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Even from the beginning of the book, I wondered about the real story behind this perfect kingdom. It seemed too perfect to be true...
I am so curious about its history, its foundation, and what's the secret behind its success.
I'm sure the Emperor of Lullabies has something to do with it, don't you agree?

raluca_mihaila wrote: ↑03 Oct 2020, 07:49 Even from the beginning of the book, I wondered about the real story behind this perfect kingdom. It seemed too perfect to be true...
I am so curious about its history, its foundation, and what's the secret behind its success.
I'm sure the Emperor of Lullabies has something to do with it, don't you agree?

I would say the Emperor of Lullabies allows them to be perfect...

In my opinion, Voulhire seems to be perfect, but it already has its flaws, starting from Mianora and their selfishness. Also, the king doesn't have a reliable hair, or so it seems. Riva Rohavi managed to survive somehow and became a real threat.

As of their economical success, they are a hard-working nation, or so Galen sees them, for example

A major them in the series seems to be exploring the dark underbelly beneath an apparently strong and prosperous society. We get a taste of that when Riva Rohavi attacks Hillport at the end of the book. Later books explore more of Voulhire's imperfections and introduce villains willing to exploit them.

What I found most interesting was how Voulhire is realistically a good country. Although it does have quite a bleak historical background (especially when we talk about how Riva Rohavi was born), Voulhire is a society that, despite its flaws, has a promising future and, generally, a hard working people. They seem to value their culture and traditions while pursuing progress. Voulhire has not ended poverty and there is, indeed, an armed conflict going on, but the country seems to be on the right track. Notwithstanding, I haven't read the other books yet.

I think Voulhire is only perfect on the outside. It is financially prosperous, but there are plenty of political arguments under the surface. The first book has only given a glimpse at these problems, but I'm sure they will be more of a focus later.

I don't think the Emperor of Lullabies has a significant effect of Voulhire, other than to make the Isles of the Princes a terrible place to live, which makes Voulhire look much better, perhaps better than it really is.

I believe the Emperor will have a major role to play as the series progresses. Why else would the book have started with his background? His four greedy sons may also appear later. Exciting!

Miriam Molina wrote: ↑05 Oct 2020, 16:05 I believe the Emperor will have a major role to play as the series progresses. Why else would the book have started with his background? His four greedy sons may also appear later. Exciting!

This is an excellent point. I was a little confused why the book would spend a fair bit of time explaining the background of the Isles of the Princes and the Emperor, but your explanation makes sense. Maybe they will be yet another force that blocks Voulhire's progress toward its Golden Age.

The peace reigning in Voulhire has a lot to do with the outside forces not ready to disrupt it. I can't imagine if Voulhire will stand against the Emperor of Lullabies.

Having read the series upto book six, now I believe that the emperor of lullabies has a lot to do with it. At the beginning I failed to understand why they explained the history of the Land of the Princes yet the book was focused on Voulhire. I wish the author has a book revolving around the Lands of the Princes.

Dayodiola wrote: ↑08 Oct 2020, 00:52 The peace reigning in Voulhire has a lot to do with the outside forces not ready to disrupt it. I can't imagine if Voulhire will stand against the Emperor of Lullabies.

That makes a lot of sense. Voulhire doesn't strike me as a super-power, even though its military did a decent job against the Riva when Meldorath was general. Voulhire sounds more like a country of merchants than a country of soldiers, but sometimes you don't have to be strong, you just need the stronger folks to tolerate you.

_Bokeh wrote: ↑08 Oct 2020, 04:49 Having read the series upto book six, now I believe that the emperor of lullabies has a lot to do with it. At the beginning I failed to understand why they explained the history of the Land of the Princes yet the book was focused on Voulhire. I wish the author has a book revolving around the Lands of the Princes.

I too have been wondering how the history of the Emperor of Lullabies and the Isles of the Princes tie in to Voulhire's current situation. I look forward to reading more about the connection in future books. I'm glad to hear that the beginning chapters of this first book will be more relevant later on.

I believe there is definitely something weird going on with the kingdom of Voulhire. I mean, even king Wilhelim said that everything was going too well too fast, I am not sure if it has anything to do with the Emperor of Lullabies, but I think, and that's just my personal opinion that Matthew Tysz portrayed Voulhire like the perfect kingdom so it would make that much more of a shock when he broke it in pieces.

I'm not too worried about that at this time. I too have that thought cross my mind but I'm patient because I know that they will be answered when I'll read the succeeding books.

I don't think that Voulhire was a perfect kingdom. They had internal problems. I only wondered why they were referred to as a new arrival under the skies. I look forward to learning more about them in the other books.

raluca_mihaila wrote: ↑03 Oct 2020, 07:49 Even from the beginning of the book, I wondered about the real story behind this perfect kingdom. It seemed too perfect to be true...
I am so curious about its history, its foundation, and what's the secret behind its success.
I'm sure the Emperor of Lullabies has something to do with it, don't you agree?

I think no. The Emperor of the Lullabies started the war in the Lands of the Princess, he is wicked. Such peace in Voulhire is possible with the right leadership. However, there will always be people who would try to destroy peace like the Riva Rohavi. You can find some answers to your question on the 2nd book.