Rating: 
Summary: Regency romance in outer space - yes, it is possible!
Review: OK, if you don't read any of the romance genre, the term Regency romance will mean nothing to you. If, however, you do read Regency romances, then this is the science fiction book for you!The book is good even if one isn't a romance reader - there's plenty of plot, snappy dialogue, and seat-of-the-pants spaceship flying, as one would want in Space Opera. But let me describe the romance part of the plot, so that Regency readers can see that indeed, this book hits every one of the cliches of the genre - and does it quite well, too! Let's see. Girl lives at home with cruel older brother, who has previously married her off to one of his equally cruel and abusive friends, and threatens to marry her off to another such unless she is completely submissive to him. Older sister thinks marriages of convenience are fine, for money and heirs - that's what's normal, after all. Younger sister is smart-alec brat, intelligent, but too young to really understand the tensions going on about marriage. Girl teaches at school; she's a math genius, but has virtually no public recognition. She goes out with some of her students to a gambling hell - er, hall - and winds up winning a spaceship from a card sharp. (The card sharp's family eventually finds out that he has fleeced many other young members of the nobility, and that's why so many other noble families aren't talking to them; he gets banished to the Americas - er, to a farm planet, with a distant aunt.) She decides to learn to pilot, and thus escape from her family and earn her own living. Who should wind up giving Aelliana piloting lessons but Daav, who doesn't give her his last name - because he's actually a member of the top aristocracy, who doesn't want to intimidate her or scare her off. Older brother eventually finds out about her winnings, demands they all be turned over to him, and when she refuses, punishes her, locking her in. Daav, however, finds her home, and rescues her. Mother disowns Aelliana's brother. Everyone else lives happily ever after. The card game she wins is called pikit, and I can hear the Regency readers saying "shouldn't that be spelled piquet?" The casino even has a stakes book. And there are characters named Per Sea, and Sed Rik (Percy and Cedric), and indeed, most of the characters in this book have names that are far closer to traditional "English" names, than the other Liaden Universe novels do. They really jump out at one. Now, the science fiction bits: this is, in internal chronology, the second novel in the Liaden Universe series, although it is one of the later ones published - _Conflict of Honors_, _Agent of Change_, and _Carpe Diem_ came out long before this one, while _Local Custom_ came out at about the same time. Conflict, Agent, and Carpe concern the offspring of the characters in Scout's and Local. The entire Liaden series is space opera, extremely well done, with large doses of cultural anthropology that really make the societies involved seem complete, and the conflicts seem real. Liadens are a race of humans, but not Earth humans - at this point, it is still being argued among the various planets as to whether Terrans, Liadens, and Yxtrang are all from the same original stock; the companion book to this one, _Local Custom_, discusses that issue in more detail. This particular book in the series has much less space travel than the others. Keep your eye out for navigational computers and sleep-learning machines. It really doesn't matter whether you read this one or _Local Custom_ first, but it's a good idea to read both, before starting in on the next generation, even though the next generation ones were published first. That's always a dilemma with series books - publishing order or internal chronology? The authors show a terrific sense of humor, and a great hand with dialogue. (Oh, and for readers who still have no idea what "regency" refers to, think Napoleonic War era, think Patrick O'Brien's Aubrey and Maturin series recast as romances.) If you like this book, then you will be addicted to them all.
Rating:
Summary: At Home on Liad
Review: Scout's Progres is an enjoyable, personalized view of the Liaden
Universe. Action and detail make for an enthralling adventure
in an "alien" culture. I plan to follow this family epic closely.
