Reactions to Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry

Summary

Fantasy Fangirls Podcast
Episode: Reactions to Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry
Hosts: Nicole & Lexi
Release Date: April 20, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this deep-dive reaction episode, sisters Nicole and Lexi immerse themselves—and listeners—into Devney Perry’s Rites of the Starling, the anticipated sequel to Shield of Sparrows. They jump between spoiler-free impressions and an extensive, theory-filled, spoiler-packed breakdown. The episode is a lively, passionate celebration of world-building, character arcs, jaw-dropping twists, and heartfelt moments, and it's full of theories (including some wild “crack” speculations), memorable quotes, and plenty of personal reflection and sisterly banter.

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Spoiler-Free Summary (05:49-12:05)

Initial Impressions & Anticipation

• Lexi: Read the ARC in four days, "which for me is super fast when there’s no audiobook." Felt “like I was about to burst” with theories, describing the book as a “top five anticipated sequel this year.” (05:49)
• Nicole: Struggled to keep up due to her own book deadline but, once reading, was “collectively screaming” with Lexi about key chapters.
• Both praised the careful pacing, saying Devney Perry "delivered on more world-building and treating setting and monsters as characters.”
• The sequel gives “answers to basically every question we theorized about—and in ways we didn’t expect at all." (08:50)
• Lexi says, “I preferred ‘Rites of the Starling’ over ‘Shield of Sparrows’—it was the most fun I’ve had reading a new book in a minute.” (08:24)
• Both hosts rate it an easy five stars, but note a slightly slow middle third—though “everything builds up to this incredible payoff at the end that is so worth it.” (11:16)

Notable Spoiler-Free Quote

• "Any time I finish a book and immediately need to reread because I know I'll experience something new, that's an automatic five stars for me." – Nicole (11:16)

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Major Discussion Points (Spoilers after 17:57)

1. Groundbreaking Plot Twists & Structure

The Dual Timelines and “The Twist”

• The reveal that Caspia is Odessa’s mother—not her sister—caught both hosts off guard:
  • “I did not see the big plot twist with Caspia being Odessa’s mom. I had no idea that was going to happen.” – Nicole (19:02)
• The bait-and-switch of nearly meeting in the castle had Lexi “just waiting and waiting, but loving what we were learning along the way.” (19:37)

Supporting Characters & Subversion

• Andreas, initially suspected as untrustworthy, is revealed to be more layered, with Lexi joking, “Obviously a handsome, wealthy man had a cabin in the woods... I was just taken on the journey.” (22:14)
• Sympathy for Odessa’s father was unexpected, with “surprisingly masterful character development.” (20:09)

Notable Quotes

• "The way that chapter just slaps you in the face...that was so beautiful. I was weeping like a small child." – Nicole on the parentage reveal (20:09)
• “Of all the things on my bingo card, sympathy for Odessa’s father was not something I was expecting out of Rites of the Starling.” – Nicole (20:09)

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2. World-Building Expansions & Lore

The Prologue & Multi-Generational Conflict

• The book opens with a prologue that sets up magic systems, treaties, and hints at timeline divergences (28:40).
• High Priest’s green blood and repeated references to the color gray become recurring literary motifs.

Origins of Conflict & Magic

• Listeners get a timeline rundown: Voster and Starling origins, migration, demon magic, and the cursed orbits central to Calandra’s fate (63:26-68:27).
• The relationship between Lysa (the affliction) and dark magic, with theories on its spread and its possible connection to land and water, drive much theory-crafting.

Visions and Prophecies

• The hosts obsessively track the book’s many visions, with Lexi often connecting past journals to imminent plot (77:39-92:41).
• Debate ensues regarding the literal or symbolic future of certain visions (e.g., Odessa-as-crux, Andreas’ fate, Graciela’s role).

Notable Quote

• "I love when a sequel starts out with a lot of answers but provides even more questions.” – Lexi (32:57)

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3. Character Arcs & Relationships

Odessa’s Evolution

• Her growth from book one to book two is repeatedly praised: “Odessa shines as a character so much in the second half of this book up against her family.” – Lexi (97:23)
• Themes of found family, motherhood (Evie moments), and standing up for herself are explored in detail (61:19–96:06).
• “Odessa has become a mother figure to Evie, and they’ve been through so much together.” – Lexi (96:30)

Caspia’s Dominance

• This is “Caspia’s story arc and learning a little bit about Odessa’s past. So now she is way more set up for book three.” – Lexi (27:36)
• “Brava, Devney. Wow.” – Nicole, on the risk of giving Caspia the narrative reins (27:10)

Romance: Odessa & Ransom

• Their dynamic is less central, as book two is more about world and lore, but the reunion is still “so, so sweet and...felt so earned" (Lexi, 60:00)
• Both hosts prefer the depth in Caspia and Andreas’ story but anticipate more for Odessa and Ransom in book three.
• Playful critique of “if he wanted to, he would” re: Ransom’s reticence around three little words (62:01)

Memorable, Touching Dialogues

• Ransom: “You were always this woman. I knew it the day I watched you jump off this cliff. You were always my queen. It’s not your fault they weren’t paying attention.” (96:45)

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4. Theories, Mysteries, and Book Three Set-up

Orbits, Lysa & The Divine

• Six orbits, source of demonic magic and power, are now the focal quest (58:26-59:00).
• Odessa’s unique heritage as “child of both soils” is speculated to make her immune to Lysa and central to resolving the continent’s curse.

Fate of Key Characters

• Fears and debates over Zandra’s (the Bari wolf) fate (“I think she’s going to live.” – Lexi, 51:54), Andreas’ likely demise (“I don’t think he’s making it out of book three alive.” – Nicole, 84:40), and Graciela’s possibly pivotal role.
• Extended charting and discussion of all major visions—what has and hasn’t happened yet (77:39-92:41).

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Notable Quotes and Moments

• Lexi: “I wish I had a reaction video to chapter three.” (32:55)
• Nicole: “When Odessa touches the black pool...it nearly killed her. That was epic and terrifying.” (56:19)
• About the Big Reveal: "I paced for a while, I word vomited to my husband and he’s like, what in the world are you even talking about?" – Lexi (24:03)
• On Character Growth: “You were always this woman...You were always my queen. It’s not your fault they weren’t paying attention.” (Ransom, quoted by Nicole, 96:45)
• On Book Structure: “This book somehow was both exactly what I expected and nothing like I expected all at the same time.” – Nicole (08:50)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Spoiler-Free Impressions: 05:49–12:05
• Spoilers Begin (Big Warning): 17:57
• The Parentage Twist & Timeline Theorizing: 18:17–26:51
• Prologue & Magic System Insights: 28:40–32:32
• Starlings, Voster, Beeson, and Continent Lore: 32:32–37:08
• Odessa’s Character Journey: 61:19–62:39
• Vision Spreadsheet & Theories: 77:39–92:41
• Ending, Theories for Book Three: 69:22–75:29
• Favorite Scenes & Character Moments: 94:09–101:15

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Episode Highlights and Takeaways

• The episode is punctuated by laughter, theories, and authentic awe for Devney Perry's craft (especially regarding pacing, twists, and world-building).
• Both sisters adore the series’ ability to answer questions and open new mysteries, especially with “books that feel completely new on reread” (11:16, Nicole).
• Exquisite focus is given to how themes of found family, inherited trauma, and destiny are realized in character arcs (Odessa, Caspia, Evie).
• The podcast episode itself is a welcome companion for any reader who has finished Rites of the Starling and wants to bask in collective nerdy delight—from plot dissections to fiery predictions for the series conclusion.

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For Listeners New and Old

If you skipped reading Rites of the Starling but want to catch up, or just finished and need catharsis, this episode is a passionate, detailed companion. Come for the lore; stay for the delightfully unfiltered sister banter, bold predictions, and the sense that, as Nicole says, “We could honestly go on and on and on…but we do have to wrap it up at some point.” (101:30)

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Listen for: in-depth vision tracking (with spreadsheet!), worldbuilding explainer, and thoughtful musing on Calandra’s fate—plus many “I paced around the room” level jaw-drop moments and heartfelt gushing over the series’ future.

Transcript

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[Nicole]

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[Nicole]

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. This May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to celebrate our own journeys to better understand ourselves and to realize that no matter what we're going through, we don't have to do it alone. If you're looking for a licensed therapist to start or continue your mental health journey, BetterHelp is a fantastic tool to help you find the right fit.

[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

Something I've been doing in therapy for, I wish I could say only the last few months, but really it's for the last three years, is learning how to find work life balance isn't the right word, but it's learning how to find myself out of work again. And one of the big things that I'm doing is making sure that I end work at a very specific time so that little break, that little mouse in my brain doesn't go, oh, but you could do more. You could. It just loves to do that. So one of the things that I'm working on with my therapist, Taylor, is I actually have a alarm that set that goes off every single night where it's like, hey, no more, you're done. And it's been so helpful. And then I get to go cuddle with Ru. And by cuddle I mean get bitten. But you know what? It's it's part of my finding myself outside of my work. And I love it.

[Lexi]

You don't have to be on this journey alone. Find support and have someone with you in therapy sign up and get 10% off [e-mail] FFG that's better. H lp.com FFG.

[Nicole]

Welcome, welcome, welcome to Fantasy Fangirls Podcast where two sisters dive deep into beloved fantasy lore. K Sweet spirits and more.

[Lexi]

I'm Lexi, older sister and fantasy lore nerd.

[Nicole]

And I'm Nicole, younger sister and romantic at heart.

[Lexi]

And today's episode is all about our reactions to Rights of the Starling by Deveney Perry, the sequel to Shield of Sparrows that came out April 7th. This is our second FFG episode about the series. Last month we dropped an episode highlighting everything you need to know before this book too. And oh my goodness, we had so much fun theorizing. First things first, please listen to our spoiler warning for today's episode because it will begin with our spoiler free thoughts about Rights of the Starling so it's safe for anyone to listen to even if you have not started the book. But in Part two Spoilers Spoilers Spoilers for Rights of the Starling as we freak out over this entire book, including the ending.

[Nicole]

So if you don't know why not only us but also the entire Internet is freaking out over this book. That's okay. You're safe to listen to part one, but not part two. Do not worry, we will be giving a gigantic, gigantic spoiler warning before we hop into Rights of the Starling Spoilers next.

[Lexi]

We at Fantasy Fangirls are adults who say adult things about adult books. In other words, friends, this podcast is

[Nicole]

rated R. It might be frowned upon for a starling to curse. But we are not starlings, unfortunately. So please be mindful of those little listening ears.

[Lexi]

Additionally, we are so excited to announce our live show tour. That's right, friends, we're doing three live shows this September. So starting in Chicago on September 9th, Charlotte, North Carolina on September 24th, and New York City on September 27th.

