Must have Books - The Liaden Universe

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	Pilots Choice by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller Lee and Miller mix a compelling fictional society governed by a strict code of honor with romantic, funny, touchingly real characters and great storytelling in Pilots Choice. Its two tales are prequels to Partners in Necessity, the long-awaited reprinting of their first three novels, Conflict of Honors, Agent of Change, and Carpe Diem. You need not have read their other books before diving into this one. But be warned: you may read straight through until you've finished the sequel to Partners, Plan B. In Local Custom, Er Thom yos'Galen is at odds with his duty: to match with a proper Liaden bride and provide clan Korval with an heir. His mother observes, "You have consistently refused every contract-alliance the head of your line has brought to your attention for the past three years. Permit me to wonder why." Er Thom can't forget Terran scholar Anne Davis, though they agreed to part. Revisiting her one last time he finds Shan yos'Galen, his son. Shan needs Liaden training and Korval needs his skills. Anne loves Er Thom and knows he risks his melant'i (honor, reputation) if he takes a Terran wife. But she won't be parted from her son. Er Thom and Anne are aided by Er Thom's cousin and foster brother, the Delm (head) of Korval, Daav yos'Phelium. Scout's Progress finds Daav facing contract-marriage himself. Then he meets Aelliana Caylon, a gifted mathematician who needs a pilot's license. Daav becomes her copilot and instructor. Aelliana begins to plan a future far from Liad and her sadistic older brother, Ran Eld, heir to the Delm of her clan. She doesn't know that her friend Daav can't leave with her, and is promised to another woman. These are SF and fantasy books. Lee and Miller are master world-builders: the pilot culture, the intricate web of Liaden custom, the portrayals of the "three" races (Liaden, Terran, and Yxtrang), and the detailed history gradually revealed all attest to their skills. Moreover, there's plenty of action and adventure here, and no painfully graphic sex scenes. If you enjoy witty banter between characters, social and political intrigue, and "tales of love and glory" set in intergalactic space, don't miss these books.
	Partners in Necessity by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller Whether you love Bujold's A Civil Campaign, McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series, or classics like The Prisoner of Zenda, you owe it to yourself to grab Partners in Necessity. You'll see why Sharon Lee and Steve Miller have gained devoted fans since the first three Liaden novels (collected here) first appeared; they helped bring the series back with the publication of Plan B 11 years after its debut. This is swashbuckling space opera at its finest, a blend of adventure, romance, humor, and terrific world building. Meet Priscilla Delacroix y Mendoza, betrayed and stranded on a backward world by the Liaden trader she served as cargo master. Fortunately, another Liaden ship, Dutiful Passage, makes orbit and she applies for work. The captain, Shan yos'Galen, also has accounts to settle with Priscilla's former employers, and "among Liadens, revenge is something of an art form." Conflict of Honors is their story. In Agent of Change, Val Con yos'Phelium, Shan's cousin and foster brother, comes to the aid of Miri Robertson, former mercenary and bodyguard, who's being hunted by an interstellar crime cartel. Once a First-in Scout, he's become a spy for Liad, programmed to play the odds ruthlessly. He's just committed a murder. They flee together, aided by Edger, an alien shaped like a turtle. His "four-hundred pound bottle-green frame" is impressive to the Clans of Men, as are the beautiful, deadly knives of his people. He's considered a bit hasty by colleagues, but his appreciation of music is keen and he regards Val Con as a brother. In Carpe Diem, the stories of Val Con and Miri, and Shan and Priscilla come together and the story of Clan Korval, to which Shan and Val Con belong, unfolds further. This omnibus edition contains the three first book of the Liaden Universe series. The books are: Conflict of Honors, Agent of Change , and Carpe Diem.
