Ghost Ship

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

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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.

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Next episode in the Liaden Universe sees Korval transplanted on Surebleak and adjusting it to their Necessities. Theo Waitley has come to the Delm of Korval to solve her problems. She needs help with the Old Tech ship whose captain's key she wears around her neck and with her damaged friend Win

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Ton. Meanwhile the Department of the Interior suffered a blow but is still determined to wipe Korval from the universe. Theo meets all sorts of family and we get a chance to meet characters we know from the series. Wonderful book that will be published on Aug. 2, 2011.

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The story continues after I Dare and Saltation, as Korval moves to Surebleak and Theo and the ghost ship pursue each other. If this makes no sense, don't start here--but do start.

This ends very much in the middle of things; fortunately, the authors are hard at work on the next one.

The sentient ship Bechimo wants its pilot - more, it wants to bond with its captain. Unfortunately, the pilot Theo Waitley doesn't seem inclined to come to him and take up her duty, so Bechimo continues to track her across the wide expanses between planets and solar systems. Theo, meanwhile, is

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coming to terms with the disappearance of her father, the Scholar Kilardi, and the reappearance of Daav yos'Phelium, Scout and Pilot and Korval.

For Korval, with Dragon and Tree newly settled on its new planet home, circumstances continue to be stressful. And the Department continues it's deadly stalking...

Lee and Miller have plotted a marvelously complex and many-threaded story that just keeps getting better.

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Very rich. I definitely need to read it a couple more times before I catch...well, most of it. Liaden books tend to have new discoveries on the tenth reading and more. The story is a little choppy - jumping back and forth between viewpoints, sometimes after only a page or two. And the Vandar bit

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was interesting - some repeated scenes, some left out here that the chapbook's story covered, and some new bits. It was great to see Clarence again, Bechimo is fascinating and needs quite a few lessons in dealing with people, Uncle is less than complete in his knowledge (how odd!). We don't get to see much of Surebleak - not as much as in Skyblaze - but what we do see is interesting. And...the book ends at a somewhat odd point (though I can't see where else it could have stopped - there at least a full book's worth of story before there's any sort of conclusion). It stops at a point where everything is solidly begun, and some time is necessary before the next set of results happen. Dragon Ship...next year! Hmmm. Reread - I found I didn't remember portions of it, to the point of thinking I hasn't finished the book. I did remember the final scene, though. Well. Still excellent, and now I have Dragon Ship - the eARC, at least. It flows nicely.

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This book could have been called Ghost Ship or Clan Korval Finally Settles into Surebleak. This could be read by either a fan of the series or someone trying it out for the first time since anything that is referring to events from previous books is nicely handled without the feeling of

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infodumping. Of course I'm left sitting here waiting for the next book to come out in the series.

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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

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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.

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