Volmer
In which yos’Galan and Carresens begin an exchange.
The other thought I’d had about the people on the cover — in fact, the first thought I had on seeing it, and the only possibility I’d seriously entertained before Mar Tyn and Dyoli showed up — was that it was Padi accompanied by a new character we hadn’t met yet. I’d been becoming less confident about that possibility recently, as we got so far into the book without encountering any new character who fit the bill. I believe we have him now.
(I’ve commented before that I seem to have a tendency to ask questions and make guesses one chapter before the answer shows up. I consider that this says good things about how well paced the books are.)
The dateline doesn’t say so explicitly, but there are a few hints that these scenes take place on Volmer’s orbital station, not planetside. Mostly, it’s directions, like the bar “three aisles to spinward”, or Dutiful Passage‘s delivery address being on the “south axis”.
I don’t know if I’d have noticed if we weren’t already talking about Tekelia’s pronouns, but there’s at least point during the discussion of Hugglelans where their leader, called Grandfather, is referred to as “she”.
I was going to say that it will be a nice surprise for Disian, who has many friends, to find her friend Tolly at Tinsori Light, but then I remembered that it was her idea to send him there in the first place. Still, I’m sure she’ll be happy to receive the news that he was successful.
I wonder if our heroes are going to discover any Dust-cousins in the Redlands.
Madame Zoe’s attempted ensnarement of Vanz has some points of similarity with Mar Tyn’s description of his ensnarement by Tarona Rusk. It occurs to me that if there are more rogue dramliz like Madame Zoe, or an as-yet undiscovered source that produced her, investigating and dealing with that problem might be a task suited to Tarona’s skills and interests.
“I’ve been in the soup before, though I realize it will be a new experience for you” makes me laugh every time I read it.
As you say, I think the cover depicts Padi and Vanz walking the market aisles.
I do not know why Madame Zoe attacked Vanz and Padi. It seems a random attack.
Fem pronoun for grandfather seems odd.
I don’t think we have enough information to say what Madame Zoe was after. One thing that would help would be to know whether her accomplices were telling everyone to check out her shop (which would suggest she was opportunistically attaching anybody who came in who she thought would be useful) or if it was only Vanz (which would suggest she was specifically trying to get somebody on the inside of Carresens). I do think that it’s likely she picked on Vanz and Padi because of who they were connected to rather than anything about them specifically.
The way I read the Grandfather thing is that “Grandfather” is the official title of the leader of Hugglelans Galactica (in the same way that it might be “Chairman” or something in another organisation) and doesn’t necessarily reflect the biography of the title holder (in the same way that “Chairman” might not). Hugglelans presumably started out as a family business, and they’ve still got the family theme going, with the high officers being called things lilke “First Son” and “Seventh Daughter”, but those aren’t necessarily literal.
(There’s a scene later in this book where Trader Denobli speaks of offering a “daughter’s contract” to a promising young trader, which suggests that the Carresens Family is not literally just a family either.)
Yes, I agree — not enough info on why they were attacked.
Grandfather as a title of leadership. Good thinking.
Remember back to Saltation where the Hugglelans pilot that tested Theo for First Class license on Primadonna was a third Son but clearly a she. While things like 1. Son, Grandfather and so on might be a title it could also be a cultural indicator. Like Hugglelans origination on a planet/culture that just doesn’t make a gender difference and therefore gets translated a bit sloppily.
Sounds about right, Othin
RE: the term “Grandfather” being used as an overall title of leadership . . . I was reminded of the instances in “real” life where a female officer in charge gives orders and the response is “Yes, sir.” The first time I heard it, I was startled, but I have become used to it since then.