Dramatic Irony for Elfgames

I've been spending the past little while visiting my girlfriend, and on the plane ride back I started reading the book Conquistador, by S.M. Stirling. This isn't a book review, mostly because I'm not done with it and my thoughts so far are "I grew up on Stirling's books, this is a Stirling book, so it feels like a lovely homecoming for me." What I initially found interesting was how much it cuts…