Keeper of the Lost Cities #2 Summary and Observations

Overview of plot (beware, spoilers):

Sophie uses her enhanced concentration to lead her to the alicorn, Silveny.  The Hekses try to take Silveny to rehabilitate her, but Alden lets her stay at Havenfield.

Sophie feels slightly dizzy whenever she leaps, a side effect of her recent abduction.  Light begins bothering Sophie, causing a headache.

Many people are beginning to question the Council's leadership.  Sophie notices that the people of Mysterium are afraid of her because of her recent abduction.

Sophie goes with Brady and Edaline to visit Jolie's Wanderling.  Sophie visits her own Wanderling and discovers a compass left there by the Black Swan.  They then visit Brant, who tells Sophie that he's seen her before.

Brady believes that the Black Swan murdered Jolie in retaliation because Brady refused to join the Black Swan.  Brady is resentful of the Council because they didn't respond the way he expected.

Footprints are found at Havenfield.  Sandor reveals that there is a way to trick his senses.  Silveny is scared.

Sophie goes with Alden to Exile to perform a memory break on Fintan.  Sophie then enters Prentice's mind.  Sophie learns that Prentice can remember a few things, and Alden's mind is nearly broken by this news.  Alden appears to get better, but when he sees Wylie later at Foxfire, his mind breaks with the guilt over his role in what happened to Prentice.

Tiergan, despite his anger and resentment towards Alden, is upset about Alden’s condition.

Sophie remembers her pink journal and remembers runes she wrote in the margin.  She finds that she no longer has the journal; she must have left it in San Diego in her old house.  

Sophie looks through Jolie's things searching for clues. 

Sophie continues to have trouble with her abilities.  She fades more than once and comes close to dying.  

Silveny teleports away with Sophie to some distant mountains.  This causes quite a scene with the Council and results in Sophie earning Keefe's admiration, since he loves anyone who causes trouble.

Sophie asks for Councillor Terik's help in finding her possessions from her San Diego home.  Terik takes Sophie to where the Fosters' things are stored, and Sophie retrieves her pink journal.  She is furious when she finds that pages have been torn out, presumably by Mr. Forkle.

With Keefe's help, Sophie figures out that she saw an elvin boy who disappeared when she was five years old.

Sophie receives a warning message from the Black Swan about poking into things she's not ready to know.  A piece of paper from her journal is attached to the note.

Master Leto is rather concerned about Sophie's reaction to the Lodestar mirror.  Sophie finds Leto to be very annoying and wishes he'd mind his own business.

The Black Swan informs Sophie that they can fix her.  Sophie flies on Silveny with Keefe to the Black Swan's cave hideout, where Mr. Forkle fixes her.  When Sophie and Keefe are ready to leave, the rebels attack, trying to take Silveny away.  Silveny's wing is broken during the battle.  Sophie realizes that she can teleport, so she is able to get all three of them back home to safety.

Now that Sophie has been fixed, she heals Alden. 

Sophie teleports with Silveny into the Celestial Festival, providing the spectacle that the Council requested.

Please visit the following page for a link to my previous post about this book.

Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories

Page 66:  "I think Tolkien wrote them during the 1930s or '40s."  "That's back before the Human Assistance Program was banned."  Grady smiled when her eyebrows shot up.  "We used to send members of the nobility in disguise to try to teach humans our ways."

We can then conclude that the rebel groups likely ramped into overdrive after the end of World War 2.  The elves have mentioned having a problem with humans' weapons of mass destruction, so the atomic bomb would have been the reason.

Page 121:  "Not the way the Council wants to, no.  They want to reach out as allies.  But if the Black Swan were our allies, we wouldn't have to find them."

Grady makes this statement in reference to the Council wanting him to help find the Black Swan.  Grady believes the Black Swan are murderers.  I find it interesting that at this early stage that the Council wants to work with the Black Swan.  The Council soon turns against the Black Swan.

Page 309:  "Alden was the accuser, though," Tiergan said as he slowly crossed the room to where Alden lay.  "And he was wrong,"  He wiped a tear from his cheek and grabbed Alden by the shoulders.  "Why didn't you just listen to me when I told you he was innocent?  Was this worth it?"

Page 310:  "Guilt is a treacherous thing.  It creeps in slowly, breaking you down bit by bit.  I'd wager Alden's been on the verge of a break since he learned the Black Swan were on our side."

Page 322:  Tiergan fiddled with the edges of his sleeves.  "I've known more loss than anyone."

Tiergan decides to forgive Alden for the memory break on Prentice since Alden's guilt caused his mind to break.  I'm curious about Tiergan's statement about how he has known more loss than anyone.

Stop reading NOW if you have only read the series up through to this book.  The rest of this post contains some significant plot spoilers from later books in the set.  

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Here are some passages about Fintan.

Page 205:  "So... he's been exiled?"  Last she'd heard, the Councillors were giving him a chance to confess before they took such a drastic measure.  "They moved him here earlier in the week.  I'll admit, I was surprised.  Normally, they wait until after..."  "After what?"

They moved rather quickly to condemn Fintan to Exile.  As we learn later, Fintan was not responsible for the fires.  Fintan may be a villain, but this was unjust.

Page 220:  Fintan's hands curled around the metal arms of his chair, turning his knuckles white.  "Our world is broken, Alden—and all the Council does about it is condemn anyone brave enough to acknowledge that we have a problem.  Break our minds, lock us deep in the earth, convince themselves that we are the criminals."

