Monthly Archives: June 2017

Cutting Corners

In which Therny Chirs comes to Eylot.

I think I made the right call, for me, to leave this story until after the novel, even though it doesn’t directly relate to the plot. If I had read the story first, I’d have spent most of the novel trying to figure out how it connected, which would have been distracting.
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The Gathering Edge – Chapter 39

Bechimo

In which Bechimo delivers its cargo and passenger.

So, after all the griping about how long it seemed to be taking to get to the climax of the novel, was I satisfied with it when it arrived?
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The Gathering Edge – Chapter 38

Bechimo
Dockside

In which it is demonstrated that it is right to disarm norbears.

I wonder if there’s something particular Rig Tranza finds remarkable on his first sight of the new Theo, or if it’s just a general reaction to how much she’s changed. The air of command is pretty much new since he last saw her, for one thing.
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The Gathering Edge – Chapter 37

Bechimo
Dockside

In which there are many meetings.

Any one of these problems would be relatively easy to deal with by itself; it’s the way they’re all happening at once that makes things difficult.
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The Gathering Edge – Chapter 36

Bechimo
Bridge

In which there are some potential security issues.

We end this chapter with two meetings about to take place, and I’m not sure what to expect of either of them.
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The Gathering Edge – Chapter 35

Minot Station
Transient Crew Cabins

In which Clarence pays the bills.

It occurs to me that Veep Semimodo has not actually met Ambassador Hevelin yet. If he had, he might, rightly or wrongly, react differently to the prospect of incurring the Ambassador’s displeasure.
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The Gathering Edge – Chapter 34

Minot Station

In which Theo does not steal a spaceship.

Everything seems to be going well, but somehow I’m still on edge.
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The Gathering Edge – Chapter 33

Bechimo
Minot Station

In which Theo has a plan.

If this were a movie, the latter part of this chapter would be the lock-and-load montage showing each member of the team preparing for the big action. And if this were a movie, I suspect it wouldn’t include Theo’s conversation with Bechimo; it’s good writing to show that the bonding takes time and effort and doesn’t just automatically go well, just as it’s good writing to show that gaining the trust of the pathfinders takes time and effort and doesn’t just automatically go well, but unlike the pathfinders it lacks the spice of imminent danger if it goes wrong.
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The Gathering Edge – Chapter 32

Minot Station
Transient Crew Cabins

In which Rig Tranza receives a letter from Theo.

That’s a nicely worded description from Win Ton of how he ended up on the crew. I particularly like “the universe placed me on the deck of the ship she commands now”, which sounds unexceptional if you don’t know the backstory.
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The Gathering Edge – Chapter 31

Bechimo
Bridge

In which Bechimo‘s crew consider their next move.

It looks like we’re heading into the big moment now, whatever it is; the book’s starting to do that thing where the chapters get shorter and closer together which is such a great trick for increasing the pace and sense of urgency when the reader isn’t reading them one chapter a day.
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