Admiral Bunter
In which the topic of ethics recurs.
And in this chapter we get a direct reference to the events of “Wise Child”, described in sufficient detail to assist anyone who hasn’t read it already. I wonder if that portends that Disian is going to be showing up in this story. It might not, it might just be mentioned for the light it sheds on the present circumstance, but I’d like to see Disian again and learn how she’s getting on.
Continue reading
In which the wise person accepts gracefully that which she cannot change.
It’s interesting that Continue reading
In which Admiral Bunter considers his options.
Oh, I see how it is: every time the story is about to shift to a different set of characters, something’s going to happen that will leave us worrying about one of the characters we’re parting from, until we see them again.
Continue reading
In which Tolly does some housecleaning.
There’s a moment, when Tolly is reflecting on the horrors of being forced to do things against one’s will, when I get the feeling he’s recalling a specific thing from his own past. I wonder if we’ll be hearing more about it, at some point when he has less urgent things on his mind. (And I wonder if it has anything to do with the question of how Thirteen-Sixty-Two became Tolly Jones.)
Continue reading
Admiral Bunter
In which Tolly ponders ethics.
Bits of this chapter remind me of “Wise Child”, the short story featuring Tolly.
Continue reading
Ahab-Esais
In which Tocohl wakes up briefly.
The good news is, Tocohl didn’t choose to throw in her lot with one of the bad guys. The bad news is, that means she’s been taken captive instead.
Continue reading
In which Val Con has tea with his brother’s sister.
No more character reintroductions in this section, only consolidating and expanding on the threads from the previous two sections.
Continue reading
Surebleak
In which we are reunited with various people already resident on Surebleak.
As the first chapter of the latest book of a series, this is mainly concerned with reminding the reader (or introducing them if they’re entering the series here) who everyone is and what they’ve been up to. It’s quite a long chapter, which might simply be that it’s a long series and there are a lot of characters to catch up on — but then, we don’t catch up on everybody, which suggests that these might be just the characters we need to know about to follow what’s going to happen in this novel. Which suggests there’s going to be a lot happening.
(Just how long a chapter the first chapter is depends whether the first part of the novel set on Surebleak, divided into three sections headed I, II & III, is one chapter or three. I wrote the paragraph above thinking of the whole thing as one chapter, but on reflection, I think I’m going to blog it as three chapters, if only so that the blog entries are a reasonable length.)
Continue reading
Bechimo
Bridge
In which Win Ton discusses his student’s future.
It probably says something about my priorities as a reader that my reaction to the end of this chapter was something along the lines of, “All this getting-to-know-each-other is fine, but at last! more plot!”
Continue reading
Beneath the Laughing Cat
In which preparations are made for docking.
I appreciate the discussion of the distinction between a “Pathfinder” and an “Explorer”.
Continue reading