Partners in Necessity

I am pretty strictly a sci-fi reader, and I am very picky about what I will buy. I "research" reviews of books before I buy them to (hopefully) weed out the crap. I was intrigued by the glowing reviews of this book, so I bought it, never having read these authors or this series before. Let me tell you how glad I was that I did...I devoured this book and immediately got on-line to order all the other books in the series. While I was waiting for them to arrive, I re-read this book. When the others came, I devoured them, and then re-read the whole series!!! I have only re-read one other series because I couldn't bear to say goodbye to the characters, and I have never read a book three times in a row before. I even went to the author's website and bought all the companion short stories. I might seriously consider reading them again--but I ignored so many responsiblilies while reading it the last times that there are piles and piles of other things I ought to do first). There may not be any "profound" messages here, but the story comes together so beautifully, the characters are so vivid and likeable, and the universe is so consistant and interesting that I just don't want to let it go.So, buy this book... and go ahead and get the rest of them too. You won't regret it.

If you pick up this book on a Friday evening, expect not to do anything else until Monday morning...The Liaden Universe is like James Clavell in space. The plots are not quite so complicated, and the pace is faster, but the focus on interweaving conflicts of duty, profit, and romance remind me a lot of Noble House or Tai-Pan.In the Liaden Universe, there are two primary rules. Don't start fights. Always finish them.One thing that might throw some people off is that the authors are very strict about not "explaining" anything. It's up to the reader to puzzle out who the Liadens, Yxtrang, Terrans, Turtles, Clans, witches, healers, etc. are. This isn't as hard as it sounds like, because the authors want you to figure out the puzzle. And it makes the books a great re-read, since you don't have to wade through pages of exposition explaining things you already know -- it's straight into the action right away.But that doesn't mean the world is constructed shoddily. Everything hangs together fairly consistantly, nothing seems to be added on as an afterthought just to advance the plot.You will certainly want to read Plan B after this one -- do not read them out of order!

These three novels (A Conflict of Necesseties, Agent of Change, and Carpe Diem) have been favourites of mine ever since i first encoutnered them.Long out of print, Meisha Merlin (headquartered here in Atlanta) has done the SF world a real service by bringing them back into print in this omnibus volume (and, as well, publishing the next volume in the series. "Plan B").My favourite book of the three is "Conflict" -- at least partly because i am a confirmed fan of the Regency romances of Georgette Heyer; anyone familiar with those will find delicious echoes resounding throughout this story.My favourite character, though, is Edger, the Clutch-Turtle ... a character who is simply indescribable in the space of this short review but wonderful in the extreme to watch in action.And my favourite image is of an imaginary Galactic Parcel Express package ... with imaginary dust on it.Worth every penny of the money and every minute of the wait if you order it.

Partners In Necessity is one of the greatest gifts my budget has ever seen. You see, I am a huge fan of the three novels that it is a re-print of, but they are long since out of print, and while the original paperbacks can be found, used bookstores charge a fortune for them. This is a heck of a problem when one is trying to find copies so as to use them as bribes to friends to return -my- copies. I'm not kidding, this has been a problem for me, because the books are simply that good. It's a space opera, with characters one can't help but admire, and a style of writing that just grabs you and isn't going to let you go until you've finished. They also have tremendous re-read value, this isn't a book one reads once and sets aside. It begs to be read again and again, and it becomes only more fun each time.