Bechimo
Sync Shift
In which some things are opened that had been carefully sealed.
I don’t think I said this when it came up earlier: I like that Theo’s friends don’t all like each other just because all they like Theo. And that, on the other hand, it’s not held against them that they don’t; that’s just the way it goes, sometimes.
Continue reading
Bechimo
Exercise Room
In which Theo exercises her body and her mind.
I’ve had something of a track record on this blog, with the novels where I’m reading for the first time instead of re-reading, of noting something in an entry and then finding the very next chapter either pushing it further than I expected or completely contradicting it. I don’t think this is actually a problem; I think it’s a sign that the authors are pacing the story properly and layering in the foreshadowing well, so that the reader starts thinking about things just as they are about to become important.
Continue reading
Bechimo
In which preparations are made ahead of the captain’s debriefing.
Watching the Pathfinders try to make sense of Joyita while lacking the key detail about him is kind of amusing.
Continue reading
Tarigan
Jemiatha’s Jumble Stop
Berth 12
In which it is time for a rest.
Well, darn. I was beginning to really like Inki. But of course she would be really likeable, if a graduate of the Lyre Institute is anything like a graduate of the Tanjalyre Institute — not to mention, as she said herself, possessed of considerable persuasive abilities. However, I think it’s too much to hope that the Institute could have produced two experienced mentors who both went rogue, and if an AI-stunning weapon is introduced in the second act it’s probably going to go off in the third.
Or is it? Would Inki let Tocohl know she had an AI-stunning weapon if her plans included using it on Tocohl? And we have been told that it was because Tolly was a mentor that he was able to work himself free of the Institute’s control, so if anyone was going to repeat the feat perhaps it would be another mentor. But I’m definitely not going to trust her now. And I wish I knew whether Tocohl knows what it means to be a graduate of the Lyre Institute.
Sherman’s Shootout
Novice Round
In which there’s shooting at the shootout.
I still want to know who thought it would be a good idea to attack a group of people who have specifically gathered to demonstrate their skill with firearms.
On the journey by which Pat Rin first came to Surebleak, he met a young woman who believed that the universe was formed by the interplay between the forces of Ignorance and Persistence, and was worried that Ignorance seemed to be winning. It looks like this round is going to be a win for Persistence.
Kamele’s changed quite a bit since she came to Surebleak; I think both Daav and Theo are going to be surprised when they see her again. (Although not, perhaps, by precisely the same things.) And at one point she refers to Surebleak as “home”; I think in context she means that it’s Theo’s home now, not that she’s accepted it as her own, but even that’s a significant development.
Corner of Dudley Lane and Farley Avenue
In which Kareen and Kamele have made a discovery.
I do not think it’s just a coincidence that Kareen’s preferred seat faces the doorway, though I can see why Kamele would think so. They’re both scholars, but one of them grew up on a Safe World, and the other grew up in a family that habitually gets into situations where it’s valuable to have habits like always sitting where you can see the door.
I said earlier that getting involved in Kareen’s project gives Kamele a reason to stay on Surebleak that is her own and not just a case of having a relationship with someone who lives here. Droi, uncertain of her continued welcome among the Bedel, may find that it does the same for her.
Which, come to think of it, may be a good thing, because staying to be with Rys might not end up as an option if he’s going off to fight the Department. It would be one thing if the choice came upon her when Rys was right there and she could say, “I am staying here with Rys”, but it might happen that she has decide whether she wants to say, “I am staying here, where Rys isn’t and may never be again”.
Corner of Dudley Avenue and Farley Lane
In which Kamele reflects on her week, and Val Con recounts his day.
Dudley Avenue, the location of Kareen’s new establishment, was mentioned in Necessity’s Child; it intersects Blair Road, which by now should need no introduction.
I’ve been waiting for Sherman’s to put in an appearance; I had a feeling that the shooting competition would turn out to be the point where “Chimera” overlapped this novel. (I’m still shaking my head at the idea it would be a good move to start trouble at an event where the Bosses were demonstrating their shooting skills.) With that in mind, I feel safe in having another shot at predicting trouble at a forthcoming Bosses’ meeting.
Given the people involved, I also feel safe in predicting that Kamele’s determination not to shoot at the competition isn’t going to make the distance. And given those two predictions, I’m willing to hazard another, that competition targets are not going to be the only thing Kamele will find herself having to shoot at.
