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Includes the first six chapter books in the Adventures in the Liaden Universe. Two Tales of Korval (chap book #1), Fellow Travelers (chap book #2), Duty Bound (chap book #3), Certain Symmetry (chap book #4), Trading In Futures (chap book #5), and Changeling (chap book #6).

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First published July 1, 2007

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About the author

Sharon Lee

169 books790 followers
Sharon Lee has been married to her first husband for more than half her lifetime; she is a friend to cats, a member of the National Carousel Association, and oversees the dubious investment schemes of an improbable number of stuffed animals.

Despite having been born in a year of the dragon, Sharon is an introvert. She lives in Maine because she likes it there. In fact, she likes it so much that she has written five novels set in Maine; contemporary fantasy trilogy Carousel Tides, Carousel Sun, Carousel Seas, and mysteries Barnburner and Gunshy.

With the aforementioned first husband, Steve Miller, Sharon has written twenty novels of science fiction and fantasy — many of them set in the Liaden Universe® — and numerous short stories. She has occasionally been an advertising copywriter, a reporter, photographer, book reviewer, and secretary. She was for three years Executive Director of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc., and was subsequently elected vice president and then president of that organization.

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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Profile Image for Kerry.
1,577 reviews116 followers
October 22, 2014
REREAD: 20 October 2014 - 21 October 2014

I started up on my reread of the main series again, and decided after finishing I Dare that I'd skim through these stories again before going on to Liaden Unibus II and the stories I haven't previous read in there, plus the newer chapbooks. Then I'll drop back to Fledgling and read on forward until I'm up to date. It's a good plan, anyway, subject to distractions or changing my mind - or new books coming out.

That's exactly what I did; skimmed some of the stories to remind me of what happened and reread others in detail because they were ones I remembered liking or were important to the ongoing storyline.

I'm glad I did.

Onwards now.


Read from September 21 to 27, 2012

I had read some of these stories before in their individual chapbooks, but not all of them.

I'll say quickly that I enjoyed them all and even the ones I'd read before helped make further sense of the universe.

My favourites were Changeling and Breath's Duty.

I knew Ren Zel's back story was in one of the chapbooks and I was glad to get to read it finally. I found myself ever so furious on his behalf and was very glad of Shan's tendency to pick up waifs and strays when they need it. I'm rather looking forward to seeing Ren Zel again as a secondary character in the upcoming books.

Breath's Duty was great, but I kind of wish I'd known it came around the time of Plan B and I Dare and I could have read it there. More than a piece of backstory, I felt this one was more a part of the main narrative itself and I'd have preferred to read it where it was supposed to fall.

I've managed to track down a rough timeline of the short stories and as I move to Liaden Unibus II I'm going to try only to read the stories that fall before Agent of Change and keep the later ones (and I know there are some on Surebleak in the aftermath of the main novels) until I'm at that point in the story. It's all a bit vague, so I suspect I'll get some of it right and some of it wrong, but I'll do my best.

(Sorry this is a short one; sickness in the family, school holidays and my own health are kicking my butt right now.)
Profile Image for Melanti.
1,256 reviews139 followers
October 10, 2012
At times, I think that being a fan of the Liaden universe is like being a fan of puzzles.

You never get the full story all at once. You'll get little pieces scattered into one book that match with other larger pieces that fit into another book and, suddenly, you understand what they're talking about. It's not just actions or characters, but entire pieces of information regarding the Liaden culture that are slowly revealed.

And once revealed, that information will be used, but perhaps not revealed anew. For instance, in "Certain Symmetry", they never explain why Pat Rin is so discomfited by the idea of a masked ball, but if you remember Gordy's remarks about a facial taboo and the Liaden's general aversion to something so minor as makeup, the concept of wearing masks is truly shocking.

These stories do not in the slightest stand alone, but there's some truly wonderful jewels here. I loved "Changeling", which is Ren Zel's (Passage's first mate in I Dare) backstory - something that I felt was a missing puzzle piece in that book. My second favorite was "A Day at the Races" for the joy of imagining the proper Lady Kareen in hysterics over Shan and Val Con's antics.

The only ones that fell a bit flat for me were the three about Moonhawk and Lute - Shan and Pricilla's previous incarnations.
Profile Image for John.
1,893 reviews59 followers
December 7, 2013
Stories set over a broad span of years and generations, featuring Moonhawk and the magician as well as the various Korval major players. One feature of all the Liaden tales that I really like is that far more often than not good things happen. As usual, the writing is first rate, too.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews

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