Customer Reviews

Pilots Choice Liaden Universe Adventures

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Pilot's Choice is a book in the Liaden Universe series. It takes place prior to all the previously published novels, and focuses on the parents of the main characters in Agent of Change, Conflict of Honors, Carpe Diem (available in the omnibus Partners of Necessity), and Plan B.

I was most struck by the tone of the stories. Local Custom explores the romance between Anne Davis, human linguist, and Er Thom yos'Galen, Liaden pilot and master trader. They love each other deeply, but differences between their culture make it very difficult to come to a happy resolution. The sense of helplessness and frustration is palpable through the story, as both main characters are rocked by actions of others with power over them. While reading this first story I was drawn deeply into the lives of the characters and the hope that they could end up happily together.

Scout's Progress is the story of the independence of Aelliana Caylon. She is a mathematical genius whose independence and grace has been stunted by the cruelty of her brother. A series of circumstances leads her to believe early on that she must leave Liad. Daav yos'Phelium (foster-brother and clan head to Er Thom, introduced in the first story) is longing for a place where he can lay all his clan responsibilities to rest. The two meet up at a Liaden shipyard where Daav's true identity is known but not spoken of. Watching Aelliana gain confidence and Daav wrestle with the frustrations of his position was truly heartbreaking yet exhilerating.

This book has quickly became my favorite in the Liaden Universe series. I believe it would be a good introduction for someone who has not read any of the other books, as it takes place a generation before them. Anyone who likes well written fiction, who likes romance, or who likes character-driven and culturally-focused science fiction would be well pleased by the stories in this book. I'm planning to introduce several of my friends to this volume.

A wonderful read! I finished it at three o'clock in the morning, then stayed up another hour re-reading "the best bits".

The book is actually two novels under one cover. The first, Local Custom, is about two cultures in conflict, revolving around the parentage and custody of a child of mixed lineage. The second, Scout's Progress, is one woman in conflict with her own culture. Don't look for great space battles or the trappings of action/adventure. This is well-drawn, likeable, *believable* characters interacting within the bounds of equally well-drawn and believable cultures.

I confess that the second novel, Scout's Progress, is my favorite of the two. Aelliana Caylon is a fascinating and complex character. Her mathematical genius is respected, even honored, among the pilots and scouts to whom she teaches "math for survival", yet it does her no good against her abusive brother and the restrictive social conventions that give him power over her. It does provide her with a tantalizing hope--escape by fleeing the planet. But to survive she needs to learn to pilot a ship and operate in cultures not her own. The scouts are masters at piloting--and flouting convention....

...then this duo is for you! The Regency roots are showing here; much more than in the original three Liaden books, but still these two novels in one are interesting and fun. The second story especially starts to sound like Sense & Sensibility after a while! All that witty repartee and heroines that are too shy (or abused) to make their true feelings known and wicked elder brothers plotting revenge. Truly Austen-ian. Or Georgette Heyer-ish.

With Lee & Miller, you always feel there are a few sentences and scenes missing. There's a joke you're not getting here somewhere. The story sometimes jumps and especially the conversations between characters. It's a little disconcerting. The Liaden traditions and explorations of its language and matters are still interesting. How do all those bows look different, one wonders?

"Local Custom" is about Shan's parents, Terran Anne Davis and Liaden Er Thom yos'Galan. Lots of interesting background about Liad here and a truly horrific Aunt Petronella and a young Aunt Kareen make for a compelling read. In feel, very similar to Lois McMaster Bujold's book, "Shards of Honor," in which a sophisticated Terran woman meets and falls in love with a "barbarian" or provincial man from a world of Byzantine social codes. The twist to this is that from the start of "Local Custom," Shan has already been born!

The Aelliana/Daav yos'Phelium story ("Scout's Progress") does have quite a bit about Jump ship piloting and mathematics, so don't despair if romance isn't quite your thing. I do get quite tired of that old formula of brilliant herione hiding all her skills because of the mental and physical abuse of others. It just doesn't make sense at some points why Aelliana would allow this sort of treatment to continue when her mother is neither stupid nor weak and is totally capable of protecting her. Plus, Aelliana is a math genius and her family is totally oblivious of her worth to the Clan. Seems a little odd. This was a much stronger and richer story than the first despite that. The secondary characters (Scouts, Daav's intended bride, the pirates) all made you want to look for them in future books. (Or were they already there and we missed them?) The ending sort of leaves you hanging though!

If you've enjoyed Conflict of Honors, Agent of Change, Carpe Diem and Plan B already, then sit back and relax with these two romance stories for a change of pace.

Pilots Choice is actually two novels about two cousins and their interactions with family, friends, and society. Both novels are also love stories. _Local Custom_ focuses on Er Thom yos'Galan and Anne Davis. One Liaden, one human, they have to overcome cross-cultural misunderstandings. _Scout's Progress_ is about Daav yos'Phelium and Aelliana Caylon. Both are struggling to balance personal happiness with the constraints of society's and families' expectations.

