The Crystal Variation (2) (Liaden Universe),Used

#2 in our Omni threevolume compilations of Liaden Universe novels. These are the origin novels in the breakthrough, hugelypopular Liaden Universe space opera series! Across a fallen galaxy, the Liaden have risen to take on the challenge of bringing trade and civilization to the stars and, in the process, made themselves the aristocrats of known space. Adventure, intrigue, romance on an interplanetary scale!The three Liaden Universe universe origin novels collected together for the very first time in one omni edition! Across a fallen galaxy, the Liaden have risen to take on the challenge of bringing trade and civilization to the stars and, in the process, made themselves the aristocrats of known space. Bred to scout, to pilot and to trade, Clan Korval is ascendant among other families arrayed within the incredibly intricate and formal Liad social structure. But along the way Korval makes powerful enemies. Lee and Miller quite simply set the modern standard for fullon, audacious space opera.Crystal SoldierThe galaxy is in danger. A mysterious alien race of energy being called the shereika is rapidly unmaking dissipating, lock, stock and quark entire star systems. Humans are making their last stand. M. Jela is a topoftheline of soldier who realizes the peril and persuades a talented space ship pilot named Cantra yosPhelium to help what humans remain to escape to an alternate reality with unpopulated, but livable, star systems: the Liaden universe!Crystal DragonCantra is revealed to be no merely a great pilot, but a genetically engineered aelantaza, or assassin and spy whose specialty is taking on the entire personality of her cover, so much so that she believes it herself. She remakes herself, as only a aelantaza can, and infiltrates the scholarly towers on the university world of Landomist where she narrowly avoids being killed in scholarly conflicts. There she liberates the scholar Liad deaSyl, along with the equations for escape stored inside his head. Once in her new domain, Cantra creates a hereditary alliance to protect her child by Jela to be known (and become legendary) as Clan Korval.Balance of TradeYoung Jethri Gobelyn is a young Terran, working on his family's trading spaceship. Jethri has ambition, and he sets out to make a name for himself in the timehonored fashion of his family by investing in a trading scheme with what he takes to be a bona fide Liaden master trader. But when Jethri discovers hes been had, Jethri must master the intricacies of Liaden society, which include many formal rules and regulations of behavior, to regain his place and face within the clan.About the Liaden Universe series:Every now and then you come across an author, or in this case, a pair, who write exactly what you want to read, the characters and personalities that make you enjoy meeting them. . . . I rarely rave on and on about stories, but I am devoted to Lee and Miller novels and stories. Anne McCaffreyThese authors consistently deliver stories with a rich, textured setting, intricate plotting, and vivid, interesting characters from fullyrealized cultures, both human and alien, and each book gets better. Elizabeth Moon[T]he many fans of the Liad universe will welcome the latestcontinuing young pilot Theo Waitleys adventures. Booklist on Saltation[A]ficionados of intelligent space opera will be thoroughly entertained. . .[T]he authors' craftsmanship is topnotch. Publishers Weekly on Lee and Millers popular Liaden thriller, I Dare