Tag Archives: Codrescu Station

Dragon Ship – Chapter 13

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Tradedesk

In which Clarence explores the shopping district and his options.

When Joyita first announced himself, he had two rings on one hand. Now he has three.

Although I’ve read the book before, I don’t confidently recall who it is that Clarence has run into, but I have a sort of feeling that it’s not as bad as it might be. And it might be pretty bad, considering the last time Clarence unexpectedly ran into someone who recognised him, it was one of his old Juntavas colleagues, and he ended up having to shoot the guy.

Saltation – Chapter 42 & I Dare – Chapter 58

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Day 201
Standard Year 1393
Solcintra
Liad

In which Theo brings her business to the Delm of Korval.

The fact that it’s Clonak on the gate leads me to wonder whether he recognised a family resemblance in Theo, and that formed part of his decision to let her in. He did, after all, know her father well and for many years.

Speaking of family resemblances, Theo’s first words on being reunited with her father are exactly the same as Val Con’s.

There’s apparently been some disagreement among readers about the way I Dare ends, so for the record I personally found it a perfect and delightful note on which to end the Agent of Change series, and would have thought myself entirely satisfied if that had been the last we ever heard of Liadens. (Though I am, of course, glad now that it wasn’t.) To me, it didn’t come across as a loose end, but as a reminder that even with the Department defeated, the wide universe still contains new discoveries and new adventures, and the children of Korval are not the kind to live quietly ever after.

Tomorrow: New adventure.

Saltation – Chapter 33

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Primadonna
Alanzia Port

In which an expected package comes in an unexpected shape.

It’s been two years since Theo left Eylot to start working with Rig Tranza, and in that time she’s visited nineteen planets, which might mean that they’re averaging one-and-a-quarter months between planets, or more likely that they’ve got a regular patch of space and have visited some of those planets more than once. Or else the wording “set foot on” is significant, and they’ve visited additional planets that Theo’s foot didn’t get to meet.

Two years is significant, too, because Eylot said that after two years they might possibly consider letting her back into Anlingdin Academy if she grovelled enough. She doesn’t seem to be in any particular hurry to go and find out if that was true.

Landed Alien

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In which Kara ven’Arith takes a very long tenday tour.

I take note of the way Kara’s mother and Kara’s delm are always mentioned in this story in the same breath, and the way those mentions are worded, and in addition consider the similar mention of Kara’s mother early in Saltation, and the conclusion I draw is that this is one of those Liaden melant’i situations where “mother” and “delm” are two hats worn by a single person but spoken of separately because the same person might be required to consider a situation differently depending on which set of eyes she’s regarding it with.

The Station Master is another addition to the list of characters for whom the authors of have chosen not to provide gendered pronouns. I might not have found it worth mentioning, but that there’s a sentence near the end of the story which attracted attention by going somewhat out of its way to avoid a pronoun.

Tomorrow: Agent of Change

Saltation – Chapter 30

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Administrative Hearing Room One
Anlingdin Piloting Academy

In which Theo is pushed out of the nest.

I’m not sure which is a less fair event to claim as evidence of Theo’s “continued association with violent activity”, the one where she was attacked unprovoked or the one where her entire “association” with the activity was to get out of the way as it went past and do her level best not to get involved. I’m inclined to think the latter, with the additional note that the actual violence on that occasion was being done by official representatives of the lawful authorities, which makes it particularly unfair for those same lawful authorities to count it as an inappropriate event to be involved with.

(Although… was it these same authorities? There’s clearly been a shift in power since then, and it may well have gone as far as a complete change of government. We never did find out what cause Hap Harney was a martyr to; for all we know, the people who are now tarring Theo with his death were his people.)

Either way, they’re definitely being disingenuous in claiming the general unrest as justification for tightening their grip on things, considering who the actual restless people have been.

Saltation – Chapter 27

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Codrescu Station
Eylot Nearspace

In which Theo is involved in a salvage operation.

Guild Master Peltzer, with his historic Eylot name, stands as a reminder that Guild pilots have much in common wherever they hail from, and that not all pilots from Eylot are like the Young Pilots of Eylot. Mind you, he’s seen more of the wide universe than the Young Pilots, if — as seems likely — he’s the same Pilot Peltzer from Mouse and Dragon, who first gave Hevelin a job with the Pilots Guild many years ago and many light years from Eylot. (Or is it too obvious to say that a pilot who’s achieved Guild Master has seen more of the wide universe than a young pilot still in the academy?)

Firegems have been mentioned before, but I think this is the first time we’ve had such a detailed explanation of their place in the economy of the galaxy.

Saltation – Chapter 26

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Codrescu Station
Eylot Nearspace

In which Theo becomes a Guild member in good standing.

The bit about Hevelin being more directly inquisitive and seeming to understand more than the norbears in Vashtara‘s pet library accords with what I remember from their respective previous appearances. It’s also interesting, although there isn’t enough information to be sure what it means, if anything. Is it because Hevelin is older than the pet library norbears? Or because they’re “hothouse norbears”, raised in a comfortable environment (by people who think they’re just clever animals) while Hevelin’s been making his own way in the universe? Or perhaps the line of causality runs the other way, and Hevelin’s intellect and personality led him as a young norbear to choose a wandering life instead of settling for a cushy spot somewhere.

Saltation – Chapter 25

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Codrescu Station
Eylot Nearspace

In which Theo sees a ghost.

There are limits to how far a person can proceed even when intending to read a series in its internal chronological order, if only because there’s going to be chapters like this one which is in itself not in chronological order. It starts with Theo and yos’Senchul in orbit, and then there’s a flashback as Theo reflects on the events that occurred between the end of last chapter and the beginning of this. So should a person committed to internal chronological order consider rearranging the scenes of the chapter? I would say no. It’s all very well to want to read the stories in chronological order, but it’s important not to lose sight of the fact that it’s about reading the stories. The authors’ choice to tell the events in this order means something; the order is part of the story.

That the “ghost ship” which appears on Theo’s ship scan is not just a scanner glitch of no future significance will be no surprise to anyone who knows the title of this novel’s sequel. (I can’t remember now whether I knew that thing when I first read this novel, but anyway I knew it wasn’t just a scanner glitch of no future significance.)

Saltation – Chapter 24

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Diverse Cultures Celebration Team
Anlingdin Piloting Academy

In which Theo and Kara discuss custom.

The healer Theo met before puts in another appearance, with the moment when he settles Yberna confirming both that he’s a Healer and that Theo doesn’t know enough about Healers to recognise one at work. His name is el’Kemin, a name which is not unfamiliar; there was a Syntebra el’Kemin in Local Custom, who through no fault of her own was briefly affianced to a pilot who wanted her no more than she wanted him. She was made uneasy, not to say terrified, in the company of pilots, an affliction it would seem is not shared by all her kin.

The Young Pilots of Eylot sound like trouble, and not just for the Culture Club. History has a bad record with patriotic organisations called the Young Whatever; that’s almost as bad a sign as “Democratic People’s Republic”.