The Edge Chronicles/Headscratchers

• Okay, I've read the first book, and is it just me or does the Termagant Trogs sequence seem to indicate the author has... issues... with women?
  • You could argue that, perhaps along with the Shrykes and such, but it seems more likely they are simply playing on the Common theme in nature that the Females of a species will be larger or more deadly than the males; For example Mosquitos, along with many Reptiles and Insects. Somewhat less common in mammals.
  • There's also some pretty rampant sexism going on with females who aren't Shrykes or Termagant Trogs. It seems to be a given that girls can have a few little adventures as long as they're being looked after by responsible men (best highlighted with Maris in the Quint trilogy), but once they grow up it's on with marriage, babies and get back in the kitchen. Even Maris, who this troper had high hopes for, ended up being remembered, not for her instances of badass, but for being 'Mother Maris'. And let's not forget Keris who, being only a girl, CLEARLY had no use for her father's sword. Oh no, just give her a little trinket and she'll be a-okay. I was so disappointed with the ending of The Slaughterer's Quest that I honestly very nearly cried. So only the MALES of the Verginix line are allowed to be badass? What gives?
    • First off, I think the sword point may have been more to do with her living in a slaughterer village than anything. Also, that Twig may have still needed the sword if he was going off to find his crew. But onto my main point; I haven't read The Immortals yet, so I don't have the full spectrum to compare across, but it seems to me that the attitude towards women may have been deliberate. One thing I love about The Edge Chronicles is that society changes as time goes on, and one thing that changes seems to be the attitude towards women. In The First Age of Flight, then yes, it seems very much that women are expected to stay out of trouble. There are no women at The Knight's Academy, Maris, when she joins The Galerider is basically the nurse of the group, and Maugin hides behind a hood and shocks Twig when she reveals her gender (by the way, no-one can tell me Maugin isn't badass; she set herself on fire to save the ship). By the time we get to the Rook trilogy, however, things have clearly changed. Varis Lodd is the most renowned knight academic around, and obviously girls are allowed to become them. There is sexism in the society - blatantly highlighted by Magda getting booed when her name was announced to go study - but there has been progression. And OK, maybe Magda does get saved by a male, but she can clearly survive fine on her own. And for the "remembered for motherhood" point, I don't know about Magda, but Varis couldn't possibly have been remembered as anything other than an absolute hero. As I said, I haven't read The Immortals yet, but from what I have read, it seems society has progressed quite naturally in this regard.
• How come nobody bothers to tell Rook about his heritage until the end of Freeglader? And even then, it's Tem, not anybody who, you know, was actually in a state to tell him before that. Tweezel obviously knew, given his little exposition party with Xanth. He can't have been the only one, not when the only guy left with the name of Barkwater married Keris and then disappeared... then oh hey, kid with the name of Barkwater pops up. Okay, granted, we don't know how much was generally known about Keris's heritage - but come on, her surname was still Verginix when she arrived in the Free Glades, and according to the timeline she was there for sixteen years before she and Shem left. Even if nobody else remembered, Tweezel doesn't really have any excuse.
• Am I the only one who only liked the first book? The rest seemed awful and I can't figure out why. Anyone else notice a change or something?
  • I did like all the books, but I see they were different after the first one. The first book's plot wasn't very complex; kid gets lost in the woods, meets monsters, finds his destiny. And we never deviated from Twig's point of view. After that, a lot more plot threads started creeping in, and we didn't get as much of the different creatures. Basically, they became a bit more typical. I love all the books, but the first is always a bit special for being distinctive in its' style, and I can see how someone could like that one and not the others.
• What happened to Goom and Woodfish? In The Immortals it was revealed that Maugin was killed just before Twig got back to Riverrise, but Goom and Woodfish aren't mentioned. Did they just get tired of waiting and leave? They're not mentioned in The Stone Pilot either.
  • Goom left because he couldn't resist the call of the Great Convocation of Banderbears. Woodfish wandered off later on.
    • But... where did it say that? Did I just miss something in the books, or was this said by the author somewhere else?