Tag Archives: Jen Sar Kiladi

Dragon Ship – Chapter 19

5 Replies

Tradedesk

In which there are many meetings.

…well, that seems a pretty clear statement that Bechimo was built in or shortly after Jethri’s time, with Arin’s ideas as guidance. There have been other people named Arin (there’s one in Crystal Dragon), and there might even have been another who was a noted thinker on subjects of interest to traders, but it’s not likely there was another who was all that and had a son who took a different path.

But we’re still stuck with the fact that the beginning of Ghost Ship states straight up that Bechimo has been awaiting a captain for over five hundred years – which is to say, since two hundred years before Jethri was born.

(On another, less contradictory, note, we have another hint to go with the one from “Intelligent Design” of a technological underpinning for psychic abilities in the Liaden Universe.)

Dragon Ship – Chapter 13

Leave a Reply

Tradedesk

In which Clarence explores the shopping district and his options.

When Joyita first announced himself, he had two rings on one hand. Now he has three.

Although I’ve read the book before, I don’t confidently recall who it is that Clarence has run into, but I have a sort of feeling that it’s not as bad as it might be. And it might be pretty bad, considering the last time Clarence unexpectedly ran into someone who recognised him, it was one of his old Juntavas colleagues, and he ended up having to shoot the guy.

Dragon Ship – Chapter 11

Leave a Reply

Middle Orbit
Departing Cresthaller

In which Theo and the Uncle have information brought to their attentions.

This is, I think, the most unambiguous statement we’ve ever had that this Uncle is the same one (for some value of “same”) as the one who appeared in the Crystal duology. Though I’m not sure which, out of all the peoples who crossed Cantra’s path in the duology, the Uncle is counting as “his enemies”.

And the bit about Dulsey’s eyes is interesting, because if she prefers grey eyes that indicates that her eye color is subject to change.

Speaking of names we’ve seen before: Ynsolt’i, which Theo mentions as one of their upcoming stops, is the planet where Jethri has his life-changing encounter at the beginning of Balance of Trade. And the Spwao system, with its two planets and then-brand-new Tradedesk Station, features in the sequel, Trade Secret (though that was actually written after Dragon Ship).

I notice Bechimo’s given up on protesting against being called “Chimmy”.

Dragon Ship – Chapter 9

Leave a Reply

Frenzel
Chaliceworks Aggregations

In which Theo counts her blessings.

The placement of the scene with Kamele says something about the authors’ priorities. If it had appeared a few chapters ago, it would have contrasted obviously (perhaps a bit too obviously?) with the scene at Jelaza Kazone which reminds us that the person Kamele is going to Surebleak to see isn’t there, and nobody knows when he’ll be back. Placed here, it instead invites the reader to compare and contrast the strong-mindedness of mother and daughter. It also gives context, for readers who didn’t know it or had forgotten, for Theo’s musings about her family in the following scene.

Dragon Ship – Chapter 8

Leave a Reply

Frenzel
Chaliceworks Aggregations

In which Chaliceworks is more careful than brave.

A couple of interesting things in the reactions to Theo. One is the bit about her “tools”, which presumably means her lacework.

The other is the furore about her working for inner calm, which suggests (especially the bit where they doubt any man could have taught it to her) that it’s not any of the usual calming exercises used by pilots of all genders. The fact that she learned it from her father makes me suspect that it might be the one he learned from the wise woman Rockflower when he was a young scout. In that case, the reaction would be proportionate (and not unlike the reaction it got from the Healers when Daav used it at the end of Scout’s Progress).

There was a meeting between Shan and Lomar Fasholt in Conflict of Honors, set eight years before this. Shan saw trouble coming even then, and so did she – she was making plans to leave Swunaket when she could wrangle her business into a portable form, and he offered her his assistance when the time came. If his most recent information is that she’s still trading out of Swunaket Port, it would appear she never took him up on that offer.

Dragon Ship – Chapter 6

Leave a Reply

Frenzel Port

In which presences make themselves known.

