Read the previous entry in the series here.
Read the next entry in the series soon.

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An account of an early White Prophet introduces “Ship of Dragons.” The chapter begins with Bee regaining consciousness as the Fool talks to her, the experience painful to her because of the number of potential futures he represents. The Fool reports to Bee about Perseverance, carefully avoiding mention of Fitz until he is pressed directly for it and relates his expectation that Fitz is dead. B ee rails at the assertion, but as she searches within herself for the touch of his magics, she begins to accept that her father is gone.

At length, the pair reach Lant, and the Fool urges more haste to escape. Lant bears Bee on his back, escaping the fortress of Clerres into the surrounding countryside, where they meet Spark again. The Fool relates their expected course of action: return to the Paragon and make for Buckkeep. Bee is told that she is an aunt, and Perseverance is collected. Escape continues, and the Fool muses on the arrogance of the Servants and relates the depth of the Skill-healing Fitz forced upon him. Bee finds herself relegated to being a child who must be protected, which chafes at her, and the matter of Prilkop’s whereabouts receives attention; he had fled, but to where was not marked.

The group reaches one of the Paragon‘s boats and are welcomed aboard. The boat reaches the liveship, and its passengers board. Bee is taken aback by the liveship but soon confers silently with the craft, exchanging news. The liveship begins to transform into the pair of dragons from whose cocoons it was made, and Per takes Bee to her cabin, leaving her to assess herself and her situation. She remarks what Fitz had brought with him to save her, sorrowing over some things and exulting in the presence of her books.

Bee’s reverie is cut off by an attack befalling the liveship. She reluctantly surrenders the Silver that had been promised to Paragon, noting the power it could have offered her, and Kennitsson relays it to the figurehead. As he, joined by the son of Brashen and Althea, does so, Bee, Per, and the Fool flee the ship. Swimming away, Bee sees the liveship assailed and burning, and as the ship sinks, two dragons rise from it and begin to go about the work of destroying those who assail them. Bee watches the dragons at their work with some satisfaction as those around her work to retrieve survivors.

The prefatory comments of the present chapter once again prompt attention. Although it is not explicitly stated, it is clear to me that Gerda and the people whom she serves are the forerunners of the Chyurda; the description of Cullena, her attitudes, and the people that spring from them seem very much in line with Kettricken’s people. Deszcz-Tryhubczak writes about them, and the texts of the Realm of the Elderlings corpus support such an assertion, with examples here, here, and here, among others. That the White Prophets are known among the Chyurda is itself such an indication; the “religion” is not known in the Six Duchies during the Farseer books, and if it receives attention in the Liveship Traders works, I do not recall it at the moment. The Chyurda are further removed, geographically, from Clerres than are Buck, Bingtown, or Jamaillia, yet they are aware of the “faith”; the easiest explanation is that there was some sort of mission from Clerres to the Mountain Kingdom, and the account of Gerda presented in the preface offers some confirmation thereof. It is likely a back-filling, part of an effort to connect and unify the Realm of the Elderlings novels across themselves (and one that is not always successful, I admit; see this and this), but it is something that, at least for me, works well enough.

In the chapter, proper, there is a lot going on, and it contrasts sharply with the remarkably brief chapter it follows. I have to wonder, in fact, if it might not have been better divided into two chapters, given the pivot of Bee in the cabin; she suddenly shifts from contemplation to flight as the attack on the Paragon gets underway. I can understand, in terms of structure, that that might not be advisable; the novel prior had largely worked to alternate chapters of narrative perspective. (That it does has some resonances that frustrate interpretations of the narrative’s relation, as I’ve gestured towards previously. If it is the case that the Farseer novels are Fitz’s papers written between the end of that series and the Tawny Man novels, and the Tawny Man novels are written between that series’ ending and the beginning of the Fitz and the Fool novels, when are the recollections and notes that comprise the Fitz and the Fool novels written, and by whom? The perspective of rereading and the foreshadowing at work even for a new reader suggest that the obvious answer is not the correct one.) Adding another Bee-centered chapter would disrupt that rhythm, even as it would also move the narrative toward being more Bee’s than Fitz’s, and that might not be the worst movement to make, given context.

And, to return for a bit to affective reading: I feel for Bee. Poor kid. As the father of a daughter, and one of whom I am quite proud, I know that the day will come when I leave her, whether I want it to be the case or not. I know that she will not be able to know me the way Bee knows her father; we are close at present (she will be a teenager relatively soon; I have some idea what’s coming), but even with that closeness, we do not share thoughts and emotions the way the Skill allows. I hope nonetheless to be and to have been such a father as will make my absence a sorrow to her, even as I want her not to mourn much at my passing–but I would not begrudge her satisfaction at the fall of those she believes undo me, if that should be what happens. It’s fantasy, for the most part, of course, but even in fantasy, there are things for which to strive in “real life.”

I’ll conclude with a short note: Happy Tolkien Reading Day (again)!

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