Carpe Diem

by Sharon Lee

Other authorsSteve Miller (Author)

Paperback, 1989

Status

Available

Call number

Fic SF Lee & Miller

Publication

Del Rey (1989), Mass Market Paperback

Description

"On the run from interplanetary assassins, covert operative Val Con yos'Phelium and former mercenary sergeant Miri Robertson have wound up stranded on a distant planet with no rescue in sight. Until they figure out a way back to Liad, these two lost souls must find a way to trust each another-and let their love heal the dark wounds of their past. . . . Back on Liad, Shan yos'Galan, Val Con's cousin and foster brother, and his life-partner, Priscilla Mendoza, have initiated their own search for the missing member of Clan Korval. But what they don't know is that those who seek to destroy Val Con and Miri are just as determined to bring down Clan Korval. All the deadly enemy needs is someone to unwittingly lead them to their target. . . "--

User reviews

LibraryThing member Black_samvara

Light hearted and dramatic with action, adventure and angst all wrapped up in some of the most enjoyable characters I've hit for a long time. Miri and Val Con are in hiding, Shan and Priscilla are rightfully worried and trying to track them down - as are Val con's ex-employers, the intergalactic

mafia and some giant turtles.

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9 more

LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey

Direct continuation from Agent of Change. These four books are pretty close to a four-volume novel - and yet manage to have satisfying endings for each one. AoC ended with them escaping two major enemies. That scene is repeated as the first chapter of CD, then they get to deal with the results of

the successful escape. Again, Val Con exercises his trained talents and a few more, and Miri develops her talents in new ways (and starts - only starts - to believe in herself). Vandar and its society are great, Zhena Trelu and Hakim and all the others they encounter are neatly drawn, the raid is exciting and its consequences major. And then everything happens at once at the end. We also get to learn more of the Department and of Shan and Priscilla (Steve & Sharon had to write a whole book in between AoC and CD to make sense of those two!). Very good.

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LibraryThing member clong

This is the second book I have read in Lee and Miller's Liaden Universe setting. The first, Conflict of Honors, was reasonably entertaining but nothing special. I found Carpe Diem to be a much better book, one of the better space operas I have read in recent memory. The protagonists Val Con and

Miri are great characters skillfully revealed as the story progresses: complicated, likeable yet humanly flawed, extraordinarily talented yet insecure in a way that rings true. And their romance is one of the more compelling ones I have encountered in science fiction. I particularly enjoyed the role of music in their lives and how music helps them connect with the world on which they find themselves stranded. The bad guys are also complex, much better characters than the corresponding heavies in Conflict of Honors.

The plot develops slowly, and offers a few nice surprises. We don't really understand who the bad guys are, what they are doing, or why until about halfway through this book. And when we do understand, it is certainly a dark menace worthy of risking deep sacrifice to stop. Highly recommended.

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LibraryThing member thkey

While the main storyline was generally solid, there were too many excursions to secondary plotlines involving superfluous characters and only marginally relevant events. Errors in continuity abound. If that's just because I did not read the previous book in the sequence, then the book merely fails

to stand by itself.

I can't shake the impression that this book was not polished, not planned well, and was rather poorly copy edited. Despite the writing style smelling of writing workshop, Lee and Miller don't seem to get the job done.

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LibraryThing member kmartin802

Miri and Val Con have come to rest on the interdicted world of Vandar. They learn the language and the culture and learn more about each other. They make friends and are almost reconciled to staying there for the rest of their lives.

Meanwhile, back in the greater universe, Clan Korval is under

attack by the Department of Interior. Nova calls Plan B and most of the clan leaves Liad. Val Con must come back to lead his clan. Luckily, the Department of Interior has found Val Con and sent an agent to bring Val Con back. Unfortunately, it is his plan to bring him back dead. Val Con and Miri need to defeat the agent, steal his ship, and return to lead the clan.

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LibraryThing member reading_fox

3rd in the series uniting the two disperate storylines from the previous novels.

Miri and ValCon are now on their backward world, meanwhile the rest of the Korval Clan, including of course Shan and Priscilla are required to abandon all other tasks and search for the missing pair. Several years has

passed since book 2, and Prisilla has gained quite soem mental powers. These although still somewhat unspecfied never quite seem to be up to the task required of them. We headjump between miri, ValCon, Shan, other memebers of his family, and the new enemy - another agent from Internal Affairs who have decided that the Clan structure isn't ideal in running human affairs and wish to replace it with a government formed of 'suitable' IA people.

Val Con and Miri have fun on the backward world, which are by far themore interestingparts of the novel. For the rest there is little doubt about hw it's all going to end merely the course that is taken to get there. The headjumping remains a pain, but otherwise it's interesting enough.

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LibraryThing member DeltaQueen50

Having been introduced to the Liaden Universe by a fellow LTer, I knew that I would enjoy Carpe Diem by Sharon Lee and, of course, I did. This author has a deft touch with both her storylines and her characters that make these science fiction stories totally immersive. In Carpe Diem, we are treated

to two of my favorite couples that are connected to Klan Korval.

Val Con and Miri are stranded on a distant planet that is a number of generations away from developing advanced technology while Shan and Priscilla are involved in the hunt for them. The story is a wonderful adventure and we are given more information about the Klan and the political situation in Liaden. As an added bonus both Edger and Sheather come to the aid of Val Con and Miri, and one learns that crossing a member of the Clutch can have devastating results.

Originally published in 1989, one has to make a few allowances for the slightly dated devices that are still in use in the Liaden Universe, such items were cutting edge or futuristic in the 1980’s but seem more like historical artifacts today. I admit to noticing these mis-steps but I am so caught up in the adventure and romance of the story that they are easily ignored. I am looking forward to continuing to travel through the Liaden Universe in future books.

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LibraryThing member leslie.98

A good follow-up to Agent of Change (though I doubt that it would work well as a stand-alone).

LibraryThing member LisCarey

Miri Robertson and Val Con yos'Phelium, having escaped both the Juntavas and the Yxtrang, are now stranded on Vandar, a planet without spaceflight and therefore interdicted. Without a ship of their own, they have no realistic prospect of getting home anytime soon. They settle in to learn the

language and build new identities--and incidentally learn how to be a couple, while each fights the demons from their respective pasts.

Meanwhile, Val Con's clutch brothers, Edger and Sheather, continue their hunt to find and rescue their adopted brother and sister. And on Liad, Nova, Shan, and the rest of Clan Korval, also seeking Val Con, discover the Department of the Interior and its terrible plot against the clans.

This is a fun, fast-paced adventure in a nicely intricate universe. The relationship between Miri and Val Con is interesting and believably complex, while the planetbound culture and its citizens are treated with respect and some depth.

Recommended.

I bought this book.

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LibraryThing member leslie.98

3.5*

A good follow-up to Agent of Change (though I doubt that it would work well as a stand-alone).

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