Page 221:  "And that's only a small problem," Fintan added, his voice building steam.  "Left to their own devices the Council will let everything we've built crumble to dust.  Someone had to stand up and fight for what matters—and while I'm not the one who cast the first sparks, I am willing to help keep the flames alive."

Page 239:  Glowing eyes peeked through bushes covered in blue ears, and butterflies with bright red lips whispered sounds like mush.

The passage from page 239 is from Fintan's memories.  This proves that Fintan knows about Elysian. 

Page 532:  Kenric stepped forward.  "I think perhaps we're focusing on the wrong concern.  Sophie, do you still have the compass that led you to the Black Swan?"

I believe that Kenric and Forkle are the same person.  This means that Kenric was a pair of identical twins.  Sophie has just returned from having one Forkle reset her abilities at the cave hideout.  This Kenric would be the other Forkle.  His question to Sophie is designed to keep anyone from suspecting his connection to the Black Swan.  After all, his statement makes it sound like he's hoping to get ahold of the compass so that the Council can find the Black Swan's hideout.

Keeper of the Lost Cities #1 Summary and Observations

Overview of plot (beware, spoilers):

An article about a San Diego prodigy is sent to Alden Vacker, who sends Fitz to find her.  Fitz locates Sophie, tells her that she's an elf, and brings her to the Lost Cities.  Sophie is accepted into Foxfire Academy.  Tiergan agrees to be Sophie's telepathy mentor even though he hates Alden.

Sophie begins school.  She struggles with alchemy and attempts to cheat on her midterm exam by reading Lady Galvin's mind.  Sophie confesses and is assigned detention.  Sophie meets Keefe.

In The Universe, Sophie is given an assignment to map six stars and bottle the light from a seventh star.  The assignment gets Sophie into trouble, since her bottled light is from an unmapped star.  A Tribunal is ordered, and Sophie is fortunately allowed to continue to attend school.

Dex gives Sophie an elixir to help her with exams.  It contains limbium and nearly kills Sophie. 

Sophie uses fire to warm the flareadon, Gildie, which upsets Grady and Edaline, since Jolie was killed by fire.  Grady and Edaline decide to cancel their adoption of Sophie.

The Black Swan sends Sophie everything she needs in order to bottle the Everblaze that is burning around the world.  Sophie flies with Gildie and captures some Everblaze.  Another Tribunal is ordered.

Sophie learns that Alden ordered Fitz and Biana to be friends with her.  She's devastated.  She hides in a nearby cave.  She and Dex are abducted by the Neverseen.

Someone rescues Sophie and Dex from the Neverseen but leaves them in Paris.  The Neverseen catch up to them again.  Sophie inflicts on the Neverseen and leaps the two of them away.

Sophie calls out to Fitz telepathically.  She and Dex are rescued.  It takes two weeks for Sophie to recover.  Sandor is assigned as her bodyguard. 

Sophie learns that Fintan didn't kidnap her.  She was instead kidnapped by an unregistered pyrokinetic.

Fintan claims he didn't start the Everblaze.

Sophie realizes that Mr. Forkle, her old neighbor, was the elf who rescued her.  He probably triggered her new abilities.  In addition to her new abilities of Inflictor and Polyglot, Sophie now also has enhanced concentration.

We learn that the Council decided to create a human Sanctuary 60 years ago [from 2011] because of weapons humans had developed.  This would have been in the early 1950s and a reaction to the atomic bombs of World War II.  Human contact was forbidden.

The Tribunal is held for Sophie.  Sophie is allowed to continue at Foxfire despite her failing grades.  Sophie decides to continue living with Grady and Edaline.

As I read through this book for the third time, I highlighted additional passages that I found were of interest.  This post includes my new highlights as well as some of my previous ones.  All of my previous highlights can be found in my original post about this book, which is linked on the following page.

Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories

Page 41:  Mr. Forkle loved to start sentences with the words "you kids."  He was old and smelled like feet and was always complaining about something.

Page 262:  Ruckleberries were nasty, stinky little berries that brought impurities to the surface of a metal.  They also made your skin wrinkle like an elderly human's if any of the juice got on you—and you'd smell like feet all day—so most alchemists used other methods to purify metal.

This is what I love about these books.  Shannon Messenger has placed so many clues through the books.  She describes Mr. Forkle early in the book, and then she places the clue as to why he is wrinkled and smells like feet later in the book.  This is before we have any idea that Mr. Forkle is an elf in disguise.  Later, the characters figure it out.

Page 467:  "That's exactly what someone looks like when they've eaten ruckleberries.  See the way the skin looks stretched?  The body swells and wrinkles as the berries digest."  "He did smell like feet," Sophie remembered.

Stop reading NOW if you have only read this first book.  The rest of this post contains some plot spoilers from later books in the set.

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Tiergan intrigues me.  We learn in Book 4 that he is part of the Black Swan's Collective.  At this point, we have no idea.  His reaction to meeting Sophie is interesting.

Page 91:  Tiergan spun toward her and his eyes did a quick inventory, widening when they locked with hers.

Page 91:  The way Tiergan was staring at her—like he'd just watched someone kill his favorite puppy—was officially weirding her out.

Page 92:  "Being a Telepath around humans is quite a burden.  I'll bet you've had terrible headaches and heard all kinds of things you didn't want to hear."

