Tag Archives: Gylles library

Carpe Diem – Chapter 33

Vandar
Springbreeze Farm

In which there is danger and Miri is home alone.

Things are heating up, with two hazardous situations developing in parallel. Although I don’t think they’re actually occurring simultaneously; I have a feeling the Edger subplot might be getting stretched out through the book instead of occurring at a consistent pace.

The radio news report Miri doesn’t listen to is presumably connected to the Bassilan rebels that were mentioned in passing the first time Zhena Trelu took Val Con and Miri in to Gylles.

Carpe Diem – Chapter 22

Vandar
Gylles

In which Val Con and Miri make some new friends.

Hakan may be physically short-sighted, but he sees better than some: he’s one of very few people in this novel or the last not to mistake Miri’s lack of stature for a lack of years. (He also gets her name right, even though he’s presumably grown up with the same phonemes as Zhena Trelu, which may be a testament to a musician’s ear and understanding of the importance that can be attached to almost-inaudible differences.)

This chapter includes some descriptions of what Terran sounds like to speakers of Benish, “a weird, chopping language” that “jarred on the ears”. Which implies something about what Benish itself sounds like. (I wonder what Hakan and Kem would make of Liaden, which is generally described as being smoother and more flowing.)

Carpe Diem – Chapter 21

Vandar
Gylles

In which Cory and Meri get some new clothes.

I notice that Zhena Trelu neglects to mention to Salissa the shop assistant that Miri is married, and I wonder if that’s a factor in Salissa’s insistence on “looking pretty” as the primary factor in her clothing choices. On the other hand, Zhena Trelu does quite clearly specify “proper work clothes” and “warm”, without any measurable effect, so maybe she’d have taken the same tack anyway.

It hadn’t occurred to me before this re-read, but Zhena Trelu’s inclusion of the library on the day’s itinerary is presumably a response to Val Con’s request for books to help Miri with the language.