A Liaden Universe Constellation: Volume 1
~Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
—Baen Books, July 2013
–453 pages, trade paperback
“Discovery” is an integral part of the reading process. We pick up a book based upon some signpost, or a series of them, which promise to lead us on a path of discovery. We settle down with a book, turn the page, take that first step, and we discover…
…characters that we love, despise or feel indifferent about; towns or cities or countryside — or even planets — that spark our imagination, or don’t; genres and sub-genres that compel us to read more or make us long for the comfort of more familiar journeys; authors that we we want to get to know personally or those we may never want to try again.
So much is at stake on each journey of literary discovery, yet passionate readers know that the risk of one’s time can yield great rewards.
Such has been the case with my first foray into the expansive Liaden Universe, the creation of writers Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.
For more than two decades Lee and Miller have been populating this science fictional universe with novels and short stories spanning thousands of years that combine adventure and romance in the grand tradition of space opera. With the first volume of A Liaden Universe Constellation, Baen Books brings together a series of 17 short stories that demonstrate the way in which Sharon Lee and Steve Miller defy the common conception that short fiction is devoid of strong characterization or satisfying world-building. Taken as a whole these 17 stories reveal a universe of intrigue, tradition, ceremony, magic, trade, exploration, love and devotion.
With this experience I have been shown a tantalizing glimpse that a vast universe of discovery awaits. My bags are packed and I am raring to go.
