Backdrops and Extras
The historical novel is often focused upon those events which make their way into the history books. The narrator recognizes that for the larger segment of the population at the time, those events were not first and foremost in their own minds. “The great events of an age appear, to those living through them, as backdrops only to the vastly more compelling dramas of their own lives, and how could it be otherwise?” The simile here uses the term “backdrops” in juxtaposition with “compelling dramas” to situate great historical events as a theatrical presentation, subtly suggesting that that most of those appearing in the drama are basically extras going about their own daily lives without even noticing the textbook-worthy events playing out around them.
Politics
The backdrop to the personal dramas playing out in this particular production is, predictably enough, a battle for territory. But within that predictable battle for territory is, also somewhat predictable, a battle within the royal family. “The poison that mattered had not been on his son’s arrow, but was lying in wait: the venom lay in how much power Sarantium would have if Batiara fell into its grasp.” Shirvan is the King of Knigs of Bassania has just recently survived an attempted assassination at the hands of his own son. It is his survival of this attempted patricide/regicide that allows events to be set in motion. As things turn out, it might have been better for almost everyone if the literal venom in the arrow been more toxic than the metaphorical venom fueling the power play over Batiara.
Morning Brings the Check
Some expressions can be interpreted both literally and metaphorically. For instance, “Eventually, morning came. Morning always comes. There are always losses in the night, a price paid for light.” This is an observation that can easily be applied quite literally to the idea of waking in the morning after a brutal battle to find casualties actually suffered are far greater than those merely surmised. Context becomes everything in these cases and the context in which this assertion is thought by Crispin makes it clear that he is definitely not referring to the casualties of war as the losses that will be paid when the metaphorical morning brings it metaphorical light.
Mosaical
The protagonist of this series is a mosaicist and the art of working in mosaic art runs deeply throughout the books. It should only be expected that references to the aesthetics would also inform the comparative foundation of similes. “In fact, he felt suddenly as though his boots were set into the marble floor like . . . tesserae in a setting bed, fixed for centuries to come.” The he is Pardos, and the sight which makes him stand in place unable to move as though he were himself a single square within a magnificently grander mosaic is the realization of what Caius Crispus of Varena, his teacher, is planning with his work on the dome of the Sanctuary of the Emperor Valerius.
Dangerous Women
Crispin in a low craftsman of the art of mosaics. Queen Gisel is women he himself thinks must one of the loneliest in Sarantium. This is a recipe for disaster brewed in a scene in which she erases much of the distance between their stature and suggests she kisses him for other citizens to see. The narrator describes the queen in that moment: “A mood so bright it was a danger in itself.” The danger here is one that has produced metaphors about being damned if you head for the rock and damned if you head for the hard place. Being stuck in that situation by yourself is bad enough, but the brightness of the queen’s mood is illuminating his predicament for others to witness. He has no way out. The only person who can save him is the queen herself dimming that mood.
