The_Farseeker
In Obernewtyn about chapter 7 or 6 It clearly states Elspeth is 16, not 14 as according to the Encylopedia... Im guessing she'd be 18 in The Farseekers, 19-20 In Ashling, 22 in The Keeping Place and 23 In TSK.
Kitty
Farseekers starts two years later, again in the autumn. So Elspeth is at least 16 then. But it doesn't finish until the following spring, by which time she must be 17.
Ashling begins in the autumn, and talks about her return 'last year' - which must by then be about 18 months ago at least. So this is two years after the start of Farseekers, and Elspeth must be at least 18.
Sian
People talk about things that happened in December 'last year' in mid January.
Assuming that they don't have a 'new year' the way we do, then people would count by seasons and anything that happened over a full season cycle previous to that would be considered "the year before that".
If you make the argument that they do have a "new year" the way we do, it depends entirely on where you place it. If it's in winter the way it is in Europe atm, then you're completely right. But there isn't really any reason for that to be the case. New year occurs at different times in different cultures and the books are all contained in IC's head. IC is an Aussie, so new year for them could easily be in summer like it is for us.
Assuming that they don't have a 'new year' the way we do, then people would count by seasons and anything that happened over a full season cycle previous to that would be considered "the year before that".
I don't quite understand what you're saying here - why should anything that happened in the previous season be 'last year'?
Kitty
You forget that in Obernewtyn, Winter takes up much more than the approximate three months. They return just before winter and come back just after winter, so it has to have been just over a season and they are approaching the elections, not necessarily about to have them immediately. This suggests that it is a little under a year and depending on how long winter goes for, this is very plausible.Kitty
The Stone Key is set the year after The Keeping Place, because they are about to hold the elections Dardelan promised for a year after the rebellion.
For the record. I said that myself.
The reason people say 'last year' for the previous month is because we have a definite new year and celebrations for that.Sian
People talk about things that happened in December 'last year' in mid January.
Kitty
Pre-teen? Really? She may be naïve in several ways but she seems too mature to be less than fourteen, or thirteen at the outside. I guess the things she had to live through would make her grow up faster than most, but still I think this will be one of those cases where I ignore what the author intended and go with what I imagined when I read it.lolaferocious
Isobelle definitely said Elspeth was pre-teen in Ober.