Liaden fans, help me out

[CRussel]

And another short snippet:

"Master Trader yos'Galan has recently entered into a trade arrangement with the Carresens-Denobli Syndicate. It's in the trade news."
Jen Sin blinked.
"Do we take the trade news?"
"Subscriptions are only now beginning to arrive," she said. "Shall I share them with you?"

[CRussel]

Posted elsewhere:

Originally Posted by Sharon Lee

This is in answer to the numerous pleas across several venues for more information on SALVAGE RIGHT, its setting and cast.

SALVAGE RIGHT is set on Tinsori Light. The cast of characters includes, but is not limited to!

• Jen Sin yos'Phelium
• Seignur Veeoni
• Tocohl Lorlin
• Lorith
• Tolly Jones
• Hazenthull nor'Phelium
• Theo Waitley

NOTE: Salvage Right is not the book that will be released in May (Fair Trade), nor the book that will be released after that (Trade Lanes) -- both of those are Jethri books -- but the book that will be released after those two Jethri books. And which constitutes the last of the Triple Threat contract with Baen.

[CRussel]

And the snippets just keep on coming...

"What would you have done," Theo asked, "if she hadn't stopped?"
Jen Sin raised an eyebrow. "Jumped, of course. What would you have done if she'd veered left?"
Theo sighed. "Jumped," she admitted.

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by CRussel

And the snippets just keep on coming...

Fun! It really sounds like Sharon’s making good progress, for a book that’s not due until 2024. Maybe it will be ready early

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Victoria

Fun! It really sounds like Sharon’s making good progress, for a book that’s not due until 2024. Maybe it will be ready early

We can hope, but honestly I don't expect it to be much earlier, given the way things have to work at Baen. They have a limited number of slots they can publish, and IME their lead times are quite long. (Admittedly, I'm used to the FAR shorter lead times of the computer book industry, where we were responding to edits, tech edits, and copy edits while we were still writing chapters! And all online -- no hard copy at all.)

Oh, and a new snippet:

"Haz? Field's clear."
"There is no more danger?"
"Well, there's Cap'n Theo, but she's with us.

And let's hope she's pointed in the right direction. That woman is definitely danger.

[CRussel]

Snippet alert:

"Surely your duty to the Line falls short of intimidating allies for the use of their goods."
Her lips twitched.
"Surely, it does not," she said.

[Victoria]

Oh, and a new snippet:
"Well, there's Cap'n Theo, but she's with us.

These snippets are a riot! The stories I find funny often involve Shan or Miri, and I’ve always thought that might be Steve’s voice. But Sharon’s really teasing us with Theo. I think she’s having a lot of fun writing this one, which bodes well for us.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Victoria

Oh, and a new snippet:
"Well, there's Cap'n Theo, but she's with us.

These snippets are a riot! The stories I find funny often involve Shan or Miri, and I’ve always thought that might be Steve’s voice. But Sharon’s really teasing us with Theo. I think she’s having a lot of fun writing this one, which bodes well for us.

They are a riot! They mostly haven't delineated who's "lead" on a book, though we do know that Steve was lead on these last two Jethri books. Though I have to figure that he would have been anyway, given that Sharon was still dealing with Chemo-Brain. And Salvage Right is Sharon's as they play a bit of catchup on their contract(s).

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by CRussel

They are a riot! They mostly haven't delineated who's "lead" on a book, though we do know that Steve was lead on these last two Jethri books. Though I have to figure that he would have been anyway, given that Sharon was still dealing with Chemo-Brain. And Salvage Right is Sharon's as they play a bit of catchup on their contract(s).

I really admire they’re team writing ability. My job included editing my staff members’ reports, correspondence etc, before they were submitted. I found that each person on my team had a very distinct voice, though we were just dealing with factual matters. So for Steve and Sharon to turn out such internally consistent fiction is quite remarkable.

Readers are sensitive to even slight deviations when a character acts out of character. It breaks the mood and disrupts your reading. Even though they take the lead on different parts, I haven’t noticed any inconsistencies in Liaden books. OTOH, I read a series by James Patterson, and his team of ghost writers, where it was quite obvious. And I simply had to stop reading books from the Star Trek world because it was too jarring. So kudos to Sharon & Steve.

