Tag Archives: Eztina

Necessity’s Child – Chapter 30

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In which a packed day draws to a close.

Silain has a good point, which I hadn’t considered when I was reading this novel for the first time and expecting Rys to wind up being accepted into the kompani. He fits in well enough now, but as he himself said earlier they can’t make a definite decision until they know how he might be changed by regaining his lost memories.

Another thing I hadn’t properly considered when I was reading this novel for the first time is that when Kezzi asked if it might be possible to find a ship that had been lost, I thought she was thinking of the ship that the headman and the luthia were discussing a while ago, the overdue ship that was to have come for the kompani at the end of their chafurma. Of course it isn’t; even if the headman and the luthia hadn’t decided on a wait-and-see course about that, I don’t think any child of the Bedel would tell gadje about their ship, let alone invite gadje to track it down. (In fairness to my younger self, I don’t think we’ve actually been shown Kezzi learning about the ship that she is asking about, which may have thrown me off.)

I think giving Peter and Luce another chance to find their place at school is the right decision. Maybe they’ll take it, and everybody will be happy, and if they don’t at least they’ll be somewhere someone’s got an eye on them. Between those two possibilities, isn’t that pretty much the point of the child-off-the-street policy?

Necessity’s Child – Chapter 25

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In which Syl Vor introduces his sister to a game.

The information-trading game is interesting, because it’s never been mentioned before in a Liaden story, but it’s very similar to a game featured in one of Lee and Miller’s non-Liaden works.

Master Walk was published in a chapbook about a decade ago (the ebook edition is still available), and also appears in the print anthology Double Vision. I get the impression it was hoping to be the first of a new series – it’s got that feeling about it, like how you can often tell if a telemovie started life as a pilot episode – but so far there have been no sequels.

It’s science fiction again, set in a galaxy that is like and unlike that of the Liadens in various respects. The trading of information is a big thing both in the setting in general and the plot of Master Walk in particular, and the traders of information play the token-swapping game to keep score during a transaction. (It is considered that a transaction has not been completed with honor unless each participant gives and receives equal value.) The full game, at least in that version, uses tokens of several denominations, allowing a considerable amount of precision when indicating how much value is placed on a piece of information received.

There’s a moment that’s stayed with me, where a trader asks a question, receives the answer, and hands over a token indicating how valuable they found the answer to be – and the person they’re dealing with immediately also hands over a token, indicating that they’ve received valuable information from the size of the token the answer elicited.

Necessity’s Child – Chapter 23

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In which Rys’s brothers give him a hand.

We continue to get to know Syl Vor’s classmates as he does. Kaleb’s family seem to know a thing or two about medicine, though whether it’s professional interest or just practical experience isn’t clear yet. Several of them have grandmothers, which is reassuring considering some of the stories we’ve heard about life expectancy on Surebleak, or cats, or both. I like the way Syl Vor disarms Rudy’s attack.

Rys is worrying again about the missing part of his memory, and how the person he is without it might differ from the person he would be with it. He may be right to do so, considering that even when he thinks he’s got all his memories of yesterday back he’s still missing any memory of his conversation with the lady who recognised him. (And is that his memory sequestering the conversation because it relates to other stuff he’s not ready to face, or did she do it somehow?)

Necessity’s Child – Chapter 22

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In which thought is given to the future.

Apparently we are not to discover just yet what has become of Rys.

Ms ker’Eklis seems to be in a bad mood; perhaps she resents her dinner being put back. As a Liaden, she ought to know about necessity, but perhaps she thinks a boy’s necessity is not as necessary as an adult math tutor’s. Or perhaps, to be fair, it’s only that she doubts this particular boy, since about half the mentions of Syl Vor’s tutors in the book so far have been because he’s running late for his lessons for one reason or another.

Necessity’s Child – Chapter 13

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In which Rys says a hello and Syl Vor says a farewell.

This book is Syl Vor’s big step into the spotlight, but it’s also casting new light on Nova, showing aspects of her other than the one who stays home being strait-laced while all her siblings hare around acting precipitously and making witty banter.

The bit where Syl Vor maybe-falls-asleep against the Tree reminds me – particularly with Kezzi talking about “dreaming together” in the other half of the chapter – of “Dragon Tide”, and the dragons that used to sleep in the branches of the Tree’s ancestors and share their dreams.

(I also note that somebody, presumably the Tree, is doing some pretty blatant manipulation to get Syl Vor out to receive his gift, and then back in as soon as it’s done. It’s interesting that Syl Vor’s hand enters the last override code without his conscious mind getting involved; is that just a limitation of the process, or is the Tree making an effort to make sure he doesn’t remember it and use it on some other less appropriate occasion?)

And the continuing emphasis on dreaming from Silain and Kezzi reminds me that I was reminded recently that the authors are fans of Janet Kagan’s novel Hellspark, which leads to the realisation that the luthia reminds me somewhat of layli-layli calulan from that novel.

Necessity’s Child – Chapter 6

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In which Syl Vor finds something useful to do.

The overheard conversation about Val Con and Nelirikk solidly establishes when this is happening relative to Ghost Ship.

It’s interesting that Syl Vor thinks he might rather face Grandaunt Kareen than Aunt Miri. It’s not because Miri is delm, because melant’i means that she’s only the delm when she’s being the delm, and he’s just finished going through the fact that she’s not being the delm at the moment. It might be a familiarity thing; formidable as she is, he’s known Kareen all his life and has a fair idea what to expect from her, but he met Miri for the first time just recently and she’s still something of an unknown.

Necessity’s Child – Chapter 3

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In which Syl Vor is certainly not having trouble sleeping.

Our third viewpoint character is, for a change somebody we already know, though not yet well: Syl Vor yos’Galan, Nova’s son.

A couple of other people we know, but not yet well are Syl Vor’s cousins Mik and Shindi, who sleep through the entire chapter and even so get more characterisation than in the entire series up to this point. Though that’s fair enough, considering they’re only about a year old and their life to date has largely consisted of their family trying to keep them away from the exciting things the readers are interested in.

On which note, we also learn this chapter that, although all the children survived Plan B physically untouched, the pressure of having to always be prepared for the other possibility has left its mark on Syl Vor.

(And an intriguing side-note: in Syl Vor’s thoughts, Lady Kareen is appropriately “Grandaunt”, but Luken bel’Tarda is “Grandfather”, without even as much justification as when Quin did it. Perhaps it’s been decided that Luken is Grandfather to all the children, since the clan has no other grandfathers to offer them.)