What do you think?
Rate this book
Adventures in the Liaden Universe #26
Heirs to Trouble
Contains two novelettes in the Liaden Universe®: "Roving Gambler," and "Code of Honor," both set in the turbulent time following Clan Korval's relocation to Surebleak.
"Roving Gambler," finds Quin yos'Phelium, Boss Conrad's son, and Pat Rin yos'Phelium's heir at loose ends on a bad day. Deliberately overlooked for pilot duty, he is ordered to wait at the Emerald Casino, where he becomes a maelstrom of luck, both good and. . .chancy.
"Code of Honor," sees Technical Sergeant Tommy Lee called home from the mercs by his delm. He's to become a pawn in a risky game of melant'i, in which the stakes are human lives. However, Tommy Lee has other ideas.
Both stories were previously published in A Liaden Universe® Constellation, Volume 3, from Baen Books, August 2015.
"Roving Gambler," finds Quin yos'Phelium, Boss Conrad's son, and Pat Rin yos'Phelium's heir at loose ends on a bad day. Deliberately overlooked for pilot duty, he is ordered to wait at the Emerald Casino, where he becomes a maelstrom of luck, both good and. . .chancy.
"Code of Honor," sees Technical Sergeant Tommy Lee called home from the mercs by his delm. He's to become a pawn in a risky game of melant'i, in which the stakes are human lives. However, Tommy Lee has other ideas.
Both stories were previously published in A Liaden Universe® Constellation, Volume 3, from Baen Books, August 2015.
- GenresScience FictionFantasy
ebook
First published December 4, 2017
55 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
About the author
Sharon Lee
165 books788 followersSharon 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 16, 2017
4 stars.
The first story "Roving Gambler" is about Quin, feeling displaced after getting on Surebleak, especially with his father Pat Rin being busy with Boss business. When told to wait for his father at the Emerald Casino, he started gambling and winning.....attracting all sorts of attention.
The second story "Code of Honor" is about Tommy Lee, a secondary character who played an important role in the days after Korval fired on Liad. Some of the mercenaries hired by Korval have been imprisoned and there are secret plans afoot to execute them. This is the story of how Tommy Lee circumvented the plot. I don't remember this incident in the main books but still, a good backstory.
The first story "Roving Gambler" is about Quin, feeling displaced after getting on Surebleak, especially with his father Pat Rin being busy with Boss business. When told to wait for his father at the Emerald Casino, he started gambling and winning.....attracting all sorts of attention.
The second story "Code of Honor" is about Tommy Lee, a secondary character who played an important role in the days after Korval fired on Liad. Some of the mercenaries hired by Korval have been imprisoned and there are secret plans afoot to execute them. This is the story of how Tommy Lee circumvented the plot. I don't remember this incident in the main books but still, a good backstory.
December 16, 2017
Contains two novelettes, Roving Gambler and Code of Honor, both of which have been previously published elsewhere, but this is their first appearance in a Chapbook. Both give us important back story for characters and events in the mainline Liaden Universe. Of the two, I found the Tommy Lee story, Code of Honor, to be the first Liaden short work in quite a while that got less than 5 stars from me. I had a harder time enjoying the characters, and found the actual events not as plausible as I usually expect. Overall worth the purchase, assuming you don't already have the two stories some other way, but if you're only buying for completeness, I'd pass.
April 27, 2019
Two novelettes in the Liaden Universe, both set in the period shortly after Clan Korval's abrupt relocation to Surebleak.
The first gives us Quin yos'Phelium, son of Pat Rin yos'Phelium, a.k.a. Boss Conrad, frustrated and at loose ends. He wants to find work as a pilot. Instead, he's left out of what seems to be an all-hands call for Korval pilots, and told to wait at the Emerald Casino for his gather to meet him.
Being at loose ends in the Emerald Casino is potentially risky, and Luck starts haunting his steps in some not necessarily helpful ways. There's his impressive success at the target shooing games. There's the Terran tourist who is sure that he's owed Quin's success, it's Quin who is cheating him. There's the attractive young sticks dealer, Villy. There's Quin's own, sometimes insufficiently controlled, tongue. He has to navigate through this day, and be ready when his father, finally, arrives.
