Product Description
The first of the seven books set in the Liaden Universe tells a rich and sweeping story of warring families and star-crossed lovers in a fantastic, other-world galaxy.

"I was mesmerized, awed, and totally entertained. I am hooked by the Liaden world. Bravo!" (Mary Balogh)

"Fans of interstellar adventure will not be disappointed." (Robin Wayne Bailey) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

Fun book, florid language
I found this book at a local discount store for $1 - it looked a little cheesy, but I bought it anyway.I mean, it was only $1.What could I lose?Well, I really enjoyed it, although the Liaden manner of speaking got a little tiresome at times.The main characters were well-developed, although I noticed (as did a previous reviewer) that the Liaden females tended to be less than likeable.Funny, from the few romance novels I've read, there seem to be some archetypal things going on - the heroine typically finds herself in a hostile society far from her home, which reminds me of what adolescent female chimpanzees experience when they leave their group to join another group, in which she must first endure all manner of abuse from her new clan, especially the older females.Yes, chimps really do this, so I'm wondering just how far back this archetype goes.In addition to the bitchy mom-in-law, there's the hero's male-bonded facilitator (Daav), the mystical child (Shan), the dragon, the hero's mansion (which he shares with his mother??) etc.I was very interested in the concept of a common language, though, and wonder how deeply the authors have taken this - I tried to find some traces of commonality between some of their terms and any Terran languages but couldn't.Maybe some of the (chronologically) later books go into this more.All in all, I found the book enjoyable and intriguing, although unfortunately I can't seem to shake my mental image of the heroine as Snow White among the dwarves, complete with little red hairbow.

A bit schmaltzy, but not bad
Having discovered this marvelous series only recently, I've been reading the individual volumes every which way rather than in internal chronological order. This one pairs up with _Scout's Progress_ in telling the back-story of the two foster brothers who head the two Lines that make up Clan Korval, one of the most powerful families on Liad. Er Thom yos'Galan, the older brother (though his younger brother is Delm, or boss, of the clan as a whole), who is being pressed to do his duty by producing an heir through contract marriage. Trouble is, he had an offworld affair a few years ago with a Terran woman, Dr. Ann Davis, a linguistics professor. He's never forgotten her and he feels the need to see her one last time, so off he goes -- to discover than Ann had a child by him, a very bright little boy named Shan. Of course, to Er Thom, this changes everything -- maybe. Thus begins a tangled love story about misunderstandings on both sides of cultures not one's one, of clan politics and xenophobia, of the nature of duty in Liaden life. While it's a bit schmaltzy at times, the authors show great skill (as always) at painting multidimensional portraits both of their characters and of an extremely foreign society.

Regency Romance in Outer Space
It's the basic "secret baby" plot from a thousand paperback romance novels, only what keeps the hero and heroine apart is that they're from different planets. He hauls her home to meet Mom. Mom is hardhearted and insists that he marry a local girl. There is a ball at which the heroine gets a makeover that involves a fabulous dress. Misunderstandings ensue, leading to a nearly irrelevant shoot-em-up, followed by the inevitable discovery that the hero and heroine are "lifemates." *sigh* Ever since Mercedes Lackey over-used the concept, they're *always* lifemates.

What makes it science fiction is the anthropological chatter about "melant'i" (essentially "face" in the Japanese sense), the presence of space ships, and the hero's being both shorter than the heroine, as well as being preternaturally sensitive and caring. Liaden culture does not seem to include televised football, intramural sports, power tools, sports cars, or any equivalent to Hooters, so a guy has a *lot* of free time for mooning after his one true gal. This leisure allows the slender plot to move very, very slowly.

The books are readable -- the words are in the right order and you can tell the characters apart -- but it's not "space opera" in the sense of grand drama and fast shooting. It's "opera" in the sense of "soap."

