Review: Another Winner
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 1, 2011
When I received this novella in the mail I was ecstatic. And I wasn't disappointed. The Liaden universe created by these authors is a total package. Setting, culture and characters are spot on, well rounded and complete. When I opened Skyblaze I felt like I'd come through the door of an old friend's house, one of those places you spent happy hours in while growing up. I felt comfortably at home right away, but with a spark of anticipation because I wanted to sink into the story and find out what happens. Here we get a view of what happened the day Pat Rin and his crew fired on Liad, but from a different point of view than the High Houses and Clan Korval. We follow a cab driver, the delm of a small Clan, who is stripped of her Ring and sent off world as a punishment for her actions on the day of Skyblaze. She goes to Surebleak, where she struggles to make a place for herself. We get to meet some of my favorite characters from the full length novels. (I always had a crush on Flyer Shugg, the Colonel Andy Mack, and on Pilot McFarland. Happy sigh.)A lot of times a short novella like this leaves a reader unhappy because there jsut isn't enough space to really tell a full story with all the extras like characterization and setting. But Lee and Miller manage it beautifully. I think it helped that I was already acquainted with the world, culture and some of the characters, so only a few details were needed to pull me into the story. If you haven't read the Liaden novels I strongly urge you to pick up Agent of Change and dive in. Science fiction fans will love it for the space travel and fight scenes. Fantasy fans will love the complex worlds the authors have created. Romance lovers will adore the relationships that fill each book. Romance is not the primary focus of the books, but the love stories are important secondary themes. Lee and Miller are, in my opinion, the finest writers of space opera today, and have been for the past two decades. I read Agent of Change back around 1989, and re-read on a reguar basis. Their stories don't get old.lSkyblaze is a great addition to my Liaden library.