In which Dollance-Marie Chimra finds something with a price above rubies.
I didn’t like this story much the first time I read it. I found the plot utterly predictable, and none of the new characters particularly engaging. In the intersection of those two things, I didn’t care at all for Dollance-Marie Chimra, whose troubles are at the centre of the plot, since her troubles were by and large of her own making and I had less sympathy for her than for the various people whom she was putting to unnecessary trouble.
I enjoyed it more on this re-read. The plot wasn’t such a liability, because knowing what will happen next is what one expects on re-reading a story. And I find that I have more sympathy for Dollance-Marie on second acquaintance; this time through I got a better grasp of how her upbringing has produced the blind spots that result in the poor decisions she makes, and also I noticed more the indications that she does care about the people she’s caused trouble for — even if she doesn’t always understand the nature or extent of the trouble, when it comes to people outside the societal structure she’s grown up in.
That societal structure, where the intrusive-media side of celebrity has become a formal part of the life of the upper classes, was something I found some entertainment in even the first time I read the story. There’s aspects of modern social media, with trend-setters’ worth being judged by the number of their Followers, and echoes of the more old-fashioned paparazzi. And I noticed on this re-read that some of the names have a particularly English cast to them, which makes me think of the way the British Royal Family is arguably more important nowadays for giving the media something to pay attention to than for anything involving actually ruling the nation.
(The other thing some of the names remind me of is the Duchy of Grand Fenwick, but I haven’t visited that charming place in so long that I’m not sure if I’m just imagining things.)
Tomorrow, Mouse and Dragon chapter 37. Which brings to mind the thought that another thing this story has to offer, in the confrontation outside the Port, is a certain amount of foreshadowing.
An almost-entirely irrelevant side-note: Since I wrote this entry, I got a new smartphone. In the news service that comes pre-installed, the doings of the British Royals are filed under “Entertainment”.
Grand Duchy of Fenwick?
I also very much liked the formal role of the media in this. As you said, it parallels what we see now.
The Duchy of Grand Fenwick is a fictional country featured in a series of satirical novels beginning with The Mouse That Roared (which was made into a film starring Peter Sellers).
I regret that I’ve forgotten already what part of the story reminded me of it.
… though presumably the fact that the story is set on a world named Feinick had something to do with it.
While you were (mildly?) distracted by the echoes of “Feinick” I struggled with “Chimra” which is only one letter short of chimera, perhaps intentionally on the authors’ part? A human chimera is a person with two completely different sets of DNA. Although we do not see evidence of that sort, we do see Ms. Chimra swing back and forth between two personas: Dollance-Marie and Alabaster.
This time through, I found I just had pity for Dollance and John, because the probability of their romance surviving all the social pressures seems infinitesimal. Daav’s sleight of hand trick is fun, but yes, the plot is predictable. I also find I have less and less patience with in-your-face gender-reversal bits, such as Dollance being so pleased with John’s decolletage.