Phase 2 of the Liaden Universe Re-Read will begin next week, on Saturday, December 14.
Phase 2 Schedule
- 14/12 – “Naratha’s Shadow”
- 15/12 – “The Space at Tinsori Light”
- 16/12 – “Sweet Waters”
- 17/12 – “Phoenix”
- 18/12 – “Pilot of Korval”
- 19/12 – “A Choice of Weapons”
- 20/12 – “The Beggar King”
- 21/12 – Local Custom
- 5/2 – Scout’s Progress
- 15/3 – Mouse and Dragon ch.1-36
- 20/4 – “Guaranteed Delivery”
- 21/4 – Mouse and Dragon ch.37-40, Epilogue
The schedule for this phase contains two small deviations from standard novel reading.
Firstly, the final chapter of Scout’s Progress is omitted, as it is repeated in its entirety near the beginning of Mouse and Dragon.
Secondly, the post for “Guaranteed Delivery” will appear during an appropriately-timed pause in the reading of Mouse and Dragon.
You are, of course, free to ignore this and read both novels in whatever way makes you most comfortable.
Availability
The novels in Phase 2 are Local Custom, Scout’s Progress, and Mouse and Dragon.
Local Custom and Scout’s Progress are currently in print in a Baen collected edition titled The Dragon Variation, which is also available as an e-book. (The Dragon Variation also includes Conflict of Honors, which we’ll get to in Phase 3.)
(Baen also offers the old separate e-book editions of Local Custom and Scout’s Progress.)
Mouse and Dragon is in print in a standalone edition, which is also available as an e-book.
The short stories in Phase 2 are “Naratha’s Shadow”, “The Space at Tinsori Light”, “Sweet Waters”, “Phoenix”, “Pilot of Korval”, “A Choice of Weapons”, “The Beggar King”, and “Guaranteed Delivery”.
If you have some or all of the Adventures in the Liaden Universe® chapbooks put out by SRM Publisher, “Naratha’s Shadow” is in #8 (Shadows and Shades), “The Space at Tinsori Light” is in #19 (Legacy Systems), “Phoenix” is in #7 (Loose Cannon), “Pilot of Korval” is in #3 (Duty Bound), “A Choice of Weapons” is in #5 (Trading in Futures), “The Beggar King” is in #11 (Necessary Evils), and “Guaranteed Delivery” is in #18 (Courier Run). “Sweet Waters” is in the non-ALU chapbook Calamity’s Child.
The chapbooks are out of print now, but they’re all available in e-book form via Pinbeam Books, whose Adventures in the Liaden Universe® page is also a convenient reference for which story is where. (The page for Calamity’s Child is here.)
Baen offers in e-book form the Liaden Unibus I and Liaden Unibus II, which collect #1-6 (including “Pilot of Korval” and “A Choice of Weapons”) and #7-12 (including “Naratha’s Shadow”, “Phoenix”, and “The Beggar King”) respectively. If you don’t have any of the chapbooks already, these may be a more efficient option than obtaining individual issues.
Baen is also working on updated collections, to be available in print and e-book form. A Liaden Universe Constellation, Volume One, out now, includes “Naratha’s Shadow”, “Sweet Waters”, “Phoenix”, “Pilot of Korval”, and “A Choice of Weapons”, among others. Volume Two, which will include “The Beggar King”, isn’t due until next year, though.
For searching out second-hand print editions, the authors’ web site recommends Uncle Hugo’s Science Fiction Bookstore, The Missing Volume, and White Unicorn Books.
Do you know if Sweet Waters is the only story in Constellation I & II that isn’t in Unibus I & II? (I have Unibus I & II and Constellation III.) -Thanks!
There are eight stories in Constellation II that were published since Unibus II.
Thanks. Wikipedia is the only place I found a list of short stories, including whether they were in a Unibus, chapbook, and/or Constellation collection. Sweet Waters is the only story in C1 that’s not in a Unibus, but I was able to get the e-chapbook of Calamity’s Child on Amazon that includes it. Looks like I need to get C2, since that’s more cost effective than buying the 5 $3 e-chapbooks that contain the 8 stories not in U2.
I ignored all this information and simply purchased everything. I figured I owed it to the authors, really. But Paul, I’d like to mention how helpful it would be if your list in chronological order (which I depend on often) also included a notation about where to find the story. I had to create my own because I was so discouraged after my first time through with searching every Constellation to find the next story, that I had to have something to show me which book to look in…in order…before I started my reread. I simply added Roman numerals after each short story entry. Example: Out of True (III)
That’s a good thought. I’ve added a notation to the list.
Yes, that will do it…thanks! Now I can look here instead of trying to go back and dig out up the one I created!