Tag Archives: Kamele Waitley’s mother

The Gathering Edge – Chapter 2

1 Reply

Bechimo
Wyrd Space

In which the crew’s investigations find a whole lot of nothing.

I’m getting a bit confused about what Theo does or doesn’t know about Spiral Dance. There’s that one comment in this chapter where she indicates she knows Cantra had a ship of that name, but the rest of the time she seems more surprised than I’d expect by things which follow naturally from that, like the ship being of the old universe and the tree on the bridge being related to Korval’s Tree.

When Joyita remarks that Clan Korval is likely to have extensive records of a nature related to their problem, I wonder if it is, among other things, his own more subtle attempt to get Theo to heed Val Con’s request to return to Surebleak.

Dragon in Exile – Chapter 13

Leave a Reply

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.

Saltation – Chapter 40

4 Replies

Volmer
Underport

In which Theo gets a better offer.

Though he mentions it casually, the Uncle’s account of Theo’s forefathers is a reminder that he Knows Things. Given Delgado’s emphasis on the maternal line, there aren’t many people who even know that Jen Sar Kiladi is Theo’s father, and the number of people who have accurate knowledge of Jen Sar’s ancestors is smaller yet. It raises questions about how the Uncle found out, and how long he’s known, and for that matter what led him to think it was a thing worth finding out about.

The ship Theo’s being offered, which possesses “both monetary and sentimental value”, is called Arin’s Toss, and was “built on an old Terran commissioner’s ship plan”. One recalls that Jethri’s father Arin was a Terran trade commissioner, and suspects a depth of history that’s not being elaborated on.

And the Uncle has a fractin in his money pouch. It’s been a while since we’ve seen one of those, long enough that it took me a couple of times reading those paragraphs to recognise what it was.

Fledgling – Chapter 13

2 Replies

History of Education Department
Oriel College of Humanities
University of Delgado

In which a late evening is unexpectedly extended.

Sinister hooded figures and a threat to the integrity of the entire University? That’s more like it!

And, speaking of things that are suggestive to the reader familiar with the wider Liaden universe: Jen Sar Kiladi’s alertness behind the wheel of his rally car. We know, though Theo doesn’t, that he used to be a pilot, and he’s been grounded for over a decade; racing the car is likely the closest he’s been able to get to flying in all that time. And, of course, the reviving of the pilot he used to be is accompanied by the reviving of other parts of himself that haven’t seen much use in the last few years.

I can see how the Simples fit in as an extreme form of Delgado’s emphasis on teamwork and consensus. That doesn’t make them less sinister, though.

(And a passing thought, brought on by Jen Sar’s Bjornson-Bellevale College and Kamele’s Oriel College: I wonder if those two colleges are named after women, and if the reason Theo’s school gets the full “Stephen M. Richardson” is because otherwise people would assume it too was named after a woman?)

Fledgling – Chapter 6

Leave a Reply

History of Education Department
Oriel College of Humanities
University of Delgado

In which the EdHist Department comes to a decision.

In this chapter we start to get a clear picture of what Kamele’s motives are: she suspects that the scholar recently disbarred for falsifying sources is only part of a larger, yet-undiscovered problem, and has moved back into the mainstream of University life so that she can tackle it in a direct and timely fashion. (With, humming along underneath, the thought that maybe, if she hadn’t chosen to live outside the Wall, she might have noticed something before the problem got so bad.) Career advancement for its own sake, the part of her explanation to Theo where she resorted to general statements, isn’t a particular concern for her, but makes a plausible explanation for general inquiry, since it would be unwise to talk widely about her suspicions until she knows how bad the problem really is, and preferably has a solution in hand.

We also get, in passing, an explanation for Professor Appletorn’s mood in Theo’s class, which I appreciate. It would have been easy to write a bad-tempered teacher making Theo’s life difficult for no particular reason just because that’s what teachers in books do; having something behind it doesn’t, given the nature of the something, make him a better person but it does make him a more rounded character. And being another consequence of Kamele’s move helps build up Theo’s difficulties from the move and the feeling that the characters’ actions have consequences beyond the obvious.

The mention of the Antonio Smith Method of forensic literature analysis jumped out at me rather, the first time I read this chapter. It’s not that there haven’t been references to other SF works in the Liaden series before (there’s a Christopher Stasheff shout-out later in this same chapter), but most of those are older works; this one is striking because it’s a reference to a character, in a work, in a medium that are all younger than the Liaden series itself. ANTONIO SMITH, FORENSIC LINGUIST (the block capitals are mandatory; Smith is the kind of hero who doesn’t so much introduce himself as announce his presence) made his debut in the webcomic Narbonic in August 2000, when the Liaden universe was already a decade old.

Most of Kamele’s colleagues are new, but her friend Ella has already appeared once in this re-read, at the reception where we first met Kamele, and Kamele first met Jen Sar. Which leads us nicely into Kamele’s moment of retrospection…