Tag Archives: Mr Saunderson

Conflict of Honors – Chapter 8

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Shipyear 65
Tripday 131
Second Shift
6.55 hours

In which Dutiful Passage gains a pet librarian.

Details continue to emerge about what kind of ship Shan yos’Galan runs. Last chapter there was the policy of giving the crew a stake in the ship’s trading; this chapter it’s Shan’s approach to crewmembers who wish to pursue a skill that will increase their value to the ship.

All is not rosy, however; not everyone is as welcoming to Priscilla as Rusty and Lina were. The first mate is downright frosty, though it turns out she has some basis: Dutiful Passage has encountered Daxflan before, in circumstances which, though they are not detailed here, did not leave her with a trusting disposition toward Trader Olanek and his crew.

This chapter contains one of those details that might go past without notice on a first reading but attracts more attention from a re-reader: an off-hand mention, this early in the story, that this is Kayzin Ne’Zame’s last trip with the Passage. (Fortunately for her, this is not the kind of story where “one last job before I retire” means she has a metafictional target painted on her back.)

The chapter heading is again consistent with a 24/4 shift system but not a 28/4 system.

Conflict of Honors – Chapter 7

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Shipyear 65
Tripday 131
First Shift
1.30 hours

In which Priscilla meets more of the crew.

Priscilla meets two of her crewmates-to-be, radio tech Rusty and librarian Lina, and begins to get from them the idea that Dutiful Passage is not much like Daxflan.

Which may go some way toward explaining the tests she’d been puzzling over. There’s a particular community spirit on Dutiful Passage, so a prospective crewmember needs to be a temperamental match as well as being good at her job.

I do wonder how quickly Shan is going through cabin boys, if he’s had four since he took over as captain — according to the timeline, that was less than a year ago.

Conflict of Honors – Chapter 6

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Shipyear 65
Tripday 130
Fourth Shift
18.00 hours

In which Priscilla meets Shan yos’Galan.

Contrary to what I said last week, this must be where I first learned about Liadens and faces. It must be. Conflict of Honors was the first Liaden story I ever read, and certainly Gordy’s recital is the most detailed and explicit statement of the case to be found anywhere in the series. I don’t remember it, though. There is a difference, perhaps, between being told about a thing in the abstract and coming to comprehend it through being shown examples of it in action.

The dateline on this chapter is not consistent with a 28-hour day divided into four 7-hour shifts, in which 18.00 hours would be deep in Third Shift. It would, on the other hand, fit a 24-hour day divided into four shifts.

Conflict of Honors – Chapter 5

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Jankalim Spaceport
Local Year 209

In which Priscilla discovers the depth of her predicament.

Again, I’m having trouble coming up with anything to say about the present chapter without getting tangled up in anticipation of chapters to come.

Since I have in the past called out the authors for what I felt was a particularly blatant use of the old heroine-looks-in-a-mirror routine, it’s only fair that I credit this chapter with a much smoother implementation. If you must do it at all, this is the way to do it, with the plot seamlessly giving rise to a reason for the heroine to be looking in the mirror and paying close attention to her appearance.