In week 3 of The Voyage of the Damned readalong we’re discussing chapters 15-21. A lot happened in this section of the books, and I feel more uncertain than ever!
For those just tuning in: Ariana with The Book Nook is leading this year’s Wyrd and Wonder readalong of The Voyage of the Damned by Frances White: a magical cruise ship murder mystery. You can read my answers to the first 2 weeks questions here:
Wyrd and Wonder is an annual month-long fantasy celebration held every May. This year’s hosts are Imyril with There’s Always Room for One More, Lisa with Dear Geek Place, Jorie with Jorie Loves a Story, Annemieke with A Dance with Books, and Ariana with The Book Nook.
*Proceed with caution: this post contains spoilers for chapters 1-21 of The Voyage of the Damned*
Voyage of the Damned Readalong Week 3 Questions
1. We now have four deaths, Eudora, Ravi, Eska and Jasper. What do these four have in common? Why would they need to die?
As Dee (or maybe Wyatt?) pointed out, 3/4 of the victims were from lower providences. Eudora was from the Dragon Providence, but right before she died she told Dee that the Fish was the hero of the story about the origins of their blessings. This all seems to point to the killer wanting to get rid of the lower providence’s blessed to consolidate power? I’m not convinced that’s the reason, but that’s the only explanation I can come up with.
That theory would make even more sense if there was an alliance between two or more of the upper providences to take over the empire, but I don’t think that’s what’s going on. Although, I could be right? I have no idea, lol. I am just guessing at this point.
Jasper came from a highly militarized providence that would be difficult to conquer, Eska came from another strong (but isolated) providence, Ravi’s providence controls output of Divinium, and Eudora came from the ruling Dragon providences. Maybe the killer is trying to take out Blessed from providence’s that could challenge them for power? That would explain why Dee from Fish providence has been ignored for so long since his providence doesn’t seem to have any military power. But Yewande was targeted early on (twice), and I don’t think Grasshopper providence is known for its military power either. The only reason I can think to kill Yewande early is the theories of Grasshopper providence allowing Crabs into their community.
If my theory about the murderer taking out potential rivals early is true, that puts Tendai under some suspicion because she told Dee he’s irrelevant and he has been ignored by the murder (so far). I don’t think she is the culprit though. Like I said, I am just guessing at this point. Cordelia is the murderer!
2. How do you feel about the dinner Shinjiro tried to organize? What was his goal here?
Shinjiro had been a difficult character to figure out for me. I have no idea what his motivations are, but I don’t think they were anything good. He just doesn’t seem like a nice person. It’s also suspicious that he’s still trying to promote friendly unison on a literal murder boat. Why isn’t he more afraid of the other Blessed? Is it because, perhaps, he is the one killing them??? Suspicious.
3. Leofric and Jasper finally turn on our Dee. What do you think about their responses? Jaspers fire and Leofrics biting.
Leofric’s reaction was unfortunately predictable after his initial accusation of Eska. As soon as his first easy target was gone he immediately switched to the next most isolated, unliked person on the boat: Dee. You would think he would have at least a smidgen more critical thinking skills. Enough to think, “Huh, last time I assumed the first person I didn’t like was guilty it didn’t go so well. Maybe I should stop and investigate this a little more”. But NO. He made the same mistake twice and jumped to the conclusion that Dee was the murder based on no evidence other than he personally didn’t like Dee.
I hate to say I was wrong about my initial assessment of Leofric. He is a bully!
I was more sad about Jasper turning on Dee, because I wanted him to turn out to be good. It’s so easy for teenagers to be influenced by the wrong person, and we see that play out with Jasper. He’s young enough that I think he could have redeemed himself if given the chance, but he’s dead now. RIP!
4. We get some more information about the blessings. That it is a reflection of who they are. It also sheds a light on Cordelia because now we don’t know what her blessing is. Any idea what it might be considering her brothers blessing?
The ability to make people see visions/the dead.
Oh, I so think she is the murderer. I might be delusional, but I don’t care!
Someone on that ship is making people see their dead loved ones and I think it’s Cordelia! Her brother was able to see what people wanted, maybe she is able to make others see the person they most want to see. That would explain why Eska and Jasper didn’t fight back with their blessings. What if they were seeing someone they loved?
Even if Cordelia is not the one behind the murders, I do think the person behind it is making their victims see their dead loved ones to keep them distracted while they are murdered.
5. There has been some comment on the political corruption throughout the provinces. What are your thoughts on this?
After the first section, I said that Concordia was mostly stable with underlying corruption. I still think that is true. It seems like most people in the empire are able to live fulfilling lives even if they are treated unequally. It does seem like more corruption is going to be revealed though, and that this generation of blessed will have to face it.
We’re now over halfway through the book. Do you have any idea what is going on? Has the book turned out how you expected?
Comments
4 responses to “Voyage of the Damned Readalong Week 3”
I was very sad about Leofric: I wanted him to be something other than a stereotypical bully. Alas, I was wrong. 🙁
I like Shinjiro as a character, though. Even if he’s not very nice or good, he’s interesting, and that’s more than I feel about most of the people onboard this ship.
Shinjiro is for sure one of the most interesting characters on the boat! I keep seeing him show up on other people’s discussions too. He’s got something up his sleeve, I’m just not sure what it is. Leofric, unfortunately did not turn out to be so interesting.
My biggest concern is that the most interested I get in a character, the more likely they seem to be the next target. For instance, after that scene in the galley, I started to really get interested in Eska… 😉
That does seem to be the pattern!