Accepting the Lance

In this 22nd adventure in the Liaden Universe a number of plot threads are tied off. It is a novel filled with changes.

TerraTrade has sent a survey crew to assess Surebleak's potential as a trading hub. However, one of the crew is prejudiced against the planet because Clan Korval has settled there. He is convinced that Clan Korval are pirates who subjugated the world to Korval's desires which is almost true. Nonetheless the current plan is not to make waves while the inspectors are on planet.

But Theo and Bechimo arrive being trailed by on overzealous scout who wants to decommission and reprogram Bechimo because he's a complex logic - a self-aware and self-governing space ship. But Val Con makes a judgment in his role as a Scout show more Commander that complex self-aware machines are people and may not be interfered with if they have jobs and are socially responsible. This is an epic, potentially universe changing idea.

When a group of these complex logics, most of them war machines that survived the Old Universe, are pointed at Surebleak by the Commander of the Department of the Interior as the next phase in the DOI's plans to wipe-out Korval, Theo, her crew, and her ships are there to stop the invasion in a very Delgado sort of way. Theo teaches the invaders consensus building as a way of problem solving and averts the invasion without a shot being fired.

While these things are going on at or near Surebleak, another plot thread begun in an earlier book has some survivors of the DOI going off to try to defeat it. It is a longshot attempt that is led by Rys Lin pen'Chela who was a former Agent of Change who was adopted by the Bedel who live secretly on Surebleak.

Speaking of the Bedel, they have long been on Surebleak having been dropped off by their ship which never returned for them. Only now a message comes in and they find that they have been found and a ship will be coming for them. The problem is that most of the current generation of Bedel have made Surebleak their home and don't want to go back.

Still another plot thread has a Boss Surebleak wanting to return things to the bad old days and wants to retire Boss Conrad (Pat Rin) and the Road Boss (Miri and Val Con). No one knows who Boss Surebleak is but our heroes are pretty sure he/she is another part of the plot set up by the DOI to eliminate Korval. The consequences of this lead to the development of voting as a way to indicate support for either Boss Conrad or Boss Surebleak which is an idea that is very new to Surebleak and not much more common on Liad.

All of these plot threads and others I didn't talk about are wonderfully woven into a fascinating story that brings us up-to-date on many of the characters who have starred in earlier books in the Liaden Universe series. But I still want more! What about Shan? What about the children who are now young adults? What will happen as a result of Val Con's judgment? What is happening at Tinsori Light? show less

Wow. A lot of threads come together, in some very interesting ways. A few new twists, and some conclusions aren't really solidly concluded - the Department, for one. The whole Boss Surebleak mess was apparently someone acting independently. The Old Tech and other Complex Logics are going to be amazing. I feel like I'm missing bits of the story - the Six, and...Didn't Theo know about Tinsori Light? Need to reread some of the recent books and stories. Which is normal - the Liaden universe is a complex one, and I lose track of stuff while waiting for the next book. Some very rich bits near the end - and some new family members. I'm already looking forward to the next.

2021 reread:
I very much liked some of this book - the involvement of the Clutch Turtles in Surebleak for example. As someone who had read all the previous novels, though not all the Adventures in Liaden Unverse short stories & novellas, there was a tad too much repetition at the beginning.

The good part is that the DOI is done for. I took this up hoping for a fast moving, absorbing read in which the good guys survive the baddies and trounce them. It was fast, if a bunch of quick views of near critical events, one after the other, is fast. Absorbing it was not, rather the the quick switches, as the different groups one after the other make clever or lucky escapes from peril, were jarring, and the inevitable drastic wounds to cared for characters who nonetheless survive did not create tension, but felt same old, same old. Then there were the multiplicity of mannered language usages different with each group visited, Bedel, Surebleakers, Pathfinders, and of course Liadens™️. Some of that was cool when lightly used and show more wrapped around a coherent narrative. But maybe there's hope for fun stories in the future now that the DOI is out of the way. show less

Accepting the Lance ties up all of the "contemporary" story lines in the Liaden Universe in a satisfying way. Because of that, this is definitely not a good starting place for the series. But those who have been following it should be satisfied.

There is a lot going on here, so many of the ongoing characters are on-stage only briefly, but giving each their full due would drag the book out past enduring. The only thing that feels slighted is in the attack on the Department of the Interior's base. A major development comes from nowhere; I felt off-balance through that whole sequence because of it.

The ending is satisfactory, but leaves plenty of room for more stories in this universe. Recommended

The team sent off to take down the Department of the Interior are running into some interesting challenges--and an unexpected development.

Someone calling themself "Boss Surebleak" has demanded that Boss Conrad and the Road Boss be "retired," in the Surebleak sense, all their property stripped from their families, and those families deported from Surebleak, and Surebleak returned to its "native" laws and customs.

Theo, Bechimo, and crew are working off two serious demerits Theo and Bechimo earned while entering the Surebleak system in their previous adventure. The Portmaster is being hardnosed about it, which she admits is not really fair, but...

There's a Terra Trade survey team on planet, evaluating the port for the upgrade to "regional show more port, all services" status that it clearly needs for Surebleak to continue to grow. The presence of Clan Korval, and the bad reputation the Department of the Interior has managed to saddle them with, is of course one of the biggest obstacles to this. The fact that Theo, while being the Delm's sister, isn't really Clan Korval, is a detail that the Portmaster can't really expect to sell to the Terra Trade team. While doing their public service work, they find a gathering of Old Tech ships and devices, some of them from the old universe. Currently, the Old Tech intelligences are discussing whether or not the orders they have to destroy Surebleak are valid. Obviously, hot-headed Theo is the right one to convince them they're not, right?

Meanwhile, the Bedel have received an automated message from the Ship. When they reply, the Captain will notify them of when to be ready for their very late pickup. But do they want to go? A couple of generations at least have been born and have grown up on Surebleak. Some of them have strong local ties.

And if that's not enough excitement, a Turtle has arrived, not one of Edger's clan, but she does know Edger. Her name is Emissary Twelve, and she's been sent with some really bad news. If repair work on the damage done, apparently by the Gilmour Agency's mining operations, doesn't start soon, Surebleak will come apart in just twelve thousand years.

So, yes, okay, that particular disaster is on a timescale that makes it seem more urgent to Turtles than to humans, but still, why wait?

There's a lot going on here, and it's a lot of fun, if also pretty high stress to everyone involved. The Liaden universe, the Surebleak culture, and the new and old characters continue to grow and develop. It's an enjoyable and satisfying story.

Recommended.

I received this audiobook as a gift from a kind friend. show less

2021 reread:
I very much liked some of this book - the involvement of the Clutch Turtles in Surebleak for example. As someone who had read all the previous novels, though not all the Adventures in Liaden Unverse short stories & novellas, there was a tad too much repetition at the beginning.