Rating: 
Summary: Very enjoyable SF romance
Review: Scout's Progress is a prequel to the main sequence of Liaden novels that begins with Agent of Change. It tells the story of the romance of the parents of the hero of that novel. It is primarily a science fiction romance (in contrast to the earlier book, which is more purely Space Opera, with elements of romance). I detected the distinct influence of Georgette Heyer. Daav yos Phelium, a Liaden of the somewhat renegade Clan Korval, and an ex-Scout and a Master Pilot, is facing the necessity of a contract marriage. He is somewhat resigned to this, despite disliking his arranged mate, and despite facing the hostility of her family to the presence of a Terran in his extended household. At the same time the brilliant mathematician Aelliana Caylon, daughter of an impoverished Clan, is facing abuse from her vain brother, who resents her abilities. Her only thought is to escape to Terran space, where the strict social rules that govern Liadens do not apply -- but how? Then, rather improbably, she finds herself with a spaceship -- and the Master Pilot who ends up helping her get her pilot's license is -- well, you've guessed it. The nove follows many of the conventions of the romance genre: not always a good thing, but enjoyable as long as you expect it. It has, at any rate, the strengths of the better Romances: engaging characters, an involving love story, a fairly believable strict social structure against which to mildly rebel. I found it compulsively readable, and very, very enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: Flying into love
Review: Scout's Progress, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, is a science fiction novel set in the Liaden Universe. It's space opera combined with Regency romance, and can be a bit hard to get into at first. It's been awhile since I've read space opera, and that combined with the different kind of language used by the Liadens made me go through a series of starts and stops before finally settling in to a good book. And it is a good book, if you like that sort of thing. The book is something I'm of two minds about. As said in the first paragraph, it is a fine example of what it sets out to be, so I'm going to review it as that. It's not really the type of book that I'm much interested in, and thus I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I may have otherwise. It is very difficult to get into at first, though I think that may have been a personal thing. There are two reasons for that. First, the language is a bit hard to get used to. It is in English, of course, but it is a very formalized form with some different phrases. I found it a bit annoying at first, but after about 50 pages or so, I started getting used to it. Secondly, the introduction actually uses the term "Regency Romance," which didn't bring good images to my mind. I'm not a romance reader. Those words put a fear into me that the novel would be overly sappy and trite. Between that and the language, I almost put the book down 30 pages into it, but I decided to work my way through it and see if I could get something out of it. Thankfully it worked, and I found myself enjoying the interplay of the characters and the situations, as well as learning about this intriguing world that they lived on, where clan honour is the most important thing, "balance" for any wrongs against the clan must be achieved, and trade is more important than family. It is more a science fiction book with romance elements, then a romance book with science fiction elements. The ending is still a bit too Regency for me and left a small sour taste in my mouth, but the rest of the book is interesting and well worth slogging through the first few pages. If you don't go in with preconceptions, then it will probably be easier. Aelliana is a divided character, self-confident when it comes to mathematics, but when it comes to interpersonal relationships, she is cowed and very subservient. She finds her true calling when she goes into the Binjali Repair Shop to see her new ship, and meets the proprietor, Jon dea'Cort. She finds herself at home with him and the other workers and pilots there, and she finds a companionship that she desperately needs. On meeting Daav, there isn't the spark of romance that one would expect. It was nice to see a relationship build naturally, with none of this "I saw her and I had to have her!" nonsense that romance novels are known for. It builds slowly as Daav instructs her in piloting, first to a mutal respect, and then to a growing attraction that finally ignites. Daav is also an intriguing character. He works at Binjali for his own interest, not making his status as Delm of Clan Korval known to the general population. Jon knows, as well as his fellow pilots, but he never tells Aelliana, and he very carefully never uses his last name around her. He even has Jon sign one of her pilot's certificates so that he can avoid using it. I'm not completely sure if this is something he does generally, or if it's something to do with Aelliana. That bit was unclear to me. He is still interesting, though. He has a sense of compassion that is not common for people of his status (though Clan Korval already has a reputation for eccentricity). He is torn between his obligations to his clan and to his desire to be a free spirit. His growing love for Aelliana only complicates things as well, demonstrating even more that the woman he is supposed to marry is not somebody he wants to spend much time with. When a decision is finally forced on him by circumstances, it makes for an explosive situation. The only character who I found lacking was Ran Eld. He is sadistically cruel and is a stereotypically evil character. Enough of a backstory is given so that you know why he acts desperate sometimes, but his treatment of Aelliana goes beyond anything that has a rational reason. In that way, he's not three-dimensional at all, and I found him a bit boring. His backstory didn't really interest me at all and his constant cruelty grew annoying as well. I like my villains to have a bit of depth, and Ran Eld didn't have that depth. I found the plot of this novel to be your standard romantic plot, though it was helped by the things I've pointed out above. It didn't do much to rise above that, though I found the society interesting. Between that and the characters, it definitely became good enough to finish, though I found it incredibly predictable. If good characters aren't enough for you, then you may want to steer clear of this novel. The ending is very flat, destroying much of my good will toward the novel. Still, it is enjoyable, and I would certainly recommend reading it to any space opera fans out there. If you don't like the genre, there is nothing in here that will change your mind though.
