Straight to the Q&A:

Well, given that the only female sorcerer who we’ve made the acquaintance of seems to be living in hiding and has felt the need to go to such dire measures as try to kill all the other sorcerers I’m guessing this springs from sexism within the Nether.  Perhaps she feels really bitter and by killing all the other sorcerers and being the only sorcerer left alive everyone will have no choice but to accept a female – seems a little extreme doesnt it?Obviously we haven’t met the character yet or heard her own reasonings – but let’s be honest, she is responsible for mass murder so far isn’t she, so it doesn’t bode terribly well in terms of her own mental balance!

Not really, I think both Max and the Gargoyle had reached a conclusion about Ekstrand – I admit that I’d been suspecting him of much more than simply being a bit eccentric and I think I’ve been proved totally wrong in that regard (another wild supposition bites the dust) so it did seem harsh that he had to die like that – but, he also seemed a bit unhinged (perhaps this is something that runs commonly amongst sorcerers!)  I was pleasantly surprised that Max decided to reach out and grasp his own emotions – it was really quite touching (and a bit sad – that part about his mother wondering what had happened to her little boy!)  I think Max and the Gargoyle could have a good future pairing to be honest – Max is clearly still capable of feeling some emotions and with the gargoyle as his companion he has help when he’s in the field.

3. Cathy has had sweeping success in beginning her rebellion. How do you think Londinium – and the Agency – and the Fae – will respond? 

Well, Cathy has certainly gone for it 100%.  I don’t blame her to be honest, I’m not sure that pussy footing around or taking baby steps would work here – in fact she’d probably just find herself with a doll curse or some such other.  The Agency will obviously be livid because this obviously takes from them a very lucrative business, the Londinium crowd – well, there will no doubt be some people who rail against a woman trying to change the rules.  I don’t really think there should be a knock on effect about taking staff away from the agency – the families will still have their staff and just pay them instead of the Agency.  Not sure how the fae will react – part of me wonders why they would be concerned about how the people in the Nether run their domestic affairs – but maybe they like to be in control of this and so Cathy’s actions will seem out of place.  At the back of my mind I can’t help thinking that there has to be an underlying threat of the fae wanting to escape but I’m not sure how that plays into the themes so far.  I predict lot of bother.

4. Will has finally become an ally. Do you think he’s strong enough to stick to it? Do his secrets make him vulnerable?

I think his secrets do make him vulnerable.  Cathy had a little bit of the same and decided to come clean about things which makes her a lot less vulnerable to blackmail for example.  I think Will needs to come clean with Cathy about a number of things – otherwise they’re likely to just come out further down the line.  I still don’t think Will is strong enough to be honest.  He seems to give a little but always hold back, or try to think of the line of least resistance and he comes across as a bit cowardly – he’s always got his eye on damage limitation in terms of the fae or his family and I really don’t see him rushing into the fray.  He just seems a bit lily livered to me.

5. Sam assumes the mantle of Lord Iron – what do you think of his intentions to pick up Leanne’s mission as well? Do you think he will find his deeds tainted just as Amir’s were? What do you make of his reflection that he’s found a way to look at the past such that it’s nobody’s fault?

I’m not quite sure what to make of Sam just yet.  He certainly seems to be getting comfortable making demands already – almost too comfortable in a way – and a little bit too angry to be making reasonable decisions.  Even his letter to Leanne – the way he was coming across.  He seems almost a little bit aggressive and feels like he’s pin balling around and ricocheting from thing to thing.  I think that Amir probably had a good idea about what he was talking about when he said everything he did was tainted.  Maybe Sam can find a way to change that.  We’ll have to see but at the moment I think he needs to take a few of the baby steps I mentioned above.