[CRussel]

When my DW and I first started writing computer books, we would edit each other's chapters. This helped immensely in creating a cohesive style, which was reinforced when we had a good developmental or copy editor. (About 1/2 the time. The other half isn't something I can comment on in a family friendly forum, except to say that editors should stick to editing and not try to pretend they're technical writers. And that the writer's favourite and best word is "stet". Or when it's particularly egregious, STET! )

One of the things that we know Lee&Miller do is to read and edit each other's work. Sharon has commented that they talk out differences of opinion, and try to reach a consensus, but ultimately the lead writer is the winner if it can't be resolved. And you're absolutely right -- they do an excellent job of having a homogeneous style or "voice". Readers have often claimed they can tell who wrote a particular section, but have just as often proven to be wrong. I gave up trying.

[Victoria]

Originally Posted by CRussel

When my DW and I first started writing computer books, we would edit each other's chapters. This helped immensely in creating a cohesive style, which was reinforced when we had a good developmental or copy editor. (About 1/2 the time. The other half isn't something I can comment on in a family friendly forum, except to say that editors should stick to editing and not try to pretend they're technical writers. And that the writer's favourite and best word is "stet". Or when it's particularly egregious, STET! )

One of the things that we know Lee&Miller do is to read and edit each other's work. Sharon has commented that they talk out differences of opinion, and try to reach a consensus, but ultimately the lead writer is the winner if it can't be resolved. And you're absolutely right -- they do an excellent job of having a homogeneous style or "voice". Readers have often claimed they can tell who wrote a particular section, but have just as often proven to be wrong. I gave up trying.

Charlie, I had to look up “stet”; I can see why you’d bold it. I had a boss once, a lawyer, who kept explaining medicine to the poor doctors. They were very polite with her, more I could have been, lol.

I’m not asking anyone for spoilers, (though personally I don’t mind them). But I have been wondering how the e-arc readers have found Fair Trade? Is it in the same vein as the original Jethri stories, which I think were intended as YA, or has it matured along with him? I really enjoyed the original stories, but did find that the plot resolutions of the two books were on the sudden and simple side.

[CRussel]

I'll also be interested to hear the thoughts of those who have read the eARC. I very much enjoyed it, and I also quite enjoyed the not quite Jethri story in the recently released A Liaden Universe® Constellation, Volume 5. In April, I'll start a re-read of the two existing Jethri books and right on into Fair Trade.

[kyrilson]

Well, I'm finally going to dip my toe into this series. The whole reading order thing seems rather dizzyingly complex so I'm going to just keep it simple and start with The Dragon Variation, which collects Local Custom, Scout's Progress and Conflict of Honors. This appears to be the first in the Liaden Universe combo omnibii. And I seem to have seen a few people in this thread that started with Local Custom. Somehow I have a ton of these Liaden ebooks from buying Webscriptions and Monthly Bundles from Baen all these years, so it looks like I already have a lot of these ebooks already. So it feels like "free" entertainment, even though I already paid for these long ago.

[CRussel]

Local Custom isn't a bad place to start. You'll get a lot of the cultural aspects of Liaden society which gives you a solid foundation for the rest of the series. It's not what I would call an action oriented book, however, so if that's critical for you, you could go with Agent of Change, the first published book in the series. It's free from the Baen Free Library. IAC, you have a wonderful series in front of you.

[Victoria]

[QUOTE=kyrilson;4200589]Well, I'm finally going to dip my toe into this series. The whole reading order thing seems rather dizzyingly complex so I'm going to just keep it simple and start with The Dragon Variation, which collects Local Custom, Scout's Progress and Conflict of Honors. This appears to be the first in the Liaden Universe combo omnibii. [/QUOTE][/INDENT]

Oh, lucky you! It’s such a great series. Local Custom is a good place to start, and where I started as well. But as Charlie noted, it’s not action oriented, which is unusual for this series. However the tempo really picks up and questions get sorted out in Scout’s Progress, so hang in, if the pace feels slow.

Also, I just wanted to pass on that the Liaden Universe Wikipedia page is a good resource for keeping the various story lines straight. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liaden_universe.

Originally Posted by CRussel

I'll also be interested to hear the thoughts of those who have read the eARC. I very much enjoyed it, and I also quite enjoyed the not quite Jethri story in the recently released A Liaden Universe® Constellation, Volume 5. In April, I'll start a re-read of the two existing Jethri books and right on into Fair Trade.

My plan as well. It’s fun to reread just before they release a new book.