Page 92:  He frowned and looked away, mumbling something she mostly didn't understand.  But she thought she caught the word "irresponsible."

I first thought that Tiergan doesn't approve of Forkle's methods, since he calls placing Sophie with humans "irresponsible."  More likely, he's hiding his involvement in the Black Swan by deriding their actions.

Page 183:  She waited for Tiergan to tell her what to do, but he just stood there, studying her superintently, like he was searching for something.

Page 189:  "Only like the most famous telepathy Mentor ever.  He retired when his friend Prentice ended up in exile—it was like a protest or something."

Page 204:  "Stina still hadn't manifested a special ability, so it would kill her to know Sophie was a Telepath—being trained by the greatest telepathy Mentor ever.

I had forgotten that Tiergan is regarded so very highly as a Telepath.

Page 249:  "I will not have this argument again, Tiergan.  It was the Council's ruling.  I had no choice but to obey."  "There's always a choice," Tiergan insisted quietly.  Sophie knew they were talking about Prentice, and she knew she should be curious.

The Black Swan's Collective are always mentioning that Sophie has a choice.

Page 260:  Tiergan was so amazed that the thinking cap had no effect on her, he gave her an automatic 100 percent.

Page 325:  "Prentice was a Keeper for a group called the Black Swan, and the information he was hiding was you.  Where to find you.  I'd warned Prentice there would be consequences for helping the Black Swan, but he didn't listen."

This is interesting.  If we take this statement at face value and assume that Tiergan is being completely honest, then Tiergan was not a member of the Black Swan at the time that he warned Prentice.  This means that Tiergan joined the Black Swan as a result of what happened to Prentice. 

It's also possible that Tiergan was hiding his involvement by warning Prentice.  But then Tiergan could also be lying to Sophie; he might never have said anything to Prentice.

Page 326:  "A small group of insurgents in our society adopted the name.  A brewing rebellion—a black swan—in a society where rebellion isn't supposed to exist."  "How do you know so much about them?" she had to ask.  "You're not the only one with secrets you'd rather not share."

Tiergan is coming very close to admitting his association with the Black Swan.  When I first read this book, I didn't think anything of it.  Now, it's obvious.

Page 227:  "That sounds like what happens when someone does a brain push—using mental energy for telekinesis instead of core energy.  But a brain push is a highly specialized skill only the Ancients can pull off."

Forkle certainly gave Sophie some incredible skills.

Page 293:  Something felt familiar, a shadow of an idea, not formed enough to make sense.  She poured through her memories, scrounging for the clue she was missing.  The pieces clicked.  "Elementine."

A memory no doubt planted in Sophie's brain by Forkle.

Page 312:  "I was thinking how strange it is that you don't know the name of one of our most common trees—and yet you knew the name and location of a star only a handful of us have ever heard of, and only the Councillors know how to find."

Mr. Forkle just about has to be a Councillor.  He knows their secrets.

Fintan is a mystery to me.  During this third reading of the books, I paid very close attention to every mention of Fintan.

Page 387:  Alden nodded.  "Because of Everblaze.  I've never really understood the concept, but apparently there's a way to sense cosmic energy in the atmosphere, and if you pull enough of the force together, it will spark Everblaze.  Fintan called it the 'fire of the sun on the Earth.'  He was the only Pyrokinetic who managed to ignite it and live."

Page 469:  "Maybe that's what the Black Swan wanted all along.  If you're right—and they're working against these other rebels, who seem to want to destroy the human race—then perhaps they thought it would be wise to have someone who cared about humans on their side."

Gethen is a Washer and tried to erase Sophie's memory during the time that she was kidnapped.  He couldn't get past her blocking.

The new names of Sophie's human family are Connor, Kate, and Natalie Freeman.  "Connor Kate Natalie Freeman" is an anagram for "one Forkle at a main entrance" which I believe refers to Leto in the Silver Tower.

Fintan was falsely accused and imprisoned for the fires.  I can see why he's resentful and spirals out of control.

Late November eBay and Etsy Stores Update

This weekend I listed some books on eBay and Etsy.

Jennifer's Series Books on eBay

Jennifer's Series Books on Etsy

On eBay, I listed Christopher Pike books and Nancy Drew German and Icelandic editions, plus some other assorted books.  On Etsy, I listed some Judy Bolton and Nancy Drew books.  

My books are in a state of disorganization again.  This photo shows some of my eBay books with most of the books I just listed laying scattered around.

If I can get some books to sell, then I will straighten up.

What's interesting is that since I reopened in October, I've had 12 transactions on Etsy and 14 transactions on eBay.  I do consider the sales rate to be low on both sites, but it's much worse on eBay.  My sales rate on eBay should be a good bit higher since I have more listings on eBay and eBay has higher traffic.  This just isn't a great time to be selling.

I reduced the prices of over 100 books on eBay and around 40 books on Etsy.  I also removed some listings and placed those books in a few bulk lots.  

I have quit buying books since I don't want the books to pile up.  I decided not to purchase several good bulk lots that I normally would have purchased.

Earlier today I wanted to list some more books.  The trouble is that most of my unlisted extras are duplicates of what I have up for sale.  Some books need to sell before I can list those unlisted extras.  So, I'm at a stalemate.

I then suddenly remembered the Trixie Belden Goldencraft books that I decided to remove from my collection.  I had forgotten about them because they weren't visible.  I realized that I had boxed them and some other books up.  I couldn't remember what else I boxed up.  I went out to the garage to check.

