| Val Con yos'Phelium, Clan Korval, future Delm and Second Speaker, was just doing a routine mission on some backwater planet in the middle of the universe when his life changed. After completing his mission, he encountered a small spitfire of a woman and saved her life, for which she promptly repaid him by bashing his head in. When Val Con woke up, the spitfire dumped him, but Val Con was intrigued, so he followed her and saved her life again. Now Miri Robertson, whose life he had saved twice, was forced to deal with Val Con, honor demanded it. She was intrigued by Val Con, whom she nicknamed "Tough Guy", but definitely didn't want a partner. As a former mercenary and bodyguard, she could handle herself and, as a target for the powerful Juntavas crime ring, she couldn't trust anyone...
However, both Val Con and Miri, both of whom were used to working alone, soon found that they worked well as partners, at least they would if Miri would stop trying to ditch Val Con at every opportunity. Val Con knew that Miri was something special, she made him feel things that he hadn't felt in years, she made him feel alive again. Miri didn't know what was wrong with Val Con, but she knew it had something to do with what he called The Loop, some kind of brain implant that gave him the odds of success on every mission/action he made. As they grew closer together, both Val Con and Miri realized that the Department of the Interior, who had trained Val Con as an agent, must have some ulterior motive in plan. But in order to find out what it was, they had to stay alive... Agent of Change is the 4th book in the Liaden series if you read them chronologically (which I recommend). As with the other books, I simply loved Lee & Miller's characters and world building. They spend time on the details and it shows that they have carefully thought out and executed another masterpiece. I really feel as if I know the Korval family and am taking a remedial course on Liaden etiquette, these books are that well written! If you enjoy any kind of science fiction or space opera then this book has something for you - great characters, lots of action, enemies on all sides, high tech battle sequences, romance, family relations, honor, and much, much more! You can read this book as a stand-alone novel, but I would not recommend it as you will miss a lot of background, even though you should be able to follow the plot without too much trouble. Also, you definitely should not miss out on any book in the wonderful Liaden universe - all of them are very highly recommended! | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book - very upbeat FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story Romance Yes Romance plotlets: - two lovers coping with tough mission Spying & Investigations Yes What is main char. doing? - unraveling a conspiracy Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Descript. of chases or violence - 30 % planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20 % Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 20 % If enemy is a group... - crime ring Main Character Identity: - Male Profession/status: Age: - 20's-30's Really unusual traits? Main Adversary Identity: - an organization Profession/status: How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters Setting Spaceship setting: - futuristic human freighter/transport A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - humans in a futuristic society - inhabited by friendly aliens - unfriendly aliens Planet outside solar system? Yes Takes place in spaceship? Yes Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths scientific jargon? (SF only) - a moderate amount of scientific explanation How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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