Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Unhinged Speculations #1

This post was inspired by a YouTube video by PolandBananasBooks here. In this post, you will see my sometimes, well, unhinged, speculations about upcoming books. Things from character identities to plot points to prophecies. I will do later posts with more Unhinged Speculations and proving/disproving previous ones. Warning: A) there may be spoilers  B) if you have not read the book/series you may not understand the Unhinged Speculation, and C) there may be much ranting. Now! Let the Unhinged Speculations commence!

The Heroes of Olympus Series by Rick Riordan
In the last book in the Percy Jackson series, a new great prophecy is introduced. It states:

Seven half-bloods shall answer the call
To storm or fire the world must fall
An oath to keep with a final breath
As foes bear arms to the doors of death

After reading the first three books (The Lost Hero, The Son of Neptune, and The Mark of Athena) readers know that the seven from the first line are Leo Valdez, Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Frank Zhang, Hazel Levesque, Percy Jackson, and Annabeth Chase. The second line says that the world will fall to storm or fire. This immediately points to Leo, the son of Hephaestus and fire user, and Jason, son of Zeus. So does that mean that Jason or Leo will destroy the world? I think not. The enemy in these books is Gaea. Well, the world is earth. The latin root for earth is terra. Gaea's Roman name was Terra. That being said, it implies that Jason and Leo will not destroy the world, but Gaea. The third line makes no sense. It's seems that someone is keeping a promise and will die. As foes bear arms to the doors of death is being slowly explained. Jason, Frank, and Hazel are Roman. Percy, Annabeth, Leo, and Piper are Greek. This sets up the foes. They will go to the doors of death with weapons. They will most likely be cooperating, but will have to fight to close the doors of death. There is obviously a final battle coming, and it's not going to be pretty. For readers, keep your eyes open for the release of The House of Hades which comes out this fall and will hopefully prove/disprove some of these theories.

The Lunar Chronicles-Cress by Marissa Meyer
In the first book in the Lunar Chronicles, the character Cinder finds out that she is not only a cyborg, but a Lunar and a princess. In book two, Scarlet, the character Scarlet finds out that her grandmother was part of an experiment done by Cinder's stepfather on Cinder and her grandmother. Her grandmother had also sheltered Cinder as a child. The fourth book of the series, Winter, is about princess Winter of Luna. Her step-mother is the evil Queen Levena. Winter refuses to manipulate bioelectricity like her step-mother. Both characters have a connection to Cinder. But book three, which releases next January, is about the character Cress, and, as far as readers know, she has no solid connection to Cinder. In Cinder, Dr. Erland is Lunar. He came to earth after his daughter, who was a shell, was killed by Levena. Cinder is talking to Dr. Erland when he says this.

"And so my little Crescent Moon was taken away, like all the others. She would be about your age now." ~Page 243

After reading that line, I got to thinking. A nickname for Crescent Moon might be Cress. And Cress is about Cinder's age, as Crescent Moon would be. I have further proof of this from two things. First, here is a tweet I sent to the author last night.


Then there is even further evidence again provided by the author. This morning, the first chapter of Cress was released online. In it, Cress is called Crescent. The full quote is:

"My dear, sweet Crescent, you have earned the trust and respect of Her Majesty, the Queen. You are welcome to return with me to Luna and be accepted as one of us."

This shows that her name is Crescent. She is repeatedly called that throughout the chapter. There is another quote that gives another hint at who she is:

"Unlike Cress, who was a true shell, Linh Cinder had the Lunar gift."

This shows that Cress is short for Crescent and that she is a shell. With these in mind, I confidently say that I believe that Cress is actually Crescent Moon, the daughter of Dr. Erland. She was imprisoned by the queen and was then forced to spy on the Earthen nations.

Ruby Red Series by Kerstin Gier
I didn't get this theory at first. It was pointed out to me by someone else and now seems fairly obvious. In the series, Gwen's parents are Grace and Nicholas Shepard. Nicholas died when Gwen was young. Her cousin Lucy Montrose and Paul  de Villiers ran away and stayed with Grace and Nathan right around the time Gwen was born. We learn in the book that Gwen's mother fudged her birthday by one day so that no one would know that Gwen is the last in the time traveling Circle of Twelve, the Ruby. From that, we know that Gwen has a mother who is willing to fudge the truth in order to 'protect' her (whether she was right to do so is still undetermined). Lucy and Paul could both travel through time, and disappeared into the past after leaving Grace and Nathan's house. So, Gwen is a time-traveler who was born at the same time that two other time travelers disappeared. Note, time traveling is a gene that skips generations. Read these quotes and try to figure out what I'm implying before I tell you my theory. From book one Ruby Red:

"'We shouldn't have abandoned her. She needs us! We've no idea if our bluff will word ... and no chance of ever finding out now.'
'We'd have been even less use to her dead.'
'If we could only have hidden away with her somewhere far off, under other names, until she was old enough to-'
'They'd have found us anywhere we went; we've discussed that a thousand times already. We didn't abandon her. We did the only right thing: we made it possible for her to live in safety. At least for the next sixteen years.'
'I know you're right. It just hurts so much that we'll never see her again.'"
~Conversation between Lucy Montrose and Paul de Villiers after they travel into the past, Ruby Red

