Tag Archives: Quadrant Eight Building Two

Fledgling – Chapter 23

History of Education Department
Oriel College of Humanities
University of Delgado

In which a conspiracy begins to be uncovered.

We’ve been told that Jen Sar and Ella don’t get on, and in this chapter we get to see it. At least part of it is that they approach conversation differently, Ella with her straight talking and Jen Sar with his Liaden tendency to curve unexpectedly, which makes it more difficult to tell if there are also incompatibilities in their underlying personalities.

I kind of wonder if Jen Sar would have thought better of Ella if she had succumbed to the urge to tell him that conversation with an old friend would be nice if only there were one present; it seems like the kind of response he himself might have given in other circumstances. But perhaps Ella’s right; if she had said it, she might have meant it too much.

Something I didn’t notice the first time I read this, when I wasn’t paying such close attention to the interweaving of details: the technician who tells Jen Sar about the “old wire” is doubtless one of Theo’s friend Kartor’s relatives.

Fledgling – Chapter 18

University of Delgado
Faculty Residence Wall
Quadrant Eight, Building Two

In which Kamele has unexpected news for Theo.

Back when Kamele messaged Theo to stay in the apartment and not open the door to anyone, and didn’t explain why, Theo complained about Kamele not sharing important information. I think she had a point, and I think she’d also have a point if she made the same complaint now. The announcement of the impending journey is a shock, and very sudden, but I’m not convinced it needed to be; Kamele could have laid groundwork about it being a possibility even if she wasn’t sure yet exactly when it would be. And while it’s possible that she’s playing her cards close to her chest because of the genuine need to keep the details of her investigation under wraps, what worries me is the possibility that she’s doing it because on some level she’s still thinking of Theo as a child to be arbitrarily ordered around, rather than a nearly-adult who will work better if she’s given an explanation of why the order is necessary. Technically, yes, Theo is still officially a child, but people don’t magically become responsible adults when they reach society’s official milestone; if Kamele wants Theo to behave like a mature adult, at some point she’s going to have to start treating her like one.

The Serpent of Knowledge icon on the research application is an interesting thing in that it’s a meaningful symbol both to the characters and to the reader, but means different things to each. Whatever legend they have on Delgado about Serpents and Knowledge, it doesn’t seem from Theo’s reaction that it implies anything negative; to a reader who shares the authors’ cultural background, though, the obvious reference is to the Serpent in the Garden of Eden, offering people knowledge they’re not entitled to and might be better off without, giving the situation sinister undertones that are not visible to or intended by the characters.

Fledgling – Chapter 15

University of Delgado
Faculty Residence Wall
Quadrant Eight, Building Two

In which Kamele and Jen Sar make plans for the future.

If Theo was unhappy about moving from the suburb to the Wall, how much less is she going to like leaving the planet entirely? Even if it does solve a lot of problems.

I don’t think Jen Sar is unhappy with the idea of looking after Theo, as far as his own preferences go. But there is also to be considered how it would look to outsiders, if Kamele left her daughter in the care of a man — and not only a man she doesn’t have an ongoing relationship with, as far as the world knows, but a man with whom she recently broke off a relationship — rather than, say, her close friend Ella. And particularly at this point in time, when she’s moving in deep political waters and any deviation from customary behaviour may become a weapon against her. And Kamele knows all this as well as he does, which is why, I think, he’s surprised at her even making the suggestion.

Fledgling – Chapter 14

History of Education Department
Oriel College of Humanities
University of Delgado

In which Kamele receives bad news and confusing news.

There’s a remarkable amount of world-building texture packed into the two paragraphs of Professor Beltaire’s family history.

If, as Kamele mentions, the University regards diversity of thought as a positive good, there’s likely to be some conflict with the Chapelia, which seems from what we’ve seen so far to incline toward the one-Path-fits-all attitude. On the other hand, there must be some kind of common ground, or at least lines drawn, otherwise the Chapelia would be busy at all hours accusing everyone in the University of consorting with complexity.

It occurs to me that we haven’t actually been told what happens to people the Chapelia choose to teach a lesson, though the message has been loud and clear that it’s not something to look forward to.

I find myself wondering where the Chapelia stands on the equality of the sexes. Are there male Simples? If so, are they treated the same as female Simples? Does it matter that their get-up obscures gender markers, or is that just a consequence, not significant in itself, of the general attempt to obscure all individual differences? The thing about only women being able to buy their children out of trouble may be only an acknowledgement about wider Delgado society’s view about who is responsible for children, and doesn’t necessarily show anything about the Chapelia’s own opinion of the matter.

Fledgling – Chapter 13

History of Education Department
Oriel College of Humanities
University of Delgado

In which a late evening is unexpectedly extended.

Sinister hooded figures and a threat to the integrity of the entire University? That’s more like it!

And, speaking of things that are suggestive to the reader familiar with the wider Liaden universe: Jen Sar Kiladi’s alertness behind the wheel of his rally car. We know, though Theo doesn’t, that he used to be a pilot, and he’s been grounded for over a decade; racing the car is likely the closest he’s been able to get to flying in all that time. And, of course, the reviving of the pilot he used to be is accompanied by the reviving of other parts of himself that haven’t seen much use in the last few years.

I can see how the Simples fit in as an extreme form of Delgado’s emphasis on teamwork and consensus. That doesn’t make them less sinister, though.