	Plan B by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller Meet Val Con yos'Phelium of Clan Korval. Val Con was once an "agent of change": recruited by Liad's Department of Interior (DOI) and redesigned--his memories blocked, his emotions suppressed--into a precision killing device. Val Con's sanity was saved by his lifemate, Miri Robertson. She's a half-Terran former mercenary sergeant even shorter than Val Con, and almost as deadly in combat. Miri also has Liaden dramliza (wizard) blood from her mother's family, Clan Erob. In Liaden society, one's melant'i (roughly: reputation, or face) is preserved by appropriate speech and behavior, including honor duels when a Balance is owed. Miri is nervous but Val Con says: "'Together, cha'trez, we are--' he bent his head, put his mouth next to her ear and breathed '--hell on wheels.'" DOI has plotted to destroy Korval; Korval now invokes Plan B: retreat strategically, trust no one, prepare for all-out war. Val Con and Miri are trapped by an invasion force of the militaristic Yxtrang as they await Val Con's foster siblings, who are arming the clan. And of course their adopted Clutch brothers, Edger and Sheather, who resemble giant turtles, are also on their way. Somewhat more slowly. Can everybody stay alive long enough to reunite?
	I Dare by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller Followers of the Liaden Universe in particular and aficionados of intelligent space opera in general will be thoroughly entertained by Lee and Miller's latest episode in the far-future, star-spanning adventures of Clan Korval on the planet Liad. In this immediate sequel to Plan B (1999), which is recommended reading for those who wish to get the most out of this one, the action is nonstop from the first page, as the members of Clan Korval, fleeing from the Department of the Interior, aid their allies of Clan Erob in defeating the invasion of the Yxtrangs, a nasty militarized culture with overtones of ancient Sparta. The Department hopes to neutralize all clan members, except for the last Korval on Liad, the ne'er-do-well Pat Rin yos'Phelium, whom they intend to turn into a puppet. But Pat Rin has unexpected depths, no use for the Department's plans and several schemes of his own. Meanwhile, the Department tracks Val Con yos'Phelium, a former Agent of Change for the Department, to his hideout, hoping to capture him alive and use him "as both bait and bridle to the remainder of Korval." A cliff-hanger ending leaves a number of story lines unresolved until, hopefully, the next title in the series. Purely escapist this book may be (perhaps not a bad thing at this moment in history), but the authors' craftsmanship is top-notch, recalling the work of Elizabeth Moon and Lois McMaster Bujold, as well as, at a less exalted level, the military SF of writers like Robert Frezza.
	Scout's Progress by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller Scout's Progress is a prequel to the main sequence of Liaden novels that begins with Agent of Change. It tells the story of the romance of the parents of the hero of that novel. Daav yos Phelium, a Liaden of the somewhat renegade Clan Korval, and an ex-Scout and a Master Pilot, is facing the necessity of a contract marriage. He is somewhat resigned to this, despite disliking his arranged mate, and despite facing the hostility of her family to the presence of a Terran in his extended household. At the same time the brilliant mathematician Aelliana Caylon, daughter of an impoverished Clan, is facing abuse from her vain brother, who resents her abilities. Her only thought is to escape to Terran space, where the strict social rules that govern Liadens do not apply -- but how? Then, rather improbably, she finds herself with a spaceship -- and the Master Pilot who ends up helping her get her pilot's license is -- well, you've guessed it.
	Local Custom by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller Local Custom is a prequel to the earlier Liaden novel Conflict of Honors, and it tells the story of the romance of the parents of the hero that book. Anne Davis is a Terran Professor of Linguistics who had a fling with a Liaden Master Trader, Er Thom yos Galan, some three years prior to the action of the novel. A son resulted, of whom Er Thom knows nothing. Back on Liad, Er Thom is being urged to take a contract wife and provide his clan with a child, but he can not bring himself to take any interest in any Liaden women. He decides to return to Anne to say farewell once and for all, and provide himself with emotional closure. Instead, he finds that his feelings for her (and hers for him) are as intense as ever. Also, he finds he has a son, whom she has named Shan yos Galan. By Liaden custom, that son belongs to his Clan -- surely Anne will see it that way -- surely anyone would? Anne misunderstannds, but agrees to visit Er Thom's family. Once there, she faces the hostility of his prickly Aunt, who cannot tolerate the thought of a Terran in the family; as well as danger from those proud Liadens who object to her linguistics studies; and finally, the horror of realizing that Er Thom believes that Shan will stay on Liad. The resolution comes when all sides come to some accommodation with the local customs of the others.