[Nicole]

Tickets go on sale for our fan club this Wednesday, April 22, and for the public on April 24. We have been sitting on this news for so long, we are so excited to finally share it with you. And east coast, we've heard you.

[Lexi]

We're ready to give you. Then of course, we will be at the Dragon Gauntlet in Boyne City, Michigan September 11th and 12th.

[Nicole]

And if you thought we were done overseas people, we've also heard you. It has just been announced that we are going to be going to land con, that is the official Outlander Convention in Edinburgh, Scotland on July 16th through 18th, 2027. And tickets just went on sale. Come hang out with us in Scotland, y'. All. I'm so excited. Oh my God.

[Lexi]

Last thing before we jump into this Rights of the Starling reaction episode. If you love Fantasy Fangirls and you want more events, more content more community. So much more. Please check out Fantasy Fan Club.

[Nicole]

We have six tiers that you can join which includes access to our BOP and Discord live Q&As. We just did one on Shield of Sparrows and Rights of the Starling Book Club, often featuring the authors themselves, early access to ad free episodes, welcome gifts and stores. So much more.

[Lexi]

Learn more and join the party@fantasy fangirls.com fanclub. The link is also in the show notes and really and truly, as always, thank you so much for supporting us as we've turned this podcast into a dream come true. It is literally all because of you. Thank you for bringing us to the east coast, for taking us overseas. We love you all so much.

[Nicole]

And now it is time to dive into our reactions for Debney Perry's Rights of the Starling.

[Lexi]

So first, another quick reminder. This is part one so this is free of plot spoilers. We both had so much fun with our Shield of Sparrows fan guide where we went down all these theory rabbit holes and asked all sorts of questions in the lead up to this sequel. It made me extra hyped for Rights of the Starling and I would say Rights of the Starling was in my top five anticipated sequels this year to read. About a week after we recorded our fan Guide episode, we, Nicole and I were fortunate enough to get an arc from Devny and I dove right on in. Then I proceeded to finish the book in four days, which for me is super fast when there's no audiobook and I have to read with my eyes because I dove right in. I had no one to freak out over this book with as I read and there is this early chapter, if you know, you know that is the definition of the mind blown emoji. And I had so many theories throughout, I felt like I was about to burst. Nicole was getting so annoyed with me as I'm like, Nicole, you need to

[Nicole]

read this book so I can freak out with I try for anyone for backstory. I'm deep in edits in my own book with when you're on a deadline with your editor, you have like days to finish the entire editing and process. And I was able to get an extension but still with like FFG and everything. I was like Lexi, I'm trying but I don't have time to read this book right now. So when I finally was able to dive into that chapter, we both just collectively screamed. Okay, so I want to start off like you said, this is no plot spoilers, but as you can imagine, we are going to give vibes about this book. So if you consider that spoilers then this is just not the episode for you, but with a plot. Spoiler Free Question Lexi, did you like this book? I don't know if I know the answer to this.

[Lexi]

I think the entire Internet knows the answer to this. I have not been quiet Yes, I loved this book. It is such an easy five stars and a genuinely fun read. It was everything I loved about Shield of Sparrows dialed up times 10. Devny delivered when she said to expect more world building and to treat the setting and the monsters as their own characters. Odessa and Ransom's romance does take a back seat, just like devnee prepared us for, but I loved how there was still other romance present. I won't go into any more though because of spoilers. I continue to love and appreciate Odessa as a unique fmc, especially how she truly comes into her own this book after how much she changed in book one. I really thought her character arc from book one and into book two and by the end of book two felt so natural and so earned for her.

[Nicole]

It was so beautifully paced too. Yes, that was such a beautifully paced character arc.

[Lexi]

My favorite part of Rites of the Starling was how the story unfolded. It truly felt like one big puzzle where we get a piece here and a piece there. And I was having the best time throughout my reading experience as it all comes together. To me, this was a really strong book too. I preferred rights of the Starling over Shield of Sparrows and it was the most fun I've had reading a new book and in a minute same.

[Nicole]

Well, honestly, you took a lot of the words right out of my mouth, but I'll expand ever so slightly. This book somehow was both exactly what I expected and nothing like I expected all at the same time. Meaning we got answers to questions that were driving us up a theory wall during the Shield of Sparrows recap episode. I can't actually think of a single question that we asked that we didn't insult some way get an answer to whether that was directly or adjacently, but you also get answers in a way that you did not expect to get the answers at all. I was someone who did not guess the big twist at the end, and I will leave it at that. But the moment that it did happen I was like, well God fucking damn it, I have to go back and reread this book again because it's going to be a different book on a reread, given that I'm actually rereading it now for Or I just finished it last night. Now that I think about it, I can confirm that, yes, it feels so much deeper on a reread, which I love those types of books. The twist had me tearing up. And by tearing up, I mean crying uncontrollably while I was texting Lexi. It had me unwilling to put the book down for the last 10 to 15%. I don't know, whenever I started texting, you being like, buckle up, I'm going in. It had me foaming at the mouth, wondering how books were three is going to pan out and get executed, which gives you so much setup for book three while still closing a lot of loops in this book. It just. Oh, it's so good. Like, it cracks open a few doors and then it slams open, like, three doors. Specifically for book three, I will say the only thing that I was like, okay, like, I could do with crunching this down a little was the middle third. Felt a little slow to me, but the ending made up for it, so I don't even care. And also, I will admit that on a reread, I was thinking to myself, I was like, okay, well, like, would any scenes been able to have been cut or, you know, be meshed together? Because, like, that's just how my brain works now. And I don't know if I actually came up with any, because every single thing builds up to a big thing at the end.

[Lexi]

Yes, I could have done with a hundred pages in the middle, dedicated instead to the end to give it a little bit more room to breathe because it is just so exciting. And. And at the same time, that's getting nitpicky with this five star book read. Because on a reread, it's like, I don't even care. Just take me on the journey. I love it.

[Nicole]

Well, that's the thing. Like, I will. I think I have a pretty hard and fast rule for myself that anytime I finish a book and immediately I need to go back and reread it because I know it'll be a different book on a reread. That is an automatic five stars for me. So as you can imagine, this was an automatic five stars. Like, like, like Lexi said, like, us getting, like, the middle was a little slow. That's getting really, really nitpicky. You say 100 pages. I could even say, like, 50 to 100 pages could have been, like, trimmed or combined or something like that. But, like, at the end of the day, everything builds up to this incredible payoff at the end that, oh, God, it's So worth it. Exactly.

[Lexi]

Exactly.

[Nicole]

All right, friends, we are going to be hopping into our spoiler thoughts at the moment. Can you tell there's a lot we need to talk about that spoiler? So sorry about that, but we're going to be hopping into that in just a moment. But first, a quick word from our sponsors.

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[Lexi]

All right, friends, that ends our spoiler free part of this episode. So if you have not finished Rites of the Starling, we are lovingly but firmly telling you to leave now. We promise we will still be here for you to come back to once when you finish the book. Okay? So three, two, one.

[Nicole]

Last chance. Are you sure you're gone? In case you're running to your phone, I'm gonna give you three, two, one.

[Lexi]

Okay. If you do not know about Odessa's mom, I'm sorry, that's on you.

[Nicole]

If you're still listening, that means you've finished this beautiful book. So let's finally talk about it.

[Lexi]

Finally.

[Nicole]

It's the five minutes. I don't care. I'm so excited.

[Lexi]

Okay, so let's open this up with an expansion on our previous conversation. Why did we like this book? And this time, obviously, spoiler, spoiler, spoiler central. Because the number one thing on all of our minds is the timeline difference between these POVs and how much more we learn about this world way beyond Calandra. That reveal was, ah, so good.

[Nicole]

Okay, so like I mentioned in the first section, I did not see the big plot twist with Caspia being Odessa's mom. I had no idea that was going to happen. This entire book. I was reading it, and I was like, you know, 90% of the way in, and I'm texting Lexi in all caps, being like, when the fuck are these two girls gonna meet? They're dancing around each other. If they don't meet, I'm gonna fling myself off of Odessa's cliff. And now I can see that that was a little dramatic.

[Lexi]

It really was like this carrot dangling in front of us the whole time. Every time. These two characters, Caspia and Odessa, they'd be kind of near each other. And I was preparing for them to meet. It was like, okay, this has got to be the chapter. And I kept waiting and waiting, but I loved what we were learning along the way. And at the same time, it's like, okay, we're both at the Castle. Now, are we really not running into each other in the Crux art gallery or the training yard or by the boats or the library? Like, we're so close to each other. Come on.

[Nicole]

Well, and then there's that moment where Caspia and Andreas goes to their, like, little side quest in the chasm. And I was like, is this girl about to leave the castle? And her and Odessa have not met yet. I was so livid. And now on a reread, I'm like, got it. Get it, get it. Lol. So I was actually convinced from pretty much the get go of like chapter three, maybe chapter five, that they were sisters and Caspian's mother went to Calandra and had an affair with the king or something like that, and then shifted back into a swift and flew home to Nelfanix. But no, after 90% of this book, I was not even quiet. I was all caps. So annoyed. But like, in a fun annoyed way where it was like, oh, my God, just fucking meet already. You're so sisters. You need to meet each other per brother score saying, you need to meet the warrior. And then we get the reveal. And I was taken so by surprise. The way that chapter just slaps you in the face with Margot and then the baby, and then him being the king and her being the queen. And the way that chapter is done is so masterful. And then how she stabbed by Andreas and he's still holding her two days later. I'm covered in chills right now. Like, that was so beautiful. I was weeping like a small child. I will say, of all the things on my bingo card, sympathy for Odessa's father was not something I was expecting out of Rights of the Starling. But the character development we get with him was so masterful. It does make me giggle because the entire book I was like, Andreas is so sus. He's evil. Just hit him as far as I can throw him. Their relationship was too perfect. Out the gate. He was so protective. My radar was super up the entire time. I was like, this guy's gonna betray her. He's working for, I don't know, underground, something.

[Lexi]

Meanwhile, I'm like, well, obviously a handsome, wealthy man had a cabin in the woods and she fell in love with him. Like, I was just taken on the journey. It was like, oh, obviously. Like, yes, this makes absolute sense. Like, this is not the first time we've experienced two people falling in love in a cabin within a very tight timeline.

[Nicole]

That's fair. Maybe I've just. I trust no, no man who seems too Perfect. I. I don't trust him. I don't trust him. And the entire book I was like, this dude's so suspicious. Like, I, like, I thought that I was onto something. I was like guessing this big twist that was gonna happen at the end. Okay. But I will say I wasn't entirely off the entire book. He's the king, or he was the prince and now he's the king. He's Odessa's father, who's been a suspicious dude this entire time. But not in the like, I was evil the whole time way that I was expecting.

