(i) A Draka defector to the Alliance refers to the agoge.
-SM Stirling, The Stone Dogs (New York, 1990), p. 175.
(Interesting motive for defection: brought up by serfs, he realized that they were the only people he cared about and he was spending his time grinding them down.)
(ii) "...an agroaphobe..." (p. 176)
(iii) "...krypteia..." (ibid.)
There will probably be more. A more patient blogger would have waited for a longer list.
Meanwhile, in the text, two OSS agents travel into the Domination to assassinate a defector. I can only hope that they succeed and eliminate the defector's handler also.
(A breakfast post: short and sweet.)
Later that day: I was already familiar with "agroaphobia" but not with its correct spelling so I thought that this was a new variation. I apologize for an over-hasty response. A few pages later, we get "...coffle..." (p. 178) but I had encountered this word before, I think in a work by Anderson. P. 187 gives us "...ghouloon..." but this word is invented. It is a "...transgene animal...," a large dog-headed baboon, alternately quadrupedal and bipedal, with opposable thumbs and rudimentary language, a mixture of baboon, leopard, gorilla, hunting dog and human, to be used as infantry by the Domination. Mega-serious barf-bag time.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I remember the bit about the Draka who defected to the Alliance because he could no longer endure the thought of how everything he did was used to grind down even more the people he cared most about: the serfs who had raised him from childhood. I think it should also have been mentioned that this Draka could have done his five years mandatory military service and then retire to his estates to treat his serfs decently (and even vote for one of the two non Draka League parties which continued to linger in the Domination). But that, of course, would not have CHANGED anything. So, it made more sense for this Draka to defect.
Sean
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