One of the things that I love about the book is the way that it gets family right, both in the macro and the micro, the good and the bad. There's a functional family (the Sykes) who stagger along pretty well even though they're very much imperfect (Quentin is eccentric and Awful is awful and Howard is put-upon and Quentin and Catriona have noisy rows) and a totally dysfunctional family (the wizards) that nonetheless has some functional bits (Erskine and Torquil's attitude toward "the limpet" Venturus, Torquil and Hathaway's long fight that dissolves as soon as Torquil can face him and say he's sorry). And they mirror each other brilliantly.

I think this was the first read-through where I realized that the Goon liked them so well because he wanted a family that was semi-functional. Of course, it's rare that you can get your wish by literally shooting your worst family members off into space, but who hasn't wished they could do that?

I agree; I think there must be a fascinating story about Erskine and Awful and Venturus, ten years later. I'd love to read it.