Rating:
Summary: Flying into love
Review: Scout's Progress, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller, is a science fiction novel set in the Liaden Universe. It's space opera combined with Regency romance, and can be a bit hard to get into at first. It's been awhile since I've read space opera, and that combined with the different kind of language used by the Liadens made me go through a series of starts and stops before finally settling in to a good book. And it is a good book, if you like that sort of thing. The book is something I'm of two minds about. As said in the first paragraph, it is a fine example of what it sets out to be, so I'm going to review it as that. It's not really the type of book that I'm much interested in, and thus I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I may have otherwise. It is very difficult to get into at first, though I think that may have been a personal thing. There are two reasons for that. First, the language is a bit hard to get used to. It is in English, of course, but it is a very formalized form with some different phrases. I found it a bit annoying at first, but after about 50 pages or so, I started getting used to it. Secondly, the introduction actually uses the term "Regency Romance," which didn't bring good images to my mind. I'm not a romance reader. Those words put a fear into me that the novel would be overly sappy and trite. Between that and the language, I almost put the book down 30 pages into it, but I decided to work my way through it and see if I could get something out of it. Thankfully it worked, and I found myself enjoying the interplay of the characters and the situations, as well as learning about this intriguing world that they lived on, where clan honour is the most important thing, "balance" for any wrongs against the clan must be achieved, and trade is more important than family. It is more a science fiction book with romance elements, then a romance book with science fiction elements. The ending is still a bit too Regency for me and left a small sour taste in my mouth, but the rest of the book is interesting and well worth slogging through the first few pages. If you don't go in with preconceptions, then it will probably be easier. Aelliana is a divided character, self-confident when it comes to mathematics, but when it comes to interpersonal relationships, she is cowed and very subservient. She finds her true calling when she goes into the Binjali Repair Shop to see her new ship, and meets the proprietor, Jon dea'Cort. She finds herself at home with him and the other workers and pilots there, and she finds a companionship that she desperately needs. On meeting Daav, there isn't the spark of romance that one would expect. It was nice to see a relationship build naturally, with none of this "I saw her and I had to have her!" nonsense that romance novels are known for. It builds slowly as Daav instructs her in piloting, first to a mutal respect, and then to a growing attraction that finally ignites. Daav is also an intriguing character. He works at Binjali for his own interest, not making his status as Delm of Clan Korval known to the general population. Jon knows, as well as his fellow pilots, but he never tells Aelliana, and he very carefully never uses his last name around her. He even has Jon sign one of her pilot's certificates so that he can avoid using it. I'm not completely sure if this is something he does generally, or if it's something to do with Aelliana. That bit was unclear to me. He is still interesting, though. He has a sense of compassion that is not common for people of his status (though Clan Korval already has a reputation for eccentricity). He is torn between his obligations to his clan and to his desire to be a free spirit. His growing love for Aelliana only complicates things as well, demonstrating even more that the woman he is supposed to marry is not somebody he wants to spend much time with. When a decision is finally forced on him by circumstances, it makes for an explosive situation. The only character who I found lacking was Ran Eld. He is sadistically cruel and is a stereotypically evil character. Enough of a backstory is given so that you know why he acts desperate sometimes, but his treatment of Aelliana goes beyond anything that has a rational reason. In that way, he's not three-dimensional at all, and I found him a bit boring. His backstory didn't really interest me at all and his constant cruelty grew annoying as well. I like my villains to have a bit of depth, and Ran Eld didn't have that depth. I found the plot of this novel to be your standard romantic plot, though it was helped by the things I've pointed out above. It didn't do much to rise above that, though I found the society interesting. Between that and the characters, it definitely became good enough to finish, though I found it incredibly predictable. If good characters aren't enough for you, then you may want to steer clear of this novel. The ending is very flat, destroying much of my good will toward the novel. Still, it is enjoyable, and I would certainly recommend reading it to any space opera fans out there. If you don't like the genre, there is nothing in here that will change your mind though.
