In which Korval welcomes Nova yos’Galan.

There are some lovely little character details in this chapter; nearly everybody who appears gets at least one.

There’s also one big thing, the demonstration of Pat Rin’s ability to influence dice, which is particularly striking because, as far as I can remember, it’s not so much as hinted at anywhere else in the series. Of course, the series is still growing, and Pat Rin hasn’t appeared for more than a cameo in anything written since Mouse and Dragon, so perhaps this will be followed up some time in future; I look forward to that with interest. I also look forward with interest to re-reading his appearances that were written before this, to see if there were hints I didn’t pick up on or events that might now be seen in a different light. In particular, on thinking back over the scenes I can remember of Pat Rin as an adult, I seemed to find something which I look forward to seeing verified: that for all the time Pat Rin spends gaming, it’s rarely or even never in games that involve him handling dice. In the light of this scene it might be that he actively avoids games where his knack would give him a unique advantage, which actually fits with my understanding of his character.

Tomorrow is the short story “Guaranteed Delivery”, because chronological order, with Mouse and Dragon resuming the day after.