I Dare

The Liaden Universe series by Sharon Lee just keeps getting better with each book that I read. I have just finished I Dare and it was a deliciously satisfying read. These books are chock full of excellent characters that I have come to love and now, the author has added even more. The story picks up immediately after the last book, Plan B, and the action is non-stop as the members of Clan Korval are fleeing from the Department of the Interior and aiding their allies to thwart an invasion of the Yxtrangs on the planet of Lytaxin. The Department intends to eliminate all the clan members except for the black sheep of the family, Pat Rin, whom they intend to turn into their puppet.

Pat Rin is an elegant man, an expert gambler and a top-notch show more sure-shooter, but unfortunately an outsider in his family but luckily he has unexpected depths and no use for the Department’s plan. He is working on several schemes of his own, including revenge for his family whom he believes have been murdered. With the beautiful and dangerous Natesa at his side he is working to reform a lawless planet.

This series is great escapism reading as it totally immerses the reader in a very different place and time. High adventure, romance and excellent story-lines make these books a feast for the imagination. show less

Don't start your adventures in the Liaden Universe with I Dare - here are gathered all the couples from the preceding installments, posed to strike, finally, at the menace that is the Department. Here also we finally get the chance to see Pat Rin made (dare I say) more human, and Anthora and Ren Zel find one another, as well.

Not the end, but a satisfying wrap-up for one long-running threat - I can't wait to see where Lee and Miller take Korval next!

The end - at least for now - of the Korval books. They promise another, though who knows when it will actually appear - there keep being other things in the way (from the collapse of Meisha Merlin to books that need writing first). All the threads of the series come together - we see what actually happened to Val Con and Miri after that last escapade, and everyone (almost everyone) shows up on Lytaxin. The one who doesn't is Pat Rin, who has previously in the books been pretty much a nasty non-entity. He flowered a little more in the short stories, but still we know very little of him until this book. The timeshift thing is occasionally quite confusing - alternate chapters depicting what happened after the war on Lytaxin and what Pat show more Rin did some half-a-year earlier. Possibly even an error - Pat Rin piloted five days before the last battle, which was after Natesa had contacted the Juntavas for the cash. So why was the Judge's man still ignorant of her whereabouts several days after the battle? Day 44 the Juntavas couriers came in - Day 51 he was asking for any word of her. Maybe just slow messages, but. Anyway - I love Pat Rin's necessities, his solutions are elegant (as possible, Surebleak is not conducive to elegance). The timing of the return to Liad is amazing - Korval's Luck. The Department's certainty that Val Con's meeting with Miri and all that followed from it are 'obviously' a deep-laid plan is truly amusing, since we've gotten to see all the chances and changes involved. And then the perfect happy ending, as far as Korval is concerned. Anxiously awaiting the next book - however many they write! The prequels are fun but I want later ones too. show less

The final story so far in the Liaden series. Hopefully there will be more taking off from this point. I don't count the books about Theo Wately because they tell her childhood up until she shows up in this book (and are not nearly as good in my opinion) This might be my favorite of the series. Kind of depends on the day I guess. Great sci fi space opera and sci fi romance. The romances are light but they are an integral part of the story. I have a very great fondness for Pat Rin who could be considered the hero of this novel. He is a bit of an underdog who has been a bit overlooked and dismissed by his family but he proves himself here. I love Korval the way Korval loves ships. :-)

The crisis that's been building in secret for decades for Clan Korval and for Liaden as a whole foods s come ng to a head. The Department of the Interior is ready to come out into the open and act directly. Agents of Change have been dispatched to Lytaxin to capture or kill Val Con. Ne'er-do-well cousin Pat Rin yos'Phelium, gambler and sharpshooter, has been approached by another Agent with a most interesting offer aimed directly at his ambition and presumed resentment. And a truly evil trap has been devised for Anthora yos'Galan, the only remaining representative of Clan Korval on Liad.

Unexpected allies appear, also, both long-lost friends and agents of the Juntavas.

This is a fast-paced book with a lot going on. We follow Pat Rin, Val show more Con, Miri, Anthora, and others as the various subplots against the Clan set them all plotting and fighting back, each in keeping with their own personalities and gifts. I found Pat Rin's adventures and growth the most engaging, but it's all fun.

Recommended.

I bought this book. show less

My favorite novel of the Liaden series. The majority of the book follows Pat Rin as he is separated from his powerful family and strikes out to achieve "balance" against the Department of the Interior. Fun space-opera story.
Re-read 10/25/2022.

   This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and   permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.leafmarks.tumblr.com by express permission of this reviewer.    Title: I Dare  Series: Liaden Universe  Author: Sharon Lee & Steve Miller  Rating: 4 of 5 Stars  Genre: SF  Pages: 416     Synopsis: The Ministry of the Interior pretends to have killed off all the members of the Korval clan, except for Pat-rin the Playboy, in an attempt to bend him to their will. Pat-rin's playboy exterior only covers a true Korval core and he attempts to start the clan over on show more a new world, with new allies. However, the Clan is NOT dead and Val Con the Head of the Clan formulates a plan to save himself, the Clan and all of Liad from the depredations of the Ministry.   My Thoughts: I didn't enjoy this book as much as the previous Liad books, mainly because Pat-rin is too wracked with guilt, self-loathing and self-doubt. However, seeing the Ministry of the Interior get theirs was pretty good.   The romance side of things was ok, with several couples spontaneously life-mating, one pair through a dream no less.  I rolled my eyes but I didn't feel dirty or disgusted like I would with that smut that passes for romance these days.   Each book I read is bittersweet, as I enjoy them so much and each book finished means I'm one book closer to the end. I ration myself. " show less