Dutiful Passage
Colemeno Orbit
In which the visitors prepare to be received.
I wonder if the cats had anything interesting to say in their nameday greetings, or if Jeeves just translated their message into human-polite.
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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
Langlast Departure
In which Shan and Padi get some rest.
Now we have some familiar faces, and a sense of where this story fits in the series. It’s only a day or two since the end of Alliance of Equals, so this is taking place around the same time as Neogenesis. (At least to start with.)
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Dutiful Passage
In which Apprentice Trader yos’Galan secures her milaster.
Parts of this, with the ‘prentice trader visiting a new planet with the master trader, inevitably remind me of Jethri’s apprenticeship in Balance of Trade. (I also recollect how the numbers being haggled changed from the short story to the novel of Balance of Trade, and note that so far in this novel the authors have managed to avoid committing to specific numbers.)
Being of a nasty, suspicious turn of mind, I intend to assume in the absence of contrary evidence that Technician First Class Higgs is in some way a relative of Airman Third Class Higgs from Girl Genius.
I get the distinct impression that when Shan moves to intervene in the confrontation at the end of the chapter, it’s not his daughter’s health he’s worried for.
Dutiful Passage
In which there are uncomfortable awakenings.
So now we know what Padi’s secret is. Poor kid. Of course it didn’t occur to her, while she was taking great care not to let the others see how much afraid she was, that the others might be doing likewise.
Given the bit about how Padi’s found herself thinking of the milaster scheme as if it might somehow make or break her trading career, I see two ways that might go, depending on how far into the book they get to Chessel’s World. It might be a disaster, and that be a launching point for more plot. Or it might be that they get to Chessel’s World only at the end of the novel, after many adventures, and it’s a success but by then Padi has other bigger things to think about.
Another change in Dutiful Passage‘s roster becomes apparent: It appears that, after so many years, Ken Rik yo’Lanna is no longer the cargo master.
I said, back when it was first made clear, that I didn’t understand why Tolly hasn’t been told it’s Korval he’s working for; I think I’m getting the idea now. One thing I hadn’t borne in mind was just how much trouble Tocohl’s mere existence could cause her creators, given the Complex Logic Laws, if the identity of her creators became known. And I think what Shan said about it being bad-mannered to burden Lina with Korval’s secrets unnecessarily also applies to Tolly.
I’m beginning to really wonder who it was who served as the connection between Tolly and Korval for employment purposes. It seems to me like Tolly started to say a name or designation beginning with “The” before he thought better of saying it out loud. I don’t think it’s the Uncle, given the way Tolly thinks about him later in the conversation. It’s definitely not Theo, both because she doesn’t know people like Tolly and because if Korval had contact with her they’d doubtless be requiring her to aid the situation in a more direct manner.
Liad
Solcintra
In which Shan discusses the situation with Priscilla.
Priscilla, of course, is the other reason Shan was so definite about rejecting the prospect of a contract marriage. It is of course beyond question that Nova must be aware of Shan’s relationship with Priscilla, but it’s open to question how well she understands what it means to them. (The fact that they’re still together coming up on seven years after they met must count for something, even if they haven’t taken the step to officially seal it; but perhaps Nova has concluded that the important detail is that they haven’t taken the step to officially seal their relationship even after being together coming up on seven years.)
Can I count Priscilla’s house as another for the list of characters who appear only briefly but in memorable detail? The descriptions of her situation add richness to the chapter, and the value of Dablin’s commentary on events is immeasurable.
Master’s Tower, Theopholis
Witch’s Hour
In which Balance is achieved.
Not the usual sort of settling of accounts one might expect at the end of an adventure story, but one which suits Priscilla’s character, and also helps demonstrate that “Balance” is not necessarily the same thing as “revenge”.
On which note, Delm Plemia clearly expects Korval and Priscilla to demand more in balance of Sav Rid’s follies than they actually do. It speaks to his melant’i that he doesn’t try to argue his way out of anything; he’s seen the evidence and he knows it’s a fair cop.
Precinct House
Crown City, Theopholis
Hour of Demons
In which the legal system of Theopholis does not show itself in the best of lights.
This is another chapter where I would probably have had more to say about it on first reading, but on re-reading my main reaction is “Yes, that’s about how I remember it”.
I’m curious about how the hours are named on Theopholis. I thought at first, with the Kings and the Knaves, the theme might be card-related, but then there was the Viscount, so I thought it might be rulers. And in this chapter, there’s a mention of the Regent’s Hour, which would fit, except that there’s also the Hour of Demons, which doesn’t. (And I wonder whether it’s significant that there are multiple Kings and Knaves and Demons, but only one each of the Viscount and the Regent.)
Dayan
First Sunrise
In which Priscilla has speech with a sister.
Dayan, like Sintia, worships the Goddess; it does seem to be the same Goddess, with a common basis indicated by Priscilla’s expressions and gestures being recognised by the women she speaks to. Like Sintia, too, the priestesses of the Goddess are apparently the temporal as well as spiritual leaders, and possibly not handling it as gracefully as they might. In some ways it’s worse than Sintia; there are hints in some of the Moonhawk stories that men on Sintia are second-class citizens, but on Dayan their status doesn’t even reach that high. There are signs of hope: that Lomar Fasholt speaks with Shan as an equal says something, and that she considers it (and without any apparent doubt or hesitation) appropriate to secure her husband an education says something more. (And that echoes something in the Moonhawk story “The Wine of Memory”, come to think of it.)
Shan notes that Priscilla shows signs of her continued education in proper Liaden in her ability to produce an appropriate phrase; it also shows, I think, in the way she is able to put a name to the bow Shan offers Lomar Fasholt.
According to my notes, tomorrow’s schedule calls for doing the next three chapters in one go.
Shipyear 65
Tripday 171
Third Shift
14.00 hours
In which Shan receives news of a friend’s death.
I like the little details that enrich this chapter: Ken Rik is in a bad mood. BillyJo thinks Shan isn’t eating enough. The description of what else was in Shan’s mail before he hit the pinbeam from Sintia, because even though the other message isn’t significant to the plot, it is significant to Shan.
I have read the various parts of Priscilla’s story so many times by now that I don’t recall what I thought the first time I read the pinbeam from Sintia. I am pretty sure, though, that I could have been added to Shan’s litany of people who wouldn’t believe it meant Priscilla was a desperate criminal.