Suitabook13 Day War
Richard S. Tuttle
- Reading
- Pause at the dilemma to talk through the competing stakes, then check in afterwards about how the battle and prophecy affected the reading experience.
- Themes
- Mercy during war: King Arik asks his knights to spare as many enemy soldiers as possible, despite the danger facing Alcea. This creates a tension between sparing lives and protecting one’s own side; the story’s overall judgement of the choice is unclear.
- Victory and the prophecy: The Great Demon is said to have started the war to obtain a million tears and fulfil an ancient prophecy; battlefield victory may enable that plan. The conflict makes military success morally complicated, but the outline does not establish how the prophecy is ultimately understood or addressed.
- Worth knowing
- War is described as bloody, with death threatened for Alceans who are defeated. The prophecy also involves a million tears and the prospect of eternal servitude.