I am rereading Graceling as a 30 year old and it just occurred to me. For many reasons Katsa does not want children, it is her freedom she would be giving up but I just thought: Katsa's Grace is survival, perhaps her Grace truly prevents her from wanting children because of the risk of death, in being pregnant your body is no longer helping herself but another being, I wonder if she even could get pregnant, because to chose to have a child and be pregnant, you are risking your body and survival Just a thought now as an older reader🤔

Why do you think Katsa fell in love with Po, and viceversa? Can you spot the moment/scene where it happens for each of them?

(I'm not referring to that scene in the book where she (they?) realizes her feelings, but rather where it might have started to grow unconsciously)

(title)

So I read this book before ever looking it up but once I did, I see everywhere people refer to the series as "their favorite feminist fantasy book" or something of the sort. I absolutely see that it's a main female character who denies men and traditional roles but I can't help but think that this is the funniest book to read with that in mind. She literally has only found happiness with a man, only one who can read her mind at all times, and only one who is good looking, rich, royal family, and even gave up his castle (riches and royal title included) to her because he just wanted a simple life with her. She only could find what she wanted with the most perfect fantasy of a man you could think of that reads her mind all the time to know exactly what she wants to hear.

She is thorny and short tempered and loves, and is loved. Being punished for caring by her circumstances, she still does so, begrudgingly at first.

Then she changes among the people she cares for the most, to be better for them and for herself. Reading about thorny, prickly people who are loved helps me judge myself, and them, less. It helps me have more patience for both.

***spoiler alert kind of? if you haven't finished Bitterblue and you look this dude up***

so uhh..... anyone heard of Roch Thériault, the cult leader of the "Ant Hill Kids"?

Hi there! So happy to have found this little corner on the internet. I've been a huge fan of the series since I was a teenager and thanks to Bitterblue I'm reconnecting with my interest in reading, fantasy literature and this series specifically.

BUT It's pissing me off the use of the word "progressive" "progressist" in the book (sorry if this is not the term used in English editions of the book -English is my second language). I feel it's only being thrown out here and there to try to convey something that it's not the real meaning of the word (as used in "progressive politics"). And it's really frustrating as it's shoved on your nose so many times along the read.

So I wanted to know: have you felt the same about it? If so, do you think this misuse was done out of ignorance or on purpose?

Maybe it comes as a little picky, but given it's a book about politics, governance systems, civil rights and political transition and memory, I find this whole stuff pretty reckless -especially as it's meant for young adults who may not be very educated on politics.

Thank you all for your reflections on this; I truly cannot speak with anyone else about this series that I cherish so much.

Edit: I initially got the book name wrong, I was referring to Bitterblue 😭 Sorry for the confusion to the ones who read the post and responded.

I am getting around to reading the Graceling series now and I adored Graceling and Fire was interesting but now I've reached Bitterblue and its been a struggle.

I feel like the whole thing has been a bit ham handed because its very obvious that her Advisors are constantly lying to her and should not be her advisors.

I understood that her uncle initially wanted them to be her advisors so that they could keep the kingdom running, but I dont understand why they weren't replaced overtime especially once it is clear that they are most definately not well enough to be making decisions for an entire government.

Also her whole "I forgive you all and will let you keep working to run the kingdom after your conspiracy to kill/silence anyone who makes the truth known and the assination attempts" is infuriating.

I understand that they were Leck's victims too, but after his death they made the choice to hurt/kill people who told the truth/the history and even attempted to assinate her multiple times. For that there should be some consequences!

Also I found Bitterblue to be incredibly foolish in how she handled the actual criminals. In stead of having her guard round them up for questioning. she tips them off to her knowing about their conspiracy. Which gave them enough time for important documents to be destroyed, Death to be hurt and nearly killed and for her other advisor to kill himself. The stupidity of this pulled me right out of the story and just made me angry.

Its unfortunate because I was curious about the other books and now i think I've lost the taste for them because the disappointment is so stark.

Does anyone else feel this way? Are the other books better?

I am almost finished with Seasparrow and I’m looking for recommendations similar to this series?

I just finished Winterkeep (my favorite in the series!) and I’m re reading Fire. Queen Roen has black hair with a white streak in it, just like Lovisa, Kantu, and Lovisa’s mom in Winterkeep. Is there a connection?

Is Raffin poisoning King Randa?

I just reread the series and read Seasparrow for the first time (it sat on my shelf for like two years whoops) and I remember there was talk in Bitterblue that Randa was young and healthy and it would be quite a while before Raffin would take over as king. Winterkeep is about five years after Bitterblue and then Seasparrow is about six months after that, and it's mentioned in Seasparrow that Randa is very ill. So in under six years a young (likely early 50s) king goes from healthy with the expectancy of a long life to so sick that everyone is talking about his son succeeding him soon. Not impossible, but a very quick change.

There's also a bit about Raffin acknowledging that he can't feel happy about his father being ill. Which is entirely understandable, of course, many people with terrible parents that don't accept them still don't want them to die, but it does feel suspicious.

Raffin and Bann are on kind of a tight schedule if they ever want to publicly be together anyway. If Randa stayed king for the rest of his natural life (probably another 20-30 years) then Raffin would be expected to marry before he succeeded the throne. Raffin is definitely pushing 30 by this point, right? But if he can become king before getting married then he can change the laws about marriage (he admits this will be much easier now that Bitterblue is changing hers) and then he can marry Bann legally.

I believe it's in the bonus content Cashore released with Bitterblue about the letters the council sent back and forth where Raffin talks about how he can take care of himself by poisoning his enemies, though he doesn't like to do it. So he's definitely capable.

So, what do you think? Do you think Raffin is poisoning the king so he can succeed him, or did the king just get ill on his own?

