So, I made a wrong turn at the end of Plan B. Publication order has the reader going from Plan B to Local Custom, then Scout’s Progress, and then I Dare.
Instead, when I hit the end of Plan B, I just leapt straight into I Dare.
I blame the authors.
The I Dare anniversary edition just came out last year from Baen, so I proofread it recently, but I haven’t read it for . . . a while.
And it did not disappoint.
What struck me particularly this time is that Pat Rin — a properly enclanned Liaden — moves through this most of this book knowing that he is alone, a terrifying condition. Yet, he finds the resolution to go on with his Balance, not, as he tells Natesa, because Balance will restore his clan, but because people who will murder an entire clan for their own gain ought to be stopped. A determination he has made as Korval-in-Fact; the last of his clan left standing.
On the other side of the street, we have the clean-up after Plan B — I adore the collaboration between Shan and Edger, to effect Val Con’s healing. I also adore — and I remember that Steve and I talked this over for some time — would Shan get rid of the Loop? We decided that, no, he wouldn’t, because it’s clear that Val Con value the thing, whatever it is, but he does make it considerably less feral, and safer to use.
I love Ms. Audrey and that Pat Rin finds not only allies, but friends.
The return of Daav and Aelliana to the bosom of their family, Nova — oh, dear, Nova, and Clonak, and teaching the Rifle to play poker. As one does.
And I adore the meeting of the cousins at Solcintra. “I won’t hurt him,” Val Con says to Cheever McFarland, echoing the agent in the prologue, “The child was asleep. We did not wake him.”
Oh, and one more! Daav returning to Liad after being sent to /s/a/f/e/t/y negotiate with the Clutch. “I hear on the port that we are unemployed, outlawed, and homeless, all in one canny throw.”
A good book, that moves right along, despite — if that 151,000 words noted on the story card is accurate — still holding the record of the longest Liaden novel.
I also skipped ahead to I Dare in my last read through (which happened when I was waiting for Audible to get their act together on Ribbon Dance…). I did it on purpose and I have no regrets. I really love how Pat Rin steps away from his established role in the clan, STEPS UP and shows his yos’Philium genes!!!
I did back-track so as not to miss anything.
Ha. It was Really Hard not to leap over to I Dare, but I held firm. But then, when I reached the end of Balance of Trade, discipline failed and I read Fair Trade before getting a grip and moving on to the Crystal books.
This whole project has been a delight. It really is interesting, reading them (mostly) in publishing order.
What would Val Con have done if the Clutch Turtles could not move the tree? Or did he believe they are called Clutch Turtles because they always come through in the clutch (this certainly seems to be true in the books)?
He would have done … something. As Korval does.
Or perhaps not, since the whole send Daav and Aelliana out of harm’s way while the rest of us maybe file our last lift was also a reason.
Oops, not Fair Trade, Trade Secret.