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Sometimes, especially with stories told from several viewpoints across multiple volumes, the writer needs to have a scene that establishes the relationship between this POV in this book, and a different POV in a previous book. Particularly, in the entire Paksworld work, the temporal situation. We are so used to knowing today what happened an hour ago 2000 miles (or more) away, so used to having simultaneous different points of view, with television cameras and interviewers able to get the reaction of four widely scattered “foreigners” (to whatever station the news is on) and four “native” (ditto) that it’s hard to keep in mind how long it could take for information to get from one place to another. My entire life, privileged information arrived within 24 hours (telegraphs were expensive but used for super-important stuff) and the technology wasn’t new then.
So this snippet, early in Limits of Power, re-connects in a way the POV of someone else somewhere else with the POV here. Very important things have happened to someone else, and this person didn’t even know–had not a clue what was going on. It is a slight overlap, reflecting the temporal effect of distance. The chapter it’s in has possible snippets holding spoilers, but I’m handing you this one instead.
Where: North Marches stronghold
Who: Count Arcolin
The green velvet sack with the gold-embroidered arms of Lyonya lay alone in the center of his desk; lesser messages were stacked to one side, a courteous gap between them and the royal missive.
Arcolin opened the sack. A letter from Kieri, in his own hand, and a wedding invitation in multi-colored inks, clearly the work of a palace scribe.
(….)
The other messages were routine. Marshals of the two granges on his domain, reporting on the membership and training schedule of each. Captain Valichi, reminding him that Valichi intended to retire as soon as the troops left for Aarenis, reporting that the neighboring Count Halar had agreed to let Fox Company recruit in his domain and shared more gossip about Dorrin Verrakai. Mayors of Duke’s East and Duke’s West, their usual reports, including–from Duke’s West–a request for one more Count’s Court to hear a case arisen while he’d been in Vérella.
……………………………………………
Comment by SnowGator — August 14, 2012 @ 5:32 pm
Great reminder on temporal perspective, an analogue of Fleet maneuvers without ansibles.
It’s somewhat surprising that the less fastidious elves haven’t made use of the “taig-o-phone” for profit before this. Though perhaps they can’t now.
“We appreciate your patience, all circuits are busy…”
“HONEY, the Elvenhome is down again!!”
Comment by Iphinome — August 14, 2012 @ 6:38 pm
@SnowGator HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA.
We know you have a choice when it comes to tree-mail and we’d like to thank you for choosing willow.
Comment by GinnyW — August 14, 2012 @ 8:38 pm
I think this was snail-mail not tree-mail.
On one level, I think I was/am aware that the problem of communication and who knows what about the action around the other characters (perhaps even who knows about the other characters)is an important part of making the world-building plausible. Mostly though, I have to admire the author (yes, Elizabeth, I mean you) for actually working it into the plot.
Comment by Richard — August 15, 2012 @ 2:42 am
Only the bad guys had the advantage of Achyra’s world-wide-Web (such as it was).
Comment by pjm — August 15, 2012 @ 6:09 am
Maybe in Andressat, when elves lived there, they heard things on the grape-vine.
Comment by elizabeth — August 15, 2012 @ 7:16 am
pjm, Richard, GinnyW, Iphinome,Snow Gator: You guys made me laugh entirely too hard. To the hiccuping stage. Repeatedly.
Thank you.
Comment by Jenn — August 15, 2012 @ 8:10 am
I guess with the elvenhome down everyone will be playing phone-taig.
Thank you for the snippet Elizabeth.
Comment by Rolv — August 15, 2012 @ 1:44 pm
Ent-citing! (Sorry, wrong world.) 😉
Comment by Eir de Scania — August 15, 2012 @ 2:48 pm
Still ent-ertaining, though. 🙂
Comment by Daniel Glover — August 15, 2012 @ 5:11 pm
Unfortunately, it also means there will be more time for fun and games like pin the tail on the daskdraudigs too.
Comment by Sharidann — August 16, 2012 @ 9:11 am
Useful reminder about communication lag.
And I must admit I really enjoyed the comments and the puns.
Comment by Jenn — August 16, 2012 @ 3:19 pm
How about the ever popular musical thrones? Don’t let Alured play though.
Comment by Iphinome — August 17, 2012 @ 5:24 am
@GinnyW Rule of funny. The snippet was snail mail but when major things are at _stake_ you should hurry down to the _post_ and send a tree-mail
Comment by Jenn — August 17, 2012 @ 7:15 am
Tree-mail wood do nicely.
Comment by pjm — August 18, 2012 @ 12:58 am
Given the dangers and need for messengers to defend themselves, messages might often be delivered by a mailed mail-male.
Comment by Rolv — August 18, 2012 @ 6:31 am
For soldiers, the S-mail, usually called S-mile, to avoid confusion with their uniforms.
Comment by Abigail Miller — August 18, 2012 @ 9:12 pm
At this point I am reminded of Esther’s anthology, _The Chick is in the Mail_.
Comment by Jenn — August 19, 2012 @ 10:26 am
Just stopped at the extra’s break room for a nice cup of sib and found one of the new and rather young laundresses in tears. After much coaxing and several cups of sib, the young girl confessed she had a crush on the Squire Doryan and was just informed by one of the under-gardeners that he had green blood. She could live with that but the gardener had told her in the autumn his hair would fall out just like the leaves on the trees.
Poor thing she really believed him.
Comment by Richard — August 20, 2012 @ 5:54 pm
My nit-picker continuity daemon has taken this long to remember that in this particular instance, the first someone had received one clue what the second someone had been involved with, thanks to a flying visit (we might say) from a third someone: days after the events but long before the letter arrived overland.
That was rather a special case and the general principle of news taking time to travel still applies. It is not just quickness of information transfer we take for granted, but quickness of replication; we forget what a big gap it was from inventing the printing press (which I take it Paksworld hasn’t done yet, anyway) to being able to run off thousands of copies of a newspaper overnight.
Arcolin, having had a letter, can announce Kieri’s personal news to everyone at the stronghold. But the villagers won’t know until Arcolin himself takes time to write to or visit the mayors. Furthermore, I’m guessing Kieri’s letter may not have mentioned his Midwinter Night adventure so Arcolin will never learn about that.
Even in our modern world, the information that travels fast isn’t always what we’ll think is important, but what the senders think is worth broadcasting.