Rating:
Summary: Escape Science Fiction
Review: This book is mainly background for the Laiden universe; however, it is a great way to escape from the stress of an everyday world. It will also givee you insight into the agent of change series that is core to the Laiden univrese. It is an excellent read for a rainy day or to kill time in a plane terminal between flights. Give it a try!
Rating:
Summary: Probably the best Laiden Universe book to date
Review: This is, in my opinion, the best Laiden Universe book so far. I like it because it is set IN the universe, and we get intimate glimpses into how the familial system works and a better sense of the social pressures that the members of its society feel. Of course it's a romance with the usual obstacles to love. But the interactions of the Laiden society make for an entertaining twist. Recommended for die-hard romance addicts, as well as budding science fiction and fantasy readers.
Rating:
Summary: Probably the best Laiden Universe book to date
Review: This is, in my opinion, the best Laiden Universe book so far. I like it because it is set IN the universe, and we get intimate glimpses into how the familial system works and a better sense of the social pressures that the members of its society feel. Of course it's a romance with the usual obstacles to love. But the interactions of the Laiden society make for an entertaining twist. Recommended for die-hard romance addicts, as well as budding science fiction and fantasy readers.
Rating:
Summary: Competent writing, but ultimately a little disappointing
Review: To start on a reasonably positive note, if I hadn't been expecting too much I would have enjoyed this book more. I still intend to read the other books in this series, hence the 4 star rating rather than the 3 stars I toyed with in my mind. This was my first exposure to these authors and after the aclaim their other books received from numerous readers I was expecting more. At least one review compared these authors to Georgette Heyer and/or Lois McMaster Bujold! Not likely, based on this book. The writing is very competent and easy to read and the conversations between characters seemed natural to me. The plot clearly has more in common with a Mills & Boon romance novel than the better SF or fantasy books. Also, it suffers in my view from some overly feminine male characters, a fault that is perhaps excusable (or at least understandable) in a book written by a women, but less excusable in this case where one of the authors is a man. Possibly woman readers will not notice or mind this. In this last respect, I suggest you compare Daav from "Scout's Progress" with Lois Bujold's infinitely superior portrayal of a sensitive, but still masculine, character in her recent fantasy/romance book "Curse of Chalion". On the whole, a pleasant but forgettable read.
Rating:
Summary: Competent writing, but ultimately a little disappointing
Review: To start on a reasonably positive note, if I hadn't been expecting too much I would have enjoyed this book more. I still intend to read the other books in this series, hence the 4 star rating rather than the 3 stars I toyed with in my mind. This was my first exposure to these authors and after the aclaim their other books received from numerous readers I was expecting more. At least one review compared these authors to Georgette Heyer and/or Lois McMaster Bujold! Not likely, based on this book. The writing is very competent and easy to read and the conversations between characters seemed natural to me. The plot clearly has more in common with a Mills & Boon romance novel than the better SF or fantasy books. Also, it suffers in my view from some overly feminine male characters, a fault that is perhaps excusable (or at least understandable) in a book written by a women, but less excusable in this case where one of the authors is a man. Possibly woman readers will not notice or mind this. In this last respect, I suggest you compare Daav from "Scout's Progress" with Lois Bujold's infinitely superior portrayal of a sensitive, but still masculine, character in her recent fantasy/romance book "Curse of Chalion". On the whole, a pleasant but forgettable read.
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