[Lexi]

So I had an inkling about the big twist at the end when specifically Caspia started writing in journals. I was like, wait, wait, could it be possible? And there were even a few times before that where I like would highlight in my notes and be like, is this a vision? Like, I was starting to wonder. But I wasn't fully putting all the pieces together. And in fact, I even went back to chapter three and reread that because I was like, could this possibly be like Odessa's mom? Like, are we working with a different timeline? But I was like, no, no, no. After reading chapter three again, because Caspia has to be Odessa's sister because her mother has been missing for most of her life. The time frame lined up too perfectly. And it was also around the same seasons too. The end of fall, like not yet winter time. I thought Caspia and Emery's mom was Odessa's mom who fell in love with the king and then had her, right? And the king had to kill her, which basically I thought was the case, but it was just Caspia and not Caspian's mom. And so then of course, thinking that Caspia was Odessa's sister, I thought it was going to be a whole thing with Caspia and Ransom when they would finally meet. And Caspian would later help Odessa with some of these visions. And Andreas was betrothed to a character we knew, maybe even May and wondering. So I had wondered and I literally went back through and I convinced myself no two different timelines could not be possible. But then the moment that Caspian mentioned being pregnant, I was like, oh, something's like, this is. This is. I think I know what's happening. And then boom. The blonde haired ladies maid named Margot who's obsessed with the husband, it had me standing up and freaking out. I had an out of body experience. I paced for a while, I word vomited to my husband and he's like, what in the world are you even talking about? And then I'm like, I Have to go back to reading. I was so locked in, but like I was, I was having to pace around. I was like, oh my gosh, I can't handle this well.

[Nicole]

And I have to say like, brava to Devni for how she set up chapter three with making it so concrete in us first time readers brains that this is the same timeline because they're talking about Emery being gone. She wakes up with a vision of literally the end of last year book. Like, oh my God, it's so good. Okay, so we're, we're gonna have a lot to say on Caspian's storyline. When it comes to Odessa's storyline, I feel like there are a few moments that really stand out to me. Like her standing up to May and realizing she has a found family of her own. The cave scene with Brother Score was so creepy and so good. Oh, I loved it. I know A huge thing that made us both just like weepy was all the sweet moments with Evie. And at the end of the day, I do feel like Odessa's storyline was more supporting in this book versus main character like it was last book. Obviously I'm still going to be referring to her as an FMC just because that's how she is, but there's a reason this title is the rights of the starling a direct connection to Caspia versus anything that has to do with Odessa right now. With the exception of the very end. However, all of this book is setting up for the end. So stunningly, the thrum is so ominous on that last chapter. We'll obviously be talking about our theories setting up for that later. I loved that ending. It was so spooky. So good. Your hearts and pieces. After hearing about how Andreas just held Caspia for two days in her dead body as she switched back from a swift oh my God, the orbit set up. I love a hunt for an artifact. I love it. And it just makes me so excited for book three whenever that comes out.

[Lexi]

Yes. And how it's been her father's mission, really her whole life. Also, I bet he especially hates the Guardian because he's known all this time that he is the silver eyed warrior that Andreas Love had been seeking revenge on. Ah, but there's so many loose ends with Ransom and Alessaria and what is next for Odessa.

[Nicole]

I think that you and I can both agree that like spoiler wise, Caspia stole the show this book for me. And I think it's one of the reasons this book was so, so, so good is because it still was in the world that we know from book one, but it had this whole new take on it that is brilliant. It's risky, but, man, did it pay off for a book too. I am just. Brava, Devni. Wow.

[Lexi]

I agree. And in so many ways, it was a fantastic book two that bridges book one. Book three, that I really think sticks the landing. This was Caspia's story arc and learning a little bit about Odessa's past. So now she is way more set up for book three. There's still plenty of mystery heading into book three, but wow. I love the histories, the folklore, the visions, the different continents, and the politics that are going on between all of them. The types of magic, the Voster, and the six that are all in Rights of the Starling and how that's all presented and unfolding and as a genuinely great reading experience. And now that we're done with book two, it's like, okay, now we're really back to focusing on Odessa, because we have all of the context that we need for her backstory and the starlings to now keep going forward.

[Nicole]

Yes.

[Lexi]

All right, so now let's zoom further into the story and discuss some of the pivotal moments from Rights of the Starling, because obviously, we had a great time reading this book.

[Nicole]

Okay, so right off the top, I want to hit on the prologue real quick, because we start this book not in Odessa's pov, not with Caspia, but instead with Sparrow Wolf, the very first shield of sparrows betrothed for the treaty. I think that this was a brilliant way to start off this book. It reminds us how the magic works with the Voster priests and how the blood binding magic works and why Odessa was taken away last book.

[Lexi]

Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking.

[Nicole]

Yes. And it also reminds us why the treaty is here in the first place. The threat of the crux is right there looming on the page. One of my personal favorites, though, is this is an assumption. But I think it was setting us up right off the bat for those differing timelines, and we didn't even know it, and it was starting us off already 10 generations ago, so it was, like, way in the past compared to Caspia and Odessa. There's also some delicious Easter eggs in this. This prologue. The high Priest has green blood, and

[Lexi]

it's like, oh, my.

[Nicole]

I remember highlighting that and being like, what the fuck? Oh, my God. Yes, we will get into all of that later and how that works. Also, did you notice the line about the sparrow wearing gray?

[Lexi]

Yes, I did.

[Nicole]

It reminds me about how Margot would always put Odessa in gray dresses. We also know that sonnets 90 is a gray covered book. So I don't know if that's like a little nod for Margot, being like, here's a connection to your mom. But I wondered, like, why Odessa and the Sparrow were known for wearing gray.

[Lexi]

I do also wonder if it's a symbol of them being pawns. Like, obviously in different ways, but like the first Sparrow, which. That was her name.

[Nicole]

Yeah.

[Lexi]

She was wearing gray, probably because she thought that she was more important than she ended up being, like. Like as a daughter kind of thing. And Odessa, on the other hand, she was gray so that she could, like, blend in. Yeah. And I. But I noticed that too, about the gray. And it's almost like the gray representing the sparrow, but totally different ways. I thought it was interesting.

[Nicole]

Yeah, I think it was more literary representation versus, like, Easter egg. Yes. Character choice representation. Yes.

[Lexi]

That's a great way of putting it. I also don't know if it's notable that Sparrow was a Turin. She was Sparrow Wolf, after all. And so it's like the shield with Sparrows will begin and end with Tura also keeping an eye on the history of Calandra with the Kingdoms. And the Shield of Sparrows. Is Ransom's trust in the High Priest connected to his family's history with the High Priest?

[Nicole]

Oh, I always just assumed it was because the High Priest filters or, like, sucks the Lysa not out of him, but like.

[Lexi]

But remember his father and the High Priest too. And the High Priest and how they have this sanctuary in Alessaria. So something's going on with the Turins and essentially choosing the Six. While the Kenyan brothers and the Voster, who are kind of like, hidden and whatnot, they really want to be able to go back to their homeland. Then, of course, there's the chapter three reveal. Starting with a vision that we remember from the end of Shield of Sparrows. And we get the line, my sister plummets to the earth immediately, throwing us into this new pov and that there's somewhere we've never heard of before. With no idea about the events of book one, aside from just having this vision. And so there's so much mystery and like, oh, my gosh, who are these people? Where are these people? Who is her? Her sister? Is this what. What happened?

[Nicole]

The moment. The moment this chapter started, I was like, holy fuck, this is where the crux are from. Oh, my. Because that was a huge question for us as we were doing the rights of the Starling prep episode last month. It was like, where the heck do the crocs go when they're not migrating? And boom, we got that answer right out the gate. I was not expecting that.

[Lexi]

Then we also get boom. The red hair is starling hair. And monsters are these wonderful, beautiful, lovely creatures here. When I was reading about the Swift, AKA the Crux, and the Shapeshifters and their affinity with creatures and just how crazy different it is here again, it just had me on the edge of my seat in chapter three. I wish I had a reaction video

[Nicole]

to read this chapter.

[Lexi]

I had no chill as it was just answer after answer and at the same time, question after question. I love so much when a sequel starts out with a lot of answers but providing us with even more questions. And I'm just obsessed with how Devni did that and started off book two with a bang. Like, what do you mean? All these monsters we've been terrified of for an entire book that have shaped an entire civilization are docile, majestic pets Here.

[Nicole]

What? One thing that was brilliantly done is the main reason we're led to believe off the top that these are the same timelines is this is. I want to go a little bit more into this Emery vision and how she's described as being missing. Caspia believes that she might have been killed by the Silver Eyed Warrior, AKA the last section of Shield of Sparrow's the last book, which in our timeline, Ransom has already killed Emery and Caspia

[Lexi]

has only ever seen visions of the past to her knowledge. And I love a good limited POV narration because I was bought in that this had already happened, because Caspia was so sure that it already happened, because she, to her knowledge, has never had a vision of the future before.

[Nicole]

Well, and it's not until chapter 69. Nice. That we get a vision from Caspia, Emry and her Aunt Elena. Turns out Emery was not dead from the Silver Eyed Warrior in Caspius timeline, but instead she was missing because she had been taken by the Beesons. She was assumed to have gone off with her pirate Max, but he was also taken by the Beesons and used as leverage in case you're like, who are these Beesons, Nicole? What are you talking about? Because I didn't remember after my first read. They're the country who is waging war on Nelfanix. They're up at the top of the of the book. In chapter three, we learn about this whole other country to the south that is all on this continent again, which, by the way, none of the characters in Calandra have heard of this continent. The Beast and King on the continent of Ken has been up against the southern border of Nelson the entire time. Why? We still don't know. And it's going to drive me crazy. This also did get me wondering. Is this war with Nelson X and BC still going on in Odessa's timeline? Because if so, that feels very important.

[Lexi]

Well, I think so, because Emery is. Whether she's released or she escapes or whatever that is in Odessa's timeline. So then she leaves and Odessa's timeline, and that's, you know, gets killed. But I definitely think because in Odessa's timeline now, her great aunt, Aunt Olena, she is like, oh, these motherfuckers are gonna pay for what they did to Emery. So I think Nephenex is going to be invading and getting back at Beeson in book three. And I also think Beeson will play a pretty vital role in the next book as well. There were too many Easter eggs with it. And the conflict. That's where the Voster are originally from, too. And the Beesons eventually overtook the territory and persecuted them for their religion. And the survivors fled to Kalandra, thanks to the help of three starling ancestors, two of whom were killed as monsters here in Kalandra. And the other starling was a vicious monster who killed everyone in her path. Until one day she was just gone, assumably back to Niflex, forbidding anyone from going where the Crux go for migration. And the Crux only started migrating here when the Voster arrived. I'm getting ahead of myself. We're going to be going way more into detail about this later in the episode. But I have wondered if Aunt Olena was a third starling who survived, even though this had happened hundreds of years ago. So one of the starling killed could not be Caspia's missing mother who disappeared 25 years ago. So who this third starling would be depends on how long the starlings lives are, which I haven't gotten the impression they are long lived, like the Foster, so. So it's this third starling who came back was probably way more generations ago than her aunt. But I was having so much fun theorizing.

