Tag Archives: Muran

Crystal Dragon – Chapter 8

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Osabei Tower
Landomist

In which Kel Var tay’Palin proves a point.

It’s very tempting to speculate about what might have happened had Prime tay’Palin survived a bit longer. (Tempting, too, to assume that it would have made things easier, if only because why else would the authors have killed him off?)

I’ve been trying to remember why Scholar dea’San’s surname sounded familiar. I thought at first that it was the same as the crime boss with the assumed airs, but he was dea’Sord, not dea’San. I’ve got it now, though: Vertu dea’San, Clan Wylan, is the protagonist of the novella “Skyblaze”, which is currently scheduled at the very end of the re-read.

I had also been wondering why Scholar tay’Nordif had decided to take a liking to the cat, but I think this chapter answers that question. Clearly she had been feeling a lack of somebody to talk to who would appreciate the excellence of her thought. (Either that, or she had been feeling a lack of somebody to steal her chair and lie on her keyboard while she was trying to work.)

Crystal Soldier – Chapter 30

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Spiral Dance
Gimlins Approach

In which Jela receives assistance from several unexpected directions.

Or else: In which events take a dramatic turn and shoot off into left field. If I didn’t already know what was coming next, I think I would be having real trouble not going straight on to the next chapter.

(Incidentally, explicit confirmation that Jela’s whip thing is a shib. Now I can consider that question settled, and stop second-guessing myself.)

Crystal Soldier – Chapter 16

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Spiral Dancer
In Transit

In which a course is charted.

I think this is the first time Cantra’s surname has been mentioned. Jela has doubts about its authenticity, seeing as “Phelium” bore an interesting similarity to the Rim-cant word for “pilot”. And “yos'” was the Inworld’s prefix for denoting a courier or delivery person, which is interesting, and since I first read this book I’ve occasionally idled time away trying to guess what other Liaden prefixes might have denoted in the Inworlds. dea’ might have signified a person who minds the business of another, given the examples of dea’Gauss, whose family business is handling the financial and legal affairs of other families, and dea’Judan, whose family business is storekeeping (but not owning the stores they keep). And I have a feeling, without having done a deliberate survey, that pel’ has a tendency to appear in the names of butlers and other such domestic servants.

We also get our first mention of the Uncle, and straight out of the gate the doubt about whether he’s (a) still around and (b) still the same man who used to be the Uncle in the old days, which is going to become something of a recurring motif.

Crystal Soldier – Chapter 10

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On the ground
Faldaiza Port

In which you gotta know when to walk away, know when to run.

Well. This is getting quite exciting, isn’t it?

The name of Dulsey crops up for the first and not the last time.

I’m trying to remember if we see the gambler again; I have a kind of feeling we do, but it’s hard to be sure without a name to latch onto, and the situation in which we last see her in this chapter could go either way. I don’t have the same kind of feeling about the two cops, so it’s nice that they got to have so much personality in such a small appearance.

Crystal Soldier – Chapter 9

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On the ground
Faldaiza Port

In which somebody is taking an interest in Jela and Cantra.

I’m not sure I have anything particular to say about this chapter. Stuff happens, but I don’t want to just recount what happened without adding anything of my own.

I did like the detail that the bar is as successful as it is in part due to suggestions from Jela. A generalist is a useful person to have around.

Crystal Soldier – Chapter 8

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On board Spiral Dance
Faldaiza Port

In which Cantra yos’Phelium goes for a meal and some company, and gets more than she expected.

Enter a new point-of-view character: Cantra yos’Phelium, independent cargo pilot running solo.

With the new point of view, we get an outside description of Jela. He has eyes as black as the space between the stars, and, yes, brown skin. He’s shorter than the breadth of his shoulders would suggest — and shorter than Cantra, though that’s not so indicative since her height is “not inconsiderable”.

We learn about Cantra’s height from her own point of view, as well as the fact that she’s not as young as she was. From Jela’s point of view, we learn that Cantra has green eyes.

Quite a bit of backstory threaded through this chapter: about Batchers; about world-eaters; about the Rim, its people in general and Cantra and Garen in particular. Also about the navigation beacons, which caught my attention when first I read this, because they don’t have (or apparently need) those in later novels. Other things they don’t have in later novels include the smart clothing on display here, that can scan rooms for danger, send messages, display images in the air.

And another thing that caught my attention the first time, as someone who’d only read the later novels, is the mention and description of Solcintra, that fabled origin planet, which apparently is rather less illustrious in its own time than it appears through the filter of nostalgia.