Spear-points in the Sarantine Mosaic

[kate_nepveu]

papersky talked about spear-points in writing, as a way of thinking about plot and story structure. In a comment, I wondered how the spear-point of Guy Gavriel Kay's Sarantine Mosaic (Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors), what I think of as that moment, affected people who didn't know anything about the historical events that Kay had taken as a starting point. tanac volunteered to share reactions, if I'd say what event I was referring to.

There will be positively enormous, book-destroying spoilers behind the cut tag.

That moment, of course, is the murder of Valerius. I found it incredibly shocking the first time I read the book: first, I just don't expect that central and vital a character to be killed off, and second, I knew that Justinian I, the obvious and very close model for Valerius, didn't die in this way.

And it's a spear-point with dimensions that don't become apparent until later, as well: because it should be clear, by the end, that it's this murder that allows war with Batiara to be avoided. Which is clearly a good thing, even if one doesn't know that the reconquest of Italy in our history was brutal and lengthy.

So there's the shock, which I think would be enhanced if one knew Justinian lived considerably past the analogous period of these books. There's sorrow at the death but pleasure at some of the results, which is probably a draw. And there's a third factor, the appreciation of how it all fits together, which I suspect is only available to people who know the history of our world.

(I should say that I have only a very basic knowledge of the corresponding historical events, gleaned from sites like this entry from "An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors.")

Though imputing intent is always tricky, I think it a reasonable supposition that Kay set out to avert the invasion of Italy. And he managed to do so by changing just three things from our history:

1. Justinian's heir was his nephew. Valerius's nephews are feckless and banished.
2. Belisarius married Antonina, a favorite of Theodora. Leontes married Styliane.
3. Amalasuintha was regent for her son over the Goths in Italy. Gisel is queen in her own right.

So: Valerius is killed without a heir, allowing Leontes to step into the Emperor's robes. But because Styliane murdered Valerius, Leontes puts her aside and married Gisel: who, as queen in her own right, brings him Batiara peacefully. I appreciate the simple elegance of it and find it another layer of the spear-point: but I only recognize that elegance because I know what's different.

(Of course the changes are also lethally complex and nuanced, because this is Kay, and the changes lead to the multiply-pivotal Aliana-Styliane-Gisel triangle, so pivotal that they each get their own shadows, Shirin, Thenais, and Kasia, respectively. But that's a different post.)

Comments

[kate_nepveu]

Time (not death or God) is the Lord of Emperors, we are explicitly told. So I guess I don't quite follow you.

[aryllian]

Very sorry. It has been, as I said, a while since I last read this, and I had it very firmly in my mind that Death was the Lord of Emperors. So firmly that it didn't even occur to me to wonder if I was wrong, and I'm usually very careful about such things.

Though actually (taking the quote from your review because I have no idea where it is in the book)

"And how many people would die in achieving all of this? Is it not vanity? To believe we can act like a god? We aren't. Time claims all of us."

"The Lord of Emperors? It does, but are there no ways to be remembered, doctor, to leave a mark, on stone, not on water? To have . . . been here?"

I can see exactly how I went wrong. "Time claims all of us" transforming in my mind to "We all die", which makes "Lord of Emperors" into "Death". And just given that quote, I'm not completely persuaded that Death is an impossible interpretation, because it still feels so natural an interpretation to me. Suboptimal, perhaps. Funny how the mind works.

It might be time to read it again. I'd been tempted by a certain scene in The Last Light of the Sun anyway...

[kate_nepveu]

Oh gosh, don't apologize! It's not an unreasonable interpretation, after all. Funny that I'd assumed it referred to God.

I haven't read _Last Light_ yet, but a few people have found it disappointing, so I'm going to dial my expectations down for it. What did you think?

[aryllian]

I wasn't precisely disappointed, but it didn't really stick at all. I loved it while reading it, but there's nothing that really hit home for me. I had assumed it was just me and my personal idiosyncrasies, akin to the way I'm a little less fond of The Fionavar Tapestry, which lots of people really love.