Introducing Val Con yos’Phelium—interstellar spy, starship pilot, musician, and incidentally, a brother to Clutch Turtles.
Running from an assassination he comes upon Miri Robertson, a not-so-retired mercenary soldier born to trouble on a back world and facing disastrously uneven odds in a firefight with her former employer’s enemies.
Forced to intervene, Val Con becomes a target himself, and the pair are hunted, hounded across space, becoming unwilling partners of necessity.
Facing terrible danger from within and without, their own skills and training argue that one of them must die if either is to survive.
But Val Con has faced tricky situations before, and he’s not about to let something like impossible odds get him down.

I only recently became aware of this Science Fiction series, which is odd given how much Science Fiction I read in the 1980s and 1990s. It is just possible that I was put off by the covers. I’m still put off by the covers – except now I’m supposed to think they’re charmingly retro.

I picked ‘Agent Of Change‘ because it was the first ‘Liaden Universe’ novel published. Plus, BAEN books are giving it away free  HERE.

I had my doubts. I mean there’s the cover and it’s written by two people and it was published in the 80s. There are all kinds of things that could go wrong with that combination – but none of them did. This was fun from the first page.

I’d forgotten how much fun rollicking adventures like this can be. Lots of action, mixed with a little wit and a little world-building.  This was a fast-moving feel-good-but-not-cosy romp through space. It’s the kind of Science Fiction that’s there to entertain, not lecture or philosophise.

The plot is relatively simple and linear: an alien assassin intervenes to save the life of a mercenary who, although she’sgiving a good account of herself, is outnumbered by her attackers. The end result: lots of dead attackers and a new and uncertain relationship between the two trained killers, forged by chaos, violence, latent compatibility and milde sexual attraction. Both of them are then on the run. The result is a series of confrontations, a strengthening but far from conflict-free relationship and lots more dead bodies. 

Except, that synopsis misses out most of the things that make this novel fun. 

Firstly, this isn’t really a book of good guys and bad guys – well maybe the Yxtrang, who hunt spaceships and eat their occupants, qualify as bad guys although it’s not a label that the Yxtrang would accept. This is a book about people doing what they must to get by and trying to behave with as much honour as circumstances allow. 

Secondly, this isn’t a human-centric book. There are lots of humans in it but they’re not the dominant race and they reallyare human with all the aptitude for violence, deceit and criminality that that implies. At first, I thought The Clutch, a very long-lived turtle-like race were going to be the good guys. They were certainly nice guys: loyal, honest, cultured and slow to anger. Then I realised that the reason they have no enemies is that enemies of The Clutch get exterminated.

Thirdly, the storytelling is a skilful mix of action and contemplation, tension and humour. The pacing is pretty much perfect and there’s just enough character development to keep things interesting. 

If Space Opera makes you smile then this book, and I suspect this series, is for you. 

I already have ‘Conflct Of Honours‘ (1988) – which has an even worse cover – on my shelves for when I next want to lose myself in a good space romp.