT 10 aki said:

devilinthedetails

I didn't realize until you mentioned it, but I agree that I wished we could have seen more of the student body in this story book. The point about having more new characters overall is a good one. It wouldn't have been that hard to have a bully from Arram's younger years show up in the upper academy and cause trouble at some point, or for one of Lindhall's other student's to get a mention, especially as both Ozorne and Arram end up moving in to his area. You'd think that there would be mention of the other students studying directly under him and living in those quarters.

One minor character I think that this was done well with was the lead of Ozorne's guards at the university. I listened to the audiobook, so I'm sure I can't spell his name right just from listening to it. Either way, he seemed to have depth and even though it wasn't explored it was nice to see. I also liked the tiger gladiator trainer a lot, though she isn't in most of the book. It would have been nice to see more characters at the school, especially more young characters getting that same treatment.

That being said, I think it makes sense that we don't see a lot of the other student body in this book. Arram, Ozorne, and Varice are all younger than the Upper Academy students. They don't fit in, that's why they are frequently by themselves. Arram in particular does not attend 'regular' group classes. Throughout the book most of his classes are him ALONE being tutored by a single master. He's also very shy. Even among Ozorne and Varice he doesn't talk a lot and doesn't easily share his true feelings. So I understand why there aren't a lot of other student characters seen in this book, but I think it could have been done and it would have improved my enjoyment of the book.

As for all the other reappearances, this did not bother me as much. I actually liked Musenda's (again, I have the audiobook so apologies for spelling) character and I had no idea that it was Sarge we were reading about until near the end. However, I also did not catch the references to most other characters that you did, such as Rosto Cooper or Farmer. So I think that definitely is a difference in reading experience that likely contributed to my heightened opinion of it. One thing I did NOT like about Sarge's character in the book was that he didn't really seem to have any flaws? He was always just this kind powerful person and it would have been nice to see more of his struggles. Obviously being a gladiator in itself is a struggle, but I would have liked to see more from him on a personal level, so I could see how that recurrence of a character could grow tiresome.

However, I think the heavy focus on his character and the gladiators in particular will be important in the next book, so I think that's why there may have been focus on them. The Gladiator Arena seems to be the point when Arram realizes he really doesn't like Carthak and doesn't want to stay there which I think will become a main point of contention between him and Ozorne in the next book and I also think that Sarge will be key to his survival in and escape to Tortall. However, only time will tell.

Of course I have always wanted to see the arena explored more in depth in TP's books since its not the first time it's been mentioned so that is another bias

Yeah, I admit that based on the Kel and Alanna books (both of which deal with hazing to a pretty significant extent), I was expecting bullying to play a bit of a larger role in Arram's early years than it did. There are mentions of it and some of it goes on with Arram's roommates, but I think that more could have been done with that. It would have fleshed out the student body a bit more and maybe given a master a chance to shine by maybe dealing with the bullying in a better way than I believe we ever see Duke Gareth or Lord Wyldon do.

I also agree that how little contact Arram and Ozorne seemed to have with the older students when they were living in Lindhall's quarters was kind of odd. If you're living in close quarters to people, you often get to know them even if you aren't close friends. I also thought that Arram or Ozorne could have been shown learning from or interacting with those older students on a more equal basis. Even though Arram and Ozorne are advanced, I still think that they could have things to learn from older students.

I agree that the tiger gladiator was well-portrayed, and I liked Ozorne's lead guard (I can't remember his name at all, nonetheless spell it, ha ha). The tiger gladiator had a lot of depth for a minor character, and Ozorne's guard just seemed so confident in his job, knowledgeable, and able to put someone like Arram in his place so to speak. Those characters felt very real to me.

I did appreciate the social outcast aspect of Arram and overall I thought that side of him was well-handled and for me sympathetic since I sometimes struggled with social dynamics as an adolescent much more than academics. I definitely wasn't expecting him to be Mr. Popular but a little more of the school vibe (even just exploring that social outcast dimension more) might have made Gissa's and Tristan's inclusion feel a bit more natural. As it was, they were one of only a few named students besides Varice, Ozorne, and Arram, so that probably made their reappearance feel less subtle to me.

With Sarge's inclusion, I think I like some aspects of it. Overall, his backstory as a gladiator is interesting to me, and as someone who took Latin in high school and is still fascinated by ancient Rome, I did enjoy exploring the arena environment. Certain moments with Sarge, where Arram was juggling for Sarge's nieces and nephews and buying them presents, just didn't work for me. They just didn't feel believable to me and more as if they were designed to manipulate my emotions. Edit out those moments and his inclusion would read a lot more credibly to me.

I do think you are right that we'll see the gladiators and Sarge in particular play an important role in the next book (I can't imagine Sarge not being involved in Arram's flight from Carthak at this point), and Arram's aversion for the gladiator fights in the arena does seem to be the focal point of his realization that he can't live in Carthaki society. Of course, as you say, only time will tell, but so far, the set up is definitely there for events to play out as you describe

[aki]

The juggling scene did feel out of place, especially given how shy Arram is presented in the books. I couldn't put my finger on it until just now, but although it didn't bother me it did feel a bit out of place. It's hard for me to see shy Ozorne willingly performing like that, even for a group of younger kids. And it would have been nice if they were unrelated kids or if we could have gotten more backstory on their poverty and how people deal with poverty in Carthak. Overall I agree with the point that some of Sarge's inclusion felt forced and that the reappearances we did see would have been more tolerable were more NEW characters included. In Particular Gissa and Tristan did feel super force. People who were less mean to Arram were removed from the social group quickly, and yet Tristan was tolerated. I couldn't understand the reason for it, besides that Arram is not the best at standing up for himself or confiding in his friends.

