Vivulonj Prosperu
In which a change of course is called for.
I don’t yet understand how the failure of the Catalinc Project could result in everything that is ascribed to it, but I note that it sounds very similar to the potential bad future Ren Zel has foreseen.
Continue reading
Vanehald
In which the world-shield is right where they left it.
It occurs to me that it might turn out to be an advantage that Commander Gorriti ran away before the trouble started. If he’d still been in charge, I suspect he’d have been more of a hindrance than a help.
And this would appear to be, more or less, the end of the subplot about the world-shield – which I’d completely forgotten before I began this re-read, even though it’s Jela’s motivation all the way through. I think it failed to sink in the first time I read these books because, reading them as a prequel, I already knew that the world-shield wasn’t going to be the thing that mattered in the end.
Rockhaven Departure
In which Jela and Cantra take their leave.
A short and incident-packed chapter, to which I don’t think I have anything to add.
Rockhaven
In which the Uncle seems reluctant to let his guests depart.
I said it, didn’t I? Things getting Interesting.
I was thinking just a few days ago that we hadn’t seen a shibjela yet, and wondering if it was going to turn out that its association with Jela was just a groundless folklore. I guess I can consider that question well and truly settled.
Rockhaven
In which you still don’t get rid of Jela that easily.
It’s always amusing when fictional characters have philosophical discussions about whether their life is proceeding according to some pre-ordained plan.
I do like the Uncle’s comeback when Cantra says she doesn’t believe in fate. And the verbal fencing on the topic of being raised up to be civilized.
I was right, or remembered right, about the “teaching devices” being trouble. (I wonder, all the same, whether there’s any connection between them and the teaching devices that show up later in the series.)
The tree flexes its muscles. (Or whatever. As Cantra realises when she’s fixing to worry about what the tree might get it into its head to do next, there are a lot of metaphors that don’t really fit snug on a tree.)
Arin. There’s a name I wasn’t expecting to encounter quite so soon.
The Uncle’s last play for Jela’s loyalty is interesting. He really does keep up on the latest gossip, but he doesn’t know as much as he thinks he does.
Rockhaven
In which the Uncle is at home to visitors.
Cantra doesn’t entirely trust the Uncle or Jela, Jela doesn’t entirely trust Cantra or the Uncle, and the Uncle doesn’t trust Jela nor, it would be safe to assume, entirely trust Cantra. Things are probably about to get Interesting.
The Uncle is, to all appearances, the same man Cantra met before, though much rejuvenated and reinvigorated. Cantra doesn’t trust appearances, though; interestingly, it’s not because she doesn’t believe such a rejuvenation is possible, but that what she’s heard about how it might be possible is so unpleasant that the idea she’s being successfully fooled is more palatable.
Dulsey’s bow to Cantra on the ship looks to be the ancestor of the Liaden bow acknowledging a debt truly owed, which we’ll be seeing in about two months from now. The latter version, after several centuries of Liaden refinement, is … a tad more elaborate.
I hadn’t remembered how … is “talkative” an appropriate word? … the Tree is in this book. Its conversations with Jela are getting to be some of my favourite bits.