Summary:
Maia's curiosity starts working on killing the cat in this Chapter. As the
train rolls to its next station, Tizbe conviently takes a mid-afternoon
nap. Maia does some investigation, and by probing Tizbe's suitcase,
discovers that Tizbe is apparently carrying a lot of somethings in glass
bottles - likely contraband. Meanwhile, in Maia's head, she is already
connecting the strange substance with the Beller Clan pleasure house
busines, and with the chaos in Lanargh and Clay Town.
As the chapter ends, Maia decides to put in a call for help.
Unfortunately, there are no "savants", let alone a savant with Net Access,
out here in the boondocks. Maia does, however, find a clan-mother who is
willing to provide some "motherly advice." "Motherly Advice" is a
planetary tradition, whereby both men and vars have the right to request
advice for a righteous cause from a clan-mother.
Analysis:
I can't help but feel that Brin started this book, planning to write a
novel with relatively standard chapters. Already, however, he seems to be
slipping back into his preferred style of very short chapters, centered on
a single event.
Notes:
-Sperm is required to produce a placenta. (pg 131)
-The first feminist colony, at Herlandia, bred only a few men as sex
slaves. This colony was destroyed by "The Enemy." (pg 132)
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
"Compassionate conservatism is the way to reconcile the two most vital
conservative intellectual traditions: libertarianism and Catholic social
thought."
-Michael Gerson, advisor to George W. Bush
