Quick Summary:
The bones, Thorn, Gran'ma, and Bartleby make it to Atheia and secretly reconnect with Gran'ma's old friends and teachers. The city has turned against the dragons and so would be hostile to the dragon princess, Thorn. Meanwhile, Phoney's scalp is tingling and he feels there must be treasure somewhere in the city. By the end of the story, Thorn is neither revealed as princess, nor does Phoney find his treasure. The story ends with Briar's army approaching to attack Atheia and Gran'ma muttering, "We're not ready."
Points to Ponder:
Religion:
We learn in this book that the Atheian religion is based on the concept of balance. Mim, the first dragon, gives life to the world, however, she has a dark aspect, and may also be depicted as "The Lord of Death: The Lord of the Locusts." Thus she is both the creator and the destroyer. A character explains: "You cannot have life without death. The two are always together" What is needed then is balance between life and death.
The Crown of Horns is the tipping point, the point of balance.
Thorn's new mission now is to seek the Crown of Horns and to "restore balance" between life and death.
Moral dualism basically says:
Good and evil are equal to each other. This moral view does not conform to Christian, Jewish, and Muslim conceptions of God/Goodness as creator and evil as the absence of good. In these religions there is a hierarchy of life over death, good over evil. Eg. Manichaeism, a religion based on moral dualism, was declared a Christian heresy in the 4th century.
Compare the Atheian religion with:
Ancient Egyptian Religious Beliefs: the gods Set (disorder, death) and Osiris (order, life) (Wikipedia). This duality compares to the balance of Mim, giver of life, and the Lord of the Locusts, representative of death.
Zoroastrianism (mid-fifth century BC): a monotheistic religion that believes that Ahura Mazda is the eternal creator of all good things. Any violations of Ahura Mazda's order arise from druj, which is everything uncreated. From this comes a significant choice for humans to make. Either they fully participate in human life for Ahura Mazda or they do not and give druj power (Wikipedia). The ghost circles that declare the presence of the locust are also represented as "voids"--or, one could say, "the uncreated" as in Zoroastrian myth. Recall Rock Jaw telling the bones that they must choose sides in the war, between life and death. Some have gone on to accept the locust as leader, and this gives the locust power.
Taoism (yin and yang) Compare the yin and yang concept of a dot in the yin and a dot in the yang with Thorn having a "piece of the locust" within her.
Great Moments in the story:
Interactions between Smiley and Bartleby:
Bartleby: What did you bring me?
Smiley: I brought some of our dinner from last night. It's stinky and gross--just the way you like it! You know, Bartleby, I never had a pal like you before.
Bartleby (as he looks up at Smiley with green goop falling from his mouth): Me either!
Great Female characters with character who plan together to protect the city from war and corruption:
Thorn: Gran'ma, we don't have an army.
Gran'ma: Not yet.
Thorn: Are you sure this is a good plan, then?
Gran'ma: No... It only deals with the problems we have outside the walls... ....inside, we still have Tarsil the Usurper to deal with.
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