Forgive me, but I'm more curious about some of the unanswered questions and unknown history in the Alliance-Union universe, but I won't bother anyone by raising those right now ...


 

The thing I’m really curious about is - what happens when, inevitably, “mainline” humans meet Mospheirans and Phoenix crew? We know that they’re close enough in space to be able to reach each other well within a human lifetime, at least with the help of K’yo jump tech. Which then brings up a whole other set of questions like “how did Phoenix raise absolutely no guide stars after her ill-famed jump if she was still close enough to home for that to be true?” I had always sort of assumed that the Earth of humans was in another galaxy or something, and Phoenix had fallen through a wormhole or some such into a completely impossibly remote region of space. But I guess not…

Griffinmoon wrote:

IIrc, a long time back She had said the Atevi verse and the Alliance-Union verse weren't anywhere near close at all.

That was my recollection as well.
 

Agreed. Every so often, it was mentioned that humanity's being close enough that the Kyo could reach them was a thought that made Bren apprehensive. It could be that it was only a small reference to a finished part of the story, but I was taking it as a hint that towards the end of the series, there would be more decisions to make about how Mospheria and the Atevi would interact with them.

What interested me the most was the relationship between Cajieri and the children from the station, especially the girl (whose name I have forgotten) who tried so hard to impress Cajieri's mother. Are they destined to be Bren's successors? And multiple of them at the same time, or a heirarchy where one is the preferred one and the rest are trusted associates?

Honestly, Cajieri and the children was my favorite plot thread. Where human and atevi adults came to blows in the past, what world could the children envision and bring to pass in a generation?

Last edited by Roci (5/06/2026 11:44 am)

I remember the intention, but there would still be the hurdle of convincing the Mospherians that people who aren't from Mospheria should represent them. Knowing Bren, they would eventually manage it, but I imagined it would be not without some books arcs to sort it out if it did get touched on.

But that would still leave the most interesting question to me: Does one of them formally succeed, or do the Atevi allow multiple humans to act as Paidhi?

It isn't related to spoilers, but a question that I have long pondered is about the rare Atevi who don't feel manchi. The brief description that I recall is that they are basically considered insane, dangerous, and never to be dealt with by rational people. But that is all from the Atevi viewpoint. Would an atevi who feels no manchi possibly feel at home more among humans, who also have no manchi? If given the opportunity, perhaps they might feel some other sort of emotion. An utterly irrational one, in which they may become salads with people who have common cares and goals but no manchi to anyone.

The answer is probably that they wouldn't get along and prove disastrous over time, but I think about it nonetheless. 

Last edited by Roci (5/07/2026 9:03 am)