Ah, yes.  I have a bunch of Nancy Drew Flashlight library editions and Econo-Clad library editions that I need to get listed in addition to the Trixie Belden Goldencraft books.

On the Trixie Belden Goldencraft books, I will not be selling them at low prices.  That was a very difficult set to build, and the books were not inexpensive.  They will go up at fixed prices and at whatever I decide is fair.  The price is usually determined by what I paid for the book plus what my eBay fees will be.  

I expect I will work on listing all of the library editions in the next few days.

Shannon Messenger on a Character's Death in Keeper of the Lost Cities

I kept the character's name out of the title so as not to potentially spoil those who haven't read the series.  If you've read all of my posts, then you know that this character's death was what sent me on a search for clues.  I then became obsessed with this series. 

Shannon Messenger apparently addressed this character's death in an interview.  According to fans who saw the interview, she stated that this dead character is definitely not coming back.  And yet, I feel that Shannon has placed clues throughout the books that point to this character being very much alive.  Am I right, or should I believe the interview?

This situation reminded me of what happened shortly after the release of the book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2000.  J.K. Rowling addressed fan speculation about Snape.

From My Thoughts on My Rereading of Harry Potter:

Sometime after book 4 was published, I joined a Yahoo! group that was devoted solely to discussion of which side Snape was on.  I checked that group often, reading the new messages each day.  I was enthralled.  I was utterly fascinated with Snape.  I just knew that he was somehow torn between the two sides.  I knew it.

At some point after I devoted so much time to reading the discussions about Snape, J.K. Rowling made a statement that caused me to lose much of my interest in the series.  I don't know whether this statement was in an article or in a filmed interview.  I also don't remember the exact words.  All I can do is paraphrase what I recall hearing over 15 years ago.

J.K. Rowling said something like this:  "I am shocked that people think Snape is good.  He is clearly evil!"  I'm sure those aren't the actual words, but that is the meaning of whatever she said.  It was like a punch in the gut.  Why bother reading the rest of the books?

This serves as an example of when an author should not say anything at all.  Snape is a conflicted character.  He is a bully and just a horrible person to be around.  It is revealed in the final book that Snape indeed was playing both sides and that he was helping Harry, even though he treated Harry in the worst way possible.

Sigh.

Rowling deliberately misled fans when she should have not said anything at all.  Her statement about Snape truly did spoil my reading of the final books in the series when I first read them in the 2000s.  My enjoyment of books 6 and 7 was not what it should have been when I first read them years ago.  I was quite nettled when I reached the Snape reveal in book 7 and saw how Rowling had misled us.  Grrr.  It just spoiled the whole thing for me.

That's why I went 13 years before reading the books again.  I have been annoyed about Rowling's Snape quote this entire time.

Before I continue, I want to point out that what especially annoyed me about J.K. Rowling's Snape comment was how she said it.  The statement made it seem like she thought we were idiots for thinking that Snape might be good.  I understand that she was trying to throw people off, but the way she said it was insulting.  The statement was also so definitive that it left no doubt (so I thought), which disappointed me.  

I was annoyed because J.K. Rowling had ruined my fun.  

I am no longer naive about book authors like I was back in 2000.  Since Shannon Messenger has addressed the fan speculation about a certain character's death, I wanted to know exactly what she said.  I believe the character is alive, regardless of what she has said.  I haven't forgotten what J.K. Rowling did, so I know I can't believe what an author says about possible spoilers.

This post contains MAJOR SERIES SPOILERS.  Stop reading NOW if you have not already read all of the books including #8.5 and #9.

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Please visit this page for links to my previous posts.

Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories

The videos linked in this post are cued to the beginning of the portions that I have quoted.

Shannon Messenger Nightfall Book Signing 2017

One of the things that an author does, if you really want to think about it this way, is we kind of deceive our readers.  I mean, obviously, there's certain things that we want you guys to, when you get to that moment, you're thinking, "I knew it!"  But we also strive really hard for the moments where you're like, "Wow, I did not see that coming!"  So we have to kind of trick you guys and make you think we're going to curve one way and then accidentally curve the other way and throw you all off your game.  

Shannon admits here that she misleads her readers.  Of course she does!  That's been apparent to me all along ever since Kenric died in the Everblaze without a proper description of what really happened and without any sign of a body.  It was too vague and didn't sit right with me.

Kenric is such a great character.  He wouldn't be wasted that way. 

The people who are most active in online discussions apparently believe that Kenric is dead for sure.  They also believe that Kenric isn't Sophie's father because Mr. Forkle says that Kenric isn't. 

I read one comment where a fan pointed out that Mr. Forkle wouldn't lie about Kenric being Sophie's father because Kenric is dead.  What that fan meant is that since Kenric is dead, then the Council couldn't punish him for being Sophie's father.  Therefore, Mr. Forkle would have no reason to hide Kenric's identity as Sophie's father since Kenric is dead.  But that's the problem:  Kenric isn't dead.  Forkle must lie about Kenric being involved because Kenric is in fact alive.   

Now let's get to the important quote where Shannon mentions Kenric's death.

