3.5*

This book follows "Fledgling" and brings Theo's part of the story up to the end of "I Dare". ( )

This book was much better than Fledgling. I did feel that there were parts at school that could have used a bit more explanation than was given. I do like authors that don't info dump but rather sprinkle info in. But here there was a little too little in spots. The story was not real linear in that unlike for example "Conflict of Honors" earlier in the series where there was a strong plot with action and reaction, closely following, it was more "here's some stuff that happened to develop Theo's character over the course of 4 or 5 years". So plot was lacking a bit. Like another reviewer said I thought the end was rushed. I love the whole Korval is pilots and ships thing so I would rather have seen more of her actually piloting and more of Win Ton.

I knew that the book would end where "I Dare" did. It just seemed obvious. So now that I've read these two, I really want to read what happens next which is the book I've been waiting for since I first read "I Dare" when it came out. I really want to see the scene where Theo finds out she is part of Korval. Please don't skip that scene when the story goes on. And please let the story go on from here.

So it could have been better here and there but any Korval story is better than no Korval story. And any Liaden story is better than most sci fi out there. Write faster! ( )

I'm still waiting for Ms. Waitley to actually decide to do something, rather than being buffeted by events then getting out of scrapes because she is so superior to everyone else around her. ( )

Lee, Sharon, and Steve Miller. Saltation. Liaden Universe No. 14. Baen, 2010.
To get a better sense of the Liaden Universe master narrative, I have been reading Liaden stories I have missed in their order in the narrative rather than their publication order. That means that, after the lackluster Plan B, I read Saltation, a much more competently written novel. It is a rather straightforward coming of age story, which is set mainly in the Liaden version of Starfleet Academy. We first met our heroine, Theo Waitley, in Fledgling, where we learned something of her natural piloting skills. At the piloting school, though, she is a social misfit, ready to jump into an aggressive marshal arts stance at the smallest surprise. Math is a struggle for her, and the administration thinks her unstable and a danger to herself and others. We have seen these tropes before, but they are well done here. Like many Liaden books, this one ends in medias res. Sigh. Ghost Ship is the next one. Three and a half stars rounded up. ( )

Continuing the story of Theo Waitley forward from the events of [Fledgling]. Theo has now joined Anlingdin Piloting Academy on the planet of Eylot, pursuing her dream of becoming a pilot. Away from the stifling atmosphere of Delgado University she hopes to find a place where she feels rather less of a misfit. But political change on Eylot intervenes, and Theo finds herself once more at odds with the cultural expectations of those around her ...

Initially a coming of age novel, as the reader follows Theo's progress through the Academy, in the last third of the book the plot meshes with the wider events going on in the Liaden Universe as a whole, as recounted in the [Agent of Change] sequence. As Theo reconnects with Win Ton, the Liaden Scout who had become her companion in [Fledgling], the ending of [Saltation] merged with that of the final pages of [I, Dare] from the earlier sequence.

Again, this was a fun read and I'll be following on with Theo's story in [Ghost Ship]. ( )