Well, and Your Humble Blogger should have something to say about his third time through Cordelia’s Honor in three years. I really should.
Um ... ok, here’s the question: how come there aren’t more people with the same first names, forced to go by nicknames? I suppose there wouldn’t be that many Milesses, since the name is Betan, yes? But surely there should be dozens of Ivans, Gregors, Piotrs, Pierres, even Arals. By the naming convention, a grandfather would be likely to have at least two children with his first name, and probably more. I would think in such a society, particularly when using somebody’s last name alone risks social insult, every boy would have a nickname bestowed on him (probably by his same-name cousins) long before taking the Academy exams, and those names would stick. Just a thought.
Tolerabimus quod tolerare debemus,
-Vardibidian.