That being said I think New Readers to the Tortall universe would easily enjoy this book and not feel left out for not recognizing a character, whereas in Trickster's Choice, for example, mentions of Daine and other Tortall characters not related to Aly could have made you feel out of the loop. So that was an improvement.

[devilinthedetails]

Mar 29, 2018 1:28:48 GMT 10 aki said:

The juggling scene did feel out of place, especially given how shy Arram is presented in the books. I couldn't put my finger on it until just now, but although it didn't bother me it did feel a bit out of place. It's hard for me to see shy Ozorne willingly performing like that, even for a group of younger kids. And it would have been nice if they were unrelated kids or if we could have gotten more backstory on their poverty and how people deal with poverty in Carthak. Overall I agree with the point that some of Sarge's inclusion felt forced and that the reappearances we did see would have been more tolerable were more NEW characters included. In Particular Gissa and Tristan did feel super force. People who were less mean to Arram were removed from the social group quickly, and yet Tristan was tolerated. I couldn't understand the reason for it, besides that Arram is not the best at standing up for himself or confiding in his friends.

That being said I think New Readers to the Tortall universe would easily enjoy this book and not feel left out for not recognizing a character, whereas in Trickster's Choice, for example, mentions of Daine and other Tortall characters not related to Aly could have made you feel out of the loop. So that was an improvement.

Exactly. Arram is so shy that it is hard for me to imagine him feeling comfortable spur of the moment doing an impromptu juggling performance for children. If it had been children he was related to himself or an older Numair (such as in the Immortals or Protector of the Small quartets) performing for kids, it would have felt more believable to me, but shy Arram briefly turning into a circus clown didn't feel seamless to me and stuck out. The idea of Arram juggling for the kids is adorable but it just strained credibility for me.

I would have loved to see more exploration of poverty in Carthak and insight into how people deal with poverty in Carthak. There were some interesting hints especially when Arram volunteers with the sick in the city, but more on how the poor in Carthak live would have provided another view on Carthak's culture that would have been fascinating.

Tristan's relationship with Arram had something of a "frenemy" vibe to me which works in a school story and can be compelling in its own way, but you raise a good point about it being odd that others were removed from the social group quickly for being less cruel to Arram, while Tristan's behavior seems to have been tolerated. Perhaps if Ozorne and Varice had been less quick to shield Arram or Tristan's behavior had been more subtle, it would've felt more believable. I guess I like the idea of the "frenemy" vibe between Arram and Tristan but like you feel that the execution of that could have been improved.

I do agree that a newcomer to the Tortall universe would be able to more easily get into this book and not feel confused about who characters are than they would entering Trickster's Choice. I agree that many of the references to characters like Daine in the Trickster's Choice book could definitely have made a first time reader of Tortall books feel out of the loop as you describe it. Trickster's Choice really assumed that you were familiar with all the Tortall books and characters, not a first time reader, whereas with T&S I think it helps if you're familiar with the other Tortall books and characters, but I don't think you'd feel out of place if you weren't. That was an improvement as you say.

[kashra]

Personally I think the whole gladiator thing was far from shoehorned in, I saw the first scene as an opening one only but when he re-ran into Musenda I realized something. He has his first real feel of slavery and his dislike of it but also how other over look this, this only further builds.

Much like Daine who escapes from EM with the help of slaves at the palace because the majority of people ignore them and don't notice their movements and passage way they use, Arram will escape from the inescapable gift dampening dungeons the same way. He had to meet and feel sorry for the slaves somehow as they have none at the university. How he escaped was always a big question, it was answered pretty quickly.

Tamora Pierce has always said that he is more naive than her: when she asked Khaddar about freeing slaves and he said he love to but it would be impossible she accepted that, same as she tuned down half the empire ("your nobles wouldn't like that"). He is much more naive then she was as he believes at much the same age that everything will just work, even being around money and coming from a merchant family who would understand money.

Having said that, the gladiator should have probably been a new character, that did feel a bit like fan service. Him meeting the family no, remember he has to build connections so they will put things on the line to help him. However at some point Musenda does run because Daine tells Kally is an escaped slave from Carthak. This when she gets upset by Daine calling her 'her highness' as being a highness is what caused the raid on Prates Swoop in WM. So maybe it helps that fit as well. But the connection needed to be build otherwise why risk your life for another's? Given that book three will be Numair's (not Arrma at this point) early life in the palace and around the time of Jon's marriage and their early rule I assume you will see the set up of the riders so perhaps its is a favor repaid?

As far as the juggling, yes it caught me off guard as well but he needed control and traditional methods were not working some teachers thought outside the square, if he is busy thinking about the juggling he control will happen. They are better teachers than he is, when mediation did work for Daine he tried it several times (as did Onua and Alanna really), eventually he tried other methods with her too and it worked. Mind you he said things were not working to his teachers, Daine hid inside herself in case she went wild again.

I did not find the scene with the children strange, he is more himself around children and he was just having fun with them, he was more shy about it when asked to do it for Ozorne's mother though, and even when the prince was there with the kids. I think that was a scene showing where he is comfortable and why you see more of that then him with other students as he relates better to the children than other students. The teachers often comment that the three of them do not mix enough.

I need to do a re-read though because with all the teachers and royals there were so many characters that adding school friends would have only made it worse. It also highlighted his (and his friends) lack of ability with people. They were also shunned by others because they moved ahead of their age mates, and then outshone older students such as his roommates so that part made sense and actually made it feel more real as being all power with lots of friends makes for a character that has it all.