"'She looks just like you,' she said suddenly.
He knew at once who she was talking about. 'No, she looks like you, Princess! It's only her hair she gets from me.'
'And that way of tilting her head to one side when she's thinking something over.'
'She's beautiful isn't she?'
She nodded. 'Isn't it strange? Two months ago we held her in our arms as a newborn baby, and now she's sixteen, and half a head taller than me. And only two years younger!'"
~Conversation between Lucy Montrose and Paul de Villiers in the past, Ruby Red

If my guess is correct, in both instances, they are talking about the main character Gwen. That being said, I believe that Gwyneth Shepard is actually Gwyneth Montrose-de Villiers, Lucy and Paul's daughter. Both quotes imply this as well as minor lines throughout the first two books. The third and final book, Emerald Green, releases in October and this theory will either be proved or disproved!

Bloodlines Series by Richelle Mead
At the end of Bloodlines, readers find out that the main character Sydney is a witch. This role is developed through the next two books and she begins to use magic as well as date a vampire. The problem is, Sydney works for the Alchemists. The Alchemists are dedicated to keeping vampires a secret and hate them, along with magic. Alchemists suspected of working with vampires are sent to 'Reeducation' and come back in a zombie-like state. Sydney, is using magic AND dating a vampire. Her younger sister and fellow Alchemist Zoe shows up at the end of the most recent book, The Indigo Spell, and it's a recipe for disaster. The author Richelle Mead has warned readers that, while the next book, The Fiery Heart, will be hotter than ever, it will be like one of her previous books, Shadow Kiss. Knowing how that turned out, readers have the right to be worried. My worry? I worry that the Alchemists will find out about Sydney and send her to Reeducation at the end of The Fiery Heart. It's bound to happen eventually. The Alchemists will accept the fact that she's a witch and is dating a vampire as soon as the sky turns purple and is made hedgehogs (Cassandra Clare reference, lovers of The Infernal Devices will know).

My second Unhinged Speculation has to do with Sydney's mother. Sydney can use magic and I'd guess that it's a trait that's passed down in a family. Sydney's father is a die-hard Alchemist and hates all things magic, so that rules him out (unless he's a REALLY good actor). Sydney's mother on the other hand is a mechanic and is much more carefree than her father. My bet is that Sydney's mother is a witch and didn't tell anyone. And if not, a girl can dream!

The Selection Series by Kiera Cass
In The Selection, rebels attack the palace quite often. They are opposed to the king's rule and want him off the throne, as far as I can tell. The queen of Italy visits the palace in The Elite and speaks with the main character, America. If what she says is any indication, the queen agrees with the rebels. That being said, I believe that the queen is working with the rebels, or at the very least is rooting for them. America opposes the king as well, and when the queen of Italy speaks with her, she makes it known that she likes that. She says that she will do everything she can to help America win if she'd like and to call her if she needs her. The queen then proceeds to give America a phone number.
My second Unhinged Speculation relates to America's father. He makes it known fairly obviously that he is opposed to the king as well. At one point, he visits the palace. America tells him about a diary she has that belonged to Gregory Illéa, the founder of the country, that came from a secret library in the palace. Very soon after, the rebels attack, and what do they do? The rebels steal books. Because of that, I believe that America's father is working with the rebels or is an informant of some sort for them. He is proud of America when she goes against the rules and supports many rebel ideas when at home.

The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare
The final book in The Mortal Instruments series, City of Heavenly Fire, releases next year. I don't have any strong Unhinged Speculations for this book, but do have a few small ones. In the final book of the prequel series, Clockwork Princess, the main character Tessa, is speaking another character after the event of the fifth book in The Mortal Instruments, City of Lost Souls, during the epilogue. Readers do not know if this takes place during or after CoHF. Things are discussed in the epilogue that do occur in CoHF though, a Herondale-Lightwood-Fairchild kinda thing. I believe (more like hope) that the characters in TMI will learn about who Brother Zachariah actually is and will help him find the cure he's looking for.
Other than that, Cassandra Clare said on Twitter that four characters die in CoHF. I truly do not know who it will be, besides Church the cat, because Cassie said that she does not kill cats in her books. I don't want any characters to die, but if I had to guess, I'd say Sebastian (I guess I would't mind him dying, he is the bad guy after all), Alec, Jordan, and Maureen. Not to say any of them will live/die/or otherwise go on in existence (in books with demons, werewolves, fairies, warlocks, and vampires, anything is possible). I can't say for sure though. Who do you think will be the four characters in CoHF?

So, that's all folks! Comment your own Unhinged Speculations and tell me what you think about these. Like? Dislike? Agree? Disagree? Who do you think are the four characters in CoHF? Will America join the rebels? Will the Alchemists find out that Sydney's been lying to them? Is my interpretation of the Great Prophecy accurate? Is Cress really Crescent Moon? Has Gwen's mother lied to her all her life? What do you think will happen? I would love to hear your opinions. And keep an eye out for more Unhinged Speculations to come!

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