Tag Archives: Lesset Grinmordi

Ghost Ship – Chapter 2

Jelaza Kazone
Liad

In which Theo is introduced to her father’s family, and vice versa.

It is a tricky situation that Daav’s got himself in, regarding explaining himself to Kamele. The basic principle that he had kin in need of assistance is straightforward enough, but necessarily leads to questions like “Who are these kin?” and “Why have you never mentioned them before?” and, sooner or later, “But if your name is actually Daav yos’Phelium…”

Also, while I think Kamele would take the news that her onagrata had been married before at least as clear-headedly as Theo, things might get very awkward if she asked how the marriage had ended and where Aelliana is now and Daav felt obliged to answer honestly.

It’s interesting to compare Theo’s situation to Shan’s when the clan first became aware of him. Shan was rapidly enfolded in the clan, but that was because his mother had already declared him to be part of the clan by naming him yos’Galan; everything that followed was just sorting out the details. Theo is a Waitley, born under an arrangement that’s comparable in the relevant areas to a Liaden contract marriage with the offspring going to the mother’s clan, and her father has been making a point of not claiming any connection to Korval for himself let alone for her. It’s possible she could join Clan Korval at some future point, if it seemed like a good idea for all concerned (a collection of people including not only herself, her father and Delm Korval, but also her mother – which would entail the aftorementioned tricky explanations), but it’s not going to happen automatically just because her father has returned to his clan.

I like the detail that Merlin, who is usually referred to with male pronouns by those who know him best, gets female pronouns in the scene told from Theo’s viewpoint, because Theo’s from Delgado where female is the default gender.

Saltation – Chapter 6

Fledgling – Chapter 42

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Number Twelve Leafydale Place
Greensward-by-Efraim
Delgado

In which Theo turns fifteen.

This is one of those cases where I don’t feel inspired to talk about any of the things I might have talked about if I were reading the novel for the first time, and there weren’t many new things I noticed. Although I did notice this time Jen Sar’s fishing trip in the mountains, which I suspect was at least partly intended to lay a foundation for a tale to tell anyone who asks where the idea of the old-style Gigneri came from.

I will note that this is another novel I like more after this re-read than I thought I did after I read it the first time.

It’s not easy to establish precisely when Fledgling takes place, due to a lack of outside referents. From Theo’s age we know that it’s more than fifteen years since Jen Sar came to Delgado at the end of Mouse and Dragon — but, as Theo points out in this chapter, that’s Delgadan years, and we have no indication of whether those are longer or shorter than Standard Years, let alone by how much. All we can say with confidence is that it’s after Jen Sar’s last scene in Mouse and Dragon and before his first appearance in Plan B. (The suggested reading order by internal chronology on the authors’ web site places Fledgling after Plan B, but that’s a clear case of bending chronology for the good of the story flow and reading experience, making it in effect an entire novel-length flashback; there is no possible way Jen Sar’s scenes in Plan B happen before Fledgling.) The positions I’ve given Fledgling and Saltation in this re-read are approximations achieved by starting at the end of Saltation and counting backwards based on my memory of what occurs in them; I’m taking notes as I re-read and hopefully I’ll end up with a less approximate idea of how much time they cover. (But when I publish my own suggested reading order by internal chronology at the end of the re-read, it’s likely I’ll be adopting the strategy of bending chronology for the good of the story flow and reading experience, the good sense of which becomes more apparent to me the further the re-read progresses.)

Tomorrow: Saltation

Fledgling – Chapter 36

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Melchiza
Transit School

In which Theo and Kamele make progress.

On Melchiza, pilots are recognised as rare and special people, and apparently this means that Melchizan pilot culture is affected by the Melchizan attitude that leaders should stand aloof and not hold themselves back trying to help others less special. Inspector Vidige’s lesson about a pilot bearing sole responsibility for the decisions he must make is not entirely new (I’m particularly reminded of Aelliana in Scout’s Progress, and the lesson that she must learn to back her own judgement if she wishes to be a pilot), but the emphasis is different. At least it’s somewhat softened by Pilot-Instructor Arman’s comment which suggests that Melchizan pilots do form bonds of loyalty with their crew (like the brother’s friends in the folk tale?); self-sufficiency is one thing, but if they’d been taking it to the extent of not even trusting a co-pilot that would have been asking for serious trouble sooner or later.