Works well as psych-sf or romance.
I picked this book up never having heard of the Liaden books.I had no idea who these authors were,
but found the idea of a husband-wife author team intriguing.It turns out this book is a "later" work,
first in the chronology, but later in publishing order, and it shows.Having since read other books
by this pair, I think the writing in Local Custom is far more mature than earlier books--and when the main plot
of the book is romance, it's important to have a polished, mature tone, or everything devolves into sappy mush.

Local Custom comes close to the edge at times.For a man whose culture weighs every deed and word against personal
melant'i (honor/status), Er Thom is almost too emotional to be taken seriously as an heir apparent, a master trader,
and his other roles.The book hits several of my pet peeves regarding space opera:generic "Terran culture" and "Terran language" which corresponds
to English and Western culture.The wearisome plot device of "all Terrans" are barbarians--without giving reason
why they're percievied as such.It annoyed me when Marion Zimmer Bradley did it, and I wasn't cheered to see it here.Mono-worlds--entire planets consisting of one ethnic group or philosophy, aarchitecture, weather.

All the linguistic nuance and cultural depth is reserved for the con-lang of Liaden with its different modes, and
the 'superior' culture of Liad.(That said, the authors *do* have a linguistic background, so their con-lang has an internal logic and consistency, far preffered to the handfuls of vowels with a scattering of consanants and a sprinkle of random apostrophes for garnish.)

What saved this book, for me, was Anne Davis.She is a very human, rounded character.
She makes mistakes, and despite her scholarly background, makes believable errors.(She adores Liaden literature, but
makes mistakes that arise from using literature as a reflection of the truth of a culture.)She is an accomplished scholar,
but was forced to give up her first academic love (music) for the most basic of reasons:lack of money.

Best of all, she's *not* an off-the-scale genius, dazzlingly beautiful, or accomplished.By both Liaden and Terran standards,
Anne is not a beauty.She is a single mother, who adores her (albiet chliched child-prodigy) son.Anne's struggles and sacrifices--few of which are properly rewarded in my opinion, provide the meat for this book.
If you prefer your sf heroines to be something other than jaded ex-soldiers or space-age Amazons, Anne Davis' story may be for you.
I'm just sorry she didn't get more time and attention from the authors.She deserved it--I think she's a better-designed character
than the more popular "Miri" of the "Agent of Change" books.

Compelling Book
Local Custom, set in the Liaden Universe created by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller is a Science Fiction Book and a Romance Novel. Beyond that, it is an exploration of what happens when two cultures collide. Er Thom is a Master Trader from Clan Korval of Liaden. It is his duty to his clan to find a suitable Liaden bride and produce an heir, but he has fallen in love with Terran Anne Davis. For the sake of his clan, he leaves and disappears from her life until several years later he shows up and learns during that their brief liason in the past, he fathered her son.

Liaden custom demands that the little boy be taken to Liaden and presented as his heir, but Anne is resistant. She is happy with her life, and had moved on from the feelings she had for Er Thom years ago. Anne is a music scholar, however, and that is one thing that draws her to Liaden. Once there, she is torn between the efforts of Er Thom and his family to assimilate her and her little boy.

This book was a definite page turner. I couldn't put it down. The atrraction between Er Thom and Anne is constantly present, growing stronger as the novel progresses, and the story of the alien, Liaden society is compellingly detailed.

This book is a terrific introduction to the Liaden Universe! 5 stars! ... Read more

Product Description
Twelve tales of duty, derring-do and cut-throat manners set in the critically acclaimed Liaden Universe® created by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Liaden Lover
I love this series, and am looking for their short stories.According to the publisher,this is what is included in the book,I am ordering it but haven't read it yet, this is just to let other people know what is included:

One dozen short stories, including all stories from the first 5Liaden Universe® chapbooks!