It would appear that Clarence is correct about the mysterious crowd being pitchmen and freeposters coming out from hiding in response to the Arrival Director’s departure, but my first thought was that they’d appeared in response to Theo’s attempt to disappear, like maybe they’d been standing in plain sight the whole time using the same technique, and using the technique herself had made them visible to Theo. Which would have been worrying, because it reminds me of the time back in Carpe Diem when Shadia discovered that there were more people surrounding her ship than there ought to be, and that time it was because she was being hunted by the Department.

I find myself wondering whether Clarence’s insistence on addressing Bechimo as “Chimmy” is part of an attempt to get Bechimo to address him as something other than “Less Pilot”.

Dragon Ship – Chapter 4

Leave a Reply

Arriving Frenzel

In which Bechimo acquires an Executive Officer.

The bit about the Compressed Info Package containing all the ship information that port needs to facilitate docking makes me think back to Pat Rin and Cheever arriving at McGee, and Cheever reminding Pat Rin to tell the port that the ship used an old-style protocol. I can’t think of any reason why they wouldn’t be sending a CIP themselves, since it’s implied here to be standard procedure, and I’d think that kind of information would be in the CIP. On the other hand, Cheever says it’s worth mentioning because otherwise the port personnel might make an incorrect assumption, and I can believe he was figuring that, having made the assumption, they might skim over the relevant bit of the CIP and see what they expected to see unless it was backed up by a verbal reminder.

It occurred to me to wonder, while Bechimo‘s crew were dealing with Frenzel traffic control, whether they’re making much use of Bechimo‘s special method of space travel. Then I remembered that the last two chapters have been headed some variation on “Between Jumps”, which suggests not. Several reasons for that come to mind; one is that Theo probably still doesn’t know enough about the method to trust it, and another is that they’ve been specifically hired to test out a route that will presumably be followed in future by ships that don’t have Bechimo‘s advantages, so they need to follow it in appropriate fashion to get good data. And, of course, arriving by mysterious means would run the risk of annoying and puzzling traffic control.

Dragon Ship – Chapter 2

1 Reply

‘tween Jumps

In which first board fails to answer to the pilot.

Even if Bechimo were in the right, messing with the function of the pilot’s controls is dangerous territory to get into, and Theo’s correct not to let him get away with setting a precedent.

Especially since Bechimo isn’t in the right: the Builder’s Rules, as reported in Ghost Ship, do not forbid involvement with Korval. They do say that it’s best to avoid dealing with Korval if possible, but they go on to admit that it sometimes might not be avoidable and even give advice on the best way to proceed in that case.

And if Bechimo genuinely believes that they ought to avoid entanglement with Korval, the time to have brought it up would have been when Korval offered Theo the loop contract. To accept Korval’s contract then, and complain now, suggests that Bechimo is acting out of other motives. (Or was too eager to accept occupation back then; in either case, a situation calling for reflection on Bechimo’s motivations and decision-making.)

There’s an interesting word choice during this scene, as a consequence of Screen Six tending to go to a flat unvaried colour when Bechimo is in a state of high emotion: when Theo announces the error test, the resulting display on Screen Six is described as “bright and untroubled”, which is a clear description of what the screen looks like and exactly the opposite of the state of mind it represents.

Dragon Ship – Prelude

Leave a Reply

In Surebleak Transit Orbit, Outgoing

In which Win Ton yo’Vala has one last chance.

More evidence, if I needed it by this point, that I was wrong-headed when, in the early days of this re-read, I considered reading prologues like this chronologically (which would be near the end of Ghost Ship in this case) instead of with the rest of the novel. A prologue like this exists to remind the reader what’s been going on when they come back to the story after being a while away, which is precisely the function this one is performing now.

Mention is made by the Uncle of “my chief technologist”. The context doesn’t attach the description to a particular person, but if I had to guess I’d say that was probably Dulsey.

Ghost Ship – Chapter 43

Leave a Reply

Jelaza Kazone
Surebleak

In which everything is going well…

Nearly the end of the book, so time to check in on everyone.

Things are going well for Val Con and Miri, with several items of unfinished business satisfactorily resolved.

And for Theo and Bechimo and Win Ton, though it’s soon yet to be sure exactly where things are going.

And for Daav – well, that’s the question, isn’t it? But even the first time I read this, I was confident we’d be getting an answer, and that it wouldn’t be the answer Daav was anticipating when last we saw him.