Yeah the eyeballs. I had to stop for awhile there. Don’t enjoy being scared!
As I understand it, Richard is the chief magic power-broker, possessing the bloodline, the lion’s share of the world’s magic books, and the only Scribe (or so it seems). He’s a bad dude and amasses his fortune by selling spells to a select group of narcissistic billionaires. Apparently, there are no altruistic billionaires who seek out Richard’s magic – or perhaps he refuses to do business with the Mackenzie Scotts of the world.
Maram discourages Nicholas from fantasizing about using magic for good. I think she might be afraid it would disrupt her cushy life somehow. (Remember, she orchestrated John’s death. She may have protected Esther in the end, but she’s pretty amoral overall.)
When he was young and first starting lessons in history and current events, Nicholas had imagined writing books that could turn stones into bread and mud into apples, a heroic future in which he’d end world hunger forever. Maram had quickly dispelled him of these grandiose notions. Magicked stones and mud, no matter how much they tasted like bread or fruit, would turn back to stones and mud before they could be processed by the body. People may as well eat dirt (p. 68).
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I haven’t read all the posts on this thread yet, but will soon.
I thought this book was just okay. In fact, I had a hard time getting through the initial pages, but It got much better after the first half. It was interesting the way the author brought the “Esther,” “Joanna,” and “Nicholas” threads together.
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From an interview with Emma Törzs:
With Joanna and Esther, I wanted to explore two different sides of loneliness and isolation: the isolation of never moving, and the isolation of never staying still. Nicholas, too, embodies isolation, though his is the isolation of privilege and protection. It was a real joy to bring them together.
Also, off-topic, but Törzs mentions in the interview a class she is teaching (at Macalester), which sounds like fun – college courses today seem so much more interesting than the “English 101” of my day:
I am extremely lucky that the English department chair at Macalester College lets me design classes based on my current interests and whims, which means I’m always enthusiastic and curious about my own subjects. For example, next spring I’ll be teaching a class called “Parties,” which will look at how social gatherings have been used in fiction over the years, from Joyce’s The Dead to Kirsten Valdez Quade’s Night at the Fiestas to the classic “Unexpected Party” in The Hobbit ! Interview with Emma Törzs (INK BLOOD SISTER SCRIBE) | Fantasy-Hive
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“ or perhaps he refuses to do business with the Mackenzie Scotts of the world.”
I thought about this as I read the book. It was one of the strengths of the book in mho.
I also think of the magic “NDA” spell as a form of isolation. Poor Collins can’t even tell Nicholas anything about his life. Cecily can’t connect with her own daughter.
I wonder if the girls can ever forgive Abe for his choices - and they were his choices. He presents as a loving father but knowledge is a powerful thing. He denied both girls the right to make informed decisions about their lives. I understand that Esther would be in danger regardless and bring it into the family’s safe space but still …
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I think Abe loved his daughters deeply, but on a subconscious level, it’s Magic first, Family second. For Maram, that’s on a very conscious level:
Isabel [Maram] did not want a child. But both she and Abe were from magical families; both she and Abe were committed, in their separate ways, to carrying on their magical lineage. Any child they had together would almost certainly be born with the gift they themselves had been born with, the ability to hear magic and to carry on the family work. It was this argument that convinced Isabel to keep the baby (p. 371).
I think Abe denies the girls the right to make informed decisions because he is afraid they might choose to save themselves by destroying what he has spent his life protecting (the books – although in his mind, I believe he thinks it’s his girls. His allegiance is definitely torn.)
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Even if the girls destroy the books, Esther remains in danger as the last remaining scribe. She has to keep moving as long as Richard hunts for her.
Joanna, on the other hand, could lead a more normal life.
I agree that Abe can’t quite let go of protecting his books first and foremost.
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I’m liking Abe less and less!
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I enjoyed the ending much more than the beginning. While each of the individual storylines worked well on their own, I didn’t particularly warm to the story until they started to intersect.
