Who Are The Divine Rivals In 'Divine Rivals'?

Question

Finished reading 'Divine Rivals' by Rebecca Ross and got swept up in the epistolary romance, but who exactly qualifies as a 'divine rival'? Roman or someone else?

Sherry Lee Means-Sloan · Answer

In ‘Divine Rivals’ by Jay Funding, Roman Kitt and Iris Winnow are two competing journalists who exchange letters to the editor through a magical wardrobe that they do not know about. It starts off as a competitive work place but goes deeper into their personal lives. In ‘Raised By Gods’ by Jeff Rolling, a mortal blacksmith is adopted and trained by a group of squabbling deities and is used by them as pawns in their divine conflicts. He is forced to grow and to use his intelligence in order to survive against his own “parents”. The amount of pressure that he is under to meet their competing demands and to navigate their competing agendas is fascinating.

Ruby · Answer

Divine Rivals by James Cook will surprise readers who think of divine rivals throwing lightning bolts at each other. Both Enva and Dacre are artists with opposite approaches to art. The Enva the divine story teller’s influence runs through the stories and melodies that fill her many temple libraries and theaters. Dacre the divine warior’s influence runs through the perfection of war which he sees as a game of chess where each piece can only kill in order to serve a greater purpose. The followers of Enva practice scriptomancy by using the written stories to bring the stories to life. The followers of Dacre practice memento mori and use the most powerful of war weapons which gain in power with each kill of their owner.

Meanwhile, human characters are trapped within the divine game. A journalist, Iris, is sent letters by a mysterious pen pal who she later learns is actually the vessel for Dacre. Roman, her newspaper rival, seems to be acting as a human vessel for Enva at times. But, also as in the case with Iris and her love letter to Dacre, the mortals are now having an influence upon the gods. The letter written by Iris has even caused part of Dacre’s curse to be rewritten. It shows that even the gods are susceptible to human creativity. The rivalry of the two divine figures is not static, it is evolving due to the interference of the two humans.

Randall Foreman · Answer

The rivalry between these two characters is complex and changes in phases. In Phase 1, George and Clare start off as rivals due to professional jealousy and their vastly different ways of doing things. In Phase 2, while still clueless about each other’s identities, they begin to develop an anonymous intimacy via their exchanged letters. Here, their rivalry becomes a fun game of trying to out-honest each other. By Phase 3, when Clare leaves for the front, George becomes desperately worried for her safety and makes a frantic pursuit of her. By Phase 4, Clare and George develop into partners in survival as each tries to help the other make it through their shared crisis. Every phase is triggered by something ‘divine’ – first by the magic link that brings them together in the first place and later by the god war that brings about the crisis they must face together. The title of the book is thus dynamic and accurately conveys the constantly changing nature of the relationship between the two rivals. Their rivalry is always present but changes from being petty and insignificant to being truly profound as both characters grow.

Josh Copeland · Answer

I have a sort of niche theory about the “true” divine rivals being the gods Enva and Dacre, and their mortal ‘champions’ or ‘pawns’ Iris and Roman. Their human struggles to come to terms with their feelings for each other reflect those of the gods in the celestial wars above. Iris is a fixed point of unwavering commitment to truth, whilst Roman was initially defined by his adherence to the rules of society and his legacy. Their relationship could be seen as a new stage in the war between the gods. In that sense the two typewriters may not be a magical artifact at all but simply a divine tool to move the pieces around in this war. The sweet romance of the two humans could be simply more of the same in a long history of divine manipulation. This is a very ambiguously written book and it reads as though they are truly in love but at the same time are simply playing out a script as dictated by their warring gods.

Zayn · Answer

In ‘Divine Rivals’ two gods are locked in an eternal struggle to influence the course of the world. Enva, goddess of love and creativity, is up against Dacre, god of war and of the void. This is not a squabble of two gods each trying to outdo each other in childish rivalry but instead two powerful figures locked in a struggle of ideologies, affecting mortals along the way. Their followers embody two different aspects of humanity. Enva’s followers strive to bring more beauty and connection into the world, while those that follow Dacre are born to thrive in times of war and to dominate others. In ‘Divine Rivals’ readers follow the lives of two protagonists caught in the middle of the two gods’ never ending struggle. It shows how two powerful deities, with completely different views and behaviors, can affect the lives of humans and even influence their destinies according to their whims.

Xavier · Answer

In “Divine Rivals,” the rival deities are natural events of immense power and deep personal hatred for each other. The Enva of legend is depicted playing a lute and wearing a starry crown. The goddess of lovers and artists is powerful and fierce in her protection of both. Enva’s magic is embodied in her music which can heal or destroy. The Dacre of myth is a violent war god but his philosophical views on war and the purging of human weakness make him more than mindless slaughter. He seeks to destroy Enva’s handiwork by unleashing the storms of the world upon it.

Influencing their followers, the two opposing deities also create a system of bards and champions: Enva’s followers are musicians and artists and healers with songs that mend and revolutionize; Dacre’s followers are warriors and gladiators who get stronger with each new scar. The journal of a journalist, a seeker of truth, can change everything when she finds a set of letters that might bring an end to their struggle. And both Enva and Dacre are currently involved in the conflict of their followers, possess them from time to time, appear in the dreams of the courageous ones. It is not a simple good versus evil contest and both sides have excellent arguments to support their position.

Dew Forest · Answer

Roman Kitt lives rent-free in my head. And yes, it’s Roman and Iris as the two rivals in the book. Their chemistry is so off the charts because of all the real friction that they have towards each other in the newsroom. As opposed to a really fabricated rivalry, these two have very different ways of reporting. Roman is all polished writing and cool exterior. Iris is so very passionate and then a blunt report. And the way that they use their typewriters to write letters to a complete stranger (not knowing that it is each other) is just legendary. I get so angry in the book because I am screaming at them to just figure it out already. Their rivalry is “divine” in that it has been orchestrated by the universe in a cruel and beautiful way to force them to be the most vulnerable that they have ever been – face to face they are never this vulnerable. But the best part is that their rivalry is dismantled from the inside out by their sheer honesty with each other.

Sophia · Answer

Of the gods Dacre and Enva, I am far more intrigued by their various myths and historical animosity toward one another than by the, fairly brief, look into the mythos of either of them provided within the body of this novel. In contrast to that centuries old, divine, rivalry and its various fascinations, Iris and Roman experience, within the narrow scope of their individual, limited experiences, the same mortal emotions that drive the two gods to such great and terrible things. In addition to the personal struggles of love, loss and ambition of the two protagonists, their journey runs as a single, fine thread through the centuries of historical and mythic squabble of the two warring gods. The title Dacre & Enva connects the two levels of experience in a way that reveals the personal struggles of individual mortals are never merely personal: they are part of the larger divine story of struggle of the god-like rivalries of love, war and ambition of Dacre and Enva.

Who Are The Divine Rivals In 'Divine Rivals'?

8 Answers

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