Tag Archives: Justin Hostro

Breath’s Duty

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Delgado
Leafydale Place
Standard Year 1393

In which Scout Reserve Captain Daav yos’Phelium returns a favour.

Speaking of first published appearances, this is Kamele’s, brief as it is, and it gave me entirely the wrong impression of her until Fledgling came out. I blame the translators’ decision to use “mistress” as a substitute for whatever word they use on Delgado, because while it has the advantage of bypassing a lengthy explanation it fails to capture the actual spirit of Kamele’s relationship with Jen Sar. On the other hand, I admit there were also some failings of comprehension on my part, regarding (a) the actual likelihood of Daav getting in the kind of relationship that “mistress” implies, and (b) the fact, which is mentioned right there in the story, that they’ve been together long enough for her daughter to be grown up.

This may also be, even more briefly, the first published mention of timonioum.

One of the purposes of this re-read was to see what new associations would come out of the stories by reading them in a different configuration: what would come out of a story by reading it near another story I maybe hadn’t read it near before? In this case, a new thing that struck me was the first dissonant detail: after a couple of pages of Jen Sar Kiladi getting ready for a fishing trip, just as he always does, he pauses to run through the Rainbow pattern. Reading the story so soon after Carpe Diem, with everything it has to say about the Rainbow and about the Rainbow being a Scout thing, that really jumped out at me as a sign that Professor Kiladi isn’t the groundhugging academic he appears. It says, if one didn’t already know, a great deal about his background in a very few words.

Another association that I don’t think I picked up before this re-read is that Acting Scout Commander sig’Radia has the same surname as Senior Scout Cho sig’Radia, the friend and mentor of Daav’s daughter. Probably a relative, not the same person; “Phoenix” has established that sig’Radia has a history of producing Scouts, and this story says straight up that Daav doesn’t know her. (I wonder, though: I don’t think Kiladi ever actually met Cho sig’Radia other than through written correspondence, and if he did notice the connection Daav wouldn’t make anything of it while he’s keeping the Kiladi connection quiet; conversely, of course, Cho sig’Radia knows Theo’s father only as Kiladi and has no reason to suspect he’s Daav. And one who was a Senior Scout a few years ago might have progressed far enough to become Acting Scout Commander now — especially since the “Acting” suggests that the Department’s recent actions have resulted in some rapid movement in the line of succession.)

I’m pretty sure I got the significance of the Richard A. Davis Portmaster Aid Foundation first time, though.

I seem to recall there being something I wanted to say about the bit where L’il Orbit casts shade on Kiladi’s piloting skills, but the only thing that’s coming to mind now is that it was never Kiladi, in the old days, who was called “schoolteacher”. And that there’s a bit of an irony in Daav yos’Phelium being named as a reliable pilot considering what happened the last time he was seen piloting a spaceship.

Carpe Diem – Chapter 32

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Shaltren
Cessilee

In which Grom Trogar has found no cause to change his decision.

Grom Trogar claims at the beginning of this chapter that he regrets most deeply that he has found no cause to change his approach. He’s lying, but chances are he’s really going to regret it before long.

And frankly he can’t have been looking very hard: Justin Hostro found plenty of cause, and he only got given an hour to look for it.

Come to think of it, it’s interesting that Trogar got five days to consider, when Hostro only got one hour. Part of it, I expect, is deference to his more exalted station; as the Chairman of the Juntavas entire, his decision needs to weigh the needs of a hundred worlds instead of just one. And the situation is somewhat less urgent this time, with Miri and Val Con no longer in imminent danger of attack from the Juntavas.

I kind of wonder, though, if part of it is that Trogar did such a good job of offending Edger in their first meeting that Edger decided he needed five days to cool off, or else he might do something rash.

Carpe Diem – Chapter 30

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Shaltren
Cessilee

In which Edger and Sheather meet the Chairman of the Juntavas.

Here’s one indication that Trogar is lying to Edger: he says that Hostro has reported nothing about what happened on Lufkit, beyond the bare fact that he had Miri and then he didn’t — but he knows, without either of the Turtles mentioning it, about Costello threatening Watcher. (Or perhaps they did mention it, before the scene started, when they were explaining how they came to be standing in his office. What do you think?)

That’s an interesting bit of symbolism, the way Edger’s demonstration reduces most of the Juntavas-controlled worlds on the map to rubble — and the more so for the fact that it was just an incidental effect of Edger’s main intention.

Carpe Diem – Chapter 7

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Liad
Trealla Fantrol

In which Val Con’s siblings receive news of his doings.

The mention of “children, cats, and dogs” as potential hazards to navigation is, I think, the first mention of there being dogs in Korval’s Valley, or indeed on Liad. In fact, I’m not sure it isn’t the only mention of dogs at all in the series (outside of Necessity’s Child, which has a major character with a dog). Characters in the Liaden Universe are much more likely to be cat people, like their creators.

