Which was Pritkin’s original name? Because Rosier calls him Emrys and Cassie refer to him in a pair of cases as Myrddin that later got changed in Merlin.
Emrys was the name his mother gave him. So, yes, it was his first.
About the gods, I was wondering if they have a physical body or if they simply assume one when they want, a little like Saleh, and in that case if they can make themselves whatever body they want, or if they have basically a default physical shape, like Rosier. And in both cases, if they can have physical impairments or deformities, since in Greek myths Hephaestus was both ugly and lame and in Norse mythology Odin sacrificed an eye to his quest for knowledge.
First, yes, they have a physical body, a “default shape” which they retain throughout the old legends (Hera is always identifiable as Hera, for example, as is Zeus, Apollo, etc.) But it’s also accepted that they can transform themselves at will. Zeus often did so when he wanted to seduce someone without his wife’s knowledge. And you saw Apollo transformed in my books at the end of Curse the Dawn.
But it takes a lot of power to manifest as a swan or an eagle or a shower of gold! So it is safe to say that Cassie’s mother can no longer transform by the time Cassie meets her. Otherwise, getting away from the Spartoi would have been much easier!
Second, in my universe, the ancient myths were reported and embroidered upon by humans for thousands of years after the gods had left. The core stories, therefore, have to be interpreted (as Jonas noted) in order to be understood. Some things are obviously later add-ons, while others have become mangled over time. So what did Odin’s sacrifice really mean?
He gave up something in return for some kind of knowledge, but what it was and what he received in return is debatable. It was hardly a physical eye (since, if he could transform, he could simply make himself another one). But it could have been something connected with vision—oversight of a particular matter, perhaps? And in return for turning a “blind eye” to someone’s activities, he received some sort of information he would not otherwise have had. So the legend could be metaphorical.
As far as the case of Hephaestus, though, we know that the gods can be injured. You saw this in the case of Apollo, where the Ouroboros left him a shadow of his former self before Cassie and Pritkin faced him. Perhaps Hephaestus was injured, too, and by Hera as the legends say.
Which is stronger, Fae wine or the berries liquor Pritkin, Casanova and Caleb were drinking in the pub in the Shadowland?
Lol! Good question. The answer depends on what you mean by strong. Both will get you very, very drunk. But fey wine will also bring out latent magical abilities, assuming you have them, and can get you in a lot more trouble than the average drunken spree!
The Greek/Norse gods are those Marlowe’s beetle called the Æsir, the lord of battle, right? It’s that how they called themselves? If it’s not spoiler, are we going to see/meet the Vanir or at least know what happened to them?
Yes. They are also mentioned in the books, by the way. Check out the first Dory book, which explains something about them and their relations with the Fey.
If I didn’t misunderstand Louis-Cesare was on the Titanic and I was wondering if he chose to take Dory in that memory or if the memories they passed were random.
In a moment of panic (don’t tell him I said that) and not having had any previous experience with those sorts of mental gymnastics, he took her into another moment of panic from his past. But he got the hang of it shortly thereafter, and took them somewhere he thought they would be able to lose their pursuer. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out quite as he’d planned!
Hi! I loved reading Tempt the Stars: My question is– In the end, Cassie is sacrificing her life to buy time for the witches and kids to get out. She is saved at the last moment by the Demon Council. How are they able to do this if she has gone back in time? Moreover, how can the witches and Rhea, who accompanied her, get back to their time without Cassie? Would there not be 2 sets of past/present witches inhabiting the present moment?
First, as to the witches. Cassie took them out of the present and returned them to the recent past. There were therefore two sets of witches for that time period (about fifteen minutes)–one in Britain and one in Vegas. But after those fifteen minutes were up, there was only the group in Britain. Because the Vegas ones had just gone back in time.
Second, as to the demon council. Cassie had, again, only gone back in time for a short jump (fifteen minutes). She did not jump back to before she met the council. So they were monitoring her at that point, as Adra later admitted. And naturally, suddenly having two Cassies was going to get their attention. They were watching both of them, but specifically the one in London, because she was the one doing something other than sitting on a sofa! Hope that helps.