Finally the book I've been waiting nearly 10 years for. Picks up where [b:I Dare|1103876|I Dare (Liaden Universe, #11)|Sharon Lee|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181013406s/1103876.jpg|1644933] leaves off. The other two books that caught Theo up to this point were not the best even though they might have been necessary. Although I debate that since they could have been condensed I think into at least one book. Well anyway finally we get back to Korval and ships. There was plenty of space opera action here and we got to see the settling of Clan Korval onto Surebleak. It was wonderful to see most of my old favorites again. Love the fact that there is a sequel out next month. Can't wait. ( )

Clan Korval's relocation to Surebleak can't go without bumps, and of course there are those who think the new power on the Port Road will be as easy to take out as any street boss from the old days. Meanwhile, Theo Waitley is adjusting to finding herself a member of a large extended family, with siblings and cousins and aunts--none of whom grew up in the "safety" culture of Delgado, and whose reactions to her range from delighted to appalled.

Theo has temporarily shelved the question of what to do about Bechimo, the "old tech" sapient AI ship which Win Ton has given her the command key for. In the meantime, she's continuing to work as a courier pilot for the old and secretive person known as Uncle. But both as an employee of Uncle, and as, now, a known Clan Korval pilot, Theo has become a target for dangerous people.

And of course, the Department of the Interior continues its war against Clan Korval.

There are a lot of threads coming together here, and going off in new directions. Theo, Val Con, and their father, Daav, each in their own ways continue to grow and develop as characters. We also start to get to know Bechimo, who, well, Bechimo needs a lot of socialization!

This is a thoroughly satisfying entry in the Liaden series, continuing to build on what has gone before, and intertwining multiple ongoing threads in the larger Liaden universe. It might not be the best place for a reader coming new to the series to start, but still an excellent book.

Recommended.

I bought this book. ( )

Reassembling the whole Liaden™️ Korval clan with their arch enemies The Department of the Interior in disjoint pursuit. A majority of the action follows Theo Watley as she advertently but not quiet carefully follows Uncle's itinerary until Bechimo jumps in to save her ass. Somewhat disjoint and making a point to touch base with all our favorite clan members and most of their associates, but no norbears, the narrative has a gaping hole where story Prodigal Son goes. It was enjoyable to spend snippets of time with the many survivors of the Departments efforts, but this is about my least favorite book in the series. And it is the start of an increasingly long series of books in which my favorite characters, Shan and Priscilla are pretty much ignored. I guess only scout level pilots are of interest to the authors. ( )

A cliff hanger ending - When will be sequel be out? Drat, drat, drat.... ( )

The authors wanting to advance the tale of Korval, and what happened after Plan B, seemed to have lost their way entirely with the Theo Waitley device. For that is all this character is. Here we have a construct of an intelligent ship (we've seen those before) that just isn't given enough detail to fit it. Where a complete story would have had us learn much more about the ship, we don't seem to care, or the authors don't know and so just didn't write that.

And they also don't seem to know what is going on with Korval after Plan B, for there are still troubles, terrible clan ending troubles, but this is continues unresolved. As several threads are told. Theo Waitley though may be the worst, for the authors well past their time as young, fresh out of college, adults, write Theo far too often with the viewpoint of a much older adult. Far too often, we don't get that sense of what a young person thinks they know, and it being wrong, for Theo and those she meets of the same age, always seem to get things right. Annoyingly so.

No Laid is far from what it was, though careful plotting and completing the whole story could have saved these partial books. ( )