I’m a big enough fan of Seanan McGuire that I stalk her on Tumblr. Someone said that the name for Aeslin mice is a pun.
For those that don’t know the series, the Aeslin mice are intelligent, carnivorous, English speaking mice that are hyper-religious who worship the main characters in the series as gods and priestesses.
If you do know the series, Hail!
I have nothing (except my admiration for Seanan McGuire’s writing). I assume that Aeslin is from the Irish forename and is pronounced Ashlin which may or may not help.
Hail! I listen to the series on Audible and the name doesn’t sound like a pun. The female narrator pronounces it AYZLIN when she reads the phrase.
I don’t know the author or her work, but my guess is that the pun involves Aslan the Lion from the Narnia Chronicles. Aslan is the Narnian equivalent of Jesus in that series.
You could try asking her. You can get her social media addresses by googling. (or duckduckgo-ing.)
J.
P.s., I saw her at a Con and she seemed pretty approachable. Also, she answered a question about Aeslin mice that showed a HUGE amount of backstory that is only hinted-at in her books.
…and, if that’s the connection, mice were the ones to release the lion’s corpse from the ropes that had been used to bind it. The two human girls thought the mice were up to no good crawling over the lion’s body, but in fact they were nibbling at the ropes and facilitating resurrection.
HAIL
I don’t know the series but you say they are intelligent. Do they tend toward prophecy or political commentary?
Aislin is an Irish name which means “Vision” or “Dream”
And an “Aisling Poem” is an old form often used to vent political opinions. It was the Seanchai’s version of an Op-Ed.