Dutiful Passage
In which Padi makes connections and Shan receives news from home.
The looper families Shan mentions are among those who have appeared or been mentioned in the Jethri-era stories: the Smiths were the first family to have norbears travelling with them, the Tragers were friendly with Jethri’s family, and the Wildes did that ill-fated bit of experimenting with Old Tech.
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The Bedel
In which the kompani prepares for departure.
Udari defers to Droi as the luthia, which suggests she’s been accepted as the one who will serve that role for the kompani staying on Surebleak. It doesn’t appear that Udari has been chosen as the headman for the kompani; Droi tells him that a decision is the headman’s, not his. The way she says it suggests that the headman is somebody who has not yet had a chance to think and speak on the issue — which I rather think means that it’s Rys.
Port Road
Yulie Shaper’s Place
In which Val Con receives news of his brother’s family.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen someone do the disappear-in-plain-sight trick. I wonder if there’s a reason we’re being reminded of it now.
Dudley Avenue and Farley Lane
Lady Kareen’s House
In which Kareen has a visit from her sister.
Well, that answers some of the questions I had.
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Blair Road
Boss Conrad’s House
In which Mrs kaz’Ineo has an idea.
The mention of the Gilmour Agency’s human resources manual as a recent acquisition places this chapter not long after the opening scene of “Block Party”, in which Luzeal had just made the discovery, although perhaps not after the entire story, which covers a period of several weeks.
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The Bedel
In which the Bedel receive long-awaited news.
Back around the time Maysl first entered the story, I spent a while speculating about how she and her parents were going to manage when the ship came to pick up the kompani. It appears that Droi has been assuming that the question wouldn’t arise, that the ship which was already late would not appear in her lifetime.
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Jelaza Kazone
In which Theo has breakfast.
I wonder if we can read anything into the order that names come to Theo’s mind when she’s thinking of who she’d miss if she severed ties with Korval. Probably not much that we didn’t already know. Her father was obviously always going to be first, and she spent a lot of time hanging out with Luken last time she stayed at Jelaza Kazone, so it’s not surprising that he’s second.
[Note: This story was originally published in the chapbook Fortune’s Favors as an untitled fragment, but on being reprinted in A Liaden Universe Constellation, Volume 5 it was given the title “Opportunity to Seize”. Accordingly, I have renamed this blog entry, which was previously “Neogenesis – Outtake”.]
Surebleak
Dudley Lane and Farley Avenue
In which Daav, Aelliana, and Kamele embrace opportunity.
As I read the afterword, this chapter was left out of the novel only because there wasn’t a convenient place to put it without interrupting the flow of the story, not because the events it describes have been superceded. Therefore, unless and until there’s a more definite declaration (or Accepting the Lance comes out and blatantly contradicts it), I’m going to assume it’s canonical.
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In which good neighbours become good friends.
No very specific indications of when this story is set, only that it’s after “the Lady and the Perfessor” have embarked on their project of documenting Surebleak’s social history.
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Surebleak
In which it’s a new day.
It looks like we’re done with dramatic confrontations for now, and are into the part of the book where things are wound down and tied off. There were a couple more dramatic confrontations I was expecting, but maybe they’re being saved for next time.
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