Tag Archives: M Series

Neogenesis – Chapter 20 part VI

In which Val Con and Miri offer their solutions.

The distinction Val Con makes between those who count themselves to be Scouts and those who count themselves to be Liaden Scouts is one I was reaching for yesterday but didn’t manage to wrap words around. (And reminds me of Eylot, forcing its pilots to decide whether they were pilots who happened to be Eylotian or Eylotians who happened to be pilots.)

It also, come to think of it, suggests the possibility, if not the certainty, that at some point in the future the Scouts headquartered on Surebleak are going to accept non-Liadens into their ranks. Once you’ve reached the conclusion that being a Scout and being a Liaden are not necessarily linked, it’s an obvious consequence. (There have been hints in that direction already, too, with people mentioning that the Scouts have been providing educational opportunities on Surebleak, usually followed by commenting that Scout teachers always treat their students as prospective Scouts.)
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Neogenesis – Chapter 20 part III

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In which Val Con and Miri are not getting much sleep tonight.

Chapter 20 is shaping up to be a long chapter, to the point that I’m almost wondering if I need to subdivide the sections even further. Makes sense, though, since this is the chapter where a whole bunch of plot strands come together, not just from this book but from the four books preceding it.
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The Gathering Edge – Chapter 19

The Gathering Edge – Chapter 17

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Arak ek zenorth
En route

In which there is breakfast.

I wonder if Vepal renamed the ship when he acquired it, and if so what “arak ek zenorth” means. I suspect we’ll find out at the dramatically appropriate moment.
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The Gathering Edge – Chapter 16

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Bechimo

In which the ambassador greets Grakow and his attendants.

Between Hevelin petitioning for Tree Junior to be included in crew meetings, and the seed pod it gave Theo a little while back, I’m beginning to suspect that when they do eventually hand over Spiral Dance to Korval, Tree Junior is not planning to go with. That makes sense, come to think of it; unlike its parent, who’s had centuries to get used to being in one place, this tree still has fresh memories of travelling around having adventures with Jela and Cantra, and might want to stick with Theo and have more adventures.
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Crystal Dragon – Chapter 20

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Vanehald

In which the world-shield is right where they left it.

It occurs to me that it might turn out to be an advantage that Commander Gorriti ran away before the trouble started. If he’d still been in charge, I suspect he’d have been more of a hindrance than a help.

And this would appear to be, more or less, the end of the subplot about the world-shield – which I’d completely forgotten before I began this re-read, even though it’s Jela’s motivation all the way through. I think it failed to sink in the first time I read these books because, reading them as a prequel, I already knew that the world-shield wasn’t going to be the thing that mattered in the end.

Crystal Dragon – Chapter 18

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Vanehald

In which the luck continues to run with Jela and Cantra.

One of the fun bits of this duology is finding out about what Solcintra was like and comparing it to the way the Liadens remember it. Apparently dividing the wide universe into us-and-them was a trait even before the Migration.

I notice that when Dulsey’s colleagues are introduced, we get descriptions of Arin and Jakoby, but not of Fern. We don’t even get told whether Fern takes masculine or feminine pronouns, the authors apparently being willing to leave it entirely up to the reader (at least for now) what kind of person’s waist Jakoby might put her arm around.

The mention of Jela’s logbook, which he’s asked Cantra to deliver to his troop, reminds me that I don’t think we’ve seen Cantra keep a logbook of her own, although we know that she left one to her descendants. I wonder if that’s just because it’s never been important to mention, or if it’s something she only started doing as Delm Korval (or perhaps as Captain of the Migration, to the extent that that’s a distinction with a difference). If it was something she only started doing later, it would explain why all the recorded mentions in her logbook of Jela are in the past tense.

Crystal Dragon – Chapter 15

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Landomist

In which our heroes shake the dust of Osabei Tower from their feet, some with more violence than others.

Jela has resigned himself to leaving without Cantra, but the Tree digs its heels in (or should that be “digs its roots in”?). It can tell that Cantra is on her way out, and that she’ll need both of them when she arrives. He sends Tor An on ahead with Master dea’Syl, to Captain Wellik, garrisoned on Solcintra. I can’t tell from the description whether Wellik is X Strain or not.

