The problem that was dramatized by "...a wall of water..." (see here) at the end of Chapter V is spelt out in VII:
"'I have fared enough in space to realize that every new world is a snarefield of surprises. But I was likewise impatient.'" (p. 40)
Every new world has got to be full of surprises but here is someone who knows this from experience.
Short chapters make it easier to pause and post:
VI = pp. 37-38;
VII = pp. 39-41 (little more than two pages of text).
There are LIV (54) chapters in 290 pages of text.
Hebo's ability to cope with the unexpected is hampered because his brain is overwhelmed by nine hundred years of memories. It is time not only for rejuvenation but also for editing: two different, and almost opposite, processes. Rejuvenation refreshes memories in a finite brain...
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I remember that bit about Hebo starting to suffer from memory overload. He really should have undergone memory editing about fifty or forty years sooner, but spending so many years among non-humans made it easy for him not to realize he had a memory overload problem. If he had been more among humans during those fifty years the increasing "inaccuracy" of his dealings with them would have made the problem plain far sooner.
Sean
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