I hadn’t quite got what was going on with Miri’s startle last chapter, because I couldn’t quite figure out if it was in reaction to what her visitor was saying, but I decided not to say anything because I had a feeling there was something I was missing and hoped it would come clear if I waited. Which, of course, it has. (The trouble with so much happening at once is that it’s easy to lose little insignificant details like Miri and Val Con being inside each others’ heads.)
The Bedel
In which several projects are underway.
Silain-luthia demonstrates another Healer-type ability. It makes sense that the luthia would have such abilities, given her role looking after the wellbeing of the individuals that make up the kompani. It makes me wonder about her apprentice, though: I don’t recall Kezzi showing any obvious signs of potential in that direction. Except her vision of the future in Necessity’s Child, which isn’t strictly a Healer-type ability, and anyway happened under the influence of a dream the luthia gave her. And that raises the interesting possibility that the dreams of the Bedel can instil psychic abilities in people who might not otherwise have them.
Somehow it does not surprise me that Kareen’s landau has made the journey to Surebleak with her. I’m impressed by its apparent ability to handle Surebleak’s roads, though.
Kamele’s offer to assist Kareen’s research is significant, because it offers a path that might lead to her choosing to stay on Surebleak for the long term. She’s not the type to have thrown over her scholarly career to stay on Surebleak just because her family’s here – the less so because Theo’s mostly not here and Jen Sar may never be here again – but if there’s scholarship to be done here…
Jelaza Kazone
Surebleak
In which everybody’s going to town.
The island Shan is interested in is presumably an outcome of his search for a site for the new yos’Galan house, so this chapter has references to both him and Kareen looking for new housing situations. There’s room for them at Jelaza Kazone, and they’d be safe there, but “safe and well provided for” has never been the overriding priority of the children of Korval.
I have sympathy for Kamele’s temptation to call it quits rather than face further uncertainty with no assurance that it won’t turn out to be quits anyway. I’ve had situations where I’ve felt similarly, though obviously none quite like this.
I still have a bad feeling about this upcoming meeting of the Bosses. Hearing that the delm will be there as well as Boss Conrad – in fact, with Kareen and Kamele’s excursion pretty much the entire household is going to be in town today – this is not making me any less concerned about the possibility that there will be Drama.
Jelaza Kazone
Surebleak
In which Kareen and Kamele have an informative conversation.
I was a bit glib and a lot unfair when I suggested that Kareen might view Kamele as a performing dog. A better way to characterise the situation might be that Kamele has a genuine interest in and enthusiasm for learning the intricacies of the Liaden language, which makes it easier for one to forgive any stumbles since she’s clearly doing her best and it’s not her fault she’s not fully fluent yet. One might be less forgiving of a Terran who seemed to have made only the effort required to get by, for instance.
Also, they seem to actually like each other, a fact of which I took some convincing if only because Kareen has generally not made friends easily and it seemed unlikely that she would find it any easier with a non-Liaden.
(It’s interesting that, after Kamele was worried she might miss nuances if the conversation about the portrait was in Liaden, Kareen makes what must have been a deliberate choice to step out of Liaden into Terran to tell her about it, perhaps specifically to spare her that worry.)
Kareen’s description of the circumstances of Er Thom’s birth didn’t quite make sense to me at first: I wasn’t sure why it would be necessary for yos’Galan to produce a back-up delm of certain piloting ability when there was already Sae Zar. I think, though, that the problem with Sae Zar as a back-up delm is that he didn’t have the training for it; we know that training for a delm’s heir begins when he or she is very young, as happened for Daav (and Er Thom, as the designated back-up heir, got the same training). Also, Sae Zar was already designated as the heir to yos’Galan’s Master Trader, and to add Delm’s Heir to his pile would have been a disservice to yos’Galan, to be avoided unless no other solution was available.
Of the delms Kareen mentions in passing, we have heard of Jeni yos’Phelium, who helped establish the Scout Academy, and Theonna yos’Phelium, who was responsible for the Tactical Defense Pods. Edil yos’Phelium and Var Ond ter’Asten are new names. (ter’Asten is itself also a new name, unless it’s an alternate transliteration of “ter’Astin” – Jethri’s friend the scout was named Jan Rek ter’Astin.)
The implication of Kamele’s remark about Aelliana also being delm is, as I understand it, that her death wasn’t as simple as Daav failing his duty as delm to protect the vulnerable and husband the clan’s resources; Aelliana was also acting as delm, with a different assessment of who was most vulnerable and which resources the clan could least afford to lose, and no time for the two halves of the delm to reach a consensus.