It’s an interesting coincidence that the emblem on Tor An’s ship (I’m not sure whether it’s the emblem of the ship only, or of the Trade Clan) is a dragon.

I note that the sections that are not from Jela’s viewpoint decline to commit themselves on whether they’re from the viewpoint of Cantra or of Scholar tay’Nordif.

Despite, or perhaps because, it’s naturally sessile, the Tree seems to really enjoy travelling at high speeds.

Elsewhere, Lute and his lady encounter Rool Tiazan in the aftermath of his battle with the Iloheen. We learn that Lute’s lady has, as it was foreshadowed last time we saw her, “accepted that burden which no dominant had taken up since the first had been born from the need of the Iloheen”: she has a name. (Indeed, she has a Name, although I confess I’m not clear on the distinction.) Those of us who recognised Lute’s name are not surprised to find that her name is Moonhawk.

Crystal Dragon – Chapter 11

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Obasei Tower
Landomist

There’s another thing that I hadn’t been taking into account in considering why Tor An might seem like a good risk: the famous aelantaza pheremones. In the last scene, Scholar tay’Nordif is maintaining close proximity in the way Cantra habitually avoids, and it’s definitely having an effect.

I’ve been trying to figure out what the point of antagonising tel’Elyd and escalating with tay’Welford was, bearing in mind that mission control couldn’t have known it would be helpful with getting Tor An settled in. My best hypothesis is that the duel was intended as a general distraction that would get everybody, including Scholar tay’Nordif, out of the way and give Jela some space to snoop around on his own. Though if that’s what she had in mind, apparently she hadn’t counted on Jela needing to watch the duel himself and see that she was all right.

On the other hand, maybe it was just that she wanted to stop tel’Elyd before Jela was seriously hurt, and judged a stick duel to be an affordable cost to achieve that end. In which judgement she may have been underestimating Prime Chair tay’Welford. tay’Welford is clearly a rat bastard but I wonder if his conduct of the duel wasn’t at least partly tactical. Things would have been considerably simplified for him if tel’Elyd’s enthusiasm had unfortunately resulted in a fatal wound for Scholar tay’Nordif. If so, the luck was in it (again) that Tor An was on hand to raise a protest.

Jela’s remark that there’s no use trying to figure out whether the luck sent Tor An to the Tower or alerted Scholar tay’Nordif to his approach is a wise one, and I shall heed it henceforth.

The home garden in Tor An’s dream is very similar in purpose and philosophy to the home garden Korval is going to establish. I rather doubt, though, that the piata tree’s resemblance to Jela’s tree is drawn from memory; I suspect that’s a message of support coming in through the back channels.

Scholar ven’Anbrek is appearing quite helpful, but I’m not sure what his stake is. I can construct a reasonable motivation from the things he’s said, but by this point I’ve given up on expecting the inhabitants of the Tower to have reasonable motivations.

(Incidentally, I find myself softening toward Maelyn tay’Nordif somewhat. She’s still not a nice person, but it pales in comparison when she’s so much outclassed by the people around her.)

Crystal Dragon – Chapter 5

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Osabei Tower
Landomist

In which Maelyn tay’Nordif is welcomed home, a pleasure that continues to elude Tor An yos’Galan.

Jela’s party succeeds in winning entry to the Tower, with a thesis calculated to draw attention and give Scholar tay’Nordif reason to ask nosey questions about Liad dea’Syl.

It’s interesting, considering what I recall about what happens later, that Scholar tay’Welford is the designated viewpoint for the admission scene. Although that, of course, may simply be because he’s the admissions board’s designated expert in Scholar tay’Nordif’s specialism. (On the gripping hand, that’s not an unrelated coincidence.)

Tor An, meanwhile, is having trouble drawing anybody’s attention to his problem. Apparently people really aren’t all that interested in other star systems going missing. Though if everybody who insists on being interested winds up getting shot, perhaps that’s not as surprising as it first appears.

His polite sarcasm when he’s talking to the X Strain captain reminds me strongly of certain of his descendants.

Reading Liad

from Dragon Tide to Dragon Ship, and beyond