[Nicole]

I don't know. I assume that the Voster only are long lived on Calandra, which makes me wonder if the starling who are trapped in monster form on Calandra are long lived too.

[Lexi]

Well, and then there's also, like, the hundred years. And she came back after a hundred years. Oh, my gosh. I need a theory map. I need a red tape.

[Nicole]

I need Sierra. Oh, my God. Okay. Going back to Emerie for a second. And the Beesons who captured her.

[Lexi]

Yes, yes, yes. That was a really thing.

[Nicole]

Yes, we know that Emerie was taken and captured. This is in Caspia's timeline and quote, my blood stolen by their alchemists for experiments. What the fuck? Okay, so the Beesons stole Emre, use Max as leverage to get her to cooperate and literally just give them her blood. Why?

[Lexi]

I don't know.

[Nicole]

Are they testing how the starling can shift? Are they testing how their blood reacts to foster magic?

[Lexi]

She's gone for the Voster magic are only in Calandra. So I think it's all about the starlings and their shape shifting and things like that. And what's extra sad is she had a child with Max in the prison, and they were also using her child against her. I very sadly got the impression that that child is not with her anymore. And that child might still be in Beeson. And what if it's a daughter who is a starling and they had.

[Nicole]

That's why they released her?

[Lexi]

Maybe. I don't know. Yeah.

[Nicole]

God, I didn't even think about that. Yeah, yeah, I know.

[Lexi]

I don't even like saying that.

[Nicole]

I know. Yeah, I. I got the impression that she had a daughter, but I was getting confused with Graciela because that's her daughter. But she was in Nelfan X the entire time.

[Lexi]

Anyway, she had a daughter in the prison and they use that. We don't know if it was a daughter, but a child. But since darlings only have daughters, yeah, we can assume that. And that they used the child and Max against her, but that was separate from Graciela.

[Nicole]

This cements to me that when she came back, she had her conversation with Aunt Elena. Then she was like, fuck this dude who probably killed my sister. She hasn't. She thinks that it's the Silver Eyed Warrior because that's all that Aunt Elena knows. So Emery goes to Calandra to avenge her sister. This cements for me that Emery saw Odessa and something deep within her. Because remember, she was swapped to Crux and she was gone, lost to the monster. But something deep within her said, holy shit, that's Caspia. Or oh my God, that looks just like Caspia. So that's why last book, the Crux was was seen not defending Odessa, but not attacking Odessa directly. That is canon. Because she was like, oh my God, that might be my niece. Like, that looks like my niece. So I would also be remiss if I didn't ask while we were in the Emory section, where the is Max, Is he okay? He's missing a finger. He was tortured for a really long time.

[Lexi]

And the tongue, bro. I don't know if he made it out alive because Emory was also saying that she was grieving when she was talking to Olena. And yeah, I still have hope that Sandra someday will be reunited with Cap, our penis pierced pirate. Because I want Sandra to survive with Odessa figuring out how to get her aunt out of the bear. Wolf form or not technically aunt. She's like her first cousin once removed. And since she's one eyed, maybe she'll have like her own pirate patch. And then she and Cap can go off into the sunset and be pirates together. That's my headcanon for Sandra's happily ever after.

[Nicole]

Okay, so here's something I will say is that there was a really fun theory going. Not like that's a fun theory, but like a fun theory going on.

[Lexi]

I haven't had a fun theory in a long time, Lexi.

[Nicole]

This episode, we're still young. The night is still young. There was a fun theory that Jody was Cap because they were described a little similarly in their facial expressions. However, through some sleuthing in our discord, we went between the two physical descriptions, and their hair color was different and their eye color was different. So alas. But that would have been so fun, because a lot of us were wondering, is that why he's so interested in Odessa? Because she looks just like a starling?

[Lexi]

But alas, another person I'm curious about that we met in chapter three was Graciela, who would be about 30 years old in her cousin Odessa's timeline. So in the present timeline, she's about 30 years old. Was the right successful for her or did it not call to her? Usually starlings would have the right call to them when they were a teenager, like 15 to 17 years old. However, Caspia was much later in her mid-20s, and fewer and fewer starlings are experiencing the right and being able to shapeshift. So, back with Graciela, I wonder if her right is going to call to her much later in life. And maybe her right call calls her to Calandra as well. And she'll work with Odessa to bring down the Voster, which I do think the Divine is calling the starling to solve. And it's with Odessa that Calandra will be free of this demon magic. I definitely don't think that we've seen the last of Graciela because she is the only other starling we know of in Odessa's generation.

[Nicole]

Yes, I agree absolutely completely. I love this idea that they're being called to Calandra, especially like Caspia was called to Calandra so that she could birth Odessa, so that Odessa can be a child of both soils.

[Lexi]

And now Odessa is following these visions and down the right track. I love destiny. Okay, real quickly, I will say this. I love how the visions were presented in this story. Sometimes future telling and all that kind of stuff can get a little interesting, but with storytelling, it can feel like a crutch, or, we said before, a cheat sheet for another deep dive of ours. And this way, I love how there is so much unknown with the visions and yet so much to take from the Easter eggs. And I really love how the visions were done in this world. It did not feel like a crutch or a cheat sheet or anything along those lines. And instead, it's just like, give me, give me, give me all the breadcrumbs I can.

[Nicole]

Okay, I do want to talk about. About people who may still be alive, may not still be alive. Caspia's mother, Des. We know that she left Nelfanix when Caspia was a baby, and no one has really spoken of her since, except for Aunt Olena calling her a dreamer. Now, Caspia does wonder if that's dreamer figuratively, where it's like, oh, I'm just a dreamer. Like, I want to, you know, see the world. Or literally, if she has visions like Caspia, I'm leaning back. Both. I would love the idea that Dess is still alive. Like, I just want Odessa to meet some of her generation. Someone from her mom's, you know, line. However, at the end of this book, we do get a little bit more info. We learned that Caspia saw a vision of her mother, Fly me flying, assuming as a crux to Solandra, and was killed by a floating Voster. Bad Voster.

[Lexi]

So who do we know who is a floating priest? The high priest. Yeah. Oh, my God. I bet that's why he was asking about Odessa's lineage. He knows about the starling. He knows about the rights and what happens to them, because his God's magic are the reason they become monsters. And he does not want the starling around because they have the only means to literally destroy the Voster.

[Nicole]

Okay, I'm gonna present a theory, because we know that Caspia's visions are sometimes of the past or sometimes of the future. Do you think that vision has already come to pass, or do you think that that's going to happen? Let me finish the question. Or do you think that's going to happen to death's? Next book after we meet her. I'm gonna go with the latter.

[Lexi]

I think that her mother came to Calandra because she felt the right. She felt it and she shifted and she was killed because otherwise there would be way more information about a crux having killed everybody and she was the only one around.

[Nicole]

I think she might be off somewhere, somewhere in Ken maybe. And then, you know, she's like, ah, what's this I'm feeling at my 80 year old self? And then she flies and she meets her granddaughter because Odessa deserves to meet someone from her line. And then she dies.

[Lexi]

I'm sticking with it already happened. And it's another nod to us that Odessa's lineage, her mother, and her mother before, have been trying to get here and be able to do what Odessa alone will be able to actually accomplish. Okay, so I'd love to focus more on that thrum of the right that has called both Caspia and Zandra to Calandra. Because what do we think that it was? I'm convinced, and I know I already kind of said this, but I am convinced that it's the Divine, this powerful God, trying to write the world and rid Calandra of the demon Orbits. That's what I'm calling them here that are poisoning this land and have a curse of dark magic on it. Caspia was called here and she played her part by retrieving one of the orbs and giving birth to a daughter born of the starling and Calandra. Odessa's journey has now begun and she is on the right path, as her mother's visions are coming true. We also cannot forget that Xandra's right is called her to Calandra too. And she is still alive, although she's been trapped in a bear wolf form for 24 plus years. But I don't think her role in all of this is done. She is one of the creators and apparently the spreader of Lysa. But I do think that there's a lot more to Lysa than we currently know, because I do not think that it is an accident that the blood is dark green and so is the Vosters and starlings, minus Odessa. This green blood is tied to the dark magic of the orbits. So I also wonder if Lysa has been spreading for a different reason beyond the Beowulf contamination bites, like within the water, within the land itself. And it just so happens to be within the last several years. I'll marinate a little bit more on that. But I've been thinking throughout books one and two, there's a common theme of Lysa is spreading way faster than they ever intended anticipated. And as far as our characters know, it is the Beowulf biting. And then they get Lysa and then it spreads and spreads and spreads. And now, next thing you know, most monsters that they seem to be encountering have Lysa. I feel like there's another reason beyond just one single source causing all of that. And I really do wonder if it's more of like this dark magic and now that things have been set in motion with the starlings, that the dark magic is like feeding on this Lysa and turning the animals against the people in this weird way. I don't know. I'm. My brain is all over the place right now.

[Nicole]

Now, the moment that Xander turned into the Bari wolf and how gruesome that scene was, like, that was such a holy shit, something's not right moment. But to learn at the end that Sandra is the one eyed monster, who, together with the creation from Luella, created Lysa, that was so, so, so good.

[Lexi]

Well, do they technically create Lysa or. Because she already had this green blood and all of that, so it's. I. Oh, there's something more to all of this. Because when they first arrived on Calandra, the dark magic of this land is what made them so sick. And they literally changed then. And then when Zandra shifted, she already had green blood and they were already able. They essentially already had Lysa.

[Nicole]

Like that superhuman.

[Lexi]

Exactly. Yeah. And so I really do wonder if Luella has somehow accidentally bottled this dark magic and she just had no idea. She's missing that part of the puzzle. And now that I don't know how in the world there's going to be a cure, but obviously, like, Odessa has to be part of that, right? Odessa?

[Nicole]

Yeah, 100%. How? That's for Dev. Need to figure out. So now, this does beg the question. They're going to have to come face to face with Xandra as the Bari Wolf, because she's still alive, as far as we know. And there has to be some kind of face off. Do you think that Ransom and Slash or Odessa are going to kill her next book?

[Lexi]

Though I'll say this. I worry about Odessa's father still getting killed in the vision that scared Caspia so much. I know that she stopped having that vision once when she did go to Quintus. However, in her vision, he was married with the amber in his ring, he had the scar that. In her later chapters, he has that scar. So I Still worry that Andreas is going to die and that vision has not technically happened yet. But wait, but hold on. In that vision, I say all of that. But in that vision, there was no description of the Beowulf having one eye. So I don't know.