Fledgling – Chapter 20

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Vashtara
First Class Dining Room

In which Theo and Kamele meet Cho sig’Radia and Win Ton yo’Vala.

One of the pleasures of reading the series in chronological order is the return of old friends, or at least of familiar names. We have met a scout of Line sig’Radia before, in “Phoenix”; that was a century ago, however, so I don’t suppose this is the same scout, though there are some similarities between the two. Senior Scout Cho sig’Radia is established as a person of intelligence and keen observation, but will nevertheless prove subsequently to have had at least one significant failure of insight in this chapter.

It appears that the research expedition has gained some members; in addition to Kamele, Theo, and the two professors emeritus from the forensic team, Chair Hafley has somehow ended up coming along, and a couple of people have brought their onagratas. Hafley’s is named Clyburn Tang — I think. The first time he’s mentioned is with a reference to “Clyburn’s onagrata“, which confused me considerably because up to now the word has only been used of a woman’s partner, but if one accepts that the word can be used in either direction the sentence falls into place and is consistent with various other indications that Clyburn is Hafley’s onagrata (and she, presumably, is Clyburn’s onagrata). Certainly, there doesn’t seem to be any other reason for the expedition including a man with no academic position whose main ability seems to be talking at length about clothes.

Fledgling – Chapter 18

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University of Delgado
Faculty Residence Wall
Quadrant Eight, Building Two

In which Kamele has unexpected news for Theo.

Back when Kamele messaged Theo to stay in the apartment and not open the door to anyone, and didn’t explain why, Theo complained about Kamele not sharing important information. I think she had a point, and I think she’d also have a point if she made the same complaint now. The announcement of the impending journey is a shock, and very sudden, but I’m not convinced it needed to be; Kamele could have laid groundwork about it being a possibility even if she wasn’t sure yet exactly when it would be. And while it’s possible that she’s playing her cards close to her chest because of the genuine need to keep the details of her investigation under wraps, what worries me is the possibility that she’s doing it because on some level she’s still thinking of Theo as a child to be arbitrarily ordered around, rather than a nearly-adult who will work better if she’s given an explanation of why the order is necessary. Technically, yes, Theo is still officially a child, but people don’t magically become responsible adults when they reach society’s official milestone; if Kamele wants Theo to behave like a mature adult, at some point she’s going to have to start treating her like one.

The Serpent of Knowledge icon on the research application is an interesting thing in that it’s a meaningful symbol both to the characters and to the reader, but means different things to each. Whatever legend they have on Delgado about Serpents and Knowledge, it doesn’t seem from Theo’s reaction that it implies anything negative; to a reader who shares the authors’ cultural background, though, the obvious reference is to the Serpent in the Garden of Eden, offering people knowledge they’re not entitled to and might be better off without, giving the situation sinister undertones that are not visible to or intended by the characters.

Fledgling – Chapter 12

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Cultural Genetics Program
Bjornson-Bellevale College of Arts and Sciences
University of Delgado

In which Theo has dinner with her father.

So, like I was saying, after that brief moment of peace and domestic harmony, comes… more peace and domestic harmony? Whatever storm this is the calm before must be really awful.

With Kartor getting a surname this chapter, all of Four Team Three are now equipped with names both fore- and sur-.

The uncharacteristic clumsiness of Theo’s father is definitely suggestive to a reader familiar with the wider Liaden universe; we saw his old teacher pull the same trick back in Scout’s Progress.

It also brings on an observation which I’m sure is influenced by me remembering things that haven’t happened yet, but I’m going to pass it on anyway: Theo was able to catch both the objects Professor Kiladi dropped without any difficulty. Conversely, every incident of her supposed clumsiness we’ve seen has involved colliding or tangling with a person — a trend reinforced by her self-description in chapter nine. This doesn’t mean that Theo isn’t the problem, since she’s still the common thread among the incidents, but it does suggest that the problem isn’t so much a lack of control of her own movements as a flaw in her understanding of the movements of others. Put her in the middle of a crowd of people and trouble is bound to follow, but give her an inanimate object moving according to the basic laws of physics, and she’s fine.

