The Tainted Cup

“‘Don’t they have washes for that?’ I said. ‘Soaps and such for your tools?’

‘They’re expensive. Fire is cheaper.’

‘The Hazas don’t seem like people who care much about price.’

‘They care,’ he said, ‘if people get expensive. Then the people go. I try very hard not to be expensive. I don’t want to go.’”

Uxos, the Haza groundskeeper, foreshadows his motive for helping in Blas’s murder—he fears the end of his employment as he ages, and needs the money. This comment also foreshadows the Hazas’ involvement in the Oypat crisis, indicating that they value their own wealth more than other people’s lives. These threads are examples the novel’s indictment of Powerful and Corrupt Social Elites.

“As always, the letters shook and danced before my eyes, making it hard for me to put them together.”

Din’s description of his lack of reading proficiency is analogous to real-world dyslexia, which causes disconnection between written words, language sounds, and meaning. Din feels shame about his condition, but ultimately learns to embrace the idea that his cleverness in working around his reading differences is one of his primary assets. The novel thus challenges stigmas around learning disabilities in the real world, even though it takes place in a fantasy setting.

“[G]entryfolk […] own the most valuable thing in all the Empire […] Land. Takes a lot of dirt to grow all the plans and animals and reagents to make the Empire’s many alterations.”

Ana’s comment foreshadows the reveal that the Hazas allowed the Oypat crisis to go unchecked to improve the value of their own land. Moreover, it orients the fantastical elements of the novel (alterations and reagents) in real-world economics, which makes worldbuilding feel realistic and immersive.