Tag Archives: Lufkit Prime Station

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 19

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Liad
Envolima City

In which Tyl Von sig’Alda seeks that which is lost.

The tour of the plot strands continues.

This is the only time I can recall Envolima City being mentioned. Most things that happen on Liad happen either in Solcintra or Chonselta.

The description of Korval as pursuing its own interests to the incidental benefit of Liad makes an interesting contrast to the Department of the Interior, which as will become apparent considers itself as working for the good of Liad but when it comes down to it defines “the good of Liad” as that which is good for the Department.

Carpe Diem – Chapter 9

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Liad
Trealla Fantrol

In which Val Con is missed.

Shan observed that Angela Lizardi is a commander who takes an interest in her soldiers, after reading that she helped Miri get her bank loan, but he hadn’t seen the full picture yet: it’s not until later that he gets to the point in Miri’s employment history that reveals the loan was taken a full year after the Lunatics were deactivated and Miri ceased to be one of Angela Lizardi’s soldiers in any official sense. Which shows that Liz had a particular interest in Miri, which we knew already but Shan didn’t.

Another thing we know about that Shan doesn’t yet is Miri’s reminiscence last chapter about having to go into rehab after Klamath, which doubtless explains at least part of the two-year gap between leaving the Lunatics and joining the Gyrfalks, and probably also has a bearing on her sudden need for a large bank loan.

I wonder if Scandal Arbuckle had any relatives named Roscoe.

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 17

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In which Miri and Val Con discuss weapons.

At first it seemed like a quick turnaround that, less than a day after Miri tried to ditch the madman, it’s her reassuring him that he’s not a danger to her. But there was that demonstration, after she tried to ditch him, of how much importance he places on her survival, and even before that it wasn’t really what she was concerned about. Even when she admitted to being afraid, she made the point that it wasn’t Val Con himself she was afraid of. And I think, on reflection, that when she was bothered by his first demonstration of the Loop’s capabilities, what bothered her wasn’t just the apparent calmness with which he was able to discuss her death, but the calmness with which he was able to discuss his own.

On an entirely different note, I find myself wondering whether Professor Thos. Swift, author of the Young Person’s Book of Space Drives, was a member of the same faculty as the originator of the Antonio Smith Method.

Agent of Change – Chapter 16

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In which Miri and Val Con discover the fruits of the ship’s labors.

Among the things I keep thinking about, re-reading this novel, are the fact that it was the first to be written and published and the consequence that there are things in it which read differently with knowledge of the rest of the series.

For a small example, there’s the “obscure sense” that tells Miri without looking that Val Con has returned, which one might connect with Aelliana’s ability to tell without looking when Daav entered the room, and what that developed into.

Possibly a more significant example is Val Con’s explanation of the roles of First and Second Speaker, which — though it does clarify some of the questions we had about the succession back around “A Day at the Races” — completely fails to mention that there are such things as delms, or who might fill that role for Korval.

Agent of Change – Chapter 15

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In which He Who Watches has an unpleasant day.

This chapter shows very clearly how much Val Con has come to care for Miri, even in the short time they’ve known each other. It also gives some indication how much she’s come to care for him, although she’s more reluctant to bring it out where people can see it, or to trust it (and who can blame her?).

Edger’s relation to Watcher, we learn, is that he is the brother of his mother’s sister. Which tells us something about the Clutch’s kinship system, because that’s a degree more specificity than would be necessary or meaningful among humans.

Agent of Change – Chapter 14

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In which Senior Commander Higdon does not approve of papers.

The intensity of Val Con’s negative reaction to Polesta’s effrontery gains an extra level in the light of Liad’s traditions and taboos, which have not been mentioned yet this novel but have been covered in some depth in the prequels we’ve already been through in this re-read. By Liaden standards, what Polesta does would have been an astonishing liberty even in private and with a receptive partner; to do it in public, and after Val Con has made it clear he’s not at all interested, qualifies as a major assault.

I have a feeling the authors might have known that already, even if they hadn’t seen fit to mention it yet; on the other hand, I’m not so sure about another thing we know from the prequels that hasn’t been mentioned yet this novel. Lytaxin, the world to which the Gyrfalks are headed, is the homeworld of Clan Erob, Miri’s grandmother’s family. Miri doesn’t know that yet, of course, but Val Con must, and yet he doesn’t show any sign of thinking it might be a good idea to head in that direction. Come to think of it, though, if one learns that a friend’s home is the destination of a troop of mercenaries anticipating “a job of work”, one wouldn’t want to head that direction, at least without an opportunity to approach slowly and sidelong and find out just what’s afoot…

Agent of Change – Chapter 12

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In which everyone has some catching up to do.

Things are heating up. The cops are hot on Val Con’s trail, and Miri’s soon to be in a similar situation with the Juntavas. (In retrospect, it seems like it might have been a strategic error not to have wondered more about who Murph’s lady friend was, although I suppose there wasn’t really any way for Miri to have found out even if she had wondered.)

It’s interesting, after Val Con took the time to explain to Miri what would happen to anyone who attacked him while Edger and his brothers were around, that when he is attacked he tries to find his own way out of it instead of calling on them for help. I suppose his instinct is still to avoid involving Edger in the shadowy side of his life any more than absolutely necessary. Also, if Val Con started a fight between Turtles and armed cops there would almost certainly be casualties on one side or both, which he would then have on his conscience along with everything it’s already loaded down with.