Particularize Books In Pursuance Of I Dare (Liaden Universe #13)

Original Title:	I Dare (Liaden Universe book #11)
ISBN:	1892065037 (ISBN13: 9781892065032)
Edition Language:	English
Series:	Liaden Universe #13, Liaden Universe Publication Order #7
Characters:	Miri Robertson, Val Con yos’Phelium, Pat Rin yos'Phelium

I Dare (Liaden Universe #13) Paperback | Pages: 480 pages

Narration Supposing Books I Dare (Liaden Universe #13)

Here is a BOOK QUIZ.
After reading the e-book, I listened to Caploe's excellent narration.
FREE: The first book in this particular sequence, Agent of Change (FREE on Amazon, and at Baen).

Anyhoo...Pat Rin yos'Phelium takes center stage in I Dare. He is a gambler of extraordinary luck and a champion sharpshooter, but alas, he's also a frippery, an elegant lordling with no dramliz gifts and no affinity for piloting. An outsider on the inside. Sad. No wonder he seems so aloof, even cold. I didn't much like him, at first.

But many things change in I Dare...I guess this book might explain why Delm Chi yos'Phelium, farsighted, gave her son Daav "a mandate to preserve Kareen's life" despite her continual obstructive negativity (Local Custom, chapter 7). She had to live, and bear a son, and he needed to turn out as he did, partly due to her influence, and also due to his foster father, Luken bel'Tarda.

I was happy to see Pat Rin come into his own. Finally, somewhere in his mid-or-late thirties, circumstances push this debonair lordling to reach his full potential. Also, I like Pat Rin's new lifemate. Fairly poignant scene between Pat Rin and Val Con. Touching, but also a little shocking. Satisfying bonding between Pat Rin and several other kinsmen. I liked seeing Pat Rin transform a lawless planet but didn't really buy the rapid transition, nor the ease by which he accomplished his goals. Still, I enjoyed it.

Sexy and sweet scenes with pilot Ren Zel dea'Judan and (view spoiler)[his new lifemate Anthora. (hide spoiler)]

Enjoyed the battle scenes towards the end, with the whole gang almost, including (view spoiler)[Jeeves, Clutch, Howlers, Juntavas, and Korval-serving Yxtrang, especially our Beautiful man Nelirikk (see PLAN B). And now, he has some Yxtrang friends and a potential heart throb...Hazenthull Explorer and Diglin Rifle. (hide spoiler)]

Quibbles: At first read, I gave the book 3 stars, for varied reasons. To my mind, the biggest flaws with this series are 1) constant head-hopping / scene-shifting; and 2) too many problems are solved magically, by Tree, goddess, and wizards. The various wizardly powers displayed are not consistent.

More specific, spoilery quibbles: (view spoiler)[ Agent ter'Fendil killed his DoI Commander? He broke with training and did not self-destruct, but walked tamely out with Val Con?? Also, I didn't buy the transformation of the Juntavas organization, from murderous thugs, conniving liars, and drug dealers (see Agent of Change) to ....what? It felt like their characterization changed for plot contrivance, at the author's convenience. Also, in general, I Dare plot threads felt too thinly sliced, characters and events not portrayed with sufficient depth.

And...hello, Ren Zel! Did you know that he's an exceedingly powerful dramliza??? Yup! In fact, Clan Korval abounds with wizardly talents, superior artificial intelligence (Jeeves) and goddesses. Not to mention fabled felines (Merlin), Luck, Hunches, and Gambles. Such a cheat, really, to solve things thus, but so it goes across this series. If the enemy also had some of these miraculous dramliz, the plot would be more interesting.

Inconsistency of Anthora's characterization: In this book, Anthora is held at gunpoint, and she does nothing, yet in the short story, Close Kin, she magically pulls the bullets from an enemy's gun. What's the logic? Also, in Plan B, speaking of Anthora: "idly, experimentally, almost playfully she exerted her will...and felt something move, deep within the construct imposed by the Department of the Interior..." (she drove several agents of change away, and even crazy, by messing with their mental programming when they invaded Jelaza Kazone). Why not do the same here, when confronted by the commander and his agents? Conditions were even more dire, with Dea'Gauss so ill. If she didn't have enough magical power left, after being placed in the dramliza box, that needs to be rectified with her ability to arrive in the DoI tunnels and leave the tunnels, both done with magic, with help from Tree and Ren Zel.

Also, the author needed to account for the decisions made by the Council of Clans. Which clans voted in defense of Korval? (hide spoiler)]

Cross-Series Discrepancy:: The given dates are wrong. I Dare must be dated after (not before) the prequel, Plan B.

Another discrepancy: The villain in the prequel short story, Daughter of Dragons (see chapbook Dragon Tide) is the (big spoilers!) (view spoiler)[Council Protocol Officer, subverted by the DoI, but this contradicts the final chapters of I Dare, which states: "The Protocol Officer consulted with the Speaker on the precise placing of balance against Anthora yos'Galan, who had casually and brutally murdered an unarmed council proctor." That protocol officer died in Daughter of Dragons, and so cannot still be alive in the sequel I Dare. Unless they subverted the successor to that position. (hide spoiler)]

Despite these quibbles, I quite enjoyed I Dare -- especially after reading the short stories (see below).

