Monthly Archives: May 2015

Necessity’s Child – Chapter 11

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In which Syl Vor has a suggestion.

It occurs to me that, with all this talk of Syl Vor being old for his age, I’m not actually sure what his age is. He’s young enough to be considered a child, and, unlike his older cousins, not yet old enough to begin training for the duties of adulthood, but he’s not one of the characters for which we’ve been given anything like a specific birthdate.

It also occurs to me that his older cousins are each training to succeed their parents, so Syl Vor might be expected one day to succeed his mother — and if at that time she’s still stuck with this job, and Syl Vor will be asked in his turn to solve for the people of Surebleak, well, today’s work is not a bad start. (True, he was helped considerably by Mike Golden’s advice, but recognising good advice and knowing what to ask are both valuable skills in themselves.)

Necessity’s Child – Chapter 10

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In which Nova has visitors.

I find myself wondering how much of Boss Schroeder’s apparent concern for the safety of his turf’s children is politically motivated, which is perhaps unjust. Presumably he has some level of genuine concern for his people, or he wouldn’t be in on the school project to begin with.

Continuing the theme of there only being so many names to go around, Nova’s assistant Veeno has a very similar name to Veena, who was one of Boss Moran’s ‘hands back before Boss Conrad took over. It’s definitely not the same woman, though, since Veena, like Boss Moran, was one of those who didn’t survive the initial free and frank exchange of views.

I am amused that Nova and Syl Vor are seen to be making the same assessment of Nova’s role at more or less the same moment.

Necessity’s Child – Chapter 9

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In which Syl Vor has been reviewing the forms.

Of course the corollary of asking Syl Vor to make sure someone knows where he’s going is that it allows for judgement as to whether someone ought to go with him. Wandering around the grounds is one thing, but a boy his age really shouldn’t go into a place like Surebleak city on his own, even if he does have a knife and a gun with him and some idea how to use them.

It occurs to me to wonder whether Syl Vor was deliberately trying to avoid adult oversight for his trip. I don’t think so, since he’s making an obvious effort to do the thing right, so I think it’s just what he says, that he didn’t want to be a nuisance by interrupting anyone, and hasn’t entirely grasped the idea that it wouldn’t be such a nuisance alongside the possibility of him getting in serious trouble on his own. (At least, I don’t think he’s consciously avoiding people – but on the other hand, he does show some uncertainty that he’s doing the right thing, and there’s a thing people sometimes do where if they suspect they’re going about something wrong they unconsciously steer clear of anyone who might tell them so.)

Necessity’s Child – Chapter 8

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In which there’s been some excitement in the warehouse district.

This is one of those chapters that it’s more difficult to talk about because this is a re-read. I could speculate about what these events mean, or about who Silain’s patient is (Liaden, warehouse district, …) but it wouldn’t really work since of course I already know the answers.

I notice that there’s a person named Jin helping one healing effort and a person named Gin directing the other. I don’t suppose that means anything; there are only so many short names to go around. (As evidence of which, this is the second person known only as “Gin” in the series so far; the first was a merc on the front line on Lytaxin, so probably not the same person.)

New stories

The latest Liaden Universe novel, Dragon in Exile, is now out in ebook form. Paper form is due to follow in early June.

To accompany it, there is a new short story: Chimera is set on Surebleak, some time after the arrival of Boss Conrad, and appears to feature new characters. I’ve added it to the schedule here, but it’s not going to come up for a while yet, so please go ahead and read it at whatever time suits you. (And if you do, and thereby gain a more precise understanding of when it’s set than I did by skimming the first page, I would appreciate it if you would let me know.)

Necessity’s Child – Chapter 7

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In which Syl Vor requests a change of schedule.

The Rule of Succession is, like all proverbs, something of an oversimplification. While it’s true that who wants power most may be someone who shouldn’t be trusted with it, it’s just as possible that who wants it least may do a great deal of damage by neglecting or avoiding the duty that comes along with.

