Tag Archives: The Clutch

Accepting the Lance – Chapter 18

Jelaza Kazone

In which Delm Korval meets Emissary Twelve.

Way back when Edger was first introduced, there was a brief mention of the Ambassadorial Clans of the Clutch, whose members are shorter and svelter and speedier than the working clans such as Edger belongs to. It would appear that Emissary Twelve is an example.
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Accepting the Lance – Chapter 17

Surebleak Orbital Influence Zone

In which Bechimo discovers a new taste sensation.

Because of the name, and the fact that they’re first introduced as a breakfast food, I’d been picturing maize buttons as a kind of breakfast cereal, small and eaten in clusters. It appears from the description here that they’re more in the line of a pastry, large enough to be enjoyed individually (but small enough to be snatched up in a handful).

Accepting the Lance – Chapter 15

Jelaza Kazone

In which Korval is keeping its head down.

And now we’ve caught up with the final chapter of Neogenesis.
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Shout of Honor – Chapter 10

In which a lot of people are going places.

I enjoyed that. And I look forward to seeing Vepal and Ochin again, as Vepal’s plans make it likely we will.

Vepal’s comment about having been to Omenski before is the kind of small detail I really appreciate and would never have noticed if I hadn’t embarked on this project: way back in Agent of Change, when Val Con gets them through a police cordon with a forged ID claiming they’re part of the Yxtrang embassy, Miri asks if they’re going to have the Yxtrang ambassador after them as well and he assures her that the Yxtrang delegation is currently far away, on Omenski. I suppose that settles the lingering question I had about whether there is only one Yxtrang ambassador.
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Shout of Honor – Chapter 8

In which Ochin has been thinking.

I am curious about whom Cheladin intends to quote Ochin’s assessment to. I can’t think of any regulatory body that would be able to claim and enforce jurisdiction if he’s right about what’s going on.
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Neogenesis – Chapter 26

Surebleak

In which Korval is keeping its head down.

Oh, yeah. And the survey team. I’d forgotten about them, what with so much else going on.
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Neogenesis – Chapter 20 part V

In which Val Con and Miri gather information about their visitors.

This is the first mention I can recall of there now being two separate branches of the Scouts, but it doesn’t surprise me. I presume the schism is a consequence of the events surrounding Korval’s big play and subsequent exile, and the subsequent removal of a chunk of Liaden society to Surebleak. Liaden society as a whole was divided over how to view Korval’s actions, and although many Scouts had a sympathy for Korval it is not to be supposed that they were unanimous in their approval.
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Alliance of Equals – Chapter 27

Admiral Bunter

In which steps are taken to deal with the situation.

Tolly’s made a good start on talking Admiral Bunter around. He’s given the Admiral a reason to think about what he’s doing, and also managed to slip in some details about himself to counteract the narrative that he’s the Institute’s rightful property. On top of which, as he says, it’s plain truth that the roles of jailor and student don’t really mix.

It’s interesting that he also points out that one of the strategies available to him in this situation is to try and gain an advantage by reminding his captor of their previous, more pleasant, relationship; he’s fighting, but he’s fighting fair, and even though he’s making a point of declining to teach the Admiral, on another more subtle level he’s never stopped.

Another question Admiral Bunter might like to consider is why he wants to learn from someone he’s been told is a pirate; surely such a person would not be a reliable teacher. I quite understand why Tolly would refrain from pointing that one out, though.

Over in Padi’s plot line, there’s a lot of talk about being prepared and how unlikely it is that something will go disastrously wrong — which, as with Val Con’s dreaming last novel (was it only last novel?), just makes me more certain something is going to disastrously wrong.

Sudden thought: Has Anthora also been preparing for this? Is there going to turn out to be more to her unseasonal gift to Padi?

Alliance of Equals – Chapter 7

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.

Necessity’s Child – Chapter 5

In which Pat Rin is up early, and Syl Vor is late for his tutor.

Something odd’s happened to the timeline again. During Ghost Ship, we were informed – several times – that it was spring, approaching the onset of what passes on Surebleak for summer. Now, in this chapter, it is suddenly “very nearly spring”.

That said, the apparent fact of it being winter, and the subsequent discussion of Surebleak’s climate, constitute a nice bit of incluing that sets up Nova’s later remark that it will be a warm day on Surebleak before a particular unlikely thing occurs. (Also a nice bit of incluing is the passing mention of the child-on-the-street policy, which we’ll be hearing of again in a chapter or two.)

Being aware of the fact that many of the Department’s agents are on some level innocent victims, and thus being wishful to rescue them if possible, is something of a tactical handicap for Korval, but I can’t say I’d prefer Korval to not want to help them. I wonder if that was a factor in the Department’s choice of recruiting techniques, the possibility of producing that handicap in any opponent the Department might acquire. The Commanders and analysts of the Deparment we’ve seen, who regard agents as expendable and don’t seem to grasp that Korval doesn’t think the same way they do, probably wouldn’t be able to come up with such a strategy, but then the Commanders and the analysts are products of the system; whoever set up the system in the first place might have had a broader range of thought.