#ragpicker king

Next up we have Ciprian Cabrol. I won’t go over what we know about him from the last book because he has a pretty significant role in it, but I will mention in a RK snippet he has become well integrated into high society and his family have become well known dye merchants and with the way Joss talks about it it’s possible they’ve taken over the charter from the Charlon’s however that is unconfirmed. His fox mask is presumedly the mask he will wear at the masquerade ball and despite his new higher status he continue to wear a outfit more fitting of the working class likely showing he has yet to completely fit into his new life. The bucket behind him is presumedly pouring out a bunch of dye and his entire background is dripping in color due to his reclamation as a dye merchant. In the foreground Ciprian only has two plants: Half a pomegranate and a single marigold. The pomegranate I don’t have a super clear idea on but considering Lin also has pomegranates in her art it might symbolize the two of them falling deeper and deeper into noble politics similar to Persephone’s decent into the underworld. Another option is it symbolizes the same thing as the marigold that I’m 90% sure signifies the fact he’s going to die. The only other instance of marigolds in the artwork is in Vienne’s portrait and she died pretty quickly after her introduction.

Next we have Artal Gremont, Antonetta’s fiancé. I have the least to say about him since his portrait is pretty clear cut. He carries a teacup with a teapot in the corner clearly representing his ownership of the tea charter. There are chain in his background and there is a pit of unlocked shackles seemingly falling from his hands symbolized his new found freedom from exile. There are a multitude of jewels in the background as well, likely representing his noble status and immense wealth. The most interesting things about his portrait is the lack of the amulet the mystery lady gave him in the RK snippet and the gold whips around him in the background. The whips could either signify something he’s going to do in the book(likely to Antonetta) or it could be meant to represent he’s being threatened by mystery lady. Also worth noting this is yet another portrait with flowers.

Aron Benjudah is next. He is the exilarch of the Ashland and is in charge of making sure Lin is actually the Goddess returned, to which he is highly doubtful. His arms and chest are both covered in writing, likely for religious reason and possibly be the Goddeses Prayer that all Ashland are required to carry on their person at all times, while he stays dressed fairly modestly but notably not wearing the blue and grey Ashland are required to wear in Castellane which I can defiantly see become a point of conflict in the book even if it’s brief. His background isn’t super interesting, it’s a stained glass window of a tree with two hands with eyes in the center on either side. The pattern likely has some religious or wordbuilding reason but I can’t tell much about it. He notable also spent a have any flowers in his portrait.

And last but not least we have Elsabet Bellamy, a Princess of Malgasi who is highly dislike by her people and almost defiantly the mystery lady Artal talked to in the snippet. The reasons why she’s almost definitely the mystery lady comes down to three things: One, mystery lady is described as having a very dark color scheme which fits what she looks like in this portrait; Two, Elsabet is described as having “intriguing powers” and we know for a fact mystery lady has magic; Three, Artal says “I suppose you would know.” To mystery lady when discussing how royal blood demands royal blood in marriage. Back to the portrait, Elsabet is dressed ready for combat and stealth with her dark clothes and many belts, but she’s also wearing a long bright red ribbon on her arm which doesn’t entirely fit. She is carrying two daggers one that looks to be dripping in blood but that could just be the red smoke surrounding her. There are numerous faint outlines of daggers encircling her either signifying she’s dangerous or she is being threatened. There are a lot of crossing spears behind her, feeding into her warrior aesthetic and in the foreground we have something that could either be fire to continue style theme that’s she’s dangerous, or some sort of magic effect to signify her “intriguing powers”. She also doesn’t have any flowers.

5⭐️

Oh hot damn.

The Ragpicker King by Cassandra Clare felt like a masterclass in fantasy. Packed with political mind games, fiery romance, pulls for power and mystical mysteries; Clare’s sequel to Sword Catcher was every bit a fantastical spectacle.

I loved this book so much that I’m struggling to put it into words. My brain is the equivalent of a keyboard smash right now. But all my thoughts on The Ragpicker King can be found on my blog: (x). Here’s a taste:

First off, I really enjoyed the phenomenal character development Clare weaved into such a fantastic plot. Normally you get one or the other in a fantasy book, but Clare did both justice. However, I really thought the character development was out of this world in this sequel.

In particular, Clare did this wonderful thing of juxtaposing Conor and Kel as they developed. As Conor gets more serious about his duty as future King, Kel loosens his reins on being a Sword Catcher. We see them both make mistakes in their duties: Kel eating the nut and then Conor acting as if he didn’t speak to someone when Kel was posing as him.

Then we have the two big turning points for each that parallel each other: Kel canoodling with Antonetta at the Caravel and then Conor sleeping with Lin in the folly. Both have a moment where they put duty aside to get what they personally want, and it’s impossible to turn back.