Tag Archives: Faldaiza

Crystal Dragon – Chapter 32

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Quick Passage

In which the new clan gathers allies.

Yes, I thought that was where I remembered the gambler reappearing.

And I’m thinking that what we have gathered here is the beginnings of Korval’s ally, Clan Erob. Though I’m not sure if it’s all of them, or just the red-headed ones. 🙂

This chapter shows the flip side of Solcintra’s insularity. It neatly explained why the Liadens don’t have some of the things they don’t have, but it also means that another neat explanation is called for regarding why they do have some of the things they do have. Like, as the gambler points out here, healers, seers, and others with abilities resembling those of the dramliz.

The ink is hardly dry on Korval’s charter, and already they’re showing their form as a clan who won’t meekly wait on the Council’s decisions when the right course is plain.

Crystal Soldier – Chapter 30

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Spiral Dance
Gimlins Approach

In which Jela receives assistance from several unexpected directions.

Or else: In which events take a dramatic turn and shoot off into left field. If I didn’t already know what was coming next, I think I would be having real trouble not going straight on to the next chapter.

(Incidentally, explicit confirmation that Jela’s whip thing is a shib. Now I can consider that question settled, and stop second-guessing myself.)

Crystal Soldier – Chapter 29

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Spiral Dance
Shift Change

In which the crew give thought to the future.

The tree has a lot to say for itself in this chapter. (I kind of wish I’d thought to tag for the chapters where the tree speaks. Too late to go back and find them all now.)

Crystal Soldier – Chapter 28

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Spiral Dance
The Little Empty

In which Cantra and Jela have a talk.

The first aid kit offers to make Cantra not only good as new, but better. One is inclined to wonder, if it had been given permission to install a few upgrades, what else it might have slipped in at the same time.

Most of the chapter is Cantra and Jela talking. He tells her about the tree. She tells him about what happened to her family.

(It’s interesting that Jela says the tree hasn’t told him its name or that of its species, just because there’s a scene, in a much later novel, that mentions in passing that the Uncle does know the name of the species. It makes sense that he would have wanted to learn more about them after the encounter just finished — but who is there that he could have learned it from?)

Crystal Soldier – Chapter 13

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Outbound, Faldaiza Nearspace
Approaching Transition

In which it is not better to be locked out of the pilot’s tower than to be locked in.

Another short chapter.

We get a glimpse of Cantra’s childhood as she’s waking up, in a reasonably natural and unforced bit of exposition. Followed by that classic of unnatural exposition, The Character Looks At Her Reflection So The Reader Can Find Out What She Looks Like.

There’s an interesting bit near the end of the chapter. Apparently this is the first time Jela’s slept apart from the tree since they joined forces. The tree doesn’t appear to be at all bothered by the separation, though.

Crystal Soldier – Chapter 11

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On the ground
Faldaiza Port

In which Cantra acquires a co-pilot, a mechanic, and a damn’ vegetable.

There are, at various points in the series, mentions of the Tree’s leaves rustling in a way that has nothing to do with any wind that might be blowing. In this chapter, there’s the inverse: at a moment when rustling leaves would be an unhelpful distraction, the Tree’s leaves stay still despite the wind.

What with Cantra complaining about Jela not knowing who’s after him, it occurs to me that I don’t know who’s after him either. What are the options? Agents of the Enemy disguised as humans? Actual humans who have some reason to want Jela’s efforts to fail?

As Dulsey shows hidden depths and a desire to seek an independent destiny, we get some more backstory about the way things are for Batchers. The observation that the only sure way to be rid of Batch tattoos is to amputate and regrow both arms is striking, not only for what it says about Batch tattoos but also for what it says about the present state of medicine.

Crystal Soldier – Chapter 10

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On the ground
Faldaiza Port

In which you gotta know when to walk away, know when to run.

Well. This is getting quite exciting, isn’t it?

The name of Dulsey crops up for the first and not the last time.

I’m trying to remember if we see the gambler again; I have a kind of feeling we do, but it’s hard to be sure without a name to latch onto, and the situation in which we last see her in this chapter could go either way. I don’t have the same kind of feeling about the two cops, so it’s nice that they got to have so much personality in such a small appearance.

Crystal Soldier – Chapter 9

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On the ground
Faldaiza Port

In which somebody is taking an interest in Jela and Cantra.

I’m not sure I have anything particular to say about this chapter. Stuff happens, but I don’t want to just recount what happened without adding anything of my own.

I did like the detail that the bar is as successful as it is in part due to suggestions from Jela. A generalist is a useful person to have around.

Crystal Soldier – Chapter 8

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On board Spiral Dance
Faldaiza Port

In which Cantra yos’Phelium goes for a meal and some company, and gets more than she expected.

Enter a new point-of-view character: Cantra yos’Phelium, independent cargo pilot running solo.

With the new point of view, we get an outside description of Jela. He has eyes as black as the space between the stars, and, yes, brown skin. He’s shorter than the breadth of his shoulders would suggest — and shorter than Cantra, though that’s not so indicative since her height is “not inconsiderable”.

We learn about Cantra’s height from her own point of view, as well as the fact that she’s not as young as she was. From Jela’s point of view, we learn that Cantra has green eyes.

Quite a bit of backstory threaded through this chapter: about Batchers; about world-eaters; about the Rim, its people in general and Cantra and Garen in particular. Also about the navigation beacons, which caught my attention when first I read this, because they don’t have (or apparently need) those in later novels. Other things they don’t have in later novels include the smart clothing on display here, that can scan rooms for danger, send messages, display images in the air.

And another thing that caught my attention the first time, as someone who’d only read the later novels, is the mention and description of Solcintra, that fabled origin planet, which apparently is rather less illustrious in its own time than it appears through the filter of nostalgia.