1. Where is Bren's security going all the time? The nearest airport is quite far away, as I remember, and unless they've their own private vehicles (despite the lack of roads), I'm not sure where exactly they're always disappearing to!
Into the town, perhaps on mecheiti, to make communications in guaranteed non-overheard-ness, or send documents? Into the hills, to set up some kind of shelter, or trap, or...?
Or are they lying to Bren about being away, and really just down the hall in their security station doing Things Bren Doesn't Need To Know About? If so, what things?
What's your reading of the Mysterious Absences Of Security, everyone? I need some backup brains, here!
2. Does "dragonettes" bother anyone else, grammatically speaking? :D
3. What is Tabini thinking, with the television interview which he surely knows Bren isn't authorised by his own people to give?! After packing him off into out-of-sight-out-of-mind obscurity, too! Even with this not being my first time reading this book, I'm surprised by this -- is it just a very large gamble on whether he can force Bren to act for him beyond Mospheira's oversights? Is it a test of Bren's claim to hold/understand man'chi (again, a very public one involving the reputations of dozens of his own associates)?
4. Could atevi thought be more compartmentalised than humans manage? Several times now we've had an ateva tell Bren, essentially, 'don't worry, return to whatever you were doing', and some hints that they can do just that when (to a human) nerve-wracking things happen. Maybe atevi brains are faster to "come down" from adrenaline highs, and/or their equivalent fight/flight hormones are faster-dissipating?
It could account for both the blase attitudes toward violence/unexpected events, and their apparently serious advice to Bren that he disregard the power outages and go back to mental shopping for skis. Maybe even contributes to needing less sleep, if they do? Less emotional tension over everyday events = less need to process things subconsciously via dreaming?
and questions
Into the town, perhaps on mecheiti, to make communications in guaranteed non-overheard-ness, or send documents? Into the hills, to set up some kind of shelter, or trap, or...?
Or are they lying to Bren about being away, and really just down the hall in their security station doing Things Bren Doesn't Need To Know About? If so, what things?
What's your reading of the Mysterious Absences Of Security, everyone? I need some backup brains, here!
2. Does "dragonettes" bother anyone else, grammatically speaking? :D
3. What is Tabini thinking, with the television interview which he surely knows Bren isn't authorised by his own people to give?! After packing him off into out-of-sight-out-of-mind obscurity, too! Even with this not being my first time reading this book, I'm surprised by this -- is it just a very large gamble on whether he can force Bren to act for him beyond Mospheira's oversights? Is it a test of Bren's claim to hold/understand man'chi (again, a very public one involving the reputations of dozens of his own associates)?
4. Could atevi thought be more compartmentalised than humans manage? Several times now we've had an ateva tell Bren, essentially, 'don't worry, return to whatever you were doing', and some hints that they can do just that when (to a human) nerve-wracking things happen. Maybe atevi brains are faster to "come down" from adrenaline highs, and/or their equivalent fight/flight hormones are faster-dissipating?
It could account for both the blase attitudes toward violence/unexpected events, and their apparently serious advice to Bren that he disregard the power outages and go back to mental shopping for skis. Maybe even contributes to needing less sleep, if they do? Less emotional tension over everyday events = less need to process things subconsciously via dreaming?