I was really interested in the themes of identity and disguise throughout Luck in the Shadows. I found the book kind of difficult to get through with all the emphasis on fighting and the history of the world, so I really enjoyed the descriptions of characters grappling with identity and disguises, as well as queerness, to break up the storyline.

From the beginning of the novel, Seregil employs various disguises, and in doing so manages to reveal hints of his true personality and character traits. Rather than sharing details of his life, Seregil switches rapidly from one character to another, starting as Rolan Silverleaf helping Alec escape from jail, and then becoming Aren Windover, a famous traveling bard. While these disguises seemed fairly run-of-the-mill for a thief such as Seregil, I was not expecting the disguise of Gwethelyn. I was also surprised by the sexualized descriptions of Gwethelyn, with Seregil not only disguising himself as a woman, but as a conventionally attractive woman who engages in flirtation with a man. Through his choice of disguise as a woman and his behavior around the captain, Seregil ironically reveals something about himself—his queerness, either regarding gender, sexuality, or perhaps both. He seems at home in his disguise as a woman, and although he doesn’t enjoy flirting with the captain, he seems experienced. Additionally, this scene prompts Alec to question his own identity – Seregil’s disguise “sounded a troubling chord in him….stirr[ing] up a confusion that Alec hadn’t the philosophy to put into words” (109). I appreciated these little insights into Alec’s and Seregil’s gender and sexual identity, and the unexpected inclusion of cross-dressing and hints at a queer relationship in what seemed at first to be an ordinary, conventional fantasy book.

I’m also curious to see how the theme of revealing one’s identity through disguise continues throughout the book. In later chapters, the characters toy with magic that alters their physical forms, and I’m interested to see how this theme continues to develop and how Alec grows into and reveals his own identity. I am also wondering how the relationship between Alec and Seregil will develop – to me, it seems unfair of Seregil to hide much of his identity from Alec while engaging in such a close relationship with him, and I feel uncomfortable regarding his constant use of disguises and the age difference between the two characters, so I will be interested to see if/how these conflicts get addressed!