Liaden fans, help me out

[CRussel]

I don't know that anyone ever said, artifact, but I assume it's set in Carousel's Maine. Would make sense, since the whole point is to act as a promo for the new book.

[CRussel]

Again, not Liaden, but definitely Sharon Lee -- The Gift of Music, is up on the Baen site as a free short story.

And, LAST CALL for the February Baen Monthly Bundle that includes Carousel Sun. If you don't buy it today in the bundle, you will, of course, be able to buy it tomorrow as a standalone novel for $8.99 (1/2 the price of the bundle of 8 books).

[CRussel]

For those who buy Audible books, they're currently having a 3 books for 2 credits sale, and among the books in the list is Local Custom, read extremely well by Bernadette Dunne.

(Edited to correct the reader's surname. I don't know what I was thinking.)

[Carmelreader]

What would you suggest for a 1st time reader of this series, audio or ebook. I have just picked up recently Local Custom and Fledgling in ebook and could get the audio in the sale. I am a big Heyer fan and also used to enjoy some SF (Pern and Darkover) years ago. I read this whole thread which convinced me to get the 2 books above and to start the series. Also read the other thread too. I am equally fond of reading and listening. I must say the excerpt I listened to was very Heyer and a lot of fun. Love the use of language. Am looking forward to starting these.

[CRussel]

I don't think it really matters whether you listen or read first. Ultimately, I do both, and this isn't a series where I think one or the other is "better". Local Custom is a good entry point. I envy you your discovery.

[Carmelreader]

Originally Posted by CRussel

I don't think it really matters whether you listen or read first. Ultimately, I do both, and this isn't a series where I think one or the other is "better". Local Custom is a good entry point. I envy you your discovery.

Thanks, am looking forward to it.

[Xanthe]

Ah, yes, if you are a Heyer fan, start with Local Custom!

[CRussel]

Hey, Liaden Fans. There's a new 50+ page story up on the Splinter Universe, The Rifle's First Wife. And it's free, though they are asking for folks to consider donations as you can and wish, since they're now planning on putting up new fiction every month. Some of their own, some of others.

[Xanthe]

Thanks for that.

[CRussel]

For those of you who haven't tried the Liaden books as audio books, there are two of them up on Audible for $4.95 each -- Agent of Change, and Crystal Soldier -- as part of Audible's current sale on "first in a series". At these prices, you can't go wrong. Both are well read, though by different readers. (In the push to deliver all of the Liaden books as Audible books at once, the novels were split into 4 different Arcs, each with different narrators. These are the first books in two different Arcs.)

[Xanthe]

Thanks for that information about the sale. I already have those Liaden books, but was able to pick up some others on sale, namely:

Catherine Asaro - Schism: Triad Book One (Skolian Empire)
Faith Hunter - Skinwalker (Jane Yellowrock #1)
C. S. Friedman - Black Sun Rising (Coldfire Trilogy, Book One)
C. J. Cherryh - Foreigner (Foreigner Sequence 1, Book One)

All books that I've read in paper format, but I didn't have those Asaro and Hunter audiobooks yet, and I'm looking forward hearing the Friedman and Cherryh ones read.

There are some other books listed in the sale that look interesting, but I'm going to be strong and resist.

[CRussel]

The Cherryh Foreigner series is particularly well read. One of my favorite audio books.

[Carmelreader]

Originally Posted by CRussel

The Cherryh Foreigner series is particularly well read. One of my favorite audio books.

I was looking at that, thanks for the comment. Is the whole series good too? Got the two Liaden ones.

P.S. Any other recommendations?

[Xanthe]

"Schism" is a good entry point into Catherine Asaro's Skolian Empire Saga, because it traces the early years of the character of Sauscony Valdoria Skolia when she's just going off to the military academy. It's the 10th book in the series, but Asaro tends to skip around the time frame when writing her books because there are so many primary characters. The first book in the series, "Primary Inversion", starts off with Sauscony's story later in her life.

The Skolian Empire Saga is a great space opera.

From Wiki:

The Saga of the Skolian Empire, informally called the Skolian Saga or Tales of the Ruby Dynasty, is a series of science fiction novels, novelettes and novellas by Catherine Asaro, revolving around characters from an interstellar empire known as the Skolian Empire and their power struggle with the rival Eubian Concord. The plot of the book unfolds over several generations of characters and revolves around political intrigues, but also contains subplots regarding physics, bio-enhancements, virtual computer networks, romance, mathematics, and military conflict as it is affected by supraluminal space travel.

[Strether]

Originally Posted by Carmelreader

I was looking at that, thanks for the comment. Is the whole series good too? Got the two Liaden ones.

P.S. Any other recommendations?

I can't speak to the audio versions of the Foreigner series, because I haven't heard them. But I can recommend the series of books, which, when the new one comes out in April, will number 15. It's possible you might find the first trilogy a little slow, but if you make it to the second trilogy, it really takes off from that point. Alas, the second trilogy not yet available as ebooks. If your library doesn't have them, buy used paperbacks.

Jim