That explanation is correct, but too limited. Have there been any ice ages? If so, what caused them, and were any prehistoric people driven from ancient lands that slowly slipped below the sea? Might traces of lost civilizations be awaiting the notice of someone looking down from the station? When Ilisidi asked Bren about submarines, was there something she knew that we don’t? The curiosity, it burns. Polar ice caps were mentioned somewhere, I do believe, but I can’t find the reference. Would the doldrums be vaster, the trade winds faster? Can anyone say?

I assume that the same would apply to the much larger ocean on the Atevi world, but a wider ocean actually means less weather, except for the seasonal storms. Such things attracted fishes, which is what attracted him. Even reefs that didn’t quite emerge from the water at low tide could generate a little weather by creating a difference in temperature from the surrounding ocean. A helicopter pilot who spotted for factory fishing ships told me that you only saw weather where there was something in the water, from big islands down to snags of wreckage or floating mats of weed. I’ve been told that weather in the Pacific is mostly placid, except for the trade winds and the seasonal storms. In the meanwhile, I’ve been curious about a few non-plot related points. I have so many questions, but most will likely be answered in the next book. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read Emergence. I feel like a short story just on the lives of common ordinary atevi would be wonderfully enlightening. I am forever intrigued by the little details provided about the lives of ordinary atevi, especially by the reference to them going to “races” (mecheiti, I’m sure) but do they have sports and racing the same way humans do? The assassinations are generally legal and done in a specific manner (except during Murini’s reign of course, where it all went a little crazy).ĭo atevi get into their own physical altercations, amongst the common folks? Is assault and battery a thing? Do they have martial arts or boxing equivalents? Am I too annoyingly interested in whether they get into totally improper fights? 😛

Bren was expecting a working over of some kind (I assumed some form of beating)- was that just his terrified assumption of what would occur, or did they know from previous encounters with atevi that it was known to happen?Ītevi seem to have a very er… refined?… notion of violence in their society.

Cherryh foreigner series