Fledgling – Chapter 11

Fledgling – Chapter 10

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Grandmother’s Library
Quadrant Three Services Zone
Faculty Residence Wall
University of Delgado

In which Theo has a meeting with her mentor.

It seems to me that there’s a worrying disconnect in the way both the Safety and Theo’s mentor respond to the incident on the scavage court. Leaving aside the question of whether it was Theo’s carelessness or Roni’s that was more responsible for Roni getting injured, it bothers me that neither seems inclined to address the fact that Roni’s response was to knock Theo down and kick her repeatedly in the ribs. It’s downright weird to have an act of willful violence skate right past after so much attention has been paid to Theo’s clumsiness; that’s no way to build a Safe society.

Actually, on re-reading, I suspect this is at least partly an artifact of the story being told from Theo’s point of view, and just because Theo’s talking-to focusses on her own part in the incident doesn’t mean that Roni isn’t getting her own similarly focussed talking-to somewhere else. But I think I’d be happier with some direct evidence of the existence of Roni’s hypothetical talking-to, because as it stands it feels like Theo is getting blamed for getting kicked in the ribs. And somehow I lack confidence in Roni getting a proper talking-to from, presumably, the same person or persons whose past responses to her behaviour have left her the kind of person who knocks people down and kicks them in the ribs.

(Am I over-emphasizing the “knocked her down and kicked her in the ribs” thing? Call it a reaction to the perceived lack of emphasis in the story, and we’ll move on.)

Even apart from that, I don’t like Marjene because she seems to be the kind of person who, though she genuinely wants what’s best for you, is operating from a preconceived notion of “what’s best” involving a generic “you” that doesn’t consider individual differences and isn’t influenced by actual evidence. It strikes me as typical of Marjene that she greets Theo with a (presumably habitual) hug that hurts Theo’s injured ribs when she’s just finished reading the report on the incident in which Theo’s ribs were injured. I bet it didn’t even occur to her that the hug might not be the best greeting in this instance, because it would first need to occur to her that there might be such a thing as an instance in which the hug might not be the best greeting.

(I really will stop harping on Theo’s ribs now. I promise.)

And it’s not just that she doesn’t notice implicit indications that she’s on the wrong track (Theo is surely too polite to complain when Marjene rubs her the wrong way, but one would hope that an advertant mentor would start to get some idea after a while); in the case of the medication, she’s been confronted with an explicit difference of opinion, and her response is that here is an obstacle to be got around by fair means or foul, not that there might be something here to enquire into and learn from.

One thing I don’t hold against her is her reaction to Theo calling Jen Sar “Father”. That has the feel of authentic deep-down shock at behaviour she’s been brought up to consider inappropriate. I expect there are things local custom has taught me are inappropriate that I’d react to just as abruptly.

And it’s a cunning bit of storytelling that that reaction happens in the same chapter as Theo’s rumination on the Mother-Daughter Center, which provides the background that helps to make sense of the reaction. An onagrata may be handy for many things about the house, but fathering he is not for, unless and only for as long as the woman chooses. One begins to get the impression, if one hadn’t already, that a long-term relationship like Kamele and Jen Sar is not the norm.

Fledgling – Chapter 9

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Teamplay: Scavage
Professor Stephen M. Richardson Secondary School
University of Delgado

In which Roni likes to score.

There are a bunch of things in this chapter it’s difficult to talk about because I’m not sure how much of what I want to say is an honest response to what’s actually come up already in this re-read and how much is influenced by remembering from the first time I read the book things that haven’t happened yet. The description of Theo’s clumsiness seems like it would be suggestive to a reader familiar with the wider Liaden universe, but do I only think that because I already know what it’s suggesting? And I’m fairly confident I figured out what was up with the mysterious research project pretty much straight away, but I’m not sure.

Another interesting aspect of the book is seeing Delgado society produce mirror images of familiar bits of male entitlement, like Ella’s eye for a pretty face a few chapters ago, or Roni’s implication here that males aren’t any good at sports. (It may well be that, as Theo suspects, Roni’s complaint is less sincere than a cover for her real source of annoyance, but if so the fact that she chose that particular complaint as a cover suggests that it’s a relatively acceptable thing to complain about.)

Reading Liad

from Dragon Tide to Dragon Ship, and beyond