Livvy Sonden is the physician of the Black Swan. In Nightfall, her true identity is revealed; previously, she was known as “Physic”.
Appearance[]
When working for the Black Swan, Livvy frequently wears a mask to conceal her appearance.
Beneath the mask, she has dark skin, tiny, sparkly jewels woven into her long black hair, full lips, and a softly rounded nose. Her eyes are a bright, silver-ish blue.
One of her masks is Mardi-Gras style and red, with a rim of gold glitter. She has also been known to wear a purple mask decorated with black swans.
Relationships[]
- Quinlin (Ex- husband)
Quinlin wants her to file a match fail, and their relationship is very rocky.
- Amy (Temporary guardian)
Amy stayed in Quinlin's apartment in Atlantis during the events in the book Nightfall, where Livvy helped take care of her. Livvy also gave Amy Mood Candy when Sophie went to the hospital after Inflicting for the first time.
- Elwin (Physician who works with her on occasion)
Elwin and Livvy
In Flashback, Elwin and Livvy worked together to help Sophie and Fitz heal after they were attacked by Umber. Elwin also assisted Livvy the second time Sophie's abilities were reset, in Legacy.
- Juline (Friend/Coworker)
When physicians in the Lost Cities were being rude to Juline after she gave birth to triplets, Juline went to find more open-minded physicians and ended up meeting Livvy. Livvy later recruited Juline for the Black Swan and recommended her as her replacement on the Collective.
- Sophie (Constant patient)
Livvy was a part of Project Moonlark. She gave Sophie limbium in the Forbidden Cities to halt Sophie's allergic reaction and has healed Sophie at various points throughout the series, such as when she helped Sophie recover from the echoes and hand injuries in Flashback. Livvy reset Sophie's abilities in Legacy.
History[]
Book 6: Nightfall[]
Livvy was introduced as Quinlin's wife and was revealed to be Physic. She took care of Amy in this book.
Book 7: Flashback[]
In Flashback, Livvy healed Alvar.
Book 8: Legacy[]
In this book, Livvy ran Sophie's ability reset.
Trivia[]
- Livvy thinks that Prattles are delicious and stores lots of candy in the apartment.
- She keeps a running list of the top ten grossest things she's ever done.
- She's the only other mentioned-by-name physician in the series; the other one is Elwin.
- Livvy was recruited to the Black Swan after a visit to a hospital in a lost city left her sickened by how elves had allowed thousands of humans perish meaninglessly. She originally went to study human medicines, wanting to see what humanity could have discovered, a fascination that had begun when she learned how they discovered to contract smallpox with another virus, but which her mentor laughed at. Upon seeing the hospital and how far elvin medicines could help it, having even seen a male human die when she could have saved him with an elixir, Livvy was left disgusted with herself for thinking to take rather than give and when she returned home, she was left vomiting into the toilet for the next hour.
- In Latin, Livvy means "olive tree".
Quotes[]
- "Sparkles do make everything better. And Mood Candy is delicious." - Livvy, Book 6: Nightfall, page 73
- "Candy is essential." - Livvy, Book 6: Nightfall, page 77
- "No one should be held accountable for their ancestors' mistakes, so long as they learn from them." - Livvy, Book 6: Nightfall, page 93
- "I know you might feel hesitant to rely on us. But we're here for anything you need. You don't have to put on a brave face or pretend like everything's okay. If you want to talk, cry, laugh eat junk food till you're sick, or do all of the above, you just say the word. Or if you'd rather we leave you alone so you can snuggle with with your fur-babies, that's fine too." - Livvy, Book 6: Nightfall, page 94
- "We tell ourselves that we’re the superior creatures on the planet. And yet, we’ll scour the globe to preserve animals—we even had the dwarves hollow out an entire mountain range so we could build a Sanctuary for them. But we’ve stood back and let billions of humans die. Yes, their life spans are fleeting. And yes, they tried to betray us all those millennia ago—and I have no doubt that some of them would do it again if they knew we existed. But none of that—none of that—justifies letting innocent people suffer and die. Especially children." - Livvy, Book 6: Nightfall, page 49