Was I the only person to have a horror movie screaming at the screen reaction when she let down the wards to let Collins (?) in?
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Esther, Joanna and Nicholas are all forced to re-evaluate their family ties in light of what they learn:
"I’d have gone with you or you’d have stayed here and we could’ve figured something out together. It wasn’t fair that he put it all on you. You were a child.
“So were you.”
“I hate him,” said Joanna, though her face told an entirely different story (p. 279).
At least Esther and Joanna know that there’s genuine love there, despite their father’s mistakes. Not so much for poor Nicholas. Until he finally learns the truth, his life is one extended case of Stockholm syndrome.
Today, “Stockholm syndrome” is often used to describe a person who is in an abusive relationship but has not left and/or who may even show empathy, love, and/or support for their abuser in some way. Factors that may play into how Stockholm syndrome in a relationship can develop include:
- Being held hostage or abused for a long time
- Being shown some level of empathy by the abuser
- Being physically close to the abuser
- Being isolated from loved ones Understanding Stockholm Syndrome In Relationships: Signs And Treatments | BetterHelp Therapy
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The discussions here are more interesting to me than the book itself was. When I read a fantasy book, I tried to turn off why’s brain since it couldn’t make sense.
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I forced myself to keep the portion of my “why” brain turned on as much as possible because I felt that Törzs created specific magic rules and tried to adhere to them. But honestly, one of the reasons I don’t read much fantasy is because it can be like trying to figure out The Cones of Dunshire. Cones of Dunshre - Google Search
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Can someone remind me how Richard killed John, Nicholas’ dad? I read and returned the book too long ago.
Laughing out loud, cones of dunshr, clip from parks and recreations ! 
Exactly, exactly, EXACTLY how I feel about magic 
, spells, and fantasy worlds.
Gave the book four stars, even though I felt like Amy Poehler in that clip 
reading it. The ending pulled together everyone, abruptly, but in a satisfactory way. Glad I read it, but not one I’m recommending to friends.
Thankfully, this discussion is helping me appreciate this genre, and Ink blood sisters scribe ! ( even the title throws me off kilter a bit )
Mary13 thank you, thank you for the Amy poehler clip, made my day.
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You were not alone! I had to take a pause for breath at that point. And when Joanna noticed his “ice-blue” eyes and thought that might be a sign of evil. Could have flipped a coin and I’d have believed either outcome for Collins right then.
See, that “why” brain is what drove me bats. Did anyone else struggle with these religious/“real-world” connections? Or am I reading fantasy the wrong way?
Shamelessly quoting myself …
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I don’t think we know the “how,” but it came about like this: John knew that Richard was up to no good and planned to escape him during a trip to Scotland. He confided in Maram, who tipped off Richard. (She did this to protect Esther, as the Scribe-seeking spell wouldn’t work if John were dead.) Nicholas is raised believing that his parents were murdered because they left the safety of the Library and were tracked and killed by some evil cabal from the magic underworld.
@jollymama, I think those ties to religion are unavoidable. I was raised Catholic and according to the tenets of that faith, bread is turned into flesh and wine into blood at every mass; God is three beings in one; and saints have performed miracles ranging from turning a basket of bread into roses to bringing the dead back to life. I don’t examine the logic because it doesn’t hold up; I just immerse myself in the mystery and see where it takes me. And that’s a mighty close parallel to a fantasy world of inexplicable magic.
In a sense, God is the greatest magician of all – but I like to stay light-hearted about that idea 
: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egUZkYORrhI
In Ink Blood Sister Scribe, there isn’t really anyone “in charge” of the magic world. Magical gifts were passed down over the centuries – through a mutation or a particular combination of genes, just like the human gifts that we possess in our non-magical world.
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I think that Orson Scott Card once said something like one of the things he liked about fantasy was that you could write about religious ideas without getting made fun of. Some of his books are obvious riffs on Mormonism, but others are not. In his sci fi series Ender, the child soldier who saves the world, ends up expatiating his guilt by becoming a “Speaker for the Dead”.
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