Pilots Choice by Sharon Lee (First Edition) Signed

Meisha Merlin is pleased to present two never-before published Liaden Universe(TM) novels, Local Custom and Scout's Progress, in one omnibus edition entitled Pilots Choice.

Pilots Choice deals with the shifting necessities of honor and morality in the clash of cultures caused by an expanding galactic trade system.

In the first novel, Local Custom, we view the difficulties caused by the obvious problems of language and custom as Terrans and Liadens intermingle. In the second, Scout's Progress, we see how the forces of interstellar trade cause conflicts even within the apparently monolithic and superior culture of Liad as a greater culture, galactic in nature, is hinted at by the Scouts, pilots, and traders who inhabit the fringes of Liad's polite society.

In both novels it is the importance of individuals and their insistence on behaving with honor, rather than bowing to overwhelming social force, that drives the story.

Local Custom

Master Trader Er Thom yos'Galan, of Liad's de facto ruling house, Clan Korval, is facing an arranged marriage. The Liaden Code of Proper Conduct requires him—and every Liaden—to provide a ‘child of the body' to the Clan, something the otherwise obedient pilot has been avoiding despite Korval's precariously dwindling population. As his ‘contract marriage' approaches, the serious-minded trader finds himself longing for a lover he hasn't seen (or heard from!) for years.

His former lover is no ordinary pleasure love: She's Terran professor of linguistics Anne Davis, who teaches on the planet University and whose radical theories have brought her to the attention of the Liaden Council of Clans, where Korval's enemies openly plot against her—and against Korval itself.

Challenged and supported by his foster brother, Er Thom must not only surmount Liad's rigid social strictures, but overcome the plots of Korval's enemies—and his lover's stubborn heart.

Scout's Progress

Daav yos'Phelium, Delm Korval, the planet's most powerful individual, must marry to provide his Clan with a child. Although he is arguably the most eligible bachelor in Liaden-speaking space he is hardly the most willing, having long been the target of marriage-minded females as well as their power-seeking mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles.

A political and economic power among the High Houses, Daav, a former Scout Captain, is also a force among pilots, and is much more likely to be found in a spaceport piloting ‘dive' than mingling with society at the parties of the rich.

One such ‘dive' is Binjali Spaceship Repair Shop in Solcintra Mid-Port; it's a base away from home to a shifting population of Scouts, pilots, and various ‘wounded kittens'. There, Daav is known only by his first name, and relies on his reputation as pilot extraordinaire rather than Korval's power.

Retreating to Binjali's to come to terms with his decision to contract-wed, Daav comes face to face with the knottiest problem of his career, and if he doesn't find the correct solution, he may lose his fortune entire, and his future.

Sharon Lee

Sharon Lee was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1952. She graduated high school in 1970, attended University of Maryland Baltimore County as a mild-mannered night student while simultaneously cutting a fearsome swath through the secretarial field by day.

In 1978, she decided life was too tame and predictable and left her plush job as administrative aide to the Dean of the University of Maryland's School of Social Work and Community Planning. Shortly thereafter, she engineered her first adventure by opening a genre bookstore, using the money from her retirement fund as her seed.

After Book Castle went bankrupt, she worked a series of odd and odder jobs, the most memorable of which was delivering tractor trailers, though selling cider at the Baltimore City Sunday Farmer's Market was fun, too. On the odder side, she was an advertising copy writer, both in-house and freelance.

Since her first professional sale, in 1980, Sharon's professional output has included reviews, features, short stories; TV, radio and print ads, as well as her contribution to the Liaden Universe.

She and Steve Miller married in 1980. In 1988 they migrated to Maine, where they can be found to this day, sharing life with four stalwart cats and a large cast of characters..

Steve Miller

Steve Miller was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1950. He graduated high school in 1968, attended University of Maryland Baltimore County a couple times, where he was news editor of the campus newspaper, The Retriever, active in the chess club and founding president of the Infinity Circle, the school's first science fiction club. In between bouts of being a student, he was curator of the Albin O. Kuhn Library's science fiction collection.

In no particular order he has been a reviewer -- of music, of books and of typewriters -- a reporter, an editor, a professional chess tournament director, a librarian, an editor, a sysop, an editor and a resource specialist for a statewide electronic bulletin board system.

In 1973 he attended the Clarion West Writing Workshop in Seattle.

Since his first publication in 1968, Steve has accumulated credits in well over 100 newspapers, magazines and journals. In addition to reviews and poetry, Steve's professional output has included short stories, TV and radio commercials, greeting cards, as well as his contribution to the Liaden Universe.

He and Sharon Lee married in 1980. In 1988 they migrated to Maine, where they can be found to this day, sharing life with four stalwart cats and a large cast of characters.