{"id":2127,"date":"2026-05-03T15:55:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T15:55:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/?p=2127"},"modified":"2026-05-03T15:55:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T15:55:49","slug":"scouts-progress-summing-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/?p=2127","title":{"rendered":"Scout’s Progress summing up"},"content":{"rendered":"

For those who are coming in late, I here repeat the disclaimer from the Local Custom<\/em> summing up:\u00a0 I adore Local Custom<\/em> and its companion book, Scout\u2019s Progress<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Once again, I adore the relationship between the brothers, Daav and Er Thom. I especially love Er Thom for, “It is not meet, if you do not care for her; if any is the same as one –”\u00a0 And Daav for his oh-so-very-gentle rejoinder, “No, darling. … I submit that you have been taught by a Terran wife.”<\/p>\n

The clan is changing around them; for the clan reflects its members, and adding Anne to the mix has opened up . . . so many odd horizons.<\/p>\n

I particularly love Daav’s twisty brain, his humor, his vulnerability, and his generosity to his friends and to those who simply need someone to stand behind them while they take a deep breath, or a moment to think something through.<\/p>\n

Most of all, though, I love Aelliana Caylon — her courage, her unshakeable faith in her own intellect, her ability to form a plan to save her own life, and despite the daunting necessities required of that plan, to say, “I can do this.\u00a0 I must<\/em> do this.”<\/p>\n

I will pause here to note that, Aelliana, of all the Liaden Universe\u00ae heroines to have been dismissed as “Mary Sue” (I think Theo has the honor of being the most reviled in this manner. We can discuss this later.), is legitimately an insertion of the author into the story.<\/p>\n

Writers are told to Write What You Know.\u00a0 And I?\u00a0 Knew what it was like to be the least regarded, most scapegoated, and physically abused member of a family, and when I drew on that well of knowledge heavily during the writing of Scout’s Progress<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Would I have made the decision to make Aelliana’s case quite so desperate had I known that I was assigning myself to relive a portion of my life that I had managed — much less spectacularly — to escape?<\/p>\n

Honestly, I’m not sure.\u00a0 A question for the philosophers, I suppose, or the scholars who will inevitably study our work.\u00a0 My fingers made the decision between one paragraph and the next, and once you cast the die, you can never undo the throw.<\/p>\n

The other thing I love about Scout’s Progress<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Daav’s affianced wife, Samiv tel’Izak Clan Bindan.\u00a0 I remember vehemently<\/em> rejecting the idea that she should herself be grasping and venal.\u00a0 Her expectations are guided by her delm, which is perhaps a mistake, but what choice has she?\u00a0 She . . . tries<\/em> to grasp Daav’s offer of friendship, but it’s so strange, so Scoutlike<\/em>, and she is not a Scout, only a dutiful daughter of her clan, raised in a society where you give nothing<\/em> away, lest it be used against you.<\/p>\n

But when she is called on to aid another pilot in peril?\u00a0 Ah, then<\/em> she knows her melant’i<\/em> and her duties to a comrade.<\/p>\n

I love that she’s the one who draws a weapon on the abuser, and calls him to his delm’s notice.\u00a0 I love that she knows her delm is still going to come down hard on her, despite Daav has done all he can to take credit for the entirety of the “scandal” they created.<\/p>\n

And there’s the whole Binjali crew, and the pirates, and the shadow of what it means<\/em>, on Liad, to be clanless.<\/p>\n

And the Tree, of course.\u00a0 How could I forget the Tree, taking an active part, as is does, in the proposed nuptials?\u00a0 And Daav’s very respectful relationship with the elder his clan exists to serve?<\/p>\n

“I hope you’re proud of yourself,” he continued aloud. “Terrifying a guest of the House\u2014and one’s wife-elect. I should think an ancient hulking brute like yourself might find more seemly amusements. Forgive me if I speak too plainly.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes.\u00a0 A most excellent story, as the one before it, though they are as different as their principles.\u00a0 As before, I found nothing to change, and much to love.<\/p>\n

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For those who are coming in late, I here repeat the disclaimer from the Local Custom summing up:\u00a0 I adore Local Custom and its companion book, Scout\u2019s Progress. Once again, I adore the relationship between the brothers, Daav and Er Thom. I especially love Er Thom for, “It is not meet, if you do not … Continue reading Scout’s Progress summing up<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-2127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-liaden-read-along","tag-liaden-read-along"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2127"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2127\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2131,"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2127\/revisions\/2131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}