Includes:
Where the Goddess Sends
A Choice of Weapons
Moonphase
To Cut An Edge
King of the Cats
A Spell for the Lost
A Day at the Races
Breath's Duty
The Wine of Memory
Certain Symmetry
Pilot of Korval
Balance of Trade

Description of Item since Amazon took it down
Twelve tales of duty, derring-do and cut-throat manners set in the critically acclaimed Liaden Universe® created by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. ... Read more

Product Description
Two short stories "Lord of the Dance" and "This House". "This House" first appeared in the anthology "Stars" edited by Janis Ian. This is the first appearance of "Lord of the Dance". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Description of Item since Amazon took it down
Two short stories "Lord of the Dance" and "This House". "This House" first appeared in the anthology "Stars" edited by Janis Ian. This is the first appearance of "Lord of the Dance". ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Short Stories to Slake Your Thirst
After their first three books went out of print (which you might notice, has happened to them again), Lee and Miller were left with little they could do to appease their loyal and ravenous (but small) fan base. So they started writing short stories and putting them out in chapbooks as a way to sate their readers' hunger for anything Liaden. Here they are reprinted in handsome little books that are much easier to loan out to friends than the chapbooks.

This collection of short stories fleshes out some characters and their relationships, like how Val Con became Edger's brother by slaying a dragon, and gives insights to some people who don't often get the spotlight, like Pat Rin.

Liaden fans get this book
This book is published by SRM Publisher at www.srmpublisher.com where you can order a copy online. This is a collection of short stories with familiar characters from the novels.If you loved the other Liaden books, you will love this book.Story 1: Teenage Er Thom and Daav and the Juntavas Story 2: Teenage Daav fights a duel Story 3: How Val Con and Edger of the Clutch slew a dragon Story 4: Shan and Val Con compete in a skimmer race Story 5: Pat Rin and Balance for a dead man Story 6: What Daav does after hearing Juntavas message about Val Con Stories 6-10: Lute and Moonhawk (previous lives of Priscilla and Shan) Story 11: Excerpt from Balance of Trade novel (full novel already published separately) Story 12:Val Con and Miri and cats. ... Read more

Product Description
Children demonstrate the meaning of friendship through such gestures as keeping secrets, sharing disappointments, and making little sacrifices. ... Read more

Product Description
For courses in Fashion Design or Fashion Illustration.This best-selling text for introductory apparel design courses gives students a close look at the fashion industry from the professional designer's viewpoint. The book is known for its clear and comprehensive coverage and its excellent illustrations. Each chapter links stylishly updated visual images with relevant concepts. In this edition, coverage of the role of computers and digital technology are integrated into every phase of the design and production of clothes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

A Pilot and Her Ship
Scout's Progress (2000) is the fifth SF novel in the Liaden Universe series, following Local Custom.In the previous volume, Er Thom married Anne Davis and brought Shan and her to Liad.Anne and Shan were accepted by the clan.Anne then published the work of Scholar Jin Del yo'Kera.

In this novel, Aelliana Caylon is a Scholar in Subrational Mathematics at Chonselta Technical College.She teaches a course in Practical Mathematics -- Math for Survival -- to Scout Academy students and is well liked by her classes.

Daav yos'Phelium is the Delm of Korval.He is plagued by the necessity of producing an heir as per the Code.

Er Thom yos'Galan is Daav's cousin by birth and brother by practice.He is married to Anne Davis, a Terran. They have one child, Shan.

Samiv tel'Izak is Clan Bindan.She is also a pilot.

Ran Eld Caylon is Aelliana's brother and Nadelm of Clan Mizel.He abuses Aelliana.

Jon dea'Cort is the owner of the Binjali Garage, a spaceship repair and docking facility in Solcintra Port.He is a former Scout.

In this story, Aelliana makes the mistake of disagreeing with a financial recommendation by Ran Eld.He challenges her, but their mother -- the Delm of Mizel -- thinks that there is some truth to her arguments.She orders Ran Eld to allow Aelliana to invest her quarter share as she wishes and to track the progress.

Anne comes to Daav with a question about Liaden customs.Her Terran culture takes such customs with a degree of doubt.Daav explains the Contract and the Captaincy, but she leaves still having some doubts.

