Tag Archives: Kareen yos’Phelium

Alliance of Equals – Chapter 7

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Dutiful Passage

In which Apprentice Trader yos’Galan secures her milaster.

Parts of this, with the ‘prentice trader visiting a new planet with the master trader, inevitably remind me of Jethri’s apprenticeship in Balance of Trade. (I also recollect how the numbers being haggled changed from the short story to the novel of Balance of Trade, and note that so far in this novel the authors have managed to avoid committing to specific numbers.)

Being of a nasty, suspicious turn of mind, I intend to assume in the absence of contrary evidence that Technician First Class Higgs is in some way a relative of Airman Third Class Higgs from Girl Genius.

I get the distinct impression that when Shan moves to intervene in the confrontation at the end of the chapter, it’s not his daughter’s health he’s worried for.

Alliance of Equals – Chapter 5

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Dutiful Passage

In which there are uncomfortable awakenings.

So now we know what Padi’s secret is. Poor kid. Of course it didn’t occur to her, while she was taking great care not to let the others see how much afraid she was, that the others might be doing likewise.

Given the bit about how Padi’s found herself thinking of the milaster scheme as if it might somehow make or break her trading career, I see two ways that might go, depending on how far into the book they get to Chessel’s World. It might be a disaster, and that be a launching point for more plot. Or it might be that they get to Chessel’s World only at the end of the novel, after many adventures, and it’s a success but by then Padi has other bigger things to think about.

Another change in Dutiful Passage‘s roster becomes apparent: It appears that, after so many years, Ken Rik yo’Lanna is no longer the cargo master.

I said, back when it was first made clear, that I didn’t understand why Tolly hasn’t been told it’s Korval he’s working for; I think I’m getting the idea now. One thing I hadn’t borne in mind was just how much trouble Tocohl’s mere existence could cause her creators, given the Complex Logic Laws, if the identity of her creators became known. And I think what Shan said about it being bad-mannered to burden Lina with Korval’s secrets unnecessarily also applies to Tolly.

I’m beginning to really wonder who it was who served as the connection between Tolly and Korval for employment purposes. It seems to me like Tolly started to say a name or designation beginning with “The” before he thought better of saying it out loud. I don’t think it’s the Uncle, given the way Tolly thinks about him later in the conversation. It’s definitely not Theo, both because she doesn’t know people like Tolly and because if Korval had contact with her they’d doubtless be requiring her to aid the situation in a more direct manner.

Dragon in Exile – Epilogue

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In which the Road Boss comes home.

I spent the entire epilogue waiting for Theo to show up, or Daav and Aelliana, or all of them together, but it didn’t happen. Perhaps Daav’s homecoming, like the downfall of the Department, is a large enough thing to require the length of an entire book to tell it.

Maybe Daav and Aelliana are even home already and the narrator’s just not mentioning it, to avoid being distracting. Or they may be just about to arrive; the hint of the seed pods could go either way. Theo’s definitely not back yet, judging by Miri’s reaction to the vision of her with the seedling from Spiral Dancer; Miri doesn’t know it’s a thing that’s actually happened. (It has to be a thing that’s happened, because the business with Admiral Bunter shows that this is after Dragon Ship – so it’s interesting that it’s in among a bunch of visions of things that haven’t happened yet. I wonder if the young woman in Scout leathers is who Lizzie will grow up to be.)

Another thing that’s happened is “The Rifle’s First Wife”, since there she is among Korval’s other guests. I suppose that means the events of that story have been happening alongside the events of this one (or perhaps in the gap between the last chapter and this epilogue, if it’s large enough, although I seem to recall “The Rifle’s First Wife” begins when Hazenthull is still on Surebleak and Kareen is still guesting at Jelaza Kazone).

And that’s it. Nothing left to read. Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow: A few retrospective posts.

Dragon in Exile – Chapter 40

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Sherman’s Shootout
Expert Round

In which the people make their feelings known.

Nelirikk has a new surname: nor’Phelium. I wonder whose idea that was, and what it signifies. I tried to see what could be gleaned from seeing who else has had a surname with the nor’ prefix, but there hasn’t been anyone – which might be significant in itself.

I like the bit about Nelirikk feeling under-equipped with only four handguns, six knives, explosives, arm-chains, and zhang-wire. (We’ve seen zhang-wire before, only romanised slightly differently: “jang-wire” was the name of the weapon Sed Ric the pirate carried for self-defence in Scout’s Progress.)

I was surprised to see Yulie. Makes sense a man with his shooting ability might want to come along to an event like this – but this is Yulie, who doesn’t do well with strangers and has been actively avoiding the city for as long as we’ve known him and longer. That he’s in the city now, having trusted somebody else to watch his farm and his cats (a Scout, he says, perhaps Tan Ort?) says a lot about how much he’s benefited from the changes on Surebleak.

For the final chapter of the book, we return to the main theme. Pat Rin’s making a deliberate point by standing unarmed in the middle of the argument: he could have shot quite a few people if he’d wanted to, but he wants people to understand that his leadership isn’t just about who can shoot who the fastest.

I may have got a bit sniffly at the bit about the people opening the road that they own.

Dragon in Exile – Chapter 39

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Sherman’s Shootout
Novice Round

In which there’s shooting at the shootout.

I still want to know who thought it would be a good idea to attack a group of people who have specifically gathered to demonstrate their skill with firearms.

On the journey by which Pat Rin first came to Surebleak, he met a young woman who believed that the universe was formed by the interplay between the forces of Ignorance and Persistence, and was worried that Ignorance seemed to be winning. It looks like this round is going to be a win for Persistence.

