Dutiful Passage
Langlast Departure
In which Shan and Padi get some rest.
Now we have some familiar faces, and a sense of where this story fits in the series. It’s only a day or two since the end of Alliance of Equals, so this is taking place around the same time as Neogenesis. (At least to start with.)
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Vivulonj Prosperu
In which Daav and Aelliana explore the boundaries of their new situation.
It is a good question, how the Tree knew they’d need those particular seed pods; we’ve had cause to ask similar questions before, though usually not involving such a complicated and unpredictable chain of events. I don’t find the suggestion that the pods would never have ripened if they hadn’t been needed reassuring, because it suggests that the pods are themselves aware of their surroundings and capable of interpreting events, which is a disconcerting attribute to ascribe to (a) a small lump of vegetable matter with no apparent nervous system, and (b) something one has recently eaten.
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In which the pattern of the future becomes clear.
It is sometimes easy to forget just how rich and influential Clan Korval is. The authors generally do a good job of putting them up against problems that can’t be solved by throwing money and influence at them. And then there are moments like this, when Daav casually prevents a cruise liner from leaving port without fear of the consequences. (Though I’m not entirely sure I admire the way he shrugs off the problems he’s creating for the port master.)
Master Healer Kestra is an interesting viewpoint character, able to see under the surface of things and report details that might not have been visible from any other view.
I love each and every one of Shan’s interjections in this chapter.
In which Er Thom yos’Galan says no.
This is the first time we’ve seen the Tree since the end of Crystal Dragon, centuries ago. It appears to be doing well for itself.
Er Thom, on the other hand, is not doing so well, for all that he’s now captain and master trader of the clan’s best ship.
And Daav, who last we saw him was not looking forward to succeeding his mother as Delm, has now done so. It remains to be seen how well he’s doing.
And I’m back in the problem position of not having much to say, since I’ve read this chapter often enough that everything seems too familiar to remark on. (Well, I could mention the way Er Thom has suddenly gained an elder brother to help explain why his mother is disinclined to acquiesce to his request, which is a lot more noticeable reading in chronological order, but I covered that a couple of days ago when Er Thom was introduced, so.)
Dutiful Passage en route to Venture
Standard Year 1339
In which Er Thom yos’Galan shows his mettle.
Another jump forward of nearly 50 years, and a significant shift in the focus of the series: we are back with Korval, and there, with only occasional diversions, we shall henceforth remain.
So here is a story that shows us Er Thom and Daav as youngsters, part-formed, but already showing familiar traits. It’s also, if memory serves, the only story with an extensive depiction of Er Thom’s mother in her prime.
I’m never quite sure I’ve correctly untangled the interplay about Er Thom’s status in the family. He’s described as his mother’s heir both by his mother herself and by the narrator, and here he is on her ship, learning her trade; the implication is that when he tells the Juntavas boss that he is of no significance because he has a brother who’s the heir, he’s being flexible with the truth. And yet in Local Custom we hear that he does in fact have an elder brother who’s ahead of him in the line of inheritance.
(One could resolve the puzzle, of course, by guessing that after this story was written the authors found it necessary to discover an elder brother to make the plot of Local Custom work; one might even take a confident guess at which part of the plot was otherwise at risk. But one does prefer, where possible, to believe that the Liaden Universe possesses internal consistency.)
If the Master dea’Cort who is Daav’s instructor at the Academy is the same Scout who came to Bell’s aid in “Phoenix”, he must be getting on in years. (Although not, perhaps, as far on as a Terran of the same age; it’s mentioned in “Sweet Waters” that a Liaden in her fifties would be considered to be in her prime, with many productive years ahead of her.)
Day 106
Standard Year 1118
Tilene Trade Theater
In which Jethri has unexpected news of kin.
So much happens in this chapter, I’m not sure where to begin.
Why is it that things always go wrong just after somebody’s thought something like “I got through the day without doing something irrevocably stupid”? Though to be fair, Jethri didn’t do anything stupid, unless it’s stupid to do that thing he does of trusting people to be straight with him. Irrevocable, on the other hand, it certainly was. And it says a great deal for how highly Norn ven’Deelin regards Jethri that she was willing to take the irrevocable step she took to get him out of trouble.
I was amused to notice that Jethri gets to use the bow acknowledging a debt truly owed for real in this chapter, the more so since the narrator just says he bowed, “very precise indeed”, and leaves it to the reader to realise from context which bow he must have used.
I like Tan Sim pen’Akla, and I’m glad we’ll be seeing more of him. (One of the things I’m hoping for from the sequel is an improvement in his situation.)