{"id":2101,"date":"2026-04-08T22:48:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T22:48:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/?p=2101"},"modified":"2026-04-08T22:48:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T22:48:55","slug":"i-dare-summing-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/?p=2101","title":{"rendered":"I Dare Summing Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

So, I made a wrong turn at the end of Plan B.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Publication order has the reader going from Plan B<\/em> to Local Custom<\/em>, then Scout’s Progress<\/em>, and then I Dare<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Instead, when I hit the end of Plan B<\/em>, I just leapt straight into I Dare<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I blame the authors.<\/p>\n

The I Dare<\/em> anniversary edition just came out last year from Baen, so I proofread it recently, but I haven’t read it<\/em> for . . . a while.<\/p>\n

And it did not disappoint.<\/p>\n

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,\u00a0<\/em>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.\u00a0 A determination he has made as Korval-in-Fact; the last of his clan left standing.<\/p>\n

On the other side of the street, we have the clean-up after Plan B<\/em> — I adore the collaboration between Shan and Edger, to effect Val Con’s healing.\u00a0 I also adore — and I remember that Steve and I talked this over for some time — would Shan get rid of the Loop?\u00a0 We decided that, no, he wouldn’t, because it’s clear that Val Con value the thing, whatever it is, but he does<\/em> make it considerably less feral, and safer to use.<\/p>\n

I love Ms. Audrey and that Pat Rin finds not only allies, but friends.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 As one does.<\/p>\n

And I adore the meeting of the cousins at Solcintra.\u00a0 “I won’t hurt him,” Val Con says to Cheever McFarland, echoing the agent in the prologue, “The child was asleep.\u00a0 We did not wake him.”<\/p>\n

Oh, and one more!\u00a0 Daav returning to Liad after being sent to \/s\/a\/f\/e\/t\/y negotiate with the Clutch.\u00a0 “I hear on the port that we are unemployed, outlawed, and homeless, all in one canny throw.”<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So, I made a wrong turn at the end of Plan B.\u00a0\u00a0Publication 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 … Continue reading I Dare Summing Up<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-2101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-liaden-read-along"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2101"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2102,"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101\/revisions\/2102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/splinteruniverse.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}