Sophos is a much lighter character than Attolia and Eugenides. He is kind, naive, and very, very soft. He doesn't like the fact that he's a royal heir (Sophos' father is a royal bastard and brother to the former Sounis, who doesn't have any children of his own) and chafes at lessons in statesmanship, swordplay, diplomacy - preferring instead to read books and poetry. His preference for literature leads to friction with his father and uncle, who both want Sophos to take his duty as the royal heir more seriously. But Sophos is sure that his uncle would marry, have a proper heir, and then he won't be needed, so he goes on his life very leisurely. Of course, that all changed when his uncle died and now suddenly he's the King of Sounis.
The reluctant heir trope is a very common trope in fiction. There's this prevailing notion that someone who's best for the job is the one who doesn't want that job in the first place (case in point: I was reading the Crown Duel series by Sherwood Smith and when Mel is asked why she thinks her brother Bran is fit for a king, she said it was because he didn't want to be King in the first place. Fortunately, Mel gets better). This is tied with the 'Ambition is Evil' trope, which views people who actually want the job and is actively trying to get it is ambitious, ergo evil. But Ms. Turner, like always, turned the trope on its head. Sophos didn't get many supporters at first because he's a Reluctant Heir. He doesn't want to be king, so not many people believe that he'll be a good king. Sophos forgoes his lessons on statesmanship and diplomacy and found himself blundering when faced with situations that required knowledge on those fields. He doesn't like practicing his swords and got knocked down in a fight. He doesn't want to be a king and doesn't make much of an effort at first to try to be worthy of a king, so his subjects deserted him when he's trying to get their support.
I like how the servants that betrayed him to the rebels are not portrayed as evil collaborators. Of course Sophos is miffed that they betrayed him, but as he examined his situation more and more, he realizes that the servants do not betray them because they're colluding with the rebels; it's because he's such a poor prince that they don't believe he'll make a good king or keep his throne. The common people have no interest in meddling with kings and princes, as Ochto the slave overseer puts it. They know that backing the wrong person could mean their life, and why would they back someone who clearly doesn't want the job and doesn't have the skill needed for it? Besides the king is so far up in the chains of commanding that they'd rarely get a glimpse of him; why would they risk his life for some incompetent they don't even know? Soldiers and okloi, they're mostly loyal to the barons they serve, and if the barons support the wrong person or if the barons happen to be rebels, it's not their fault; they're just doing their duty.
Sophos' character arc is him realizing that he wants to be king and set himself to achieve that job. One particularly illuminating passage is him realizing that if he's king, he could build his own university instead of dreaming that he would someday go to a university in the Continent. Being king is a hard job, yes, but with great power comes great responsibility. Him realizing that he wants to be king is not enough, he has to convince others that he'd make a great king, and that road is not easy at all. Sophos has to sacrifice some of his ideals and principles, and has to make tough decisions. Kings and Queens are not bound by the same code of honor that bounds a common man. He and she have to constantly think about the greater good, the larger picture. And I think Ms. Turner shows that quite nicely. Attolia, Attolis, and Eddis have done monstrous things in the name of their country. Their actions don't make them bad people; just human.
Ms, Turner, like always, shows her masterful command of prose and narrative, taking us through a long winding road and gives us glimpses of the shortcuts and beautiful groves hidden along the road. Like her previous books, Ms. Turner changes the game with a sentence. When other authors like to proclaim their plot twist in a dramatic fashion, Ms. Turner likes to reveal hers subtly, almost like an afterthought, which, I think, makes them have more impact. She doesn't pull the plot twist out of thin air, either, she leaves crumbs of clues that may seem innocuous later, but would gain a new meaning after the twist has been revealed. And that's why her books are automatic likes to me, even though Conspiracy is not her best.
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