It's an absorbing short fiction, and a chance to get better acquainted with Quin, and see more of what helped make him the young man we meet later on.
In the second, we meet Technical Sergeant Tommy Lee, getting called home by his delm to aid in a Clever Plan. Tommy is very displeased to be called home from the Mercs--and binding agreements mean he has no choice. Any Liaden in the Mercs is subject to recall by their delm, must be discharged when recalled, and can't, ever, reenlist. But it gets worse when he gets home. He knew his grandfather and delm was not a man of honor. Now he discovers he's a pawn in a game of melant'i that his grandfather can't win. Instead, it will destroy the Clan.
Tommy Lee has to find a way to do the unthinkable--thwart his delm. It's going to be a tricky challenge. It's a very good look at how melant'i and its complexities can play out when some of the players have very twisted ideas of what it means. I love these stories, but in particular, I love this one.
Recommended.
I bought this book.
The first gives us Quin yos'Phelium, son of Pat Rin yos'Phelium, a.k.a. Boss Conrad, frustrated and at loose ends. He wants to find work as a pilot. Instead, he's left out of what seems to be an all-hands call for Korval pilots, and told to wait at the Emerald Casino for his gather to meet him.
Being at loose ends in the Emerald Casino is potentially risky, and Luck starts haunting his steps in some not necessarily helpful ways. There's his impressive success at the target shooing games. There's the Terran tourist who is sure that he's owed Quin's success, it's Quin who is cheating him. There's the attractive young sticks dealer, Villy. There's Quin's own, sometimes insufficiently controlled, tongue. He has to navigate through this day, and be ready when his father, finally, arrives.
It's an absorbing short fiction, and a chance to get better acquainted with Quin, and see more of what helped make him the young man we meet later on.
In the second, we meet Technical Sergeant Tommy Lee, getting called home by his delm to aid in a Clever Plan. Tommy is very displeased to be called home from the Mercs--and binding agreements mean he has no choice. Any Liaden in the Mercs is subject to recall by their delm, must be discharged when recalled, and can't, ever, reenlist. But it gets worse when he gets home. He knew his grandfather and delm was not a man of honor. Now he discovers he's a pawn in a game of melant'i that his grandfather can't win. Instead, it will destroy the Clan.
Tommy Lee has to find a way to do the unthinkable--thwart his delm. It's going to be a tricky challenge. It's a very good look at how melant'i and its complexities can play out when some of the players have very twisted ideas of what it means. I love these stories, but in particular, I love this one.
Recommended.
I bought this book.
June 26, 2018
Another good one. Unfortunately, I only have one left in the Adventures.
December 24, 2017
Another pair of old friends! Yes, I read these stories before, and I love them just as much in this format.
December 18, 2020
I enjoyed the stories for the most part, but I feel as though I may have read them before at some point. I haven't read the big collections mentioned in the preface, so I'm not sure where.
On the first story I definitely felt a bit short changed. I wanted Pat Rin to explain why he had not called his son to help when they needed all of the pilots. It was the thing that made Quin so mad, and it was never addressed at all. Somehow they got over their anger, even though none of the issues were dealt with, as far as I could see.
I liked the second story a great deal more. It seemed fairly certain that it was going to end well, even though, again, it stopped short of that point. I wish they would give these stories a proper finish!
On the first story I definitely felt a bit short changed. I wanted Pat Rin to explain why he had not called his son to help when they needed all of the pilots. It was the thing that made Quin so mad, and it was never addressed at all. Somehow they got over their anger, even though none of the issues were dealt with, as far as I could see.
I liked the second story a great deal more. It seemed fairly certain that it was going to end well, even though, again, it stopped short of that point. I wish they would give these stories a proper finish!
December 22, 2024
As always, magnificent writing! These stories take us right into another place where amazing things happen and good CAN prevail over evil!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews