This entry in the series continues from Theo Waitley's point of view - an interesting one indeed! It occurs concurrent with that of "Necessity's Child" and others so there are some aspects that might be viewed as spoilers, though it is questionable to my mind how one might avoid these in such a densely layered sequence that these books in the series attempt to convey. ( )

First of all yeah Korval!

This story had some wins and some losses.

There was a fairly big dose here of the Korval is ships, Korval has the luck, Korval breeds for pilots, don't cross Korval mystic so yeah for that. I love to see secondary characters responding to the sight of Tree and Dragon.

There were scenes with Val Con and Miri my favorite couple, The scenes were true to previous tone and character development.

Theo seemed to be finally coming into her own. She was making good solid decisions about her ship and not seeming to be just reacting to what happens to her.

Daav's story seems to be developing well. I don't mind Uncle although he muddies the plot with the DOI.

Thing which were problematic included some scenes that didn't seem to lead anywhere or that could have been shortened. Kamela's scenes for example. I get that we were being led up to the scene where she notices she's being followed but they weren't very interesting in and of themselves. Although I enjoyed Kamela's storyline, I was really only interested in seeing her get to Surebleak and interact with the Delm of Korval. Although I would have been happy to see the actual scenes of her negotiating her way to Surebleak after the incident rather that the slightly drippy before scenes.

There were several scenes where the ship, Bechimo, was thinking and even I, as well versed in the Liaden verse as I am, wondered what the heck was going on and what it had to do with anything? Bechimo was okay and I didn't 100 percent mind that he made up a character to be the comm man but I could have done without his own creation becoming sentient on its own. I'm stretching my willing suspension enough with the ship.

What I miss is the scintillating dialog of the earlier novels in the series, the way that Val Con and Shan can turn a phrase. Also lacking was a sense of things happening at a super speed that drove the series at a frenetic pace from Agent of Change through to I Dare. Here not that much actually happened that was important. Theo went from planet to planet and didn't accomplish much.

I expected Win Ton to play a bigger role. Maybe I'm spoiled from all the lovely romances in the previous books. But I really expected Theo and Win Ton to get together and work as a team as all the other characters have in their books. Here Theo seems to have hooked up with Kara which I'm not at all interested in. Why couldn't they have just been good friends? Sorry, hetero woman who likes to read hetero romance here and I'm not going to apologize for that. And Win Ton lost that cool, sort of brash edge he had in the first two Theo books. Here he just seems like a beta loser.

So all in all I enjoyed it but I probably won't be rereading it every 6 months like I do Agent of Change through I Dare. There seems to be plenty of story left to tell and you can sign me up for every further volume. I can't ever imagine not anxiously awaiting any new Liaden novel even if some of the magic seems to be gone.

( )

This entry in the series continues from Theo Waitley's point of view - an interesting one indeed! It occurs concurrent with that of "Necessity's Child" and others so there are some aspects that might be viewed as spoilers, though it is questionable to my mind how one might avoid these in such a densely layered sequence that these books in the series attempt to convey. ( )

Theo Waitley and her self-aware ship Bechimo now have a contract with Clan Korval to explore a possible new long-loop trade route, unconnected to previous Korval routes that included Liad. She's got her first crew member, pilot Clarence O'Berin. And she and Bechimo are feeling out the delicate matter of whether he and Theo really want to enter into the symbiosis that would make Theo not acting captain but bonded captain.

So we know things are way too peaceful and some real excitement is going to come along and smack them all.

The world of Eylot, where Theo attended Anlingdon Piloting Academy, has continued to grow more and more insular in the few years since Theo was kickedGui out after being declared a "nexus of violence." Now they're trying to declare all piloting licenses not issued on Eylot invalid, and to seize control of the Guild-run Codrescu Station. Since Eylot authorities have made clear their intention to "make examples" of pilots not trained at Anlingdon and even the Anlingdon-trained who have been too friendly with the offworlders, no one is eager to comply. The Guild declares a "Pilots in Peril" emergency--and Theo and Bechimo are the first to arrive.

Meanwhile, Kamele Waitley is sufficiently alarmed by Jen Sar Kiladi's disappearance and what little information that Theo has sent her about him. He's "safe within the parameters of an active pilot" and "with Korval." Is her onagrata being forced to act as a pilot for Korval? She's taken a sabbatical to "do research" that will take her to Surebleak to demand answers.

Naturally the Department of the Interior is still out to destroy Korval, and has not overlooked Theo--or her mother. There is much intrigue, action, close calls, and general excitement--all the while further developing the characters and the Liaden universe.

Lots of fun Recommended! ( )

Whew! Theo is off and running. Sharon and Steve did an excellent job on this one. The last one got a bit rough in places but this one is in the same excellent story telling tradition as their earlier novels. Now, when is the next one coming? Sigh, I know, writing books takes time. Kudos to the authors.
PKG ( )