Speaking of children, we get a run-down of the youngest generation of yos’Galans: Shan’s daughter Padi has been mentioned before, as has his foster-son Gordy (who would be about 18 Standards old now), but this is the first mention of Nova’s son Syl Vor and of Anthora’s twins, Shindi and Mik. Unsurprisingly, in the latter case, since they’re “brand new” — which is a reminder that just as Val Con’s relatives are unaware of what he’s been up to lately, so is he unaware of their latest news.

Carpe Diem – Chapter 2

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Lufkit
Neefra’s Tavern

In which Tyl Von sig’Alda enquires after a colleague.

This chapter gives us the first mention of the name of Val Con’s erstwhile employers, the Department of the Interior. It’s the first mention in publication order, obviously, but I’ve discovered on this re-read that it’s also the first mention in chronological order: the prequels are all careful to avoid mentioning the name, though there are places in them where one familiar with the Department’s style may recognise its hand at work.

We also get, in Tyl Von sig’Alda, a look at another of the Department’s agents in action, and a reminder that Val Con isn’t typical. Though Miri complained about him sometimes seeming to be two different people, that was really her good fortune, because that was a sign he was already working free of the Department’s influence; if he’d been one person, it would have been the person who would have killed her out of hand as soon as she ceased to fall within the Department’s narrow definitions of usefulness. Agent sig’Alda doesn’t have any hesitations on that score (and his lack of interest in Miri as a person is going to come back and bite him later).

Agent of Change – Chapter 24

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In which the Juntavas let Miri and Val Con go.

A nicely unobtrusive example of virtue being its own reward: if Miri hadn’t thought about notifying the dead stranger’s family, she wouldn’t have found the coord page before it was spaced, and they’d have been in a heap of trouble.

Well. Not that they’re not in a heap of trouble as it is, with an Yxtrang ship bearing down on them, but you know what I mean.

Agent of Change – Chapter 23

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In which Hostro’s message catches up with the Juntavas.

I had forgotten about Val Con’s near-death experience. Given some of the weird psychic stuff that happens elsewhere in the series, it might have some deeper significance that isn’t immediately obvious, but if it does I don’t know what it is.

Agent of Change – Chapter 22

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In which the Juntavas catch up with Miri.

There’s something tricksy going on with the timing in this chapter: the scene with Hostro and Edger is clearly Edger returning after one hour to hear Hostro’s decision, as promised two chapters ago — even though several days have passed for Miri and Val Con in those two chapters. Clearly there’s been a bit of stretch-and-squash going on in the relative placement of the scenes that don’t involve Miri and Val Con.

I wonder if it’s just a coincidence that the period of time Terrans and the Clutch have been dealing together is roughly the same as Edger’s age.

Up to now, when considering Miri and Val Con’s potential (and now newly formalized) partnership, the emphasis has mainly been on Miri’s preference for playing single’s odds and consequently not being sure what she’d do with a partner — but it should be noted that Val Con, whatever he might have done when he was a Scout, has spent the last few years playing his own version of single’s odds, and his response to the ship being boarded suggests that he could do with brushing up on the finer points of having a partner himself. Trying to take sole responsibility for one’s partner’s safety is not how it’s supposed to work, even when it doesn’t result in the two of you being separated and then individually pinned down and captured.

Agent of Change – Chapter 21

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In which Miri and Val Con discuss marriage.

I raise my eyebrow at Val Con’s assertion that who he marries is his choice and not the choice of the Clan. From what we’ve seen in the prequels, I think the Clan would have something to say about that, particularly since what he’s proposing is a lifemating that would deprive the Clan of any possible future use it might get from his marriage prospects. As Delm, of course, he would have the ultimate say. But he’s not Delm yet — and if he holds to the intention he goes on to suggest, to steer clear of Liad and Korval in future, he’s never going to be. (Then again, if he steers clear of Liad and Korval in future, he’ll be depriving the Clan of the use of his marriage prospects whether he marries Miri or not.)

It’s a sign of the new balance Val Con has worked out for himself that he’s comfortable again identifying himself as “Scout Commander”. He’s probably doing it at least partly to reassure whoever might be on the distressed ship, but I don’t think that would be sufficient impetus for him to do it if he were still in the spy-not-a-Scout headspace he was in before.

Agent of Change – Chapter 20

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In which Agent of Change Val Con yos’Phelium meets his death.

Hmm. The glossary in the back of Pilot’s Choice is quite explicit that “Entranzia volecta” is High Liaden, with the Low equivalent being “Tra’sia volecta”. Then again, Miri says she understood that bit, so maybe her complaint about Val Con springing Low Liaden on her applies only to the “cha’trez”, which is definitely Low Liaden. That just leaves the question of whether it’s likely that Val Con would mix High and Low Liaden in a single three-word sentence.

On a less confusing note of drawing-information-from-other-stories: Given what we know from the prequels about Liaden customs, the non-verbal components of Val Con’s leave-taking say a lot about his regard for Miri and his hopes for the future, though Miri herself is no more able to translate than she is able to translate the murmured comment that precedes them. (I wonder whether Val Con would have done the same if Miri did possess the knowledge to interpret, or if he only allows himself to make the declaration because it won’t be understood.)