Kamele’s changed quite a bit since she came to Surebleak; I think both Daav and Theo are going to be surprised when they see her again. (Although not, perhaps, by precisely the same things.) And at one point she refers to Surebleak as “home”; I think in context she means that it’s Theo’s home now, not that she’s accepted it as her own, but even that’s a significant development.

Dragon in Exile – Chapter 38

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Boss Conrad’s House
Blair Road

In which Penn Kalhoon has something to say.

I was wrong about the meeting Pat Rin sent Quin to, which I might have known if I’d thought; on further consideration, if it had been something other than an ordinary sort of meeting Pat Rin would have said so. This is not the first time I’ve been wrong in this novel about an upcoming meeting going to be the occasion for excitement; my persistent mistake has been to misunderstand what kind of story this is. I kept assuming that if a meeting got mentioned it was probably going to be important to the plot, and that if trouble was brewing it would come to a head quickly, but this is a more slow-burn story than that, and meetings of the Council of Bosses are important to the plot even if nothing dramatic happens at them simply because it matters to the characters that there is a Council of Bosses and that it’s holding regular meetings.

And that brings us around to what Pat Rin tells Penn, which is another thread of the ongoing thing about how the new ways are going to survive: if Pat Rin and Val Con and Miri get killed, that isn’t the end of the new Surebleak. Korval might have shown the way, but they couldn’t have made it happen without Surebleakeans, and now the way has been shown the Surebleakeans can make it happen without Korval if they have to.

I suspect it speaks to how much Surebleak has improved already that Pat Rin is able to compare its port to Solcintra’s Mid Port instead of its Low Port. For that matter, the state Surebleak Port was in when Pat Rin arrived was so run-down and uninhabited it might not even have stood a comparison to the Low Port, which whatever it may not be at least has an active population.

It hadn’t occurred to me how useful a scholar of the history of education might be in a city trying to develop a proper education system. I wonder how long the authors have been planning that one.

Dragon in Exile – Chapter 32

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Jelaza Kazone
Surebleak

In which Surebleak is invaded.

Some of the annoying tourists doubtless are just annoying tourists, and some, as Quin suspects, come to test Korval’s melant’i, but there’s also the possibility that somebody might be planning to use the horde of tourists as a diversion while they attempt to do some real damage. I think Jeeves’s emergency declaration indicates that he has also considered this latter possibility.

Quin’s particular annoying tourist has a Solcintran accent, which indicates that even though the tour is being offered by a somewhat disreputable outworld, some of those who have taken it up are from Liad itself. One does not need to be from an outworld to be somewhat disreputable.

I wonder if this is going to turn out to be connected in some way to the still-unresolved question of whether the Council of Clans has been encouraging people to act against Korval.

Dragon in Exile – Chapter 30

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Shaper’s Freehold
Surebleak

In which Yulie has visitors.

We get quite a bit of differentiation, in a short space of time, between the various members of the crew trying to break into the growing rooms. One of them is named Mort, which is a name we’ve seen before on Surebleak, attached to one of the muggers who left Rys dying on the doorstep of the Bedel back at the beginning of Necessity’s Child. I don’t think it’s the same Mort, though, because that one had a group of other ruffians he was usually seen in company with, and none of those names appears here. Also, he seems a bit smarter than that Mort.

With Rys getting training as a headman and Droi being reassured that she does have what it takes to be a luthia, if they do get together they’ll have between them the two roles needed to lead a kompani. I don’t know if that means Silain has foreseen them leading a kompani of the Bedel; it might just be that whatever group of companions they gather around them might benefit from including people with those skills.

Dragon in Exile – Chapter 29

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Corner of Dudley Lane and Farley Avenue

In which Kareen and Kamele have made a discovery.

I do not think it’s just a coincidence that Kareen’s preferred seat faces the doorway, though I can see why Kamele would think so. They’re both scholars, but one of them grew up on a Safe World, and the other grew up in a family that habitually gets into situations where it’s valuable to have habits like always sitting where you can see the door.

I said earlier that getting involved in Kareen’s project gives Kamele a reason to stay on Surebleak that is her own and not just a case of having a relationship with someone who lives here. Droi, uncertain of her continued welcome among the Bedel, may find that it does the same for her.

Which, come to think of it, may be a good thing, because staying to be with Rys might not end up as an option if he’s going off to fight the Department. It would be one thing if the choice came upon her when Rys was right there and she could say, “I am staying here with Rys”, but it might happen that she has decide whether she wants to say, “I am staying here, where Rys isn’t and may never be again”.

Dragon in Exile – Chapter 22

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Boss Nova’s House
Blair Road

In which there is a nice dinner followed by serious conversation.

I find it interesting that Kezzi’s triumph at school is reported by Syl Vor, and vice versa.

The phrase “something so trivial as an apparent breach of contract” has an edge to it, coming after Val Con’s lecture on the importance to Liadens of the making and keeping of contracts. One might suppose that in the general way, the Liaden attitude about self-reliance being what it is, a breach of contract would be resolved between the parties to the contract without bringing in any outsiders, so a breach of contract wouldn’t normally be taken to the Council of Clans unless it developed into a major situation. This is not the general case, however – for one thing, the Council of Clans is one of the parties to the contract in question.

The mention of Quin in this context makes me belatedly wonder whether his current project – which is, you will recall, to gain piloting experience by flying off somewhere for several weeks – was already planned, or if it was invented as a way to keep him out of reach of any more Balance-seekers while his family determined whether any more are to be expected.

Val Con’s aunt Mizel would be his mother’s sister Sinit, who was appointed Nadelm Mizel in Mouse and Dragon and presumably has succeeded to the Delm by now. (She also formed an alliance with yo’Lanna in that book, so that mention is another pointer.) Seeing her mentioned now as still in contact with Korval, with Aelliana’s return in prospect, makes me wonder how she is going to react to having her sister come back from the dead.