Graceling - Blog Posts
Graceling By Kristin Cashore ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I absolutely loved this book. Yes, I’ve said that before for other ones but this book was such a fun adventure to go through and the main character developed sooooo much to be such a great person. The book is about a graced young woman who doesn’t have really any friends and is almost completely under the control of her twisted King. If you like adventure, a little bit of romance, and action I highly recommend this book to you!! Can’t wait to read the other two books corresponding with this one.
okay update I’ve been Instagram stalking and I think I can put pieces together. This is such a long deep dive so bear with me.
January: "I have two that I've written the first draft of and will go into revision soon. I have one that I'm writing now and I'm about halfway through. I have another that I'm planning." (source)
I will label these four books, in order, Mystery Book, Big Book, Paper Model Book, and Little Graceling Book. We'll follow them over the course of the year, and you'll see where the names come from.
The one that she was writing at the time, we're going to call Paper Model Book, because she said this about it: "My WIP includes a character who’s building a paper model of a castle and does other paper art too. Butterflies and moths are also an important part of the book." (source)
This draft was started many months earlier, pre-brain surgery, and went on pause for obvious reasons. From earlier notes, it appears the main character may have an M name. (source) I believe the draft was started all the way back in September 2023, and just took a while due to the aforementioned brain surgery, as well as copyediting for There Is a Door in this Darkness. (source)
She continued working on Paper Model Book for several months. She finished and submitted the manuscript around late April/early May. Several of the notebooks for this book have fox stickers on them, and she also had fox socks and fox art on her desk, which could mean there are foxes in it, but could also mean that she was just in a fox mood.
May: "With this draft done, I now have three entire books in revision, plus There Is a Door in This Darkness releasing on June 11." (source)
In May, she was on a bit of a vacation, but mentioned at one point that she was "listening to a lot of math podcasts and books to help me with a character I’m brainstorming." (source) Guessing this was for Little Graceling Book, the book she started writing in September; it's the only one she would have been planning/brainstorming for.
In June, she began revising a 430-page book. She described this revision as "so complicated" and the novel as "pretty complex". (source) The first draft of that book was written, in part, summer 2023. (source) This should be the one we have called Big Book. She continued revising Big Book for several months, while also doing release stuff for There Is A Door in this Darkness.
Peeks from that revision:
(source 1, source 2)
In September, she started plotting a new book, which we will call Little Graceling Book. Two posts about it have been tagged #gracelingrealm, implying that it's the next Graceling book.
Words I have caught in her notes for this book include: “fox” “castle” “heartless world” “the reader has guessed what A is up to and so has O; move on to other mysteries” (who’s A?? could it be adventure the fox??). Stickers include at least two foxes and a very Graceling-feeling castle.
On November 10, she mentioned writing “a bunch of pages, in a book about a world where things can change for the better (as they can in our world).” <3 (source)
A few days ago (December 21), she posted that she will be setting aside the partial first draft of Little Graceling Book to return to Big Book, her next book to come out. This book has gone through two drafts, and she’s about to get editorial letters back that will allow her to start on the third draft. There appears to be a grandfather clock and a horse sticker on the cover of its notebook, but we don't know anything else about it as far as I can tell. (source) "For this revision, I've realized that I need to understand what's happening inside a kaleidoscope." (January 18) 👀
She also shared that two other books (Mystery Book and Paper Model Book, as far as I can tell) are in progress and hanging out on a shelf. They appear to be printouts with sticky notes in them, which indicates that they're further along in the revision process.
So. That's what I have. Hopefully this is of interest to someone besides me that will justify the several hours I spent back-scrolling Kristin Cashore's Instagram lol
hi excuse me kristin cashore is working on FOUR books rn ??
what do we think they are 👀
hi excuse me kristin cashore is working on FOUR books rn ??
what do we think they are 👀
yes, and! the villain of every graceling book is an evil, powerful man who is able to manipulate others into believing lies (and inspired by the catholic church) except in winterkeep where the villain is the evil partisan government (inspired by… well.)
I love how the villian of every graceling book is leck (as a child, as a king, even when he's dead) except in winterkeep where the villian is the evil partisan government
there is probably no one else out there who's fans of both leverage (the tv show) and graceling (the book series by kristin cashore) but. my thoughts are Thinking and I have to share anyway.
specifically I am thinking about katsa (graceling) and eliot spencer (leverage). just. the shared narrative of being highly skilled fighters used as tools by powerful men. thinking of yourself as a monster. the fear of being controlled by someone who can twist your mind. leck and randa and moreau. having to live with the terrible things you’ve done. am I worthy of being loved? am i more than the worst things I’ve ever done? being made to feel like a dog!!
"A monster that refused, sometimes, to behave like a monster. When a monster stopped behaving like a monster, did it stop being a monster? Did it become something else?" (Graceling, pg 137)
"Well, and if she must be a dog, at least she would no longer be in this man's cage. She would be her own, she would possess her own viciousness, and she would do what she liked with it." (Graceling, pg 167)
also thinking about who would win in a fight. I'm leaning katsa because of her grace (gracelings have a special power/superpower/extreme skill, and hers is fighting, basically) and because we never see anyone beat her in a fight... but we also never see anyone beat eliot, really, and modern fighting techniques are surely better than medieval fighting techniques. he'd be stronger, but she'd be faster, and neither of them would go down easily. idk. I'd love to see it.
(I can't figure out any good way to put them together tho because they live in very different worlds and an au would mess with what makes them who they are. maybe some kind of dimensional travel?)