The Bone Shard Daughter Read-Along Week #4

Dear Readers,
Technically it’s June now and Wyrd and Wonder over, but deadlines never were my strong suit. Welcome to the last week of The Bone Shard Daughter Read-Along! Thanks to Imyril, Lisa, and Mayri for hosting this year’s Wyrd and Wonder read-along! If you’re interested in this event check out the Goodreads page here or see my answers from week #1, week #2, and week #3. *Spoilers for The Bone Shard Daughter Ahead*

Q&A For The Bone Shard Daughter Read-Along Week #4

1. Lin’s a construct, Bayan’s a construct, the people on Maila Isle are constructs … Let’s talk about constructs! We now know far more, but still not enough. What are your thoughts and feelings on the nature of constructs?

I’m a little disappointed my initial prediction that Mephi was a construct turned out to be wrong when SO MANY PEOPLE TURNED OUT TO BE CONSTRUCTS! Probability really wasn’t on my side this time around.

I think the biggest question about constructs right now is whether Lin really has free will, or if all her actions were written into her by the late Emperor. It’s hard for me to imagine how the story would continue if Lin ended up being a mindless construct, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Stewart brought up questions of free will vs. the illusion of free will in the next book. I also think it’s important to remember that the constructs could be programmed to make their own decisions. We saw with Lin’s experiments with her father’s (/creator’s/future husband’s?) constructs that Ilith was programmed to make decisions independent of the Emperor if she had more knowledge than him. We also know that Lin was a more advanced construct than Ilith, so it’s safe to assume she had more free will. So the question is, what was Lin programmed to do? Does she have complete free will or conditional free will like Ilith?

Another big question is how will the Emperor’s death affect the constructs? Lin believes lower constructs will either break down or go rogue. We get our first glimpse of how the Emperor’s death affects advanced constructs with the people of Maila. For most of the book, the people of Maila are unable to speak of or even think about violence; but that changed as soon as the Emperor died. How the Emperor’s death affected Lin is yet to be seen. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has some major character changes now that he’s dead.

2. Hot on the heels of the revelation that she was not born but made, Lin has learned why she was made *shudder*. Reaction shots, please.

NOOOOOOOOOOO

Why on earth would the Emperor lead Lin to believe that she was his daughter when his real plan was to turn her into his dead wife? WHYYYYY?! Wouldn’t she still have memories of being Lin? Or did he have a plan to erase her memories of being his daughter for years?

Anyway, I’m very glad the Emperor is dead now. So long pedophilic version of Dr. Frankenstein. You will not be missed.

3. The Emperor is dead. (Hurray!) Phalue has successfully usurped her father as governor. (Yay?) Change is on the wind and those Alanga paintings have opened their eyes… Care to make any predictions for what’s coming? Do you think the Alanga are really a threat?

I definitely think the Alanga will come back. It wouldn’t make sense for all that foreshadowing to be there just for the series to go in another direction. I’m convinced Gio is one of the Alanga. Most of my other predictions for this book have been wrong, but maybe I’ll get it this time. And, to be completely honest, I’m guessing Gio will become the villain in the next book.

4. We’ve also discovered the identity of Sand. Possibly. She has memories that suggest she is Nisong, but she is a construct just like Lin. What does it all mean?? (Not a rhetorical question – please tell me what it all means!)

Sand’s identity really threw me off! I was hoping Sand would turn out to be Jovis’s dead wife, but it looks like she’s already dead :(. Honestly? I’m wondering if the Emperor managed to turn Nisong into a construct while she was alive. It would make sense considering how intelligent Nisong was. If he thought she might threaten his power, but didn’t want to kill her, his next best option would be to take away her memories and imprison her on a remote Island. Totally sane.

This also leaves me wondering if the Emperor grew the other people on Maila or if they are all real people with real memories. (Could Jovis’s wife be one of them? Unlikely, but I’m still holding on to that thread of hope).

5. Jovis and Mephi have arrived on Imperial Island and come face to face with Lin and Thrana. This is an Interesting Development. What are your theories on Mephi and Thrana? Also on the Emperor’s laboratory and what he was using Thrana for?

I love when two characters from different storylines find each other! It might be my favorite trope ever.

Jovis and Lin are a particularly interesting pair because their alliance is tenuous. They come together due to a lack of other options, rather than by trust or a common goal. I’m interested to see if they’re alliance grows stronger in the next book, or if Jovis continues to help the Shardless Few.

Mephi and Thrana make an interesting connection between Jovis and Lin. Neither of them know anything about what sort of creatures Mephi and Thrana are, and their best chance at getting answers is by staying together. I wouldn’t be surprised if Mephi and Thrana become the reason Jovis and Lin start to trust each other.

I have no theories on how the Emperor was using Thrana. It’s clear both creatures have unknown magical properties. It’s also clear the author will not make all those magical properties known until absolutely necessary. I’m content to let this mystery unfold.

Final Thoughts…

The Bone Shard Daughter ended up being another 5-star read from a Wyrd and Wonder read-along, so I’m taking this as a sign that I need to go back and read Kushiel’s Dart. I was initially interested in participating in the read-along for Kushiel’s Dart, but mentions of BDSM sent me running for the hills. Now I’m thinking I may have to give it a chance.

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