There is a phenomenon called “shipping goggles”, which is a propensity to look at the interactions between two characters and see romantic subtext regardless of whether the storyteller intended any. I don’t have shipping goggles myself – I’ve been known to have trouble seeing romantic subtext that a storyteller definitely did intend – but there are moments when I suspect that, if I did, I would have an opinion about Nova and Michael Golden.

Kezzi’s protest that she shouldn’t be considered a child just because the kompani currently has no children younger suggests that she’s in a similar position to the one Nova was just diagnosing of Syl Vor, with nobody her own age to interact with, which kind of suggests where this story might be going.

Necessity’s Child – Chapter 6

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In which Syl Vor finds something useful to do.

The overheard conversation about Val Con and Nelirikk solidly establishes when this is happening relative to Ghost Ship.

It’s interesting that Syl Vor thinks he might rather face Grandaunt Kareen than Aunt Miri. It’s not because Miri is delm, because melant’i means that she’s only the delm when she’s being the delm, and he’s just finished going through the fact that she’s not being the delm at the moment. It might be a familiarity thing; formidable as she is, he’s known Kareen all his life and has a fair idea what to expect from her, but he met Miri for the first time just recently and she’s still something of an unknown.

Necessity’s Child – Chapter 5

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In which Pat Rin is up early, and Syl Vor is late for his tutor.

Something odd’s happened to the timeline again. During Ghost Ship, we were informed – several times – that it was spring, approaching the onset of what passes on Surebleak for summer. Now, in this chapter, it is suddenly “very nearly spring”.

That said, the apparent fact of it being winter, and the subsequent discussion of Surebleak’s climate, constitute a nice bit of incluing that sets up Nova’s later remark that it will be a warm day on Surebleak before a particular unlikely thing occurs. (Also a nice bit of incluing is the passing mention of the child-on-the-street policy, which we’ll be hearing of again in a chapter or two.)

Being aware of the fact that many of the Department’s agents are on some level innocent victims, and thus being wishful to rescue them if possible, is something of a tactical handicap for Korval, but I can’t say I’d prefer Korval to not want to help them. I wonder if that was a factor in the Department’s choice of recruiting techniques, the possibility of producing that handicap in any opponent the Department might acquire. The Commanders and analysts of the Deparment we’ve seen, who regard agents as expendable and don’t seem to grasp that Korval doesn’t think the same way they do, probably wouldn’t be able to come up with such a strategy, but then the Commanders and the analysts are products of the system; whoever set up the system in the first place might have had a broader range of thought.

Necessity’s Child – Chapter 4

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In which Kezzi listens, and Syl Vor listens.

I like the bit where Val Con tells Syl Vor about Swan Lake, translating the concepts into their nearest Liaden equivalents as he goes.

(I also like the preceding bit with the music, but not in a way I can find specific words for.)

Kezzi summons Malda by snapping her fingers, which is not the way dogs are generally summoned where I live. It might just be a cultural difference without specific significance. On the other hand, remembering that we’ve already been told the Bedel summoning bell was designed to be difficult to hear beyond their walls, it occurs to me that a snap – compared to, say, a whistle or a voice call – would be less likely to carry to unfriendly ears, and less likely to impress itself on such ears as a sound of definitely human origin.

Necessity’s Child – Chapter 3

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In which Syl Vor is certainly not having trouble sleeping.

Our third viewpoint character is, for a change somebody we already know, though not yet well: Syl Vor yos’Galan, Nova’s son.

A couple of other people we know, but not yet well are Syl Vor’s cousins Mik and Shindi, who sleep through the entire chapter and even so get more characterisation than in the entire series up to this point. Though that’s fair enough, considering they’re only about a year old and their life to date has largely consisted of their family trying to keep them away from the exciting things the readers are interested in.

On which note, we also learn this chapter that, although all the children survived Plan B physically untouched, the pressure of having to always be prepared for the other possibility has left its mark on Syl Vor.

(And an intriguing side-note: in Syl Vor’s thoughts, Lady Kareen is appropriately “Grandaunt”, but Luken bel’Tarda is “Grandfather”, without even as much justification as when Quin did it. Perhaps it’s been decided that Luken is Grandfather to all the children, since the clan has no other grandfathers to offer them.)