Daav has decided to marry Samiv.Er Thom tries to him out of marrying her.Daav points out that he will have to marry someone sometime soon.

Since Samiv has accepted contract to pilot a merchant ship leaving soon, they will not be having a formal marriage anytime soon.So the two sign a letter of intent instead.Samiv does not react very well to Daav's conversation during the ceremony.

Daav is feeling discontented and asks Jon for a casual laborer job.All the Binjali workers are fellow Scouts.He works at Binjali to get a sense of comradery and accomplishment.

Aelliana presents the student Scouts with a practical problem with parameters defined by themselves and requires them to document the solution by the next class.Later she encounters two of her students while she is wandering the streets in thought.They invite her to their table, wine and dine her, and then take her into the new casino.

Aelliana observes the play of hands at a Pikit table.When the holder of the table invites her to sit and play, she seats herself.When the matter of stakes is raised, she puts forth her quarter share, but he is persuaded to risk his ship.

Aelliana plays skillfully and wins.The ship is docked at the Binjali Garage.It is soon registered in her name and she can take possession the following day.She drops by to see her ship and gets a personal tour by the owner of the facility.

She is pleased to see that Ride the Luck is a jump ship.Now she has to get a Second Class Pilot license and to learn Terran so that she can become independent.First she takes the test for a Second Class license and passes.

Her license will be Provisional until she has acquired sufficient hours of piloting a ship.When she comes to ask Jon to tutor her on ship handling, Daav is on duty by himself.He has a package to deliver on Outyard Eight, so he acts as her copilot as they fly to the station.

This tale leads the betrothed Daav to regret his coming marriage.Ran Eld abuses Aelliana even more, but doesn't learn about the ship from her.Samiv find herself liking Daav after all.

The story ends with unresolved questions.The long overdue sequel is Mouse & Dragon.Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Lee & Miller fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of alien cultures, personal conflicts, and persevering women.If anyone is not familiar with this series, the initial volume is Agent of Change.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Above-average romantic space opera
This is a separate novel set in the Liaden universe (not part of the Agent of Change arc), but it still involves Clan Korval, most powerful family unit on the planet. The focus this time is a generation earlier, the story of Daav yos'Phelium, delm of Korval, andAelliana Caylon, mathematician and victim of a cruel and overbearing brother. (Daav and Aelliana will later become the parents ofVal Con yos'Phelium.) Aelliana quite unexpectedly wins a spaceship in a card game and becomes liberated, step by step, as she passes the hurdles required of prospective pilots. She's added in this by Daav, who likes to unwind by doing common repair work at a facility run by his old Scout comrades, and whose clan affiliation she doesn't discover until the very end. We get to see the less glamorous side of the highly stratified and stylized Liaden society through the eyes of a lesser family that largely depends for survival on its ability to place its daughters in contract marriages for the purpose of producing children -- something demanded of every male Liaden. It's primarily a love story, and there's a flavor of Jan Austen here, or perhaps Cinderella. Not as galaxy-spanning as some of the other Laden novels, but not bad at all.

Jane Austen meets Space Opera Romance...
This the second of the Liaden books is mostly about Liad and Liaden culture. Liadens are ruled by the code and the code sets forth the behavior to be expected by all from Council of Clans, delms, nadelms, members of clans, and clanless. So it's a bit more like a Regency love story than a modern day one. Yet it is of another culture and another time.I could often hear the cadence of Jane Austen in the speeches.

Here Daav yos'Phelium knows that he must produce and heir and he's contracting a marriage with a women he doesn't particularly like but one that meets all the clans requirements.His intended contract wife, Samiv tel'Izak is to finish out her work contract before beginning her contract with Korval.Daav finds himself at loose ends and applies to Jon dea Cort for work at Binjali's repair.