[Nicole]

No, but would that be too on the nose? So maybe Devne didn't want to exclude that. Yeah, she might have excluded that.

[Lexi]

See, that's why I love. We just don't know. Like you don't know vision that won't come true or is a vision that has not come true yet.

[Nicole]

I am leaning towards every vision in some capacity, some way will come true. We're gonna go through every single vision later and say whether or not it's happened or if it hasn't happened yet. How do we think it's going to happen later? Sit tight. I have a spreadsheet.

[Lexi]

All right.

[Nicole]

So you know how Sandra and Caspia were able to soothe the Marrow eel, though when they were coming to Sandra, they were sailing across the ship with Cap. I wonder, is Odessa going to be able to. I'll say, take that one step further. Instead, she might be able to get through to the person inside the monster. Because I. I definitely think that Odessa's Starling magic will look vastly different. Because she's half Calandra and half Nalfaxian.

[Lexi]

Yes. And I do think that in order for her to be able to help Sandra, they will have to destroy the orbits so too.

[Nicole]

Yeah.

[Lexi]

Maybe once when they do destroy that, then Xander would be able to use it properly. But in the meantime, I could see Odessa. Yes, definitely being able to potentially shift because she does not have the green blood.

[Nicole]

I think she's gonna be able to shift back and forth between a crux.

[Lexi]

I think so too. Yeah. Oh, my gosh.

[Nicole]

Going back to my earlier question though. Do we think that Zandra is going to die at the hands of Ransom slash Odessa or do you think she is going to live?

[Lexi]

I think she's going to live.

[Nicole]

I have to have hope.

[Lexi]

I have to have their happily ever happen so badly.

[Nicole]

He's just been waiting for her for 25. My wings jokes on you. I have no wings. Oh, poor guy. Poor girl. Yeah. I hope they're. I hope they get their happy ending. Before we shift over to Odessa's storyline in rights of the Starling, let's take a quick break for a word from our sponsors.

[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

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[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

We're certainly not done talking about all of that, but let's shift gears to Odessa and the present timeline. Because I was hooked with this storyline as well, especially with the two Voster brothers. You were right, Nicole. Brother Dime is in league with her father. And in fact, I'll even go ahead one step further and say you were also right about her mother turning into a crux. In might not have been the dining room, but she did. And I was making fun of you, but no, it just turns out they killed everybody and hid all the evidence.

[Nicole]

You're welcome.

[Lexi]

Gotta give credit where credit's due. Thank you. Okay. Although neither of us won our bet because we did not go to Alasaria whatsoever. No.

[Nicole]

Which did absolutely kill me. That was so funny.

[Lexi]

All right, so Brother Dime and Brother Score know that Odessa is a starling. So Dime passes her off to Score to take her to one of the orbit locations on a reread. It's like, oh, my gosh, all the clues are falling into place.

[Nicole]

We have to talk about that orbit location. The waterfall. When first reading this scene, I was so creeped out, but, like, on the edge of my seat, I was deeply concerned for. For Evie and worried that her and Faze would be taken or something like that. But there was a moment where I sat up straight and just, like, audibly, like, gasped. Because Caspia has been thinking and praising the divine the entire book thus far. Now, this is, like, chapter 10. But this is the first time a member in Odessa's story has said they worship the divine too. So at the time, I was wondering, like, is Brother Score somehow a shifter? Like a Starling? Like, all the brotherhood is like a male version of the starlings? Because this light quote, a growl came from the priest sounding so much like Faze, it was uncanny. I was like, oh, my God, he's a Tarkin shifter. But the shock and awe when I was first reading about the black pool, that when Odessa touched it or was close to it, she's like, it nearly killed her. It was so painful. That was epic and terrifying, because you have no idea how any of that works at the time. God, it was so good.

[Lexi]

Well, and how secretive Brother Score is about the orbit, I genuinely worried that they were the bad guys. But when he and Daim are praying to the divine and already knowing the divine is Caspia's religion, too, just like you're saying, it's like, oh, something's here. I don't know what, but I love it. We'll go more into the orbits shortly, but in Hindsight, this waterfall and retrieving this thing that Odessa was able to track down is a big fucking deal. And only Odessa is able to feel it and truly find it. It just like her mother was able to do with Andreas back in that canyon. And her father is partly behind this with the waterfall and all of that, working with these foster brothers to find the orbits and save Calandra from this dark magic that turns creatures into monsters. He just didn't want his daughter to be involved in all of it.

[Nicole]

But oops, he won some points back at the end of this book. But he's got a long way to go.

[Lexi]

Yes. And then as soon as we finally feel content, he's probably gonna die.

[Nicole]

Absolutely. Or like he's gonna die, and then we'll feel content. Like, that's. Yeah, that's. So we know that two have been not destroyed, but in his possession in the Voster Brothers, like, on the good side's possession. But that's all that we know. There's six of these orbits, and they

[Lexi]

have an idea of where the. All the locations are. So I bet that Odessa, she is going to be searching primarily for the other three. And then they got to go into the heart of Alessaria and go up against the Vosters, and that is going to be the big climax of next book.

[Nicole]

Okay, before we talk about the big timeline reveals the Vosters, the orbits, the visions, let's dive really quickly into our main couple. Ransom and Odessa are one of our main couples. As Deveney mentioned when we interviewed her about a year ago, Book one was the romance book, and book two was the world building. And yet again, she delivered. And because of that, that Odessa and Ransom's relationship was really not fun, front and center. It stepped aside for Caspia and Andreas. And I not gonna lie, I didn't miss Odessa and Ransom's relationship. We were pretty open in our previous Shield of Sparrows episode about how with Odessa and Ransom, like, we love them individually, they're such rich characters, and together they're good. But I don't feel like that. That. That pull towards them, and to be honest, that's okay. There's so much else that makes this such a good book. So the fact that they didn't reunite until about halfway through the book, I didn't really mind. It felt really natural to me.

[Lexi]

Yes, I agree. And I really do love the reunion that they had. And being in Odessa's pov, I felt her relief at seeing him alive, how he swooped in at the perfect time. Evie crying harder than Ever. When she was wrapped up in his arms, that reunion was so, so sweet. And it felt so earned in the best way.

[Nicole]

Yes. Although.

[Lexi]

Freya.

[Nicole]

Rip by Freya I'm not ready to talk about it. I'm not ready to talk about it. Well, and one thing that Odessa needed to be alone for a while with Evie. Like that storyline with the waterfall. That needed to be just Odessa because Ransom would have stepped in and been too protective, and she needed to be able to do that on her own. And I love that.

[Lexi]

And I think also a big part of. Toward the end of the book when she really stands up to her sister May and her father and comes back a different person, she really has become a different person. Yes, a big part of that is because of Ransom from book one. But I think it was really a lot of her having to be on her own and be a motherly figure, having to try to work with people who she might be a little bit scared of and completely living outside of her comfort zone. And she came back a stronger, more confident person and she needed to do that on her own.

[Nicole]

I agree completely. I do love the messiness that is Ransom's Lysa getting worse and the complicated feelings he had towards the healer allure and trying to find a cure. I am very curious how the experiments went with Odessa's blood. I'm assuming that's going to be a book three bit of info we're gonna get. Maybe not bit, maybe large chunk. I do think it's very, very poetic that she would be the cure to his poison. I just think that's some yummy romance right there. That's very sweet.

[Lexi]

I will say, when it comes to Odessa and Ransom, I was a little bit worried about the miscommunication trope where how he wouldn't say I love you and I'm still a little bit like, okay, like, he did say it at the very end, but I'm just a little meh about that person.

[Nicole]

If Odessa was one of my best friends, I would have been like, run, girl. He. If he. If he wanted to, he would. I would have. I would have given some very advice that she did not want.

[Lexi]

Well, and him not telling Odessa about the crux turning into a woman that definitely looks like Odessa. I completely understand that this is a very difficult conversation for Ransom to have with Odessa, and I'm sure we'd have a field day with Ransom, character analysis and his POV in a deep dive if we were to do one. But as a reader who loves Odessa and everything, that's unfolding. It's like. Like, come on, tell your wife this extremely important bit of info.

[Nicole]

Like, I know that they were on the run with, you know, Jody and that whole crew, and so it's hard to step away. But then you're in your own private room, and you're like, I have time to bang you. You also have time to let your wife know about some very important details that she may have not been present

[Lexi]

for, especially when she's extremely worried about the incoming migration. And you sit here like, I just don't know, honey. I don't know.

[Nicole]

All right, we've alluded to it quite a lot. So let's do the full download on the Voster, the starling, the orbits, and dark magic in Calandra. Basically, let's go through how all these puzzle pieces come together. Lexi, I'm just gonna hand you the mic for a reaction archives, if you.

[Lexi]

