In which Sinit safeguards the clan’s treasures.
I’m always pleased to have another opportunity to spend time with Sinit, who’s one of my favourite characters in the series.
It’s also (speaking now as the presumptuous author of a suggested chronological reading order) something of a relief after the last few stories to have one that says up-front exactly where it fits chronologically.
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Low Port
In which Don Eyr achieves a separation.
I wonder what Har Per’s lady friend sees in him? It’s clearly not his sparkling personality. Perhaps it’s that she appreciates what he sees in her.
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Liad
In which Don Eyr fails to persuade Serana to leave him.
I was actually kind of surprised by how useful Don Eyr and Serana found the melant’i plays as a guide to Liaden behaviour; people who have tried that in other stories have had mixed success due to their source texts being unrealistic, melodramtic, or outright fraudulent.
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Liad
In which Don Eyr is taken away and educated.
I knew two things going in to “Degrees of Separation”: that it’s a prequel to “Block Party”, which is not unusual for a Liaden story, and that the cover image prominently features the Eiffel Tower and a globe of the Earth more-or-less centred on France, which is. Earth (or Terra) has been mentioned occasionally, but has never yet appeared on-screen.
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In which Fer Gun pen’Uldra gets married.
And so here is the context for the things that had puzzled me about Chi’s behaviour.
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Liad
Solcintra
In which Shan discusses the situation with Priscilla.
Priscilla, of course, is the other reason Shan was so definite about rejecting the prospect of a contract marriage. It is of course beyond question that Nova must be aware of Shan’s relationship with Priscilla, but it’s open to question how well she understands what it means to them. (The fact that they’re still together coming up on seven years after they met must count for something, even if they haven’t taken the step to officially seal it; but perhaps Nova has concluded that the important detail is that they haven’t taken the step to officially seal their relationship even after being together coming up on seven years.)
Can I count Priscilla’s house as another for the list of characters who appear only briefly but in memorable detail? The descriptions of her situation add richness to the chapter, and the value of Dablin’s commentary on events is immeasurable.
Liad
Trealla Fantrol
In which Val Con’s family are concerned for his whereabouts.
There’s more about certain aspects of Liaden culture in this one chapter than there is in all of Agent of Change, although that’s perhaps only to be expected when Agent of Change was about a Liaden surrounded by Terrans and this chapter features two Liadens interacting on Liad itself.
I’m a bit puzzled by the mention of Val Con being a Scout Captain in a time past, because it was said several times in the later chapters of Agent of Change that his present rank is Scout Commander, and Commander is usually the rank below Captain (traditionally, it meant that although one was not a captain yet one had risen far enough to be put in command of an unrated ship) — and I don’t picture Val Con doing anything that would have got him busted down a rank. Maybe the Scouts just do ranks differently. Maybe it’s just a typo.
This is the first chapter not to contain any reference to Miri since almost the beginning of Agent of Change, which in a way underlines how much Val Con’s family don’t know about what he’s been up to.
In which Daav yos’Phelium’s suitability to be Delm is tested.
Daav is having serious doubts about his fitness to be delm. I think, on the one hand, he’s not being fair to himself – he notices all the occasions when he slips, but not the occasions which also occur on which he does well (of which, there are instances where he specifically catches himself slipping and changes to a better course). And on the other hand, I think he’s holding himself up to an impossible standard; as he eventually realises, no Delm ever is always perfect.
I like Kesa del’Fordan. She is clearly a person of good melant’i, to the point that she outshines her brother for all that he’s twice her age.
I also like Daav’s description of Korval’s tendency to tallness: “the pickpocket who wishes to rob Korval must bring his own stepladder.”