The Call of the Rift: Crest Book Club Guide
Are you part of a book club or are you looking to start one? The Call of the Rift: Crest by Jae Waller makes a great book club pick!
Kateiko is back in the third installment of the alternative high historical fantasy Call of the Rift series. Before Flight, in another world beyond the veil, Kateiko must leave her family to salvage a life she once desperately wanted, or stay with them and build a new life with those she swore to protect.
Book Club Questions
- In the early chapters, Kateiko feels “spiritually defective” for not having attuned yet. How does her sense of spirituality change throughout the book?
- Emehein says that “Raising a family changes a man.” (pg. 22) How does raising his family affect him? Yotolein? Kateiko? Kateiko’s parents? Jorumgard? Kirbana?
- Eremur’s military declares the Aikoto refugees on board the Ridge Duck to be illegal immigrants and forcibly detains them. Why and how do they treat Kirbana differently? Does it seem fair? How would the situation be different if the Iyo-jouyen had full authority over the region? How does it relate to immigration in our world?
- What are Kateiko, Hanaiko, Samulein, and Akohin’s experiences like in Eremur’s child welfare system? What impact does it have on them? What might have happened if they were in the system longer? How does their story compare to Canada’s past and present treatment of Indigenous children?
- What knowledge and skills has Kateiko gained from her family and culture? What does she learn from itherans? How do itherans react to her using traditional Aikoto knowledge, and how do other Aikoto people react to her gaining and using foreign knowledge?
- Studies show that recently released prisoners have high rates of suicide and drug overdose. What obstacles does Jonalin face with re-integrating into society? Who helps him and how? What more might have been done for him?
- Kateiko has romances with three people: Rokiud, Matéo, and Jonalin. What draws her to each of them? What do they have in common and what sets them apart? Do you think her musing that “Maybe in another world, we’d have been perfect together” (pg. 354) could be true with any of her love interests?
- Why is Akohin reluctant to come out as asexual/aromantic? What leads to him eventually coming out?
- How does Kateiko and Nicoletta’s relationship change throughout the book? How do they help and challenge each other?
- The Bechdel test, a way of measuring female representation in fiction, examines whether two or more named women talk to each other about something other than a man. What are some scenes in the book that pass the test?
- What do you think of the Tula-jouyen’s decision to live on and protect damaged land? How does Kateiko’s father’s lesson about burning plank houses (pg. 383) relate to environmentalism in our world?
- How does this Kateiko’s journey compare to the other Kateiko in Flight and Veil? How do their differing experiences shape their personalities?
- What’s the significance of the white wolf? How does it relate to the silver wolf that the Kateiko in the previous books attuned to?
- Do you think Nerio, Tiernan, and Jorumgard made the right choice in continuing to fight alongside Parr? How does it compare to Flight when they leave him unchecked?
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