Shannon Messenger Lodestar Interview

There is one character that I won't say who, but they... they didn't make it through Book 3.  And I get a lot of emails from kids like, "Are you gonna bring them back?"  Not really the plan just because if they were still alive, they would basically be the worst person ever for letting everybody mourn for them.  Because it's a world where death is very, very rare and very devastating so it's... Usually if I've said that someone we like dies, they're probably dead.  Because otherwise—they're coming back—they're gonna be a villain because you have to be villainous to fake your death in that kind of world.

All right!  Let's dissect this.  I italicized two phrases that are especially important.  She says that she's been asked if she's bringing Kenric back.  Her response begins with "not really the plan."  That's not a definitive answer.  "Not really the plan" means that it could be the plan.  Who knows?

Shannon also says that "they're probably dead."  She uses "probably" in front of dead which leaves doubt as to whether Kenric is dead.  She also begins that sentence with "usually," so she's saying "usually ... they're probably dead."  Uh, that sounds pretty indefinite if you ask me.

Most importantly, Shannon says that she has a "spoiler-free" policy.  She won't spoil the books, not for anything.  Therefore, we cannot believe what she says about Kenric.  He might or might not be alive.  She's not going to say.  And I would not want her to say for sure.  It's more fun trying to figure it out.

As I have mentioned before, the name "Kenric Elgar Fathdon" is an anagram for "Forkle grin and teach" which translates to "Forkle, Kenric, and Leto."  My conclusion is that Kenric is alive and that he's Forkle/Leto.

For a time, it mystified me that the anagram was in Book 3 when the series is much longer than that.  Shannon at first only had 3 books purchased by Simon & Schuster.  She got a fourth book and didn't know if it would go any farther.  Since she believed that her series would be much shorter, it's logical that she would place a major clue in one of the first few books.  

I suppose it's fortunate that nearly all fans have failed to notice the anagram for Kenric's full name, so the secret remains safe.  I keep mentioning it, but the fan base isn't reading this blog. 

I'm fine with the fan base not reading this blog, since I'm pretty sure that they'd tell me that I'm wrong.  I could be, but I don't think so.

Fan Comments on Kenric and Oralie - Keeper of the Lost Cities

Do not read unless you have read all of the books including #8.5 and #9.  This post contains MAJOR SERIES SPOILERS. 

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It's been difficult finding good discussion about Kenric online.  I found comments by two fans that I really enjoyed reading.

Here's someone who does think that Kenric is Mr. Forkle.

Is Kenric one of Forkle's identities?

It was probably getting hard for the Forkle's to have Kenric, Mr. Forkle, and Magnate Leto, and Sir Astin all in the Lost Cities at the same time.  They probably [killed] Kenric off because he always had so much to do. I mentioned this the other day and someone asked if he would do that to Oralie.  For the greater good of the Lost Cities.  Yes.  I believe he would.

Yes, I absolutely agree with this.  

Here's a different take on the Forgotten Secrets, and I love it!

Opinion on the Kenric and Oralie Enemies to Lovers in Stellarlune

...when I was rereading those moments when they were finding out all the hidden history between Kenric and Oralie I was EATING IT UP.

The enemies to lovers wasn’t even cheap or poorly written.  It was GOOD.  Like, Oralie was clearly this slightly naive, kind of hotheaded, goody-two-shoes type young woman, it was clear that Kenric just didn’t like her attitude.  It doesn’t get more refreshingly straightforward than that. Kenric is the type to have strong beliefs on how things should be, and Oralie intruded on these, so when he was annoyed by her it was so believable.  The whole thing felt natural and it didn’t feel like something added in at this point in the story to try and deepen the lore, it felt like it actually did happen and it truly was just revealed to us.

and also

When Kenric went to Mr. Aria the Matchmaker (forgot his first name oops) and we found out Kenric and Oralie were #1 on each others lists, after reading all the build-up for the whole chapter where Shannon made it clear purely through showing and not telling that Kenric had that burning desire in his heart for Oralie and he was willing to break the LAW to just clear this one little thing that really means nothing but somehow meant everything to HIM????

*gasps* OH MY-

I literally threw my book at the WALL 

I have a different take on the scene with the matchmaker, but I adore this viewpoint as well.  My favorite part of Stellarlune is all of the Forgotten Secrets.  We learn so much from them!

Shannon Messenger Interviews - Keeper of the Lost Cities

I decided to watch as many Shannon Messenger interviews as I could find so that I could hear certain comments for myself.  This post is spoiler free, so it's safe to read if you haven't read through the entire set.

Shannon mentions that the Keeper series is "X-Men meets Lord of the Rings."  Legalos was the inspiration for Sophie.  She wanted a girl to be the protagonist, and she also wanted a large cast of characters so that the protagonist is not the only one saving the day.

Shannon originally planned to be a screenwriter, and her training in movies shaped how she writes.  This is why the Keeper books are so dialogue heavy.  In the later books, I feel that the conversations are way too long, but I concede that children likely really enjoy the endless teasing and banter.  For adult readers, it's a bit much, but the series is aimed at children.  

Shannon Messenger Interview with James Ponti

Shannon had an initial three-book deal, and the series was not a runaway success.  As Shannon finished book 3, she asked whether she needed to wrap it up or whether she could get a fourth book.  She was granted a fourth book but was told that was it.  She said that the same thing happened with book 5, and then the series began to gain momentum, reaching the New York Times bestsellers list.  After that, it became her decision on how many books to write.