(And a passing thought, brought on by Jen Sar’s Bjornson-Bellevale College and Kamele’s Oriel College: I wonder if those two colleges are named after women, and if the reason Theo’s school gets the full “Stephen M. Richardson” is because otherwise people would assume it too was named after a woman?)

Fledgling – Chapter 11

University of Delgado
Faculty Residence Wall
Quadrant Eight, Building Two

In which Theo gains a rug and a respite.

I like this patch of peace and domestic harmony. It probably just means things are about to get even worse, though.

It’s only just occurred to me to wonder how it’s possible for Quadrant Eight to exist, since any given area consists of no more nor less than four quadrants, by definition. Maybe the university is divided into two (or more) areas, and rather than add another layer to the addresses they just continued on the numbering of the quadrants from where the first set ended. This would especially make sense if the second area is a later addition to the original layout of the university, which would explain why the address space didn’t account for the possibility. (It would also make a nice echo of Theo learning this chapter that the founders of the university didn’t think of everything.)

I was going to say something last chapter about the Safety’s apparent determination to assume that the incident on the scavage court was Theo’s fault, but I decided not to when I started considering the limitations of seeing things from Theo’s point of view. In the light of the Safety’s official report, though, there does seem to be something there — but rather than the “predisposed to expect Theo at the centre of the trouble” kind of something I was thinking of before, it seems to be more of a “determined not to let any responsibility settle on Roni” kind of something. (And that reminds me of the thing I did say about what kind of fall-out there might or might not be for Roni.)

Fledgling – Chapter 8

University of Delgado
Faculty Residence Wall
Quadrant Eight, Building Two

In which Theo gets home late.

In the last couple of chapters we’ve started to get a clearer picture of what Kamele’s like when she isn’t (a) under a lot of stress and (b) viewed through the eyes of her also-stressed teenager.

Jen Sar may have pitched the case for Coyster in terms of the good it would do Theo to have him around, but it’s clear he’ll also do some good for Kamele, whether she’s prepared to admit it or not. (And I really hope that remark about Theo not having any strangeness to deal with was the stress talking, because it’s un-advertant to a degree that’s worrying to find in a scholar of Kamele’s standing.)

Fledgling – Chapter 5

City of Efraim
Delgado

In which Theo goes shopping.

This is a quiet chapter in terms of what actually happens, but it introduces a lot of details that will crop up again later, especially during Theo’s bus trip.

Theo’s memories of her father in this chapter contain several call-backs to Scout’s Progress and Mouse and Dragon, with his ring and the toasted cheese sandwiches.

Mmmmm, toasted cheese sandwiches. I haven’t had a good toasted cheese sandwich in ages. I don’t seem to be able to find cheese that toasts well, lately.

Fledgling – Chapter 3

Fourth Form Ready Room
Professor Stephen M. Richardson Secondary School
University of Delgado

In which Theo goes to school and learns something helpful.

It’s the return of our old friend, The Scene Where The Heroine Looks In A Mirror. At least this one does a reasonable job of staying inside the viewpoint character’s head. (And now I’m trying to remember whether we’ve ever had a scene where any of the male characters looks in a mirror for the benefit of the readers. I don’t recall any, but I’m willing to believe that that’s a fault in my memory rather than in the story-telling.)

I’m not sure I approve of that clock. It would depend to some extent on whether everybody is given the same amount of time between the first announcement and the note being made in their file, and what happens to people who are genuinely incapable of getting out of bed quickly. Either way, it’s the first of several details in this chapter that are starting to build up a picture of Delgado as a society that pays really close attention to whether its citizens are doing What’s Good For Them.

Fledgling – Chapter 2

University of Delgado
Faculty Residence Wall
Quadrant Eight, Building Two

In which Kamele and Theo — and Coyster — arrive in their new lodgings.

When I first read Fledgling, Kamele Waitley came as a complete surprise to me. In retrospect, this seems short-sighted even to myself, but it must be remembered that, Theo having said nothing about her mother in I Dare, the only previous reference to her was in “Breath’s Duty”, and that only a brief mention of an unnamed woman whom the authors, lacking space for a more complete explanation, chose to describe as Professor Kiladi’s mistress. That entirely misleading word, combined with the apparent equanimity with which Kiladi took leave of her (which with hindsight I can see as a Liaden presenting a calm face to an unpleasant necessity), produced in me an impression that left me entirely unprepared for Scholar Waitley, Jen Sar Kiladi’s friend and life-partner, when Fledgling presented her full-formed.

In this chapter Theo, who has lived her entire life in Kiladi’s house out in the suburbs, is not adjusting easily to the standard of accommodation in the Faculty Residence Wall. I suspect that Kamele is having similar difficulty, and it’s contributing to her mood; although, if memory serves, she lived in the Wall her whole life before she met Kiladi, she has also lived Theo’s entire life in Kiladi’s house, and young as Theo is that’s plenty of time to have acclimated to a new way of living.

This being a re-read, I know what prompted Kamele to move back to the Wall, and can see that her response to Theo’s question about it contains an actual answer carefully set in a false context constructed from statements that are each true in general but not actually relevant to the particular situation under discussion. (Notice how some of the time she’s talking about what “a scholar” can or should do, and only very briefly about herself specifically.)