Vivulonj Prosperu
In which a change of course is called for.
I don’t yet understand how the failure of the Catalinc Project could result in everything that is ascribed to it, but I note that it sounds very similar to the potential bad future Ren Zel has foreseen.
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In which Tolly offers Hazenthull a game of cards.
Looking back over my past posts, I apparently never got around to remarking on the fact that Nostrilia has almost the same name as Cordwainer Smith’s most famous planet in the universe (as seen in the novel Norstrilia, the short story “Mother Hitton’s Littul Kittons”, and others). I’ve been waiting nearly two years for the story to reach Nostrilia so I can see if the two planets have anything in common beyond their names.
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Admiral Bunter
In which the cavalry arrives.
Well, I say cavalry. It’s more like a couple of guys on horses, and they might end up needing to be rescued as much as they manage to do any rescuing.
I like the little echo of Tolly noting that the only way he could get Admiral Bunter more prepared is by feeding military programs directly into his core, continuing the reflecting of concepts back and forth between the story of Admiral Bunter and Tolly and the story of Tocohl and Inki.
Ahab-Esais
In which Tocohl and Inki discuss the next step.
I am looking forward to seeing Tocohl’s thoughts on recent events.
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In which Admiral Bunter has a personal question.
I like the little bits where Tolly is appreciating Admiral Bunter’s grasp of non-verbal communication, but keeping it to himself so as not to derail the conversation.
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In which Inkirani Yo offers a trade, which is accepted, and another, which isn’t.
The fact that Dosavi Mikelsyn addresses Inkirani as “Translator Yo” suggests a few things about what she was up to when they first met, and specifically that she wasn’t working as a mentor in those days.
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Ahab-Esais
In which Inkirani Yo lays out the next move.
If there truly are multiple instances of the Uncle loose in the galaxy, each with their own interests and contacts, how do they decide which is the Uncle? I suppose the obvious answer is that at any given moment there is one who lives in Vivulonj Prosperu and hangs out with Dulsey, and that one gets to decide who his successor is, but it’s fun to speculate about less plausible options.
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Vivulonj Prosperu
In which the Uncle makes an unscheduled detour.
Taggerth’s Trade News, which Daav classifies under “comedy” rather than “news”, has been mentioned a few times before, when Kamele is catching up on news of her daughter in Dragon Ship and again during Shan’s trading mission in Alliance of Equals. Kamele and Shan both share Daav’s low opinion of its value as a news source.
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In which the cavalry rides out.
I’m trying to remember if the concept of “composite Jump” has come up before this book. It’s not mentioned in the scene in Alliance of Equals where Hazenthull is composing the message to Miri informing her of her intentions, but then that scene doesn’t include any of the details of Hazenthull’s intentions, just the fact of her composing the message. (Old writer’s trick: “The hero has a plan! … which we will tell you all about next time, when we’ve figured out what it is.”) The bit about Admiral Bunter’s kind of composite Jump coming with the risk of ending up somewhere completely unexpected might just be a detail to add excitement, but it sounds to me like something a story could be hung on — the question is, is it this story?
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In which Hazenthull has a plan.
Things appear to be going well for Haz so far. I’m finding this the opposite of reassuring.