Surebleak Orbital Influence Zone
In which Bechimo discovers a new taste sensation.
Because of the name, and the fact that they’re first introduced as a breakfast food, I’d been picturing maize buttons as a kind of breakfast cereal, small and eaten in clusters. It appears from the description here that they’re more in the line of a pastry, large enough to be enjoyed individually (but small enough to be snatched up in a handful).
Surebleak Port
Portmaster’s Office
In which the Portmaster has people looking over her shoulder.
Oh, yeah. And the survey team. I’d forgotten about them, what with so much else going on.
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In which two negotiate.
The Six are going for a multi-pronged effort: one remaining in sight as a decoy, two making the preparations described in this chapter, and the final three preparing to attack from a different direction that will presumbly be described in the next chapter.
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In which Val Con and Miri are not getting much sleep tonight.
Chapter 20 is shaping up to be a long chapter, to the point that I’m almost wondering if I need to subdivide the sections even further. Makes sense, though, since this is the chapter where a whole bunch of plot strands come together, not just from this book but from the four books preceding it.
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Surebleak
In which Surebleak has more visitors.
A whole lotta people arriving on Surebleak in one clump, with at least one more bunch expected soon, and all of them having business with Korval. It remains to see how much more complicated things are going to get when they start (as I expect they will, sooner or later) interacting with each other as well.
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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 Fer Gun thinks before he signs.
I think this is the most detailed explanation we’ve had of how there came to be so few people in Korval.
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In which Comet is hiring.
This will be the first post to drop after I finished reading the novella, so I’m bumping the original opening paragraph to apologise for how touchy I was last week. There was other stuff going on, and my anticipation for this story was one of the bright spots of the week, so I was a bit defensive about it. I don’t want to discourage anybody from being enthusiastic about this story, or from sharing that enthusiasm with other readers, particularly since I share that enthusiasm myself.
Now, on with the story:
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In which Therny Chirs comes to Eylot.
I think I made the right call, for me, to leave this story until after the novel, even though it doesn’t directly relate to the plot. If I had read the story first, I’d have spent most of the novel trying to figure out how it connected, which would have been distracting.
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Bechimo
Dockside
In which it is demonstrated that it is right to disarm norbears.
I wonder if there’s something particular Rig Tranza finds remarkable on his first sight of the new Theo, or if it’s just a general reaction to how much she’s changed. The air of command is pretty much new since he last saw her, for one thing.
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