Yeah, let's go to the library of Axton. So the Voster originally came from the same continent as where the starlings live now. The continent of Kin. The Voster were driven from their homeland ages ago after they lost a war with the country Bisa. Their religious beliefs did not align with the Beeson King, who was their next door neighbors, and the king used that as an excuse to attack them, claiming they were abominations. The Voster worshiped a God whose name is no longer spoken, while the other kingdoms worshiped the divine. The few that made out of this attack alive were aided by three starlings who helped guide them away from their homeland, and together they ended up on Kalandra. The three starlings shifted here on Kalandra, though, and only one left the land alive. Back in Kin, the Voster did not have powers, but in Kalandra, they now do have fluid magic, water, wind, and blood. They got this magic because long before the migrations or the Voster came to Calandra, there was an ordinary group of men that worshiped Calandrin spirits in a monastery deep in the mountains of this land. One harsh winter, they found themselves on the brink of death from starvation. They prayed to their spirits, begging for help. But by the time the ice melted, all of these men were dead. Except for six. Yes, six. These men felt abandoned by their spirits and started worshiping demons. They made a bargain with the demons for magic and immortality. With their bodies possessed by the demons, these men became magicians. They fooled people into believing their power was a blessed gift to save them. And these men became known as the six gods that Kalandra worships. During the time of the six they created monsters. Beowulves, Fennec, Cavarine, Alagasts, Grizzers, Tarkin. And this all led to a great battle between them and the starlings, who were originally from this continent of Calandra. The six were outnumbered, and the starlings won. Due to the traditions of the starlings, the dead magicians were burned and their remains sealed in glass orbits. And for an unknown amount of time, there was peace. But it did not last long. While the magicians were gone, their magic remained, seeping from these orbits and leaching into the land. And it slowly spread throughout Kalandra, becoming a curse on the land. So the magician's magic is the reason humans have Starbursts in their eyes, The Voster have magic, and the swift turn into monsters. And the starlings lose control over their bloodline's gift, turning their blood green and not allowing them to shift back from animal form, getting trapped as these monsters of the land with no control. This ultimately chased the starlings away from their homeland of Kalandra and all the way to Nelfanx, where their dynasty started. So nowadays, there are Voster who feel this is wrong and want to undo the magic that binds them to this land, to return this land to what it once was. So, within the Brotherhood, they work to track down the orbits and restore Calandra's balance. Cast away the curse. That's where King Andreas Cross comes in. He has been limited in what he can personally do with tracking down the orbits because. Because he is bound as king to blood oaths, he believes the Voster may have their suspicions about him. But when the four Voster were killed by Caspia, who shifted into a Crux, he ensured there was no trace of them here. And Brother Hain took the fall. Andreas, people closest to him, including General Huxley and Brother Dime, are helping the cannon track down the orbits so that they can return to their homeland of kin. And now, two of the six orbits. Orbits are in King Andreas possession, with a general idea of where the other four are. Specifically, he thinks the Turans built their capital to protect the Voster's sanctuary, which is built upon an orbit. Hence why King Andreas has been obsessed with getting access to Alessaria before this generation's migration. It's to find the orbit, destroy all six, stop the Crux becoming monsters, and break the power of the Voster, which obviously, the High Priest will do everything in his power to prevent. Because most of the Voster like having all of this power. We can gather that Ransom has the same gifts, thanks to Lysa, as The starling and the Voster maybe have when they arrive in Calandra. Not shapeshifting by any means, but heightened senses, quick healing, green blood, and eyes that shift color depending on their mood. Because Caspia had gold eyes, which would turn silver when she was angry, and sometimes the most beautiful green color. Yep, that all sounds familiar. So I'm really excited now that we have more context about Lysa and the Barry Wolf that bit Ransom and the dark magic that curses this land with basically monsters. And what do you know? Odessa's heritage is tied to Lysa, but it's like, I wonder if she's immune from it. Maybe because she is a starling born here in Calandra. I think that is key to her being different and the key to saving the continent.

[Nicole]

I could not agree more. Something that is also sticking with me is we know that that starling who won the war against the six men who became these six gods throughout, you know, history and how it's taught and religion and all of that. Do you think that starling is related to Odessa?

[Lexi]

Absolutely. Now, she was beheaded. She so even was killed. Yeah, she was killed because she was considered like this evil pythoness. But in reality, it was the starlings who were the good guys trying to fight off this evil magic with the magicians. And because this was their homeland and they could shift and they had visions and all this kind of stuff that were able to help aid them in this war. And yet they were, in a way, their own demise because they kept these orbits and the magic did not go away because these orbits still existed. And we still don't know why these orbits were not destroyed or anything along those lines. Once, when they kind of started putting the pieces together. If they had put those pieces together.

[Nicole]

Yes, exactly. All right, we've talked a little bit about the thrum with Caspia, but now we need to talk about the ending, because Odessa feels the thrum inside her chest tugging, and we get a vision. She has the vision so sight too. Ransom, with his silver eyes, is on his knees in front of her. But she is not Odessa. She is a massive bird, a crux. Dark green blood drips from his fingertips, and he puts his blade down and only says, quote, my queen. Bad, bad, bad. This is bad. A direct parallel of what happened with her mother and her father when Andreas killed Caspia. But it looks like Ransom is putting the blade down. Put the blade down, sir. Now, if I know anything from fantasy, it's that visions are not what they seem. So I wonder if this appears as if they made the same deal as Caspia and Andreas. But Ransom cannot kill Odessa like Andreas killed Caspia. But maybe this is a crack theory. I necessarily don't think that when Odessa shows shifts, she's going to be lost to the monster like Xandria and Caspia were. Because, like we've mentioned, Odessa is Calandrin and Starling. She would be able to shift more willy nilly and still keep her right mind.

[Lexi]

Maybe. Yeah.

[Nicole]

I wonder if she shifted here and she's still in her right mind. And the reason Ransom is on his knees is not because he's bleeding and dying.

[Lexi]

I don't think that's actually Ransom's blood or Odessa's. If she has red blood, does that mean that she's a starling who can safely shift?

[Nicole]

Yes, exactly.

[Lexi]

Yeah. The curse of this continent does not apply to her in the same way that it does when her ancestors came here getting really sick and get a starling version of Lysa. So I hope that her blood stays red and this dark green blood that is in the vision is not hers, because only then is that really a possibility for her to be different.

[Nicole]

Well, okay, let me throw out an idea of whose it might be. What if Ransom and Slash or Odessa just battled with Xandra, the Bari wolf, and that's where the green blood came from. Hence why Ransom just put down his weapon. Because he was fighting and Odessa is somehow tapped into this ability to be able to command the monsters. So this, my queen, could be. Hail the queen of the monster. So I'm not saying Xander is necessarily dead. I'm saying that it. While Odessa has shifted into a crux, she has tapped into Xander's mind and able to, like, calm her down, bring herself back up to the surface. And that is why Ransom is kneeling and saying, my queen, but he's, you know, covered in blood from the fight. This could also just be one of the visions that changes as she tries to make different choices. We love to talk about destiny, like how Caspia did after having the visions that she came killed Andreas. But I still don't think that. I think that's still gonna happen.

[Lexi]

Yeah. So I have a feeling that in book three, Odessa will spend most of the story feeling like a ticking time bomb and will have a major sense of urgency. Like how in this book, it's the migration coming. Next book, it'll be like, destroy the orbits before she shifts and destroys her husband. And before the migration comes. I'm telling you, Graciela needs to come and help her.

[Nicole]

But Graciela would come and shift and be trapped. Unless she. Yes, that's not helpful.

[Lexi]

Not unless she's in her human form like Caspian was for a long time.

[Nicole]

Yeah, that's fair, that's fair, that's fair. Okay.

[Lexi]

Just something I am worried about is how in chapter 54, before Odessa learns the whole truth about the Voster and the orbits, Ransom convinces Odessa to believe the High Priest has their best interests at heart. And Ransom sends a message to the High priest. I could be missing where. That comes up in a later chapter, but this is bad. I don't think that's brought up. Again, that's bad. The High Priest knows about the starlings. At least I think so. I think that he was curious about who Odessa's mother is, because he has already been suspicious of King Andreas.

[Nicole]

Well. And he killed her grandmother.

[Lexi]

Yes, yes. And we cannot forget how King Ramsay of Tura and the High High Priests clearly are in cahoots, like they're trying to destroy history. Probably because they're trying to ensure that nobody knows about the histories of before. Calandra was the Calandra that we know of today.

[Nicole]

Yeah, well, and let's also not forget that Ramsay's injecting Lysa into or a form of Lysa into all of his soldiers in the hopes that they become super superhumans.

[Lexi]

That's where I worry that. That something's going to happen with him and Beeson and maybe they'll become bad guy ally villains together.

[Nicole]

What if that was the. The. The. The testing?

[Lexi]

Yeah, that's what I'm worried about. Even though she says that she's been in Beeson this whole time, I do think that she was there. But I really do think that King Ramsay might know more than he's been letting on. And didn't he say something about red hair in Shield of Sparrows?

[Nicole]

I'm sure he did. Oh, God, yes, he did. He did say something about. Okay, so all of this to say, where does this ending leave our main characters? I'm. Main characters is the operative word there, because we could be doing this for hours. Ransom has just recently had Brother Scores siphon a lot of the Lysa out, but it's still in him. It's just not quite so close to the surface where he is attacking his wife in the middle of the night. Andreas has been working successfully sneakily undercover with members of the Brotherhood to discover the orbits and believes there's answers in Alessaria. He has two orbits right now out of the six. Odessa is having visions of her becoming a crux and has not told Ransom about them. I don't think she's going to tell him for a while. But to be honest, I don't know. I'm kind of like, maybe I'm like, sweet payback, asshole. Oh my God. I like. So here for it. Even though it's more of the miscommunication trope, but whatever.

[Lexi]

Like that right there. It's like, well, that solves that whole mystery.

[Nicole]

So Thora and Jody have both been called back to, quote, keep Odessa alive as she goes to search for the orbits. I love that Odessa's father called them back days before her and him talked about her mother. She learned the truth about the orbits and all of that. Like, oh, gosh, they're going to be playing, playing such a cool role in book three. I love Jody. I'm almost like, do you have to stay with Ransom? He's interesting.

[Lexi]

His whole, like, doll thing just would get under my skin.

[Nicole]

The doll is that the doll is annoying. Yeah, that's fair. And then as far as we know, Odessa's great Aunt Olena and Graciela are still in Nelfanix, maybe battling a war against the Beesons.

[Lexi]

So let's go through the Starling family tree real quick, at least with the main characters that we know of. I'm going to do this from Odessa's pov. So we have great Aunt Olena, who is the ruling starling in Nilfenix. There is Grandmama Des, who Odessa is named after, and she left when Caspia was a baby. So that is Aunt Olena's sister. We can deduce Grandmama Des was called by her righteous to Calandra as well. Ah. Because the divine is wanting things to be righted, and only a starling can do so. However, she turned into a cross trucks and presumably in the past tense, was killed by the high priest. So then we have Grandmama Dess, three daughters, Emery, Saskia and Caspia. Odessa's Aunt Emery has a daughter named Graciela, and she also had another baby while imprisoned by the Beasons, but we do think that they took her from Emery. So Graciella is Odessa's cousin. Then Caspia is of course Odessa's mother. There's also Caspia's cousin Zandra, who, I don't think we know exactly who her mother is, but it's not Aunt Olenna. Remember, there are lots of Starling women, big family tree, and this is only a little sliver of that family tree. So Xandra, the one eyed berry wolf that is terrorizing Calandra, is Odessa's first cousin once removed. It's her mother's cousin. And the crux that killed everyone at the end of Shield of Sparrows. That was Odessa's Aunt Emery, her mother, Caspia's sister.

[Nicole]

All right, friends, buckle up, because we are about to go through every vision that happens in the book and go through whether or not it has come to pass, or if it hasn't come to pass, theorize how that might occur next book. A huge shout out to our Discord members who helped me put together this spreadsheet. We got Lacy, Chloe, Jensen, Teagan, and I know there's more of you in the Shield of Sparrows chat. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for helping me out with this. It was unbelievably helpful. Oh, my goodness. Okay, so very. First, we have the vision in chapter three where Caspia sees Emery's death. This happened at the very end of Shield of Sparrows. Then a vision from the journal in chapter four was of a lion, Wick, that was trapped and then freed. The man was gifted with a claw. Then Damon is wearing the claw and tells Odessa the story, admitting that it was his father who fought the lion, Wick. This is what she's reading in the journal. So we learned about this last book. This is the claw. The claw that makes someone immune to sickness that we learned about last book. Then we have a vision that Odessa reads about, actually, in Luella's journal, about a woman who's holding a beheaded snake who burns it, and then, you know, places the snake skin on her wound, thinking that that would cure it. It.