Shannon Messenger 2017 Book Signing

At the beginning of the above video, Shannon says that she had trouble selling the first Keeper book.  She was unknown, and middle-grade fantasy is hard to break into.  The protagonist is almost always a boy.  Also, Shannon was told that her book was too long.

Interview with Adrian Beck

Once I had an agent and we went to shop the series, I ... told her that I now could see this being 8, 9, 10 books.  She was just like, "Okay, so we need to talk about the realities of publishing.  You're a debut author.  No one's going to buy 10 books from you."  It would have been nice, but I got very lucky that they were even willing to buy 3 and ... we had to wait and see from there how the series would do. 

First, I was a little bit like ... how am I going to do that.  And then I realized that I had a lot of villains and so the easiest way ... was to just hold back on the villains until I knew how many books I was going to get to have.  So that’s why the first three ... only have a couple of villains and then we get a couple more in the next, [books] 4 and 5, and then definitely get some more in [books] 6, 7, and 8.  And so, everyone sort of wondered like had I just been making up new villains to stretch out the series?  And it's like, no, I was planning those all along...  

Publishing's a business, you know, and so we had to kind of wait and then when they bought Book 5, [I was told that] many series are 5 books [total].  And I just got very lucky that Book 5 was the one that hit the New York Times list and the series had really started to get legs under it and so they said, "You can keep going."  And so then we had ... book 6 and 7, ... then they were just like however many you want.  And so now I’m in this really nice position where I’m getting to let the story sort of dictate how many books there will be instead of having to arbitrarily say, "There will be this many."  

This explains we have no inkling about certain villains and plot points during the first few books.  Shannon didn't know if she would be able to tell the complete story.  By necessity, the plot had to be rolled out gradually.

In this next video, it's fun to witness the audience's reaction when Shannon says that she knows who Sophie's biological parents are.  Of course she does!

Shannon Messenger Tour

Just like I know who Sophie's biological parents are.  You guys think I could be this many books into the series and not know that and just... pick randomly?!  I have to know these things...  I just don't have to tell them to you guys.

This last quote is about the ending of #9 Stellarlune.  The quote is vague and doesn't spoil anything, but if you're like me, then you don't want to see even vague commentary about a book that you haven't read yet.  If this describes you, then stop reading this post now.

Stellarlune Interview

The ... reveal that happens at the end of this is something that is integral to the series.  It's one of the darkest secrets of the Lost Cities, and it’s something that I always knew existed and I always wanted to address but I just wasn’t sure if I was going to get there.  And so now that the series has become as successful as it is, I get to have the number of books that the series needs to really tell the full story.  It was like, okay, we're doing this then ...  It’s just this moment that you know in many ways, the journey getting there has been full of surprises ...  I also, I fully knew that if I could—if I had my way—that this is where we were going to and so it was really cool to finally write that moment where ... the veils drop and we get this reveal and ... I hope they like this! 

I am so intrigued by this!  This development will undoubtedly change everything.  It's neat that it was planned all along and kept from us until Shannon knew that she would have enough books to tell the full story.  

Fan Theories on Keeper of the Lost Cities

I read through the Keeper of the Lost Cities series twice from March 13 through May 22.  I continued thinking about the books throughout the summer and perused online discussions periodically.  In August, I decided that I should read the books again, for the third time.  For my third reading, I had a specific focus that was different from my previous one.

I have created a page with handy links to all of my posts on this series.

View them here:  Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories

This post and upcoming ones contain my thoughts on my third reading of the books.

Do not read further unless you have read all of the books including #8.5 and #9.  This post contains MAJOR SERIES SPOILERS. 

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I continue to wonder about Fintan and the scene where he and Kenric appear to die.  We know that Fintan faked his death, and Kenric had to have faked his death as well, even though that hasn't yet been revealed in the books.

Quite a few people speculate that Kenric is alive.  This theory gets shut down fast each time someone mentions it.  The fans who say Kenric is dead dominate any discussion where anyone thinks otherwise.  My frustration with the lack of discussion about Kenric's uncertain death is what led me to read through the set three times.  Since I can't find much discussion supporting what I believe, I have had to search the books for evidence.

Fans think that Kenric must be dead because it's unthinkable that he would hurt Oralie by faking his death.  They feel that Oralie would be devastated if she were to learn that Kenric faked his death.  In one brief discussion, a fan did pose the thought that Oralie would be happy to learn that Kenric is alive.  I'm not sure why no one else thinks of that.  

Yes, Oralie would be very angry with Kenric at first if he were to reappear alive, having faked his death.  However, Kenric would no doubt have a good explanation for his actions, which would result in Oralie forgiving him.  Ultimately, she'd be happy to have her Kenric back.

Some fans also believe that Shannon Messenger hasn't killed off enough characters.  This is considered a weakness on her part.  These fans are very against the idea that Kenric could be resurrected at some point.  I guess I have trouble understanding why it's so important for enough characters to be killed by a children's book author.  The series is, after all, a children's book series.

Besides, the elves are said to have no crime and very few deaths.  It seems to me that having few deaths fits Messenger's near-ideal elf world perfectly.

I believe Kenric is alive, because of all the clues.  His name is Kenric Elgar Fathdon, which is an anagram with all letters used exactly once and none left over:  "Forkle grin and teach."

That's rather specific.  "Grin" refers to Kenric, and "teach" refers to Leto.  The phrase translates to "Forkle, Kenric, and Leto."  Kenric is Forkle and Leto.  If you've read my past posts, then you know that I'm 100% convinced of this and that I've found plenty of evidence to support my belief, in addition to the anagram.

