Dutiful Passage
En Route to Volmer
In which Shan consults several people regarding the future.
We now have the names and descriptions of all three planets of the Redlands system: apart from Colemeno, there is Ukarn, site of a mining operation, and Metlin, site of a scientific research base. (Metlin is the name of one of the Liaden weekdays; I don’t have any insights to offer about the etymology of the others.)
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Dutiful Passage
Pommierport
In which there is an unexpected detour or two.
I think that when Priscilla talks about “ambient noise”, she doesn’t mean quite the same thing as the Haosa do when they talk about “the ambient”. If it is, it’s noteworthy that the course of action suggested by her training is to try to block it out.
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Dutiful Passage
In which Padi makes connections and Shan receives news from home.
The looper families Shan mentions are among those who have appeared or been mentioned in the Jethri-era stories: the Smiths were the first family to have norbears travelling with them, the Tragers were friendly with Jethri’s family, and the Wildes did that ill-fated bit of experimenting with Old Tech.
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Civilization
In which Bentamin receives some good news from his aunt.
The Trade Council meeting shows that Shan was right about there being opportunities for trade in the Redlands System: even if they don’t manage to set anything up in the way of physical trade goods, they have something to offer in the way of up-to-date information about routes and conditions in the wider galaxy.
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Dutiful Passage
Millsap Orbit
In which Padi has a long day.
Shan has a plan: to visit the Redlands, which it turns out is not one country, or even one planet, but a system with three inhabited planets.
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Dutiful Passage
Millsap Orbit
In which Padi and Shan commune with inanimate objects.
This is a surprisingly long chapter and I’m up against a deadline, so I’m going to do it in two parts.
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Off-Grid
In which Tekelia vesterGranz has a lot of questions.
A few chapters ago, when I noted the Warden’s description of the Haosa as Civilization’s line of defence, I forgot to add that I suspected the Haosa would describe the relationship somewhat differently.
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In which Geral Jethri believes in the Envidaria.
If someone had asked me what I expected future Liaden Universe stories to be about, I don’t think I’d have picked “what Jethri’s descendants are doing in the present day” as a possibility, but now that it’s happened it seems like an obvious question to explore.
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In which Tocohl explores the boundaries of her new situation.
An interesting narrative embellishment here: this chapter is set before the previous one, ending around the time it starts. The authors had a choice what order to reveal this information to the audience, and didn’t go for the obvious option. One consequence is that when the audience is reading about Inkirani preparing to tackle Tocohl again, they know that it’s not going to go how she expects but they don’t know any more than she does exactly what she’s going to find waiting for her.
Port Chavvy
In which there are many secrets.
This is another chapter that calls for the reminder that I do appreciate the emotional parts of the Liaden stories, but I’m not very good at talking about them.
Some of the things Freza tells Jethri about the intent of Arin’s Envidaria remind me again of the conversation Theo has with the Carresens of her time. (Though that doesn’t help as much as it might, because I don’t quite recall what the Carresens actually said.)
When the dateline said “Port Chavvy”, I said to myself, “That sounds familiar, has someone mentioned it earlier this book?” – and then there was Dulcimer, and Klay Patel Smith sitting by the equipment rack. So apparently I was wrong when I guessed “Out of True” was set earlier than the Jethri books, having underestimated how unfamiliar a sight Liadens are in parts of Terran space. In fact, there are several things about “Out of True” I understand better having read (this much of) Trade Secret, and I think I would recommend to a new reader that they read Trade Secret first and then “Out of True”.