[Lexi]

Well, Luella's journal is Caspia's journal.

[Nicole]

Yes, exactly. Yes.

[Lexi]

Louella found it because Caspia had, like, put it away.

[Nicole]

Yes, yes, yes, yes, exactly. So this has come to pass because Odessa sees this in real time, and she's like, what the. But the big thing we get from that is that always, if there's a poison, there is a cure. Which is what sets Odessa off on getting the cure for Lysa when she's in the Quintus Castle. Then, in chapter nine, we have a vision, which is of a man with brown hair who's on a horse. In front of him is a little girl with gray eyes, and they weave in and out of Indigo Mountains that are capped in white, AKA snow. So this is not entirely happened. Yet we could assume that this happened once Ransom caught up with Odessa and Evie. And this is Ransom and Evie in front of him. Evie does have gray eyes with the cerulean starburst, and Ransom does have brown hair. They were traveling near mountain ranges, traveling to Rosso. So I could absolutely see that this also might be something we see next book. Tbd.

[Lexi]

In chapter eight, Odessa shares one of the stories that is from the journal that she had found from Luella that we now know is from her mother. And it is. A man with golden hair stands on a cliffside, and a ship is anchored in an ocean bay, the waves rocking it back and forth. Seven circles of women sit huddled together on the deck, their heads bent in quiet prayer. But one woman with unbound red hair stands apart from the others. She keeps post at the stern, watching as the last rowboat of her sisters pushes away from a sandy beach beneath the cliffs. Only when those women are aboard, nestled in their own prayer circle, does the woman look to the golden haired man. The call to raise the anchor rings out, mingled with the caw of seabirds. Tears are streaming down her face. And the man stands on the cliffside until the sun sets, crying for his beloved as she sails into the unknown. So we gotta talk about this one here. Could it be from the past after the Great War, and they're all leaving and going away from Calandra, But I think that it's actually not happened yet because most of these things in the vision are going to happen, and it's showing that they're on the right path. So what if the blonde man watching her leave. Who's blonde in this? That we know of.

[Nicole]

Arthy. Are you saying this is Arthy's future is heartbreak Boy,

[Lexi]

that would be like, way off in the future. But I think about the woman and how. How they're crying. Like, I guess I. When I first read this, I just assumed that it was King Andreas. But he doesn't have blonde hair, does he?

[Nicole]

I think that this is after the Great War, and this is after they've defeated the Six. They're heading to Nelfanix. And that's why he's like, they're sailing off into the great unknown because they're going to a continent no one knows exists right now.

[Lexi]

That's true.

[Nicole]

So that would be in the past, though.

[Lexi]

Oh, my goodness. I need way more than whatever, however much time we're dedicating to this reaction. I see.

[Nicole]

Next we have a story again from Luella's journal, which is a vision from Caspia. This is of a man with three gashes on his face. He's beheaded an animal after having been attacked by said animal. And he's skinning the creature and he makes an overcoat of it. To disguise himself. This is of the Alagasque and we meet him in writes the starling. His name is Skryker. And that's how he gets through the bogs, is by dressing up as an Allagasc.

[Lexi]

Then of course we have another story from the journal which is a woman in gray leather and metal armor with white hair, four stars on her cheek and a falcon lance on her arm. And she sighs at the message that is delivered via scroll. She takes off her armor and is finally free. So we can assume that this is Thora. And I bet that this is going to be something that happens in book three. I wonder if the message that is being delivered, that could be from King Andrea, because they are currently going off on a mission to help Odessa to keep her alive so that she can find the orbits and then they will be literally out of debts with their master, so to speak. Yeah, so that's like the deal that they have right now with King Cross.

[Nicole]

Yes. All right, number five, we have a vision from Caspia. This is of a woman with wild red curls. We assume that this is Emery in a cell praying to the Divine. Next to her is a man who has light hair. He points to the dark hall. Remember, he has no tongue and he has missing two fingers. But she shakes her head. She will not leave until quote, the divine has called him home. AKA he is dead and she cannot shift while she has a child in her womb. The enemy takes the blood in her veins and she does not bother to fight it. So we can definitely assume this has already happened. This is Emery as she's captured by the beans.

[Lexi]

When I first read this, I thought that for sure she was captured by King Ramsay or something.

[Nicole]

God, that would have been. Well, honestly, it might be kind of one in the same. So I'm not like, I. I think

[Lexi]

King Ramsay is working with the Beeson.

[Nicole]

I think you're right. I so think you're right.

[Lexi]

One of Caspia's visions is a woman with brown curls holding a sword to ransom throat. His eyes are green and then she turns away and they flash silver. So we can assume that this is actually from Shield of Sparrows, chapter 12, when Ransom gives Odessa his sword for the first time. She's just freshly dyed her hair at the beginning of this chapter before this sword scene. So that's why she has the brown hair instead of the red hair.

[Nicole]

In chapter 21 we have another vision from Caspia. This is of bodies in the courtyard. Fire is around everywhere and major air quotes, quotes. Caspia is calling to zandra in her berry wolf form. Andreas is dead at her feet. I am going to go out on a limb because we assume that this one is just one of those visions that she had and then has been changed. It doesn't happen that way. I think that this actually is still going to come to pass. I wonder if actually Caspia was looking through Odessa's eyes at the moment. And this could be foreshadowing for book three. Xandria has come in. Andreas has been killed by Zandria, which is so sad. I don't think he's making it out of book three alive. Like there's. I definitely don't.

[Lexi]

I don't think that he wants to achieve this mission. And his heart is gone. And he has never forgiven himself for what he had to do to the woman that he loves more than anything. And he really has been a shell of himself ever since then. Now, continuing from this previous vision is Xandra commanding the bewolves like an army. We really do see this frequently. Not necessarily with the one eyed bear wolf, but just how these bewolves with the Lysa is very, very, very dangerous. And so again, I do worry that this is going to still happen in some way or another.

[Nicole]

Yes, absolutely. We have a few quick rapid fires, but back to back we have Kos in his tent with the bread, which is a vision that Caspia sees that does come to pass. Basically right after that happens. Now, they do come in and I'll say almost interrupt that vision.

[Lexi]

They do, yeah, they.

[Nicole]

Yeah, yeah.

[Lexi]

So that's again where it's like this question of. Yes, we know that those visions do not necessarily cement that it is going to happen.

[Nicole]

Yes.

[Lexi]

And yet oftentimes they do still happen in a different way than we would have assumed that like with the son with the blonde hair.

[Nicole]

We have a story of a blonde little boy naming their puppy. We learn later that this is Arthy naming his brand new puppy. Is so cute.

[Lexi]

In chapter 31, Caspia has a vision of Holly washing her hands and she has green blood on them and she's trying to hide that fact. And so we can assume that this is after Caspia's labor because she was the midwife wife who helped and she is being paid a lot of money to stay quiet about that whole green blood thing.

[Nicole]

You know, that one just tiny little thing.

[Lexi]

Well, same with Mark Marco. Yeah. She's also in on all of this. And she made a promise to Odessa's mother, Caspia, to protect her daughter. Yeah, I know.

[Nicole]

All right, chapter 35, we get another vision. It's of Andreas looking at his blonde baby boy and smiling. We can assume that this did happen, just not on the page. And we can assume that this was Arthy and he was smiling at his little child. Well, sort of child, so. Well, that. That's true. We haven't really talked about.

[Lexi]

We kind of skipped over all of that stuff.

[Nicole]

Oh my God. There's too much to talk about.

[Lexi]

Oh, man. Okay, so then we have another vision in chapter 38 from Caspian, and it's of her killing everyone in the throne room after she shifted. But Andreas does not stab her. Instead she kills him. So she's able to change this outcome. And it's essentially like, if you do not kill me, I will kill you. So we have to change it. Like, I'm sorry, but you got to do this for me, buddy.

[Nicole]

Oh, it's so sad. Another vision from Caspia is of a mountain forest covered in white. Countless graves. Beyond the fortress wall. A man with black braids and one leg holding his newborn son. This does happen, but it is off page, referring to Elder after the Emery attack last book.

[Lexi]

Oh my gosh. So he is alive. So this is Tilia's husband, because remember, he lost one leg and he was on death's door. But he's going to be alive. She had been pregnant it. So I am going to hope that this is going to come to pass in book three, that he's going to survive and he's going to have be able to hold his child. Yes. Yeah.

[Nicole]

Another one from chapter 42 is a vision that Caspia halves of Kos reading the first page of Caspia's hidden journal long after she's hidden it. Yes, this does happen. But off page now from chapter 44, we actually have a story from sign about the six and the evil pythonesses battle. The pythoness fought with a legion of powerful non Calandrian female warriors, AKA the starlings. The pythoness was given prophecies via the darkness, and this gave her an unnatural advantage. And even though the six were gods, they were outnumbered. Until finally Mack, the God of war, killed the pythoness and cut off her head. Then the six chose to retreat to the shade. This is a lie. A lie. A stinky lie.

[Lexi]

Oh, and again, it's like whoever's perspective is telling history, right? Because in this version with Sonnets 90, the six are the good guys. And so this evil pythoness, she is the starling, she is the bad one. She is ruled by the darkness of this powerful divine, that is the bad religion. However, we know differently where the six, they had dark magic and they ensured once when they were gone that there was a curse on this lance.

[Nicole]

Yes, well, and this is someone wrote in the, in the notes here, they wonder if this was propaganda written by the high priest.

[Lexi]

Oh, absolutely.

[Nicole]

Turn against Starling.

[Lexi]

Yes.

[Nicole]

So good.

[Lexi]

So I have a crazy crack theory, okay, that the priest is one of the original magician and that, but how is it? I don't know. I don't know.

[Nicole]

You don't know?

[Lexi]

I don't know.

[Nicole]

I don't know.

[Lexi]

Yeah, but I, I don't know. I, I, that's a bit of a crack theory that I have.

[Nicole]

I love that though. Oh my God. What? Wait, no. What if he's the son of one of them?

[Lexi]

So in chapter 52, Caspia has a vision of brother Hayne kneeling at the edge of a cliff. And he says, by the grace of the divine guide them home. By the grace of the divine grant those starling the strength to do what I could not by the grace of the divine welcome me to glory. Blood falls out of his nose and he's beheaded by an unknown person and his head falls to the cliff. So we do know that he took the fall for the four dead Foster that Caspia once and she's shifting did killed. And so my understanding with all of this is that he, somebody had to take the fall and he was personally ready to raise his hand be like, I understand this is my part to play in all of this. In order for the Vasser to no longer be very, very, very suspicious and this king be dead. He and his lineage have to keep trying to make this happen. So I will sacrifice myself there.

