Tag Archives: cha’trez

The Gate That Locks the Tree – Act 3, Scene 1

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In the Hall of the Mountain King
Enter Talizea, Miri, Jeeves, Val Con, the Tree, clowders of cats and kindles of kittens

In which the house is unsettled.

“In the Hall of the Mountain King” is the title of a famous piece of music by Edvard Grieg, originally written as incidental music for Henrik Ibsen’s play Peer Gynt. The relevant bit of the play tells how Peer Gynt visited the court of the Mountain King and formed a connection with one of the King’s daughters, not entirely to the satisfaction of anybody involved. The supernatural and inhuman Mountain King’s most famous moment has him proclaiming a philosophy of supreme selfishness that regards everyone and everything else as inconsequential.

…and I’ve said all this before on the blog, because Crystal Dragon used “In the Hall of the Mountain Kings” as a chapter title when it had a sequence set in the domain of the Great Enemy. To have the same metaphor now applied to Jelaza Kazone is, to say the least, disconcerting.
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Accepting the Lance – Epilogue

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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.
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Accepting the Lance – Chapter 94

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Jelaza Kazone
Tree Court

In which Miri has had a long rest.

I wonder about the yellow, orange and red flowers with the peppery smell. The description reminds me of the nasturtium flowers my mother used to grow and use the edible parts in salads. As I recall, they had a peppery taste, but I don’t remember what their smell was like.
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Accepting the Lance – Chapter 79

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Jelaza Kazone

In which Miri has a bad dream.

This is obviously foreshadowing something, but how literally remains to be seen.

For a moment, before the nature of the dream became apparent, I thought we might be about to find out more about what arrangements Val Con has made to keep Miri and Lizzie safe.

I wonder if we’re going to be treated to a proof of Val Con’s statement that Miri holds his soul safe just as Droi holds Rys’s.

Accepting the Lance – Chapter 56

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Jelaza Kazone
The Tree Court

In which Emissary Twelve is making rapid progress.

The authors are playing with the timeline a bit in order to spread characters’ scenes out, I think. It’s unlikely that Miri’s last scene (showing the beginning of a long afternoon at the office) took place after Val Con’s last scene, which ended with him getting the message to come to the Tree Court — unless he took a very relaxed stroll from the outer garden to the Tree. Or perhaps I’m underestimating how long the conversation at the Tree takes; after all, a Turtle is capable of some impressive pauses for thought.

Accepting the Lance – Chapter 44

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Port Road
Surebleak

In which Val Con and Miri go house-hunting.

So, Val Con went to tell Pat Rin what was up while Miri Robertson went to tell the portmaster. Makes sense.
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Accepting the Lance – Chapter 25

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Jelaza Kazone

In which a professional has been at work.

Of the bosses whose turfs saw action, we have not previously heard of Boss Threadle. Bosses Conrad and Kalhoon are, of course, the leaders of the Council of Bosses, and Boss Vine holds the territory immediately neighbouring the spaceport. Boss Wentworth was mentioned a few times in Necessity’s Child but I don’t recall if we learned anything particular about him.
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Accepting the Lance – Chapter 1

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In which one remains in plain sight and vulnerable.

One’s own mother used to say “Sleep tight, and don’t let the bedbugs bite”. Apparently bedbugs are one unpleasantness that isn’t found on Surebleak. (They prefer a tropical climate, I gather.)
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Neogenesis – Chapter 22

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Surebleak

In which a long day comes to an end.

Okay, credit where it’s due: that was an extremely satisfying conclusion to the subplot I’ve been griping about for the last couple of posts.
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Neogenesis – Chapter 20 part III

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In which Val Con and Miri are not getting much sleep tonight.

Chapter 20 is shaping up to be a long chapter, to the point that I’m almost wondering if I need to subdivide the sections even further. Makes sense, though, since this is the chapter where a whole bunch of plot strands come together, not just from this book but from the four books preceding it.
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