Tag Archives: seconday

Carpe Diem – Chapter 14

3 Replies

Liad
Trealla Fantrol

In which Pat Rin acquires a new pilot.

Speaking of first mentions, I seem to have missed noting the point at which Val Con was revealed to be the next Delm Korval, and not merely a young man whose sister made him Second Speaker in order that she might have an excuse to complain that he was never home.

Korval obviously doesn’t intend to just send Cheever McFarland away now that he’s made his delivery, but it’s not clear yet whether they’re simply thanking him for his service by ensuring him a steady employment until his ship’s renovations are complete, or keeping him under Korval’s wing in case there are any unfortunate consequences to him as a result of becoming involved in Val Con’s recent adventures. The fact that he’s being entrusted to the member of the Clan whom we know from the prequels to be particularly skilled with firearms is certainly suggestive. On the other hand, maybe they’re just hoping Cheever will be an improving influence.

Carpe Diem – Chapter 6

1 Reply

Liad
Solcintra

In which Val Con’s eldest brother sends news.

I wonder if Shan’s joke about someone wanting to sell him a cloak is an indication that he’s still getting fallout from the skimmer cloak incident after seven years. Or maybe it’s a joke between friends that has survived even after the incident that started it is long over. Or maybe I’m reading too much into it and it’s nothing to do with the skimmer cloak at all.

The uncertainty with which Priscilla introduces the idea of crying lifemates implies that it’s the first time she’s put forward the idea as a serious suggestion. Shan doesn’t seem surprised, though; it’s a possibility that must have been on both their minds since Priscilla came to live on Liad, and I think by now they know each other well enough to know what they both think of the prospect, even without discussing it explicitly. If they haven’t seriously discussed it before now it’s perhaps because they’ve been comfortable continuing as they are, and perhaps because, as Shan says, the timing is not good.

Conflict of Honors – Chapter 32

3 Replies

Trealla Fantrol, Liad
Year Named Trolsh
Third Relumma
Banim Seconday

In which the First Speaker of Korval has business with the First Speaker of Plemia.

Delm Plemia is a contrast to his kinsman. He does show signs of narrow-mindedness (such as judging Shan and Anthora because they don’t fit Liaden ideals of good looks), but he doesn’t dismiss them out of hand because they’re part-Terran, nor take it personally that part-Terran Korval thrives while old established Plemia struggles.

The moment where Nova invites Delm Plemia to precede her through the door (compare the moment a few chapters back where Shan waved Kayzin through the door before him, and their respective reactions to being thus singled out) is one of those bits of Liaden cultural worldbuilding that I wouldn’t have noticed if I were reading this at my usual speed.

I don’t think I’ve remarked before, though I remember it having been mentioned in earlier stories, that the Liaden fashion is for doorknobs in the centre of doors. That seems impractical; a position near the edge improves leverage and simplifies the locking mechanism. Perhaps it is only a fashion in houses high enough that practicality need not be the only concern of the architect.

Local Custom – Chapter 32

Leave a Reply

In which preparations are made for the gather, and for afterward.

I had wondered, on this re-read, at noticing that Er Thom’s first visit to Master Jeweler Moonel was before he knew Anne would need a party dress and jewels. But here is the answer: two pieces of jewelry, from two visits.

I’m not sure I’m quite clear on how many personages were involved in the drama of Eba yos’Phelium and her thodelm: is Daav yos’Phelium, Sixth Delm Korval, an extra player, or is he himself the thodelm in question? I mean, Petrella spoke of them as different people, but I would have expected that Delm Korval is also Thodelm yos’Phelium (has that ever been explicitly established?). And if they were both the same person, but he was acting in one melant’i at one time and in another melant’i at another time, perhaps a Liaden would refer to them as if they were separate people. (Look at how often, with our current Daav, Delm Korval and Er Thom’s cha’leket are treated as different people.)

Pilot of Korval

7 Replies

Dutiful Passage en route to Venture
Standard Year 1339

In which Er Thom yos’Galan shows his mettle.

Another jump forward of nearly 50 years, and a significant shift in the focus of the series: we are back with Korval, and there, with only occasional diversions, we shall henceforth remain.

So here is a story that shows us Er Thom and Daav as youngsters, part-formed, but already showing familiar traits. It’s also, if memory serves, the only story with an extensive depiction of Er Thom’s mother in her prime.

I’m never quite sure I’ve correctly untangled the interplay about Er Thom’s status in the family. He’s described as his mother’s heir both by his mother herself and by the narrator, and here he is on her ship, learning her trade; the implication is that when he tells the Juntavas boss that he is of no significance because he has a brother who’s the heir, he’s being flexible with the truth. And yet in Local Custom we hear that he does in fact have an elder brother who’s ahead of him in the line of inheritance.

(One could resolve the puzzle, of course, by guessing that after this story was written the authors found it necessary to discover an elder brother to make the plot of Local Custom work; one might even take a confident guess at which part of the plot was otherwise at risk. But one does prefer, where possible, to believe that the Liaden Universe possesses internal consistency.)

If the Master dea’Cort who is Daav’s instructor at the Academy is the same Scout who came to Bell’s aid in “Phoenix”, he must be getting on in years. (Although not, perhaps, as far on as a Terran of the same age; it’s mentioned in “Sweet Waters” that a Liaden in her fifties would be considered to be in her prime, with many productive years ahead of her.)