Tag Archives: Bar Jan chel’Gaibin

Dead Men Dream – Chapter 4

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In which two men decide what they will do with their lives.

It occurs to me that several of the people in the ARTS accommodation have names that resemble musical terminology. In particular Joolia Tenuta and Femta both have names resembling terms (tenuto and fermata) indicating that a note is to be held for its full length or longer, appropriate for people whose lives are on hold. It may even, considering Port Chavvy’s policy of letting people choose their call-name and the fact that there’s a musical contingent among the ARTS residents, be deliberate.
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Dead Men Dream – Chapter 3

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In which two men demonstrate their utility.

The scene after the comet enters its transition phase gives us the title drop for the book, and a key theme for this story.
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Dead Men Dream – Chapter 2

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In which two men find new places and new names.

Khana’s question to Joolia about the meaning of “Jeef” turns out to be exactly what Bar Jan needs, exactly when he needs it, but I don’t understand what prompts Khana to ask the question in the first place. Has he just had that much practice at anticipating what Bar Jan will need?
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Dead Men Dream – Chapter 1

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In which two dead men are awaiting rescue, transport, or skillful habitation.

Well, here’s a couple of people I wasn’t expecting to see again so soon, if ever.
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Trade Secret – Epilogue

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Elthoria

In which the young gentleman returns home.

And so Jethri’s story comes to an end, for now. And hasn’t he come a long way from the young fellow we met at the beginning of Balance of Trade?

I’m much happier with Balance of Trade and Trade Secret, taken as a two-part whole, than I was with Balance of Trade by itself. All the major questions raised have been given answers, and we got a suitably dramatic climax. There are still openings for further stories about Jethri, his kin, and his friends, and I’ll be happy to read them if they happen, but if this is all we get of Jethri’s story, I’ll be content.

—

And with the end of Trade Secret, we reach the end of Phase 1. Phase 2 begins tomorrow, with one of Captain ter’Astin’s colleagues and a reminder of why the Scouts don’t like Old Tech at large, in “Naratha’s Shadow”.

Trade Secret – Chapter 30

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Gobelyn’s Market, Clawswitts

In which the Gobelyns receive news of kin.

So that’s why Jethri suddenly decided he needed to send a message to Freza.

Apart from the trade and economic factors, which I don’t feel qualified to judge, one useful effect of publishing the Envidaria that Jethri must have considered is that the Liadens will have to stop bugging his friends and family for a copy. (Whether they’ll believe, among themselves, that the published Envidaria is the real thing, is another matter – I suspect those Liadens inclined to believe in Terran trickery will consider this more of the same – but at least they’ll have to act in public as if they believe it.)

And it looks like I was wrong (again) about Ynsolt’i. I think, looking back, that I’ve been tending to get predictions wrong about this book by tending toward being too neat and tidy. Life don’t always go in for quick and tidy endings to things.

Speaking of things in life that aren’t neat and tidy, I’ve got some of my sympathy for Iza back. She’s a complicated woman, is Iza Gobelyn.

Trade Secret – Chapter 28

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Port Chavvy

In which Bar Jan chel’Gaibin learns the consequences of his actions.

Well. I thought something interesting might result when they asked Jethri to translate for the medics, but I wasn’t expecting this.

I think I know Jethri well enough by now to expect that he’ll try and do something to help chel’Gaibin, though I doubt whether chel’Gaibin will accept or understand it.

(I wonder how this is going to affect Tan Sim. Does he become a suitable candidate for heir now that the delm has no other sons, or will she attempt some other solution that will permit her to leave him where he is?)

The interactions between chel’Gaibin and his valet say a lot about both of them. (Running the numbers, Khana vo’Daran has been at Bar Jan chel’Gaibin’s side more than half of Bar Jan’s lifetime, since Bar Jan was a child in truth.)

Trade Secret – Chapter 27

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Port Chavvy

In which Bar Jan chel’Gaibin gets what he traded for.

What little eloquence I normally have deserts me, and I have just one thing to say: Yes!

I like Jethri’s response when chel’Gaibin doubts that he is covered by the Code.

“All I ask is an honest advantage” has a polished sound to it, but if it’s a quote from somewhere else I’m not familiar with it.

Trade Secret – Chapter 21

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Tradedesk, Gallery 770

In which Jethri brings the evening to a satisfactory conclusion.

This may well be seeing a connection where none is intended, but I can’t go past the mention of “a qe’andra of extreme melant’i and form” without thinking of the dea’Gauss.

I don’t think, from what we’ve seen of him, that Bar Jan chel’Gaibin did intend, or even realise, the insult he offered to Samay pin’Aker – but in saying so, I’m effectively pronouncing him a person of little melant’i, and I can see why a well-brought-up young man like Jethri would avoid doing that while it remained possible to give him the benefit of the doubt. (And isn’t it interesting that giving him the benefit of the doubt means assuming him to be a person who would offer deliberate insult to a lady? I think it was Oscar Wilde who said that a gentleman is a person who never causes offence unintentionally.)

This is not the first time it’s been mentioned that Jethri ven’Deelin, as a son adopted of Clan Ixin, may be required to enter a contract marriage for the good of the clan. It may just be background, but I do wonder if it’s foreshadowing an event that will occur in this novel – and if so, whether it will be so tidy as a marriage to one of the young ladies whose acquaintance Jethri has already made. (At that, the odds could be better than a first glance might suggest; I suspect most of the delms, whatever their opinion of a Terran living and trading as a son of Liad, wouldn’t want their daughters to marry one.)