In which yo’Lanna achieves a crush and Surebleak achieves a coup.
After Val Con commenting at the first inspection that the decor in the entrance hall was unsubtle but mendable, I was looking forward to seeing what had been done with it, but the narration skips past it and straight to the ballroom. Then again, perhaps Lady yo’Lanna hasn’t had time to do anything interesting with it yet.
According to her letter, Lady yo’Lanna brought with her three adult relatives and two children. Two of the adults appear in this chapter: Ken Rik, who used to be the cargo master on Dutiful Passage (so it’s not surprising to find him among those who have followed Korval to Surebleak), and Lan Lee, whom we have not met before. The children might be Maelin and Wal Ter, who Syl Vor recalls in Necessity’s Child having been close with before the clan left Liad; Maelin in particular is Ken Rik’s granddaughter. Ken Rik has another granddaughter, Karea, who was mentioned in Carpe Diem; she’d be old enough now to be counted as an adult, so perhaps she’s the third.
I haven’t managed to pin the identity of the large man in Bedel garb who speaks up in favour of Memit and Yulie’s hitching. My guess would be Udari, as the brother who is closest to Yulie, but looking back I haven’t found any descriptions of his size.
The Rating Board’s decision to bump Surebleak all the way up to Sector Port, All Services was foreshadowed way back in Chapter 6, when Val Con told Theo that there were many reasons for the board to find in Surebleak’s favor and specifically mentioned a lack of full-service ports in the sector.
The bit where it goes “with regret” doesn’t entirely fit the general tone of the message, and suggests that somebody at TerraTrade has yen for drama or a lamentable sense of humour (or succumbed to a moment of spite).
Well, this was a nice, long denouement . . . my favorite type of story ending.
Paul: decor in the entrance hall was unsubtle but mendable . . . narration skips past it. Not only does it skip right past this specific part of the house, but we are teased with Lady yo’Lanna’s comment to Melina regarding “questions about a few of the house’s quirks.” Because we’ve been given so much background on the house, I wanted to hear more about these “quirks”!
Val Con comments to Lady yo’Lanna that “It cheers me greatly, knowing that you are again fixed so near to us.” And her response is “How am I to take that, I wonder.” Do you have any ideas, Paul, about what she would be thinking?
I loved the scene with the Memit-Yulie proposal and betrothal!
It was interesting that Lady yo’Lanna was a step ahead with wine glasses, ready to propose a toast and direct the company to “pledge ourselves to each other.” This phrase sounded familiar to me, but when I tried doing an Internet search, mostly I came up with sources I did not recognize. However, very similar is the last line of the US Declaration of Independence: “We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
Finally, my ear also heard an echo at the end. This book was officially published and released on December 3, and in the spirit of the season, Penn Kalhoun offers a toast in which he declares: “…good luck to us—to all of us….” Something about the cadence and the festive circumstances evoked for me Tiny Tim’s Christmas toast, which Dickens as narrator repeats to close the Christmas Carol:
God bless us, every one.
[*Paul: Have you begun a different personal schedule? I note that your posts have been showing up later than had previously been typical.]
@foreshadowing – The Rating Board’s decision – I thought of Lady Kareens phone call to Pat Rin, not of Val Cons conversation to Theo.
@pledge ourselves to each other
Thank you Ed8r for sharing your thoughts on that
@Penn Kalhoun toast “…good luck to us—to all of us….”
Was that really Penn? Yes, you’re right. Any Liaden would not have had the courage for a toast like that, not with Korval present. I wonder what that may lead up to – more tangling of the Luck? It somehow seems like an invitation.
Paul: Have you begun a different personal schedule? I note that your posts have been showing up later than had previously been typical.
The post drops are automated to happen at the same time every day, and I haven’t changed the settings at all recently. Have you had a daylight savings adjustment recently where you live? That would affect what time they appeared for you without anything being different here.
Have you had a daylight savings adjustment recently where you live?
Sometimes I really have to wonder where my brain went! Yes, that must be exactly it. Until now, I always found your post first thing in the morning (West Coast, USA), and since I am leaving the house and driving to work while it actually does post an hour later, I don’t see it until at least half an hour after *that* or—if I have an early meeting—whenever I get a break. Good thing I am capable of laughing at myself . . . I have to do it often enough!
Wonder how Nelirikk is? Diglon drove them to the party.