Tag Archives: Jon dea’Cort

Scout’s Progress – Chapter 11

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In which Daav and Aelliana meet for the first time.

Daav has part of his wish now: someone who knows him only as himself, without any idea of his rank and status.

Which is probably the only way they could have made a connection; if Aelliana had known he was Delm Korval, it would likely have been a disaster, though for the opposite reason from most of the women he’s had to deal with. She’s not the type to play up to him because of his wealth or rank, but she’d have been even more terrified of him than Syntebra el’Kemin was of Er Thom. And as Delm Korval speaking with one not of his clan, he would have limits on his conversation options that would prevent him from soothing her the way he is able to as just-Daav in the place where everyone speaks Comrade.

Scout’s Progress – Chapter 10

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In which Aelliana gains her pilot’s license.

One thing this chapter underscores is that Aelliana is not merely good at mathematics; she’s phenomenal. Another, less cheering, thing is the way her interactions with the examination officer illuminate her experiences, in how she fears that any deviation from normal behavior will bring down punishment.

The backstory for how she’s ready to take her piloting examination, when she’d never expected to own a ship, is nicely balanced. Of course there would be a Scout in one of her classes who insisted on her getting hands-on experience. And of course she would draw the line at anything that required her family to find out what she was up to.

…I seem to keep circling around to the less happy sides of the situation, so let’s just focus on the most important thing about this chapter: Pilot’s license! Woo!

Scout’s Progress – Chapter 9

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In which the nature of Scouts is a cause for discussion.

There are some remarkable instances of short-sightedness in this mealtime conversation.

One of them is Voni, buying in to the idea that a dress that was a runaway success when worn by one person will necessarily work the same magic whoever wears it. The fact that she defends it from the charge of wantonness by saying it’s a knock-off of a design created for Lady yos’Galan underscores the point for anyone who remembers that in Local Custom at least one person did describe the dress created for Anne as “entirely wanton”, while the more nuanced view was that it would have been unacceptably forward on a Liaden but got away with being charmingly daring because it was Anne wearing it.

The other is Birin Caylon, who comes in on a scene she accurately describes as “Ran Eld the insatiable cat about to eat the unfortunate mouse, portrayed by Aelliana” — and completely fails to grasp, as she apparently always has when it comes to Ran Eld and Aelliana, how serious it is.

Have I mentioned how much I like Sinit?

Scout’s Progress – Chapter 8

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In which Vin Sin chel’Mara’s delm has news to share.

I believe this is the only time we meet Delm Aragon. He seems a smart man, and well-equipped with that ironic sense of humor all the best Liadens have. I think I like him — from a safe distance. I should be considerably more wary if I had ever to deal with him in person.

Several chapters in, the authors have finally got around to telling us Var Mon’s family: he is of Line pin’Aker in Clan Midys. Since Trade Secret was published, his friendship with Rema ven’Deelin has retroactively become a nice callback to the friendship between Jethri Gobelyn ven’Deelin and Samay pin’Aker.

Scout’s Progress – Chapter 7

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In which Aelliana takes possession of her ship.

I’ve noticed several people referring to Aelliana’s late opponent as “the chel’Mara”. In some places such a distinction might indicate that he was the head of his family Line, but I don’t think I recall any such usage ever being explicitly noted among Liadens, and it seems unlikely in the case of Vin Sin chel’Mara. More likely it is simply an indication that he’s achieved notoriety in a field where no other chel’Mara is to be found.

Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure there’s at least one point in this novel where Aelliana is referred to as “the Caylon”, and that’s definitely in tribute to her distinction as a mathematician and definitely not because of any exalted position in Line Caylon.

Speaking of Aelliana’s distinction as a mathematician, there’s probably something insightful to be said about that, and about Aelliana’s unease at being accorded distinction of any kind, but apparently I’m not the person to say it. (At least not at this time of night and with this head cold.)

Scout’s Progress – Chapter 6

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In which Daav and Aelliana each turn their steps toward Binjali Repair Shop.

The game of pikit or piket was mentioned in Balance of Trade, where the twins taught Jethri to play it. I said then that the name was reminiscent of the Regency game of piquet, but what little we were told of the gameplay wasn’t. We see more of the gameplay here, and it reminds me rather of poker. (Though it must be said that my experience of card games is not broad, so many games remind me of poker.)

Var Mon denies having set Aelliana on Vin Sin chel’Mara, and it’s true that she chose to challenge the chel’Mara on her own initiative; but it’s also true that the opportunity and the impulse wouldn’t have arisen had not Var Mon invited her to tour the casino in search of practical applications of her mathematics, so Rema’s accusation may be basically correct.

Master dea’Cort was mentioned in “Pilot of Korval” as one of Daav’s instructors at the Scout Academy. There’s also a Scout named Jon dea’Cort back in “Phoenix”; if this Jon is the same man, he must be well into a hale old age by now — that was nearly seventy years ago, and he was already a full Scout then.

Pilot of Korval

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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.)

Phoenix

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In which Bell the painter and Cyra the jeweler rise together from the wreckage.

This story is set in Standard Year 1293, a bit over a century since “Sweet Waters”, and nearing two centuries since Trade Secret. Things have moved on since Jethri’s time to the point that there are now Terrans living, and even legally owning property, on Liad, in Solcintra itself, though only in the Low Port and not with any entree into polite society. (And interacting with Liadens in ways other than owning property, by the evidence of the half-Terran Debbie.)

It is also far enough on that we’re beginning to approach the next clump of novels. This story introduces a character we will see again in a novel, as does each of remaining the stories between now and when we hit the beginning of Local Custom.

I’m not entirely sure what to make of Cyra’s Delm and his idea of appropriate punishment. It’s difficult to be certain when there’s only one viewpoint available; there may be mitigating circumstances available. Cyra does say that the clan is not rich, but that may be an attempt to give the benefit of the doubt, since she also comes about as close as a polite young lady might to outright accusing her Delm of being a penny-pincher. And while he clearly has concern about ensuring the continuance of the clan into a new generation of clanmembers, that’s not enough in itself to explain his treatment of Cyra; a clan that needs every child does not, if it’s being rational, wilfully deprive itself of one of the children it already has.

(And here is the kind of thing a person can find himself thinking about when contemplating information that appears in other stories than this: in another century, Liaden medical technology will include a method to easily erase facial scarring. I wonder if that technology already exists at the time of this story, which would offer the possibility that the delm intended Cyra’s disfigurement to last only as long as her exile. But if that was the delm’s thinking, does that actually make it any better?)