Book Reviews

Summary: Theo Waitley is now a pilot, has found out that she is the brother of the Delm of Korval and is going on the first run with her new ship.

The most recent book in the Liaden Universe series was released last month. Dragon Ship is the fourth in the Theo Waitley subseries and the 17th overall (including stand alone novels).

You are either interested in series Science Fiction or you are not.  So this will be a short review.  This is the story of Theo’s first real long haul ship voyage with Bechimo, a sentient ship with Old Technology that the Department of the Interior wants to possess.

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This was an incredible, riveting biography. Isaacson does a phenomenal job bringing the story of Steve Jobs to life. For me there was a natural division in the story.

The “old history”–events prior to my own experience–was great fun to read, because I learned a lot about the tech world of software and hardware that was emerging in the 70s and 80s. The inception and early development of Apple, and the fact that Jobs was kicked out of his own company (and then brought back!), was fascinating.

The “contemporary history” began with events that I know personally. The trigger for that was Jobs’ involvement with Pixar, and culminating in Apple’s introduction of revolutionary portable devices (iPods, iPhones and iPads) and the major disruption of multiple industries (music, cell phones, the creation of a market for tablets out of thin air).

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Summary: Theo meets the rest of the Clan Korval Family and meets her new ship.

How do you review a book that is #3 is a sub-series and number 14 is a larger series?

After all most people will either not be interested because they have not read any of the previous books, or they are not interested because they have already invested so much time reading the series that they are going to read the book regardless of how well it is written.

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Several years ago I was reading a book review; I don’t remember where or what book was being reviewed. I  just remember that the reviewer said that she (I do remember it was a she) rarely reads series fiction.  I thought that was odd, but because I had never thought of books that were written as a series being a category and the fact that you would exclude a type of books because there were more than one.

The longer I thought about it the more I understood.  Series require a lot of investment.  You both have to read a number of books to get to the end.  And quite often the series is drawn out over years if not decades.  (I still have refused to read the fifth book in the Game of Throne series because I am pissed that it took so long for George RR Martin to get around to writing it.)

At the same time, Series fiction has its own benefit.  The reader is able to connect with characters over thousands of pages instead of hundreds.  Usually that means a more well rounded character and a longer character arc to the story.  It may mean a more fleshed out setting than would be possible in a stand alone novel.

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This is really the second half of the second book.  There is no real separation other than the fact that it is too long for a single book.

Larsson split the two books in a good place.  There was a nice cliff hanger and it made sense.  But this third book picks up immediately after the conclusion of the second.

Again, this book is fairly focused on Lisbeth (my preferred main character) but because of the result of the second book her actions are restricted.  In many ways, this book is about Lisbeth allowing people into her life and understanding her need to depend on others.

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