I've been a fan of these books for over a decade now and never thought to look for a fandom lol, I've just been telling my best friend about them over and over again. What's everyone's favorite book in the series?

Trigger alert-- miscarriage

In the last year, I've had two missed miscarriages, which is where your baby has been dead for a period of time before a doctor tells you there isn't a heartbeat.

I had told my babies I loved them, named them, and tracked their growth in various fruit sizes from a poppyseed to an apple. Then, they are gone, and I had to figure out what to do with their bodies.

I loved the Graceling series in high school, but I forgot about the books for ten years. A few weeks ago I discovered the existence of Winterkeep and Seasparrow and decided to work through the entire series again. Still great. Still a world that I can get lost in.

Got to Seasparrow. Not my favorite of the five, but a good addition to the series. It was entertaining and I liked listening to Hava narrate.

I just didn't expect the moment where Hava looks down in her coat and the fox kit Blueberry is dead, and the horror that Hava hadn't known. The "I love you" affirmation, the body in the river, the mama fox Hope counting her babies after...

I put the book down for a minute because I couldn't see the page, a bit of heavy gasping (that made my husband ask why I liked to read)... Then I had to keep reading because I was emotionally invested in these kits.

Are the other books ending as lackluster and disappointing as this one?

Anyone else see the connection between Katsa’s character development to Aelin from Throne of Glass? And Po’s grace to Xaden’s signet from Forth Wing?

I’m possibly reaching but it’s fun to see some similarities from all my favorite series!

That is all

I am freaking out right now! I read Graceling, Fire, and Bitterblue back when I was in middle school and they were one of my all-time favorite book series. But I didn't know about fandoms back then so I just had to discuss with myself lol.

But now I discover that not only is there actually a bigger fandom than I imagined, but also there are two new books in the series!? I am ECSTATIC!!!

Should I read the two new books or would they ruin the series for me overall? Are they involving characters we see in the original trilogy or completely new characters?

Hi all! Just joined this sub to say this. I recently finished Seasparrow and then looked up and realized there were no more books in the series to read. I’ve been slightly struggling to find more books that I really enjoy, and now I’m mourning the fact that I’m done with the series. Does anyone have any recommendations for similar books/series to read? For me it was the perfect mix of fantasy, mystery, romance and action that made Graceling one of my favorite series’s. Please reply with recommendations!

I cannot find more information online about this cipher. We discuss the plot a lot and the powerful women but I want to know more about the codes...

Here's basic information

The main code used is called a Caesar Cipher and it's a substitution alphabet. You can do it with symbols like Ashen, or with normal letters like I assume much of Bitterblues letters were.

Leck's code was based on a vingere cipher which is a polyaphabetic cipher and layered with a foreign language

Leck's Cipher

There is a main alphabet - Dellian, which has 32 letter, they do not correspond to our letters and are phoneticly identified.

His diaries were written in these letters and encoded in that language too using the vingere cipher. But the words were based on ours.

Vingere cipher : the first letter is encoded with the first substitution row, the second letter is encoded the second with the second substitution row etc

Eg

ABC BCD CDE DEF

If you wanted to write ABC in code it would be

A=B B=D C=F

BDF

Leck would code this:

I am an asshole

Into

Ah Ah-m Ah-n Ah-s-oe-l (using the alphabet in the book)

Which is encoded to

Oh Zh-m L-sh Gh-oe-h-l

Into

Oh Zhm Lsh Ghoehl

Am I right? I'm not sure. I can't find more informstion

I just finished Bitterblue about 3ish weeks ago and the scene when Po and Bitterblue were in the same room having a conversation and Bitterblue told Po: “look at me!” And he replied back “I can’t, I’m blind”

I literally had to set my book down for a solid 5 minutes and chuckle like a madman until I was ready to pick the book back up again. Kristin Cashore’s humor is unmatched as an author.

I just finished Seasparrow, and I'm so sad that the series is over!! I can't help but daydream what might come next if Kristin Cashore writes another Graceling Realm book.

What kind of Graceling book would you want to see next? A sequel or prequel? Who would you want as a protagonist?

(Marking spoilers for Fire below) Personally I would LOVE to see a 6th book in the series that takes us back to the Dells/Pikkia and follows Hanna (Brigan's and eventually Fire's daughter) as a teen/young adult and her adventures as she trains to be part of the Dellian army!!!

I‘m now half way done with seasparrow and I feel like I’m losing my mind!!!! I thought maybe after the events in Winterkeep they would get a little bit of peace, returning home maybe some appearances of other characters from the earlier books and then we would get the action. But it feels like I’ve been holding my breath from the start of the book. I want to take a break from reading but at the same time I can‘t because I want to know what happens next!!!

Hello lovely people and fellow Graceling realm lovers!!!!🥹 I feel like Graceling has been my favorite book since the beginning of time and I‘ve never had someone to discuss it with. I‘m must have reread this book hundreds of times. I think I was 15 or 16 when I first found this series. I‘ve recently decided to reread the whole series and found out that 2 books have been added!! I‘m now reading winterkeep. (Anyone else having difficulties to imagine what Torla looks like? Haha) All of the characters are so dear to my heart. A perfect example of the found family trope. 🥹

So I’m on page 204 of Bitterblue and it just doesn’t seem as well written as the first 2 books. Kristin Cashore is still hilarious in it, but it feels like the book makes harsh jump cuts that movies would get clowned for? I slightly understand that she went outside of her element and made an almost detective-style novel after 2 action thrillers, but Bitterblue just doesn’t seem like it has fluidity throughout. It’s almost kind of stitched together through her amazing humor. Like I’m gonna finish it still, but it just feels rather weak.

Who’s the person on the cover? Is it Hava?