Vanehald
In which the luck continues to run with Jela and Cantra.
One of the fun bits of this duology is finding out about what Solcintra was like and comparing it to the way the Liadens remember it. Apparently dividing the wide universe into us-and-them was a trait even before the Migration.
I notice that when Dulsey’s colleagues are introduced, we get descriptions of Arin and Jakoby, but not of Fern. We don’t even get told whether Fern takes masculine or feminine pronouns, the authors apparently being willing to leave it entirely up to the reader (at least for now) what kind of person’s waist Jakoby might put her arm around.
The mention of Jela’s logbook, which he’s asked Cantra to deliver to his troop, reminds me that I don’t think we’ve seen Cantra keep a logbook of her own, although we know that she left one to her descendants. I wonder if that’s just because it’s never been important to mention, or if it’s something she only started doing as Delm Korval (or perhaps as Captain of the Migration, to the extent that that’s a distinction with a difference). If it was something she only started doing later, it would explain why all the recorded mentions in her logbook of Jela are in the past tense.
Having found myself homebound due to a knee injury and subsequent operation, I decided to reread the Liaden stories in internal chronological order. To my suprise I found a similar project linked on Baen’sBar. I’ve read all entries up until now, and although I don’t have your patience for a one chapter/story a day approach I’ll be comming by from time to time and throwing in my bt.
So on Cantra’s log book, I think we get to see it later, when Commander Wellik gives her one of her own.
Also I don’t know if you’ve noticed but there’s a new novella desribing the first meeting of Lute and Moonhawke. So you should maybe adjust your reading sheadule?
http://www.amazon.com/Moons-Adventures-Liaden-Universe-ebook/dp/B00ENGWLVS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1377123874&sr=8-2&keywords=moon%27s+honor+lee
I’m still waiting for the Smashwords edition to be available, because I don’t want to pay Amazon the extra wireless delivery crap ot forces on people living outside the US, so I’m not so sure about the chronology of the story. Theoreticaly it should be before “Where the Goddess Sends” but wasn’t that the first tale of Moonhawke and Lute?
I also have another question. Does anybody know if you can buy anywhere the story Sweet Waters separately? I can’t locate it anywhere but the new Baen Constelation anthology and I’d have to buy the whole thing basicaly for that one story as I have everything else covered in the old Baen Unibus anthology or Adventures volumes.
Welcome, and feel free to drop in again any time.
I am also waiting for the Smashwords edition, so I haven’t decided what to do about “Moon’s Honor” yet. If it’s out in time, I’m thinking of sticking it in immediately before “Where the Goddess Sends”.
The trick is that “Where the Goddess Sends” and “Moon’s Honor” are both the first meeting of Lute and Moonhawk, this being possible because there’s been more than one Lute and Moonhawk – or rather, the same Lute and Moonhawk more than once, having to rediscover one another over again in each new lifetime. (This has been hinted in some of the stories, and is explained more clearly in the foreword to “Moon’s Honor”, which you can read even if you’re not buying the Kindle edition by using the “Look Inside” preview button.) Which of them, if either, is the first first meeting remains an open question, as far as I know.
The chapbook containing “Sweet Waters” is available on Smashwords here. (How “Sweet Waters” ended up being bundled with a non-Liaden story and missing out on being in the earlier Liaden collections, I don’t know, but there it is.)
Commander Gorriti makes me immediately break into Gilbert and Sullivan tunes — “I am the very model of a modern Major-General” and “Stick close to your desks and never go to sea, And you all may be rulers of the Queen’s Navee!”
Jela’s discovery in the chapter was not too much of surprise, after all, he’s one the main protagonists, we can’t go on without him, can we? The medic says What I have on the scan is an M series soldier who is several months short of decommission. And then later he thinks to himself And if he’d known those “last couple days” were in actuality months . . .
As I read these points, I release my sense of impending doom, and got my hopes up for more story with him.
Paul. You say: We don’t even get told whether Fern takes masculine or feminine pronouns, the authors apparently being willing to leave it entirely up to the reader (at least for now).
I think that is one the authors’ strengths. They don’t tend to do nail everything down for us, or give info dumps. Sometimes, a bit frustrating, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Usually.
As Helen said, she does start writing in a logbook, later, in Old Solcintra.
Ps. Given Cantra’s feelings about Solcintra, imagine how she felt when her passengers named the first city of Liad Solcintra. Lol.
Ed8r, is this truly your first time to read this book? You don’t know what will happen?
Ps…Solcintra — it took me a while (a few reads) to realize Solcintra is what Commander was talking about it Crystal Soldier ch 5 when she gave Jela the assignment to deliver a ship to long-term storage for mothballing….Salkithin itself…which we know by a far more famous name
In case it’s not clear, I’m not at all complaining about the authors leaving the pronouns open; I think it’s one of their strengths, too. I’m just pointing it out, because one of the things I noticed on this re-read is that there are actually quite a few characters over the course of the series who are afforded that openness.
Skip, it’s actually my second time. But my first read through was a) scattered, disorganized, and out of order AND b) before I found Paul’s blog. So I had not commented on these two stories previously.
Regarding Jela’s decommissioning: The first time through, I must have jammed too much reading into too short a time as I tried to catch up on all I had missed…while everyone else here was starting (or already in the middle of) Neogenesis. In any case, I found my second time through to be a far richer experience than the first, and I’ve come back just to leave my own comments and notes. (*sigh* I miss having discussion board notes, comments, theories, repartee…relationship?) Paul, I appreciate your indulgence.
Paul, by no means did I perceive your comment as a complaint. I only wanted to tag along with you, because I do grow weary of authors who spoon feed us every little thing. It’s refreshing to have some unknowns. (What I do find somewhat consternating is discrepancies….and books suddenly yanked from the canon…but I still obviously enjoy the books, which is more than I can say of overly-explicated stories)
Educator — a nickname, like the Bleakers give the Liadens — I found that I missed soooo much on the first read, too. Each read, I make a few more connections to the latter books and within the migration duology itself.
Skip, I’m missing something here: what “Educator” are you referencing?
Ed8r could sound like educator
Oh, I see. It’s supposed to sound like Ed-eight-or, that is…run together… ???
So, my third time through I remembered clearly what was going to happen with those extra months, but it still makes me upset.