The Liaden novels (others are _Partners in Necessity_ and _Plan B_) are space opera in the best sense. Tightly plotted, interesting characters, neat fights, great fun. I've read and re-read all the books multiple times. They're 'comfort' books for when you're feeling blue or just want to revisit some characters that you wish you could call in a crisis.

Steve Miller and Sharon Lee have been telling each other and the rest of us stories about the strange human race called Liaden, and their interactions with our kind of human for over 20 years now, barring a long hiatus during which a host of publishers had the incredibly ignorant opinion that there were no Miller/Lee fans. The story of the Liadens gets better and more varied and rich with every new book. Buy this book. Read this book. Then read it again. Bet you have to read it at least three times.

Pilot's Choice, the latest offering from Sharon Lee and Steve Miller embodies all of the qualities one expects from this amazing team: wit, style, action, romance, comedy and characters that will live in your head long after you have finished reading. They have that rare and wonderful ability to balance the reader on a knife edge of tension, drawing the reader into the story so firmly that you can't turn the pages fast enough - and then relieving the tension with a belly laugh. Often while reading along at a breakneck pace I will stumble over a turn of phrase so eloquent, or dialogue so elegant, tidbit so pithy I have to read it over and over a few times to roll it off my tongue and savor it - and then of course take off again. Is Pilot's Choice a work of science fiction? Fantasy? Space Opera? Romance? Comedy of Manners? The answer is of course yes, to all. You owe it to yourself to give this book a try. Or start with Partners in Necessity and then read Pilot's Choice. Either way, you will want to read them all and put them on your comfort book shelf with your Bujold, Cherryh, and Schmitz. It just doesn't get any better than this.

The first of Lee & Miller's books that I read was "Conflict of Honors". After that, I haunted the bookstores until I had obtained "Agent of Change" and "Carpe Diem". Alas, no more books were forthcoming. Of all the hundreds of books I have collected over the years, these were the ones most frequently re-read. Now that the Liaden universe is again available, we can again enjoy the rich environment and thoroughly enjoyable characters that peaple these books. Pilot's Choice gives us two stories that give a real fleshing out of the series. When you consider that these were written without firm hope of publication, they are all the more remarkable. In my humble ( but emphatic ) opinion, these are the best of Lee & Miller's work to date. Considering that they were already at the top of my list, that is simply amazing.

I was upset when after the first three Liaden Universe novels, the publisher dropped this great writing team. I even wrote asking for more--the only time I have ever done this. Then Meisha Merlin Publishing was smart enough to bring Lee & Miller back.

This latest addition is wonderful-read it through twice before I had to give it to my husband who is a fan also.

Looking forward to many more Liaden tales.

Ge'shada!

I am new to the Liaden universe and have, over the past several weeks, read all the novels I could get my hands on. "Pilots Choice" was my first introduction to the novels and I found both stories very entertaining, containing action, romance and humor. Being a hugh fan of Georgette Heyer, having read all of her work, I was drawn to the Liaden stories when another reviewer made an anaolgy between the two styles of writing. I highly recommend Pilots Choice for anyone who enjoys a great story, with interesting characters, who you can get to know quickly. Highest praise to Sharon Lee & Steve Miller - why can't we find these great books at our local book store?

Pilot's Choice is an omnibus of two novels: Local Custom & Scout's Progress, both of which are prequels to Partners in Necessity.

Local Custom: Er Thom yos'Galan, Master Trader and Heir to Clan Korval knew his duty to his clan - to provide the Clan with a child of his own body. He also knew that he could never offer a contract wife the care and attention his honor demanded until he had seen Anne Davis one last time. Then he would seek the Healers on Liad and they would erase all of his memories of the woman who had captured his heart...

Anne, a Terran and brilliant linguist had met Er Thom years before and had a wonderful affair with him, falling head over heels in love, but knowing that he would leave her, as he had. What Anne did not tell Er Thom was that she bore his child, her precious Shan. She never expected to see Er Thom again and was stunned when he walked in to her apartment. They both found that their love was as deep and fierce as it had ever been and Er Thom found that he did not know how to say goodbye. Then Shan returned home and Er Thom found himself with an even bigger problem than before. For Shan was Er Thom's heir, but as a half Liaden, half Terran, there was no guarantee that he would be accepted by the Clan and the Tho'Delm, Er Thom's mother. Er Thom knew that there would be a sacrifice to make in the time ahead of him, a sacrifice that would rip his heart to shreds. For the tho'Delm had rejected Shan and refused to even consider that Er Thom had a future with Anne and so he was faced with the difficult choice of weighing his honor and the honor of his clan against the love he could not live without...

Scout's Progress: 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....

I found the Liaden culture fascinating and loved learning more about the customs and mindset of these people. Lee and Miller have done a fabulous job at creating this universe and making their characters absolutely believable. I loved all of the characters and felt that I could identify with all of them in a different way. All of them have their strengths and weaknesses and all of them had their own part to play in the game. Although the romance of the two main characters in each book is a large part of the plot, the world building, the characterization, attention to detail and the excellent quality of writing kept me absolutely riveted - I couldn't put this book down!