Allergy Information, Thread May Contain Conspirator Spoilers

Well, I've read it. Some inconsistencies, including with the age of Badissuni who I didn't think had been very old. But I'm long over inconsistencies in the series---it's the thought that counts. Just to get the other major criticisms out of the way:

1. Ilisidi is immortal or something? We are going to have to face her age, as it were, *some* time.

2. You would think that they would put Cajeiri in a box or something.

But in self-response to (2), I would say that the-new-guard-that-assumes-he-will-escape was a nice way for CJC to finesse this problem.

I do like this evolution. It's clearly going to run right into the next book. Not only did CJC finally push the Barb thread she's been hinting at for some time, she has also pushed the Bren-as-local-lord thread. That he can play the role in the West that Ilisidi played in the East, simultaneous guarantor of independence and unity. That he, kin to the dispossessors could repay the centuries debt by bringing the Edi into prominence once again as a people, whose light apparently has been hidden under a bushel for so long.

Well for one I don't think Ilisidi is immortal. In Conspirator her age and frailty is clearly hinted at, much more so than in earlier books... and this one is set only three months after the events in Deliverer. Dropping a teacup is NOT Ilisidi's normal standards.

Personally I liked the evolution of Bren as a local lord. It also sets the stage for a conflict between his (former) self as partisan only to Tabini. As a local lord he will have to take issue with the legislative session, pushing a local rather than global/universal agenda. Also Cajeiri is asserting himself, and I think the new guards actually will help him in that.

I also liked the fact that this story ultimately traces the problems in the association to the dispossession of the Edi and the Gan. The weakness of Baiji is merely an effect that the Maschi-Edi relationship was merely one that made the Edi and the aishi'ditat palatable to one another, but it relegated them to a sideshow whose interests were naturally neglected.

It's not surprising to me that there are whole occulted associations in the aishi'ditat---not fighting it, like the Marid, simply beyond present politics. Bren via the whole situation has become the window through which these occulted associations can be seen.

Also interesting is the fact that The Troubles (Ireland?) drew not only Mospheira and Dur together, but Mospheira ended up marshalling other island fiefdoms, as though they were in its political orbit or something. If Tabini had not regained power, would this axis have remained stable?

And hmm, the Crescent Island settlement is failing. I suspect that this is another thread that we're going to see pushed---CJC will finally deal with the insularity of Mospheira? Because I've always seen Mospheira as the repository where CJC places representations of her frustration with narrow-minded Earthly politics.

We are also getting the sense, in pushing the Barb thread forward, that there is greater complexity in Bren's family than we had been led to believe, just as we are seeing greater complexity in the ethnic rivalries of the associations. Bren's absence from his family life has caused all kinds of disruptions, and a reckoning is going to have to come. Jill is not an innocent victim, for one thing.

Must.....Have.....Book.......

Did anyone notice the one sentence that Damiri was possibly pregnant again?

I haven't seen it yet, but she is going to need an heir of her own, since she is Tatiseigi's (sp?) heir. And at the rate Cajeiri is going, she and Tabini would probably feel better if they had a spare.

I liked the interplay between Mospheirans and the atevi, making it more clear how the culture clash led to the War of the Landing and why the paidhi was ultimately needed as an interface between the groups. What seems like perfectly ordinary behavior in one context can be utterly appalling in another...

I saw that line and wondered about it. Did it mean that Damiri could produce an heir if necessary or that she was pregnant? The political repercussions could be huge. Cajeiri's life would be in even more danger if another heir who has not been "corrupted" by humans is born. teased us when she said that she had to save Bren's life in the new book she's writing, but it seems that lately Cajeiri is the one who needs saving.
I had expected that the new trilogy would be Bren back in space and having to deal with the new inhabitants of the station, but looks like there's still quite a bit of work to do to stabilize the Western Association. I can't wait for the next book. Do we know when it's been published?
About Ilisidi, I hope she is immortal, she's such a great character!

I understood from that sentence that she'd be pregnant. I don't have the book here to check exactly how it went, but I didn't have any questions about that when I read it, anyway.

Amen!

Another criticism: I find it hard to believe that after *all this* Barb, needy as she is, hasn't discovered a little bit of discretion/circumspection after having been a close spectator for so long. The whole shopping episode with the jinxed dress screamed "blonde comic relief stereotype!!!"

The cover art is very apropos, what with the stained class tree.

As for Ilisidi, she's a great character, it's just that she, like Barb, is starting to stretch believability.

Ramaso confiding in Bren that the Edi view Bren as *at least* an opportunity was one of my favorite scenes in the book. An exile too.

My interpretation was that she would be able to produce another heir, not that she was pregnant at the moment. But that's just me.

In general I felt like this book left a lot of loose ends, but as the start of a three-book arc I only thought it appropriate. As is there's a lot of possibilities as to what will happen in the nest tow book. Which I like.

As for Barb... I think reality surpasses fiction. Just look around if you want examples of humans doing the most unbelievable things. For real. In this life. And as I said before - Ilisidi is on her way down. Just look at that broken teacup. She might not acknowledge it. But I'd be surprised if she's still alive when book #12 is done with. If she's still alive at that point I'd bet her death would be first thing in a possible #13.

Just imagine the plot twists made possible by her demise!!!

Do we actually know how old Ilisidi is? I remember she was claiming to be dying or something like that already in Foreigner, but... that doesn't count for much. ;)

As for the dress thing... I think that's something Barb definitely couldn't have known, no matter how long she's been around. You're shopping, see a pretty dress in a store, want to buy it... quite natural, I'd say.

A question to those who have finished Conspirator: Is the stained glass ree window in Bren's estate? I haven't the book yet, but one would like to know; and 'tis (likely) a minor detail.