Volmer
In which yos’Galan makes connections.
I can’t remember the last book in which we had so many bows in so few chapters. The last few books have either been set on Surebleak or involved people being off having adventures among the Terrans, so there hasn’t been so much opportunity for Liadens interacting.
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Arsdred Offworld Bazaar
Local Year 728
Dawn Bazaar
In which Shan helps put up a pavilion and is nearly run down by a jitney.
I like how this chapter fleshes out the details of Shan’s work as a Trader and his interactions with Ken Rik.
This is the chapter in which Shan gives Priscilla an account of how Clan Korval came to be which differs in a number of respects from the more detailed account we eventually got in the prequels. I’m not sure what to make of that; Shan has no reason to tell Priscilla anything other than the truth as he knows it, and I can think of no reason for him not to know the actual date of the clan’s foundation, since the foundational paperwork is presumably among the things a ranking member of the clan would be expected to have read.
In which Anne comes home to find Er Thom and Shan gone.
The dragon on Korval’s shield, so Er Thom tells Shan, is named Megelaar. I didn’t think anything of it the first time I read Local Custom (why shouldn’t the dragon have whatever name Korval chooses to give it?), but having read “Dragon Tide” it’s interesting that the name fits the pattern of the dragon family in that story. It’s not inappropriate – there are plenty of parallels that make it clear the Laar is a relative of Korval’s Tree – but I do wonder how Korval knew, when the only person who could have told them is the Tree, and the Tree isn’t one for generating vocal utterances. (I also wonder whether there was a real dragon named Megelaar, and if so why he was singled out for having his name immortalised. The first of the line, perhaps? …or the last?)
Another thing I wonder, speaking of having read other things first: I read the novels in more-or-less publication order, so when I reached Local Custom, I already knew how Er Thom and Anne’s story turned out. How does this chapter read to someone coming to it from the other direction, who knows Er Thom only from the eight preceding chapters? Does it seem more likely that Anne’s fears are justified?