[Nicole]

There's another vision in chapter 57. Four vaster are walking across a marble floor. Andreas is facing them and then he begins to fight them, throwing a dagger at the priest. So he fights the priests before Caspia comes in and has a field day.

[Lexi]

Another vision that Caspia has in chapter 59 is Emery and Aunt Olena talking about Emery's capture and Emery saying that she's going to find her sister Caspia, because that's Caspia had literally left to go find her. So she feels an obligation to go do the same same. And we can assume that yes, this is what happened. That then set the chain of events off that Emery came here and was killed by the silver eyed warrior.

[Nicole]

Last but not least, we have Odessa's vision which is of Ransom on his knees. She is a crux in front of him. He puts down his blade and says, my queen so knowing that we have

[Lexi]

to start wrapping this episode up at some point here, let's go through some of our other favorite moments or just things that really stood out to us, us from this book here. I love the scene on the ship where the marrow eels are coming, because we remember how terrifying and bad, bad, bad that was from Odessa's journey across the sea in book one. But Xandra and Caspia go right up to the marrow eels and they use their starling gift to soothe the creatures, because after all, the divine had bonded their bloodline to the creatures of this world. Seeing this so early on in the book, like, after chapter three already, was just so, so cool. And it also made me realize this is why the creature seemed drawn to Odessa. It's not so much that monsters are drawn to Odessa in a bad way, like she's kind of been thinking, but her starling bloodline naturally has a bond with creatures, and I guess that they're picking up on it, I assume, even if they want to kill her instead of any chance at soothing. But I also think that this is promising for our favorite pet monster phase and was when they free Calandra of this dark magic, it'll be like, I'm going to call it a blanket that has been lifted from this stifled bond that is already breaking through. And I really love how he is. Might be a monster, but she feels this kinship with him, and I think that is really showing that as a starling and of Calandra, she still has a special way with a creature who is so small and impressionable.

[Nicole]

Well, and I do think that, I hate to say this, I do think that they're going to release him next book and it's gonna be this really, really sad moment. And then once they destroy all the orbits, he's gonna come back and be their pet tarkin for the rest of their lives.

[Lexi]

I think he's gonna come back in, in a moment where he gets to save everybody and help.

[Nicole]

Yeah, Little Tarkin. I love it.

[Lexi]

Yes. Yes.

[Nicole]

I loved learning about the Vassa priests being able to turn their magic, magic inward and make it so Caspia and Odessa wouldn't be in pain. I just, I. I loved that little bit of magic.

[Lexi]

Odessa and Evie's bond had me crying, I think, as early as chapter six, when Evie is crying and needs to wear the shirt covered in blood. No, that was all she has left from her father. I was a blubbering mess. And maybe that's also just. I have a almost five year old son, and every day to get him out of his Batman pajamas and into anything that is clean is a whole thing. And I know that's a completely different circumstances than this, but just that sense of a motherly figure just doing their best with a child who is really and truly going through it. The way Odessa is trying to soothe Evie and also let her feel all of her grief. My mama heart was hurting so much throughout all of that, and I can. I could feel the pain that Odessa was going through as she did her best and a damn good job caring for the sweet little girl. Like, at one point, I think it's to Sally that she's like, I'm not her mother. Like, I'm not good enough to be like that. And Sally's like, I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit there. Like, you're being really great here. Odessa has become a mother figure to Evie, and they've been through so much together, and I just love their bond and how Evie is included in the the story. She's really innocence represented in this mix with all these monsters and trying to get to safety with emotional comfort. And I love Evie's addition to this series.

[Nicole]

There's this moment where they're on Freya, and Evie has started holding Faz's paw as they travel just to, like, soothe. And I. That is when I cried. I also want to point out that even Evie still doesn't know that her mother was Luella and that Ransom is her brother. Still has no idea that, yeah, she's gonna need so much therapy. That poor kid.

[Lexi]

Well, and then when Odessa does tell her the truth, that she's actually married to Ransom and Evie realizes that she's not her stepmom, like, she's thought all this time, and she's like, so you're not my mom? Like, who's gonna be my mom, then? And it's like, oh, God.

[Nicole]

Sweet girl. Oh, my goodness. Pivoting slightly, I know that we've mentioned Ransom. It's not my favorite book boyfriend. I love him as a character. Don't get me wrong, though. Regardless, I do want to highlight this line, because this is when Odessa is saying how her family wants her to go back to the woman that she used to be. And Ransom says, quote, you were always this woman. I knew it the day I watched you jump off this cliff. You were always my queen. It's not your fault they weren't paying attention. Oh, that's such a good line. And that's a good line from a man who loves his woman even though he won't Say it until the end.

[Lexi]

I really loved Odessa's transformation. I know we talked about a little bit at the top of the episode, but how she stands up for herself to her sister and her sister's like, oh, like you're different now. And it's just like, yeah, I am. And the way that her family still treats like she hasn't changed. Like I think a lot about quite a few of us have have experiences in our own way where maybe we went off to college or after college, you know, like whitten we're off to be adults and then we go back to our hometown and we're being treated like we always had been. And I know for me, I am not the same person that I was when I was in my early 20s and when I used to hang out with some of my old friend group, they still treated me like old Lexi. And it drove me absolutely crazy because it's like, no, I have done the damn work. Don't treat me that way. And I love how Odessa shines as a character so much in the second half of this book up against her family. A moment of appreciation for the Mavens we meet in the story. The white haired niece of Cathleen Thora and the two in a secret relationship. I'm so sorry, I don't remember their names. But they can only trust a few in their maven group. And the Mavens, they're their own found family. And I think that you're right that we will spend a lot more time with them. Some next book that the vision of Thora will definitely come true and maybe she'll be another mentor for Odessa like Tilia had become in book one. I'm just really excited for more of

[Nicole]

them going back to the healing of Odessa. There's this moment with her and her father when they're finally getting to talk to each other plainly and really just work through the shit in their relationship. Not all the way. And I don't know if there's ever going to be an all the way away with that. There's not 100% trust. But he says quote, the only person I've underestimated is you. For that I am deeply sorry. I wept at that line. That was so good. Oh my gosh. Speaking of lines, I wept at the line from Brother Score when he says that she needs to find a warrior. And then at the end, Odessa asks if he meant her mother, AKA finding her past, figuring out what her pass is. And Brother Scores says, no, girl, I meant you. Oh, that's so good.

[Lexi]

Nathalia, or her nickname, Holly, has been the royal nanny since Odessa's birth. And now she takes care of Archie and even Evie. Well, we get her origin story. She was a midwife that Caspia met when she was wandering the streets of Rolfo barefoot and was going through a tough time. And she helped with Caspia's labor and delivery and therefore knows what's up with Odessa and all that stuff. Again, I love how the past and present weave together.

[Nicole]

I love that cursing for all future starlings is illegal. But then Caspia learns Calandarin and she starts cursing with them. And it. She, like, loves saying damn it. And I just love it. Oh, it's so good.

[Lexi]

And how she learns the different meanings of fuck. And she's like, this is my favorite one.

[Nicole]

This is my favorite.

[Lexi]

I love the subtle language differences, too. I mean, obviously there is, like, the whole language difference, but for instance, how years are summers, a sun is a day, and so on. And even in the stories, apart from Caspian's visions, we get glimpses of the starling language. Like the story from Sonnets 90 of a great battle between the six and the evil pythonists who fought with a legion of female warriors more powerful than any amassing. Kalandra. That's the starling. As we've been saying, the prophecies given to this pythoness by the darkness gave her an unnatural advantage in the war. Visions. She had visions like Caspia. But back to the language, because that was the whole point of this. It stood out how it's worded, that the battle raged from one summer solstice to another. That's why they call years summers.

[Nicole]

Yes. Yes. Okay, so last one, and this is more of a question, but did it stand out to you that some of the monsters had white eyes and some of them didn't? Because.

[Lexi]

Yes, I think it's a sign of Lysa.

[Nicole]

Okay, that would make so much more sense, because I originally was thinking, like. Like, is that the shifters? But then I realized that when those were killed, like the alagasts with the white eyes were killed, they didn't turn back to humans. So I think you're right. I think that is the sign of Lysa.

[Lexi]

All right, friends again. We could honestly go on and on and on about this book, but we do have to wrap it up at some point. Nicole. Nicole has to get back to her edits.

[Nicole]

I need to go back to editing so bad.

[Lexi]

So. Thank you so much for joining this special episode discussing our reactions to rights of the Starlings by devmeet Perry. This has been so much fun.

[Nicole]

Next Monday we are back with the creators with when the moon hatched episode six covering chapters 58 through 75. Y' all pray for Lexi and I this week. Thank you as always to our librarian, AKA our content researcher Brooke, and of course our executive producer, slash sanity manager, slash co host of the Fantasy Fan Fellas podcast, Hayden.

[Lexi]

We are very active on social media with weekly trivia, book guides and lots more. So please be sure to follow us on Instagram and/ or TikTok antasy fangirlspod. And if you're watching this on YouTube or want to watch on YouTube, pretty please hit that subscribe button to keep following along.

[Nicole]

While you're hitting buttons, go ahead and hit that five star button on whatever podcasting platform you are listening on. Do it for Fantasy Fangirls, Fantasy Fan Fellas, and Fantasy fan Reese. Just to do the whole just to make the nice trifecta of the Fantasy Fun Girls Network. But really and truly friends, it is one of the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful things you can do. That takes less than two seconds for any podcast that you listen to regularly. And last but certainly not least, share this episode with your fellow Rights of the Starling friends. If you were watching them think, when are these two girls gonna finally meet? And you're just like, once they finish the book, this is a great episode to send to them.

[Lexi]

All right friends, thank you so much. We hope that you had so much fun reading this book too.

[Nicole]

Bye bye. But we're gonna be hopping into that in just a moment. But first, a quick word from our sponsors. You don't even need the sound effect, Hayden. You have us.

[Lexi]

We gotta be like, yeah, the slide

[Nicole]

to the left, slide to the right, crisscross. Bam bam. This podcast is brought to you by Squarespace. I remember long, long ago when we first started ffg. One of the best decisions we made was putting some real time and attention into our website. Websites are an essential part part of any small business success. That's why we at Fantasy Fangirls are obsessed with Squarespace. I know I just made my author website with Squarespace and you know me

[Lexi]

with my marketing brain, I have very high standards for website tools and Squarespace delivers in every way. One thing I especially love is our integrated Squarespace SEO tools. Every website is optimized to be indexed with meta descriptions, an auto generated site map and more. So you show up more often on search engines and bring in more of your ideal customers.

[Nicole]

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[Lexi]

Check out www.squarespace.com FFG to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code FFG.

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