Tag Archives: Chonselta Technical College

Mouse and Dragon – Chapter 30

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In which Aelliana proposes a solution.

Once again it’s Aelliana who gets to make the decisive move instead of Daav swooping in and rescuing her. (I may be labouring this point a bit. But seriously, how many novels are there where that happens?)

I am particularly interested by the part of Aelliana’s proposal which has her paying the blood-price for Ran Eld’s death when Sinit becomes Delm. There are several things going on here. For one, it gives Mizel an inducement to accept Sinit as nadelm, where her mother’s actions have cast doubt on the hope that she might accept as much simply because it’s the sensible course. It also serves a practical purpose in ensuring that when Sinit becomes delm there will be an amount of money she can rely on, no matter how the clan’s fortunes may have suffered in the mean time. There’s also some shifty work going on with the melant’i of the situation. I still don’t think that Aelliana truly owes Mizel anything for Ran Eld’s death, but by accepting the blood-price as her debt she’s making sure Mizel can’t try to stick it to anybody else (such as Daav); and by specifying that the payment will be made to Birin Caylon’s successor, the result will be that Birin Caylon gets the promise of an apology but never the apology itself.

Mouse and Dragon – Chapter 16

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In which Aelliana deals with some outstanding business.

If I have the timeframe figured out correctly, Aelliana began teaching the advanced seminar for Scouts about the time Daav was obliged to leave the Scouts and take up the Delm’s Ring. One wonders whether, had Daav been able to remain a Scout, he and Aelliana might have crossed paths much sooner.

Mr dea’Gauss continues in the mode of servant to lord, addressing Aelliana as “my lady”, until she asks that he address her as Pilot or Scholar and not offer her more honor than she has earned; then he follows her into a more equal mode and switches to addressing her as “Pilot”. I notice, though, that by the end of the conversation he’s back to addressing her as “my lady”, apparently having formed his own conclusions about how much honor she has earned from him.

Mouse and Dragon – Chapter 9

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In which Mr dea’Gauss has news.

Servant to lord? Mr dea’Gauss is being very serious about Daav’s wish that Aelliana be honored as fully as possible. (And not just in the sense that Mr dea’Gauss is serious about everything he does.)

I do hope, if Daav is going to tell people that he hopes Aelliana will be his lifemate, that sooner rather than later one of the people he tells is Aelliana. He’s already had one dramatic lesson about the risks of withholding important information from her because he doesn’t think she can handle it, and it would be a terrible habit to get into if they’re going to be lifemates. (At least he’s only telling people who really need to know; he’s not handling it nearly as badly as, say, Miles Vorkosigan… though “not handling it as badly as Miles Vorkosigan” is so far from a ringing endorsement as to be practically a warning sign in itself. Still, Aelliana definitely falls in the category of people who really need to know.)

…it’s just occurred to me that Daav’s instructions to Mr dea’Gauss were ambiguous enough in their wording that Mr dea’Gauss might have come away with the impression that Aelliana is already aware of the situation. I hope that’s not going to cause trouble.

Mouse and Dragon – Chapter 6

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In which Aelliana is taken under Korval’s wing.

So then, a slight but significant revision: it appears that the lifemate bond is active when Aelliana and Daav are in close proximity, but information flows only in one direction; Aelliana can feel Daav, but Daav can not feel Aelliana.

I know there’s the whole thing about how melant’i means that the same individual might be effectively a different person in different situations, but there are moments when it feels like Delm Korval really is a different person from Daav. (The scene in Local Custom where Korval calls Er Thom and Petrella to heel, the night of the gather, is another one.) I think part of it is the way Daav doesn’t like to step into the role of Delm if there is any way he can handle the situation in one of his more personal capacities, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy; if the only situations where Delm Korval puts in an appearance are those which Daav can’t handle himself, it follows that Delm Korval must be somebody other than Daav. Or perhaps a less dramatic way to put it is that the role of Delm consequently brings out aspects of Daav’s character that don’t usually get expressed when he’s “being himself”. Particularly since, with Daav solving the easy problems and the personal problems himself, that leaves Delm Korval with the extremely formal occasions and the situations where duty must be placed before any personal considerations.