Audible Narration of I Dare: Andy Caploe's portrayal of Pat Rin did not fit perfectly for me, but he does very well with most of the other characters, including Val Con, Miri, Edger, Natessa, Anthora, Shan, etc. However, I didn't like his squeaky, querrulous voice for old lady Delm Erob. I liked Caploe's narration of the three prequels Agent of Change, Carpe Diem, and Plan B.

Related short stories enrich I Dare, as listed below:

In the short story Persistence, Pat Rin, Cheever, and Natesa go to Bazaar to buy rugs. We see a different perspective of the trio. It fits directly into the plot of I Dare after they leave Trieste, before arriving on Surebleak. Persistence is located in the chapbook Eidolon.

Also, I liked seeing how Pat Rin handled himself in the days and months after I Dare, in Halfling Moon).

Another favorite short sequel is Skyblaze, where a gutsy taxi driver meets Cheever McFarland and "The Colonel" Andy Mack.

See what happens to Pat Rin's mother, Kareen yos'Phelium, back on Liad, just as Plan B is in motion. Her story is called "Daughter of Dragons" (see Dragon Tide). It's also located in one of the Constellation collections, as are most of these short stories.

Also, see the prequel Shadows and Shades, featuring 23-year old Pat Rin, setting up his gambling establishment, entering marksmanship tournaments, failing his piloting test for the nth time, and helping his young cousin Nova with a problem.

For author-written fanfic (e.g., not "true" and not part of the official Liaden lists) see With Stars Underfoot, featuring Pat Rin at a dance, after settling on Surebleak with the entire Korval Clan. He learns something important about his past. Sad, but joyous. Originally written to be true, but struck from the lists because it clashed with a key event in Dragon Ship.

Also, to learn the origins of Jeeves, the robotic butler of artificial intelligence who played a solid role in several books, particularly this one, read the FREE story posted online at Baen Books. See Intelligent Design here: http://www.baen.com/IntelligentDesign....

Most of the short stories mentioned in this review have been re-published in one of the three Liaden Constellation collections: A Liaden Universe Constellation: Volume I and A Liaden Universe® Constellation: Volume Two and Liaden Universe Constellation: Volume III.

Identify Containing Books I Dare (Liaden Universe #13)

Title	:	I Dare (Liaden Universe #13)
Author	:	Sharon Lee
Book Format	:	Paperback
Book Edition	:	Special Edition
Pages	:	Pages: 480 pages
Published	:	September 15th 2007 by Meisha Merlin Publishing (first published 2002)
Categories	:	Science Fiction. Space. Space Opera. Fantasy. Fiction

Rating Containing Books I Dare (Liaden Universe #13)

Ratings: 4.52 From 2446 Users | 83 Reviews

Critique Containing Books I Dare (Liaden Universe #13)

Very exciting but must be read after the other 'Agents of Change' books.

Argghh! Andy Caploe ruined this for me. I didn't get very far into the story via the audiobook version (read the ebook not too long ago), but I couldn't STAND the voices he was using for Sheather and Edger (really doofus-brained voices), or for any of the female characters (e.g., Miri is seriously a kick-ass woman), etc. The one voice that's OK is the 'background' voice, the one he uses for the basic background story. I don't know if I got a credit or a few dollars back on this. And I'm really

Here is a BOOK QUIZ. After reading the e-book, I listened to Caploe's excellent narration. FREE: The first book in this particular sequence, Agent of Change (FREE on Amazon, and at Baen). Anyhoo...Pat Rin yos'Phelium takes center stage in I Dare. He is a gambler of extraordinary luck and a champion sharpshooter, but alas, he's also a frippery, an elegant lordling with no dramliz gifts and no affinity for piloting. An outsider on the inside. Sad. No wonder he seems so aloof, even cold. I didn't

5/5; 5 stars; A+I can't decide if this is my favorite of the series or if Local Custom is. Never mind, it doesn't matter; I loved this book. I am so happy to have re-read it because there is an amazing amount of complexity that I missed the first time. The story is like a complex weaving. The reader is kept abreast of several story lines on multiple planets and as the book comes to its conclusion the lines weave more tightly and faster and the next thing you know there is a fabulous cohesive

Another excellent addition to the Liaden Universe!05/10/2018: Enjoyed this again. On to Saltation.03/11/2020: I am reading this series for the third time. I am sort of reading the series in order, but not quite. I loved this book because it seemed to have the entire cast of characters in it. As long as the Tree, the Clutch and cats I am happy.

I loved this all over again. Awesome book in an awesome series.

Keeps you goingNo separation of story lines, like double spaced betweenMore info on turtles neededBut it is good read yes