When I can use every letter in a name exactly once and create a phrase that is relevant to the series plot, then I believe that the name was crafted to form that specific anagram.  There is no way this means anything other than what it appears to mean.

These are the anagrams I've found.

Kenric Elgar Fathdon is "Forkle grin and teach."
Connor Kate Natalie Freeman is "one Forkle at a main entrance."
Ethan Benedict Wright II is "grin teach tweed inhibit." 
Eleanor Olivia Wright is "love Oralie with a grin." 

These are very simple anagrams that are much easier to spot.

Kerlof is "Forkle."
Tiergan is "Granite."

I also believe that Kenric is Sophie's biological father.  There are just too many clues pointing to this for anything else to be true.  I have detailed the clues in one of my past posts.  This is another theory that has been mentioned online quite a few times and is also shut down fast with little dissent. 

People think Kenric isn't Sophie's father because Forkle has told Sophie that Kenric isn't her father.  But Forkle lies. 

Book 8.5, Page 375   [Mr. Forkle] lies sometimes.  Maybe all the time.  Who knows?

We've been told multiple times that Mr. Forkle is a liar.  Forkle has admitted that he's lied to Sophie about important information.  Forkle can be quite convincing, but I think he's lying or tricking Sophie with what he says.  If Forkle is Kenric, then he's going to lie about Kenric being Sophie's father. 

Book 4, Page 368   "Someday you may understand," Mr. Forkle told Sophie.  "But for now I can at least assure you—as I did with your concerns about Jolie—that I am not your genetic father."  Keefe grabbed Mr. Forkle's wrist.  "He's telling the truth.  And... he actually feels kinda bad about it."

That just means that the Mr. Forkle speaking in that scene isn't Sophie's father.  His twin could be.

Book 4, Page 369   Mr. Forkle sighed.  I can tell you're still pondering possibilities.  So I will add that your genetic parents had no connection to each other.  There was no unrequited love.  They weren't even friends.  I did that purposely, because I couldn't allow them to know who each other were.

This statement is part lie and part clever wording. 

Forkle says that Sophie's parents had "no connection."  This part is an outright lie.  But then, it also could be clever wording.  What is meant by the word "connection"?  Kenric and Oralie certainly knew each other, so they were connected.  However, a synonym of connection is relationship.  A relationship could just be friends, which Kenric and Oralie were.  A relationship could be marriage or by blood, which they were not.  Kenric and Oralie had a connection, but then they didn't.

A phrase can be twisted to mean the opposite of what it means at face value.  Mr. Forkle is speaking in a clever fashion that is deliberately misleading.

Forkle says that there was "no unrequited love."  "Unrequited love" is when one loves another person who doesn't return the feelings.  Kenric and Oralie both loved each other; the feelings weren't unrequited.  They simply didn't act on their feelings.  "No unrequited love" is a true statement about Kenric and Oralie.

Forkle says that they weren't friends.  At first, Kenric and Oralie were not friends.  This is revealed in the Forgotten Secrets of Book 9.  Forkle's statement about them not being friends was true at one point in time.  They were friends later.  But then, one could say that they secretly loved each other, so they weren't friends.  They were lovers who weren't acting on their feelings.

Book 5, Page 43   "Was Kenric my father?  He was a Telepath.  And he was always so kind to me."  Her throat closed off as she remembered his bright smiles.  The red-haired Councillor had been one of Sophie's strongest supporters, right up until the day she'd lost him to Fintan's inferno of Everblaze.  Magnate Leto reached for Sophie's hand, tracing a finger across the star-shaped scar he'd accidentally given her when he healed her abilities.  "Kenric wasn't involved with Project Moonlark.  And that's all I can tell you.  Some secrets must remain hidden."

I believe that Leto's statement is technically true but highly misleading.  I finally worked out what he is doing.  Councillor Kenric was not involved with Project Moonlark; rather, Mr. Forkle was involved.  Kenric's Black Swan activities were, technically speaking, completed as Mr. Forkle.  So, it is true to say that Kenric wasn't involved.

Also, Leto is tracing Sophie's scar as he says that Kenric wasn't involved.  It's like he's talking about the scar, which was caused by Forkle.  Kenric didn't cause the scar, not technically.

I put little weight on Leto's statements, since I believe he is twisting his words to mislead Sophie.

A lot of fans don't think Kenric is Forkle because they doubt he would have hurt Oralie by faking his death.  I even believed that at first, which threw me off.  However...

If Kenric is Forkle, then Kenric is a pair of identical twins.  This means that Oralie was in love with a pair of twins, which is an impossible situation.  Kenric (the two of them) could never be with Oralie, so I can see why Kenric would fake his death instead of resigning from the Council.  If Kenric had resigned, then Oralie might have resigned as well.  How would the twins have dealt with that?  

I do go back and forth on whether one twin or both were in love with Oralie. 

1.  When I first wrote this post, my thinking was that one twin loved Oralie.  The other twin was in the Forgotten Secrets where he wasn't being very nice to Oralie.  I thought the deceased twin is the one who did not love Oralie, and the one still alive does.

2.  By the time I revised this post, my mind had changed.  I now think that both twins loved Oralie.  They had to feel the same way about everything because of their shared identity.  In the Forgotten Secret from Oralie's cache, Oralie tells Kenric (page 533, Book 8.5), "You can't hide your feelings, Kenric.  They're there—every time I'm around you."  Both twins must have loved Oralie, or she would have detected a difference. 