Scout’s Progress – Chapter 15

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In which one might expect tea to be drunk.

In the Binjali crew, Aelliana has found not only comrades but family. What Jon offers is, as Aelliana identifies, a paraphrase of what a clan is expected to offer its members according to the Code (as was quoted at the head of Chapter 4). Her description of what is asked of her in return is likewise, if memory serves, a paraphrase from the Code, and appears somewhere else in the series (though I don’t at the moment recall precisely where) explicitly identified as the duty one owes to one’s clan.

It almost goes without saying that Aelliana’s actual family is not a good model of either end of that set of duties.

Scout’s Progress – Chapter 14

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In which Hedrede calls upon Korval.

I am suspicious of Delm Hedrede’s attempt to discredit Anne’s scholarship. Certainly, prejudice may be found in all walks of life, but the description of Hedrede as a clan that usually keeps to itself and doesn’t start anything in Council makes me wonder if somebody put her up to it. (If it was the same people who were behind Fil Tor Kinrae and the earlier, more direct attack on Anne and Scholar yo’Kera, one would expect them to know that Daav could invoke Scholar yo’Kera to defeat the implication of Terran duplicity. Perhaps they did, but felt it was worth a try anyhow, as long as they had Hedrede to absorb the consequences if it didn’t work out.)

While Daav is busy defusing ticking social bombs of various kinds, Aelliana is having a much better day. Being around people who give her honest respect for her achievements — and are able to bring her to accept the respect she’s earned, which the Scouts are able to do in a way her students have never had the status for, however much they respected her — has been doing her some lasting good.

Scout’s Progress – Chapter 12

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In which Aelliana lifts as planned.

Another of Cantra’s log entries that doesn’t entirely accord with her history as revealed in the prequels. In particular, her claim to be “a sport, child of a long line of random elements”, considered from an in-universe perspective, can not be anything other than a deliberate lie.

Yardkeeper Gat’s declaration — “I don’t care what her name is or how good she can add” — is interesting. Even as he declares that Aelliana’s reputation cuts no ice in the present context (which is very likely true) he’s taking the time to show that he recognises the name and the reputation. Daav didn’t tell him she was a mathematician.

Scout’s Progress – Chapter 10

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In which Aelliana gains her pilot’s license.

One thing this chapter underscores is that Aelliana is not merely good at mathematics; she’s phenomenal. Another, less cheering, thing is the way her interactions with the examination officer illuminate her experiences, in how she fears that any deviation from normal behavior will bring down punishment.

The backstory for how she’s ready to take her piloting examination, when she’d never expected to own a ship, is nicely balanced. Of course there would be a Scout in one of her classes who insisted on her getting hands-on experience. And of course she would draw the line at anything that required her family to find out what she was up to.

…I seem to keep circling around to the less happy sides of the situation, so let’s just focus on the most important thing about this chapter: Pilot’s license! Woo!

Scout’s Progress – Chapter 8

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In which Vin Sin chel’Mara’s delm has news to share.

I believe this is the only time we meet Delm Aragon. He seems a smart man, and well-equipped with that ironic sense of humor all the best Liadens have. I think I like him — from a safe distance. I should be considerably more wary if I had ever to deal with him in person.

Several chapters in, the authors have finally got around to telling us Var Mon’s family: he is of Line pin’Aker in Clan Midys. Since Trade Secret was published, his friendship with Rema ven’Deelin has retroactively become a nice callback to the friendship between Jethri Gobelyn ven’Deelin and Samay pin’Aker.

Scout’s Progress – Chapter 3

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In which Aelliana leaves.

Aelliana-the-teacher, confident in her handling of her students, is an interesting contrast to Aelliana the rest of the time.

In the course of the lesson, we get the most detailed description of piloting math I can recall before Trade Secret was published, including our first mention of the ven’Tura Tables.

It’s an interesting detail that it’s possible to go from Liad to Terra in a single Jump, if one should want to. I wonder how often anybody ever does.

(The second part of the chapter, in which Aelliana has that fateful conversation with Ran Eld, is one of those parts of the series which I appreciate a great deal but not in a way that leads to putting many words together.)