Aelliana Caylon teaches a survival mathematics course to scouts. She's a brilliant mathematician but in the clan house treated as a simpleton with no grace, manners, intelligence at all by her brother the nadelm of clan Mizel. She's been beaten by him before and his now realized that if anything happened to the delm things could indeed get worse. She wins through an unlikely series of events a Class A jump ship. With a pilots license she could run away and be free of clan. The ship is kept at Binjali's.

Daav ends up her co-pilot.The men and women of Binjali's teach her much and she eventually gets her license and can leave.But then there is Daav.

The lovers meet and misunderstand, separate, realize their love, find clan law and custom separating them. But, it's a romance so you can probably figure out what will happen to them.It's the how it happens that is what makes the book worth reading.

Steve Miller and Sharon Lee have developed fully-realized characters and a richly textured world and society.It's will worth your time if you like romance and SF.

Escape Science Fiction
This book is mainly background for the Laiden universe; however, it is a great way to escape from the stress of an everyday world. It will also givee you insight into the agent of change series that is core to the Laiden univrese. It is an excellent read for a rainy day or to kill time in a plane terminal between flights. Give it a try!

Absolutely Wonderful - I Loved It!
Aelliana Caylon learned the hard way that she was powerless in her Clan.At first, she tried to defy her brother, Van Eld, when he attempted to exercise his authority over her as the next Delm, but after her first and only contract marriage to Van Eld's abusive friend, Aelliana no longer rebelled.She learned to feign meekness and remain quiet except when she was teaching her advanced math class to the irrepressible pilots in training at the academy.She had value at the university and was readily acknowledged as one of the most brilliant mathematicians of her day.When one of her pilot students convinced her to play a game of chance at a new gaming palace, Aelliana used her math skills to beat the cardshark and found herself the proud owner of a ship - and her chance to leave Liaden forever...

But before Aelliana could leave Liaden, she had to get her pilot's license.Luckily, she was docked at Binjali's, where the pilots were irreverent and surprising, but genuinely friendly.Before she knew it, Aelliana found herself adopted in to a kind of family where her skills were valued and her opinion was asked.She quickly found herself looking forward to her lessons with Master Pilot Daav, who challenged her to become more and to take risks.What she did not know was that her quirky co-pilot was in fact Daav yos'Phelium, the Delm of Korval and arguably the most powerful man on the planet.She also did not know that Daav was in negotiations for a contract marriage or she never would have let herself fall in love with him....

Scout's Progress is the second book in the Liaden series after Local Custom, where we are first introduced to Daav.It was written after books 3-5, however, so most call it a prequel.I found this book to be just as well written and intriguing as Local Custom.I think that the Liaden universe is fascinating and every time I get my hands on one of the books, I am riveted and cannot stop reading until I am finished.All of the characters are interesting with quirks and strengths and weaknesses.I particularly enjoyed Daav's weird sense of humor and how he likes to play the game of life on Liaden.There are some who say that this is simply a romance with science fiction trappings and I would agree that the romance is very important to the plot, but I would also say that it is the characters and the world building that keep me reading, not the romance, although I enjoyed that as well.If you enjoy science fiction or space opera and have not yet read this wonderful series than you are in for a real treat!I cannot recommend this series highly enough! ... Read more

Product Description
Features a range of Mexican recipes for busy cooks using fresh local produce and traditional ingredients that are readily available. Chapters include notes on Mexican cuisine and the Mexican kitchen and recipes for fish and shellfish, bean and corn dishes and Mexican cocktails. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

BEWARE! NOT SHARON LEE
This is NOT a book by Sharon Lee who writes the wonderful Liaden books.
This book is fifth rate something or other, a porn book without the porn.... bad writing, no plot, no characterization.So don't waste your money. ... Read more

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A unicorn earns a name by magically rescuing a rancher's flock of lost sheep. ... Read more

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Women's Experience and Education (Harvard educational review) ... Read more

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This new book is designed to provide a thorough introduction to the teaching of elementary social studies. Field-tested, up-to-date, and includes effective teaching strategies and techniques. ... Read more