I assume that the living twin is Sophie's father.

A very popular fan theory is that Elwin is Sophie's father.  This belief comes from one statement made by Elwin.  

Book 8, page 510:  So she told Livvy and Elwin, "He won't tell me who my biological parents are.  Even though I deserve to know."  "You definitely deserve to know that," Elwin agreed, narrowing his eyes at Mr. Forkle.

Fans have decided that Elwin's statement means that Elwin is her father.  However, Elwin was simply stating his belief that Sophie has a right to know, and most anyone would agree.  If Elwin were the male donor to Project Moonlark, he'd be leery of the consequences, so I doubt that he would have made that statement if he were Sophie's father.

A lot of fans think that either Brant, Gethen, or Fintan is Sophie's biological father.  If either Brant or Gethen were Sophie's father, it would just be gross.  Brant and Gethen are both murderers with no redeeming qualities. 

Fintan, at least, has some redeeming qualities, even though he's one of the villains.  I feel kind of sorry for Fintan with how he was forced not to use his talent.  Even so, I very much doubt that Fintan is Sophie's father.  Fintan is not where the clues lead.  They lead to Kenric.

Going back to how I began this post, I believe that Fintan is very important and in ways that have not been revealed.  Fintan is connected to Elysian somehow.  The butterflies mentioned in the Forgotten Secrets of Book 9 are in Fintan's memories in Book 2. 

[June 2024 Correction:  Upon reading Book 2 again, I noticed that the memory from Book 2, Page 239 is from Prentice's mind.  Since Kenric entered Fintan's mind, he could still have gotten the memory from Fintan and then saved it in Prentice's mind, since Prentice was his Keeper.  It's also possible that Kenric saved his own memory of Elysian in Prentice's mind.]

As I reread the books, I checked every mention of Fintan very carefully to see if I could figure anything out.  Fintan is always saying, "Something's missing."  Indeed.  Readers are missing information about Fintan, which is why we can't quite make sense of his plans.

Tiergan is also of deep interest to me.  I believe his allegiance is exactly what we believe it to be, which is with the Black Swan, but there is something from his past that has been withheld from us.  I wonder what it is and whether it is something very important.  I paid close attention to Tiergan as I reread the books.

Fans really dislike Oralie.  This is because of Sophie's attitude towards Oralie in the later books.  Sophie is highly resentful that Oralie kept secrets, not telling her that she was Sophie's mother.  Sophie is also resentful that Oralie is a Councillor, which means that Sophie can never reveal her mother's identity and can never be matched.

Sophie's attitude is understandable but a bit irrational.  After all, Sophie would not exist if her biological parents hadn't donated to Project Moonlark.

I think Sophie has such intense anger towards Oralie for reasons that she hasn't articulated.  Sophie says that it's because of the secrets and because of her unmatchable status.  I believe that the real reason for the anger is because of how very much Sophie has always liked Oralie.  If Sophie had been raised by Oralie, then she would have quite naturally had a very close relationship with her.  Sophie feels cheated.  Sure, she's had other great parents, but she can never experience what it would have been like to have been raised by her biological parents.

Additional posts will follow.  I will include a brief synopsis of each book.  I am having trouble remembering when certain events happened, so I want to get that information in this blog.  I also will include any additional thoughts that I have.

More Keeper of the Lost Cities Posts + a Brief Reading Update

I am on the cusp of scheduling my upcoming Keeper of the Lost Cities posts for publication.  The posts were not written in the order that they will publish.  Some of what will publish first was written last. 

This means that some of my commentary on certain theories might be contradictory or circular in argument.  I have decided not to edit too much and to let what I wrote stand for itself.  For some theories, I continue to go back and forth on what I think, so I will contradict myself at times.  I can't help that.

In preparation for this latest round of posts, I put together a page listing all of my posts on the Keeper of the Lost Cities series.  I have split the posts into two lists for posts that are spoiler-free and for posts that contain spoilers.  The posts with spoilers contain major late series spoilers and should be avoided until all books in the series have been read.  Spoiler-free posts are fine for everyone to read.

Keeper of the Lost Cities Summaries, Reviews, and Theories

I set up a Tumblr account a few months back.  I'm finally using it for some of my Keeper of the Lost Cities content.  

Series Books for Girls on Tumblr

The total number of different books I've read in 2023 is pretty low at 42 books.  If I'm allowed to count the Keeper books multiple times, then that will raise my total to 62 books, which sounds better.  Since I usually don't read books multiple times during the same year, I think I will go with the number of different books, placing my total so far at 42.

I hope that I can get myself to read some other books in the coming weeks, once I finish reading Keeper #9 Stellarlune for the third time.  

It does occur to me to wonder how many books I read last year.  Oh!  I only read 47 books in 2022.

Books Read and Media Consumed in 2022

Gosh, that means that I've read more this year than last year.  I have read the equivalent of 62 books, although only 42 different books.  Hmm.

It seems like I could motivate myself into beating last year's total by reading just six more books.  I should try!  I'm not sure what I would read. 

Maybe I can find something that will appeal to me.  I will attempt to read at least six more books.  If I do it, then great.  If not, then at least I will finish 2023 having read the equivalent of more books than I did in 2022.