Friday, February 21, 2020

The Gate That Locks the Tree (Adventures in the Liaden Universe #30), by Sharon Lee (author), Steve Miller (author)

Pinbeam Books, February 2020

Surebleak isn't just Clan Korval, and our leading characters here are Vertu Dysan, a cabbie formerly of Liad; Yulie Shaper, a farmer and neighbor of Clan Korval; Mary, his spouse; Anna, a kid with some unusual talents; Rascal, her dog; Chelada, a cat about to have kittens; Toragin del'Pemridj, also formerly of Liad; The Tree; and Jarome, also a cabbie.

Vertu picks up her passengers--Yulie, Mary, Anna, and Rascal--and agrees to drive them home to Yulie's place in the building snowstorm. It' a bad storm, and this might not be entirely wise, but Vertu is sure she feels The Tree urging her on.

Along the way, they encounter another cabbie and his passengers, who were trying to reach The Tree, but have crashed. Jarome, the cabbie, has been injured, and Toragin and Chelada can't help him without getting help themselves. They have no experience with serious snow, just for starters.

What unfolds is a group of people finding a way to cope with a real weather disaster, and The Tree's efforts to fulfill an old, nearly forgotten promise, made light-years away on Liad.

This isn't made easier by the fact that The Tree hasn't been in the habit of engaging in clear, straightforward communication with its "dragons," the members of Clan Korval, and now has to explain something that it feels guilty and embarrassed about.

It's another lovely, enjoyable visit to the Liaden universe, this time without the fate of the universe at stake!

Highly recommended.

I bought this book.

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