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?
Well, I’m in two minds about it.
In itself, it’s a great climax, very tense and exciting, and with opportunities for everyone to make a contribution. I was reading each chapter as quickly as I could dash off an entry for the previous one. Considered as the climax of a novel about a newly-minted starship captain figuring out what her new status means for herself and her crew, it’s also very good, with Theo doing lots of captain-y things like negotiating a potential hazardous deal, facing down a challenge to her ownership, and seeing off a dockyard riot, as well as tying in the reminder of her past when she was only a trainee pilot.
As the climax of a novel that began with two soldiers escaping a doomed universe carrying vital secret documents, though, it can seem a bit low-stakes. That whole aspect of the plot seems to have been shunted onto the sidelines after the confrontation in Hydroponics and the subsequent conference. There are a lot of plot threads that feed into the climax, but they’re all from the latter part of the novel.
I am very much looking forward to seeing what happens next.
Asha Carresens-Denobli was, as her mother mentions, present at the evacuation of Codrescu Station. She was the pilot of the ship that carried the official observers representing the Pilots Guild and the Scouts (and was, herself, an official observer representing Carresens, itself an organization large and influential enough that a planet should think twice before getting on its bad side).
This humble reader shares your feelings. I enjoyed the character development and relationship building, but as I began to realize that we weren’t going to have time for any kind of closure on the document cases….or Vepal….or Daav, I began to feel impatient. I wanted them to skip Minot and go directly to Surebleak. But at the same time, I think the authors did need to portray Minot, to develop comradeship between the Pathfinders and Bechimo’s crew. And it was good to see Rig Tranza again, and the Carresens.
In general, I thought TGE suffered at times from a snail-paced focus on minutia (especially the scenes rescuing the damaged repair bug). I hope the next book will have the momentum of Plan B, Agent of Change, or I Dare.
Surebleak or bust, next book, ya think?
What are you going to read next?
Thanks for asking, you reminded me that I haven’t read “Cutting Corners” yet.
Yes, that will be a treat! And I recommend the freebie on Splinter universe, Strings, Strands, and Vines. I found it creepy in a good way, and quite intriguing, with regards to the brain device….it might be same device used to brainwash agents and directors. And it has Cantra and Plemy.
PA: As the climax of a novel that began with two soldiers escaping a doomed universe carrying vital secret documents, though, it can seem a bit low-stakes.
Ha!! And here we all are after the end of the next novel, still in suspense about the Yxtrang ambassador, the Pathfinders (although not their cases), the baby Tree and its pods, and the final disposition of Spiral Dancer.