The Fragile Threads of Power

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 2

Parts 3-4

Parts 5-6

Parts 7-8

Parts 9-10

Parts 11-12

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Themes

The Importance of Chosen Family

Content Warning: This section of the guide briefly mentions violence, torture, and anti-gay bias.

Many characters in the novel are estranged from or lack biological families. Alucard’s parents and sister are dead, and his brother is an exiled traitor. Lila is an orphan, while Tes is in hiding from her father and sister who seek to use her power for nefarious purposes. Kosika’s mother attempted to sell her into slavery. Throughout the narrative, Schwab emphasizes the importance of emotional rather than biological bonds. Her protagonists find home and affection with the people they choose to love and build a life with, rather than with people they happen to be related to by blood. Kell is adopted by Rhy’s parents, the former king and queen, and Rhy sees him as a brother, even risking his own life to keep Kell safe, telling him, “You are my family. Surely that matters more than any crown” (537). The bonds Rhy and Kell have chosen and developed throughout their lives matter as much as any biological relationship. Lila also conceives of family as a relationship of choice: “As far as she was concerned, family had nothing to do with proximity or blood. Family was a chosen thing. A label earned” (450). Through the narrative arcs of Lila, Rhy, and Kell, Schwab portrays the value of bonds forged between characters who find support and belonging outside of traditional family structures.

Schwab further develops the theme of chosen family through Alucard Emery, whose abusive older brother is one of the book’s main antagonists. Musing on his unhappy childhood, Alucard remembers his terror and fear at the dinner table: “That table was full of traps he could not see, ones just waiting to be triggered” (456-57). In contrast, Alucard forges a family with Rhy, Nadiya, and their daughter Ren. Though he admits it his family is “an odd one” and “a strange and different shape,” he knows there is “nowhere else [he] would rather be” (634). At the end of the novel, he helps to save Kell, Rhy, and Lila, condemning his older brother. When Alucard decides to fight Berras, he thinks, “It [is] time to end the Emery line, once and for all” (599). In this moment, Alucard finally divests himself of the Emery inheritance and family name, instead choosing to cast his lot in with his chosen family. At the novel’s end, he tells his brother about his new family’s domestic routines, eating dinner together and tucking their daughter into bed. He tells Berras, “You see why I must leave you? There is so much love up there” (634). Here, Alucard is finally able to leave the destructive and loveless relationships of his family of origin and embrace his new home, shaped by love and friendship.

Defining Strong Leadership

The Fragile Threads of Power explores the theme of defining leadership through the contrasting approaches of Berras Emery and Rhy Maresh. Schwab uses Berras to exemplify a leader who governs others through fear and violence. Berras and other leaders of the shadowy Hand want to use citizens as pawns so that they can seize the throne, and they will kill, torture, and lie to do so. Berras believes respect must be taken by force, saying “My father taught me many things […] but this one most. If a man does not know how to bow, you show him how to kneel” (392). Though Berras is strong, his followers obey him out of fear or necessity, not out of any true loyalty. At the end of the novel, he is murdered by a co-conspirator and dies alone and friendless. Rhy exemplifies a more compassionate ruler who desires the good of the people. As a younger man, he worried about being worthy of the role. Tieren, his priest and advisor, counseled him, “We all don clothes that do not fit, and hope we will grow into them. Or at least, grow used to them” (163). He told Rhy that he might or might not be “a great king” but that he would be “a good one” because of his concern for others (162). Later in the novel, Rhy risks his life to save Kell, allowing Tes to try to heal his brother while knowing that the cost might be both of their lives. This action reveals that Rhy sees self-sacrifice as necessary to strong kingship.

As Rhy grapples with what it means to rule, the role of trusted advisors like Alucard and Nadiya grows increasingly significant, shaping the narrative’s exploration of leadership dynamics. Alucard and Nadiya disagree about the best way to protect Rhy and the throne. Alucard downplays Rhy’s hurt over the growing dissent represented by the Hand. He insists that there will always be someone criticizing the king and that it is not a reflection on Rhy’s leadership, saying, “All kings are terrible, to those looking for someone to blame […] You are the face for their ills. You are power and they have none. You have wealth and they are wanting. It is not Rhy Maresh those people hate. It is the throne itself” (186). Nadiya also offers a harshly realistic perspective, insisting that Rhy is too tender-hearted. When he objects to using Tes as bait, she tells him, “Lives are not equal, Rhy. It is folly to think they are. It makes you a good person, yes, but it will doom you as a king” (536). She believes that moral purity has no place on the throne. For Rhy to be a strong leader, Nadiya argues that sometimes people will have to be harmed because that is the reality of the world. Rhy must navigate the opposing perspectives of his family and informal advisors, illustrating that strong leadership can be a collaborative rather than solitary act.

The Risks and Responsibilities of Power

In The Fragile Threads of Power, the Antari hold immense power, prompting questions about their responsibilities to others and society while revealing the consequences and sacrifices involved. When the novel begins, Kell and Lila are comfortable with their status as Antari, having fought many battles to save Red London. By contrast, Tes and Kosika are both young teenagers in more vulnerable positions. Schwab uses their arcs to explore the theme of power’s risks and responsibilities.

Kosika’s power secures her position as queen, but she has little agency in the decision to ascend to the throne, and her rule is marked by physical sacrifice and interpersonal conflict. As she matures, she struggles to be taken seriously by her advisors: “She was not some child, in need of scolding. She was an Antari. She was their queen” (387). With her power, she feels responsible for the kingdom’s wellbeing. Serak, an advisor, tells her that Holland reawakened magic in White London and asks her, “That is what Holland did for us […] What will you do?” (474). Kosika feels pressure to feed the magic of the city by sacrificing her health and her blood. According to Holland, “[T]he worthy ruler is the one who understands the price” (474); he tells her that Black London “is a wellspring. But every drop comes at a cost” (474). Through Kosika’s queenship, Schwab explores how magical and political power mandate bodily sacrifice, including Kosika’s own blood and, potentially, her life.

In contrast to White London, the magical tradition in Red London prioritizes balance, and it is through this balance that Tes eventually embraces her power. This balance is embodied by the priests, whose motto is “Power in balance. Balance in power” (461). Kell and Lila have found a balance between serving the kingdom and living their lives. Tes must also find a way to come into her power. Initially, she sees her power as a risk and a threat. She cannot disclose it to people without being used as a weapon or tool. She tells her mother that she will stop using it, but she knows this is untrue: “When you had a power, not using it was like trying to hold your breath underwater. Sooner or later, something made you come up for air” (426). Tes also tries to reject the responsibility of her gift, telling Lila and Kell that theirs isn’t her fight. By the end of the novel, however, she risks herself to help them and risks failure to heal Kell. She finds her place with Maris, who tells her that she can safely learn as an apprentice and a person. Tes’s character arc illustrates that when the risks and responsibilities of power are in balance, that power can ultimately be harnessed for growth.