In which we are introduced to the persons of Clan Mizel.
New novel, and a new set of characters. This first chapter does a good job of establishing them not only as individuals, but also in relation to each other.
It also does the duty of bringing a reader new to Liad up to speed on some of the key cultural features, by way of Sinit addressing those differences from the other end.
(Sinit Caylon has been one of my favourite characters in the whole series ever since I first read this chapter. She reminds me a lot of me when I was that age.)
Whew, yes, all the characters in the family nicely shown (not merely explained in exposition) by the conversation around the table. I admit, It took me quite some time to warm to Aelliana, even knowing where we were headed.
I had broken up my reading of all the Liaden books, starting at Agent of Change and continuing through that sequence, being effectively caught by the cliff-hanger at the end of I Dare and therefore backtracking to Fledgling, reading forward through The Gathering Edge (then realizing I’d better slot in Alliance of Equals). Only then did I decide I would jump all the way back to Crystal Soldier and read through to Conflict of Honors. It was sometime during Paul’s read of Neogenesis that I found this site because I was looking for a list of all the short stories in Liaden chronological order. So I started in on those, finished all but the Lute and Moonhawk ones—because I thought they would not interest me or add to my picture of the Liaden Universe—and as I came to the end, I finally read Necessity’s Child at the very end, before starting my own reread, in strict chronological order this time AND including al of Lute and Moonhawk.
All that said in order to go on to:
In any case, during my first read, because I had read Fledgling and Saltation before the Daav and Aelliana novels, I had established a relationship with Jen Sar Kiladi as, primarily, Kamele’s onagrata and Theo’s father. I was not prepared to accept Aelliana in her own right. Now that I’ve read Neogenesis, I am reconciled to this lifemating and excited to see what else the authors have in store for this pair of characters.
There, I’ve said entirely too much for what is only the first chapter of Aelliana’s story!
Instead of telling Sinit to stop “playing with” her food, Mizel says to leave over “torturing” your food. The imagery is apt.
Interesting, Ed8r. First impressions and paradigm shifts in our interactions with characters. For me, I read the entire series starting with CRYSTAL SOLDIER, so my strongest relationship was with Tree, the last of its kind, mysteriously capable, and proving to be a loyal and amiable friend. Continuing to read in chronological order, I was quite disappointed in Jethri’s book (no Tree at all!) and in Local Custom because Tree played only a minor role.