Curious writer is curious

[rolanni]

One of the interesting things about writing in a large-ish universe for, oh, a quarter-century, is that you're pretty often meeting people who have read your work (or, even more interestingly, haven't read your work), and who have formed opinions about the plot-line, the characters, the theme, the authors' childhoods, and adult proclivities. .
.

That being so, and because  people will say things either to me or within my hearing, I find myself with a question, which I will now throw out to you, the readers of the Liaden Universe®:

What is, in your opinion, the Big Story (also known as the Real Story) of the Liaden Universe® novels?

There are no right answers, or wrong answers.  Curious author is, as advertised above, curious.

Comments

The big story.....

[kathleen kennedy (from livejournal.com)]

To me the "Big Story" is the Universe as a whole. I think I would enjoy reading a story where the characters were discussing toast as I love the dialogue which our (sorry about the possessive there) authors have the wonderful ability to infuse so much into each word.

I find I don't "hunger" to find out where one specific thread is going so much as get a thrill whenever the current story I'm reading "let's a little more show". The joy of the Liaden Universe for me is that I want to know more about everyone so a tidbit here about turtles, a snippet there about Pat Rin, a smidgin about Mr dea Gauss - it all adds up to more about the universe and the characters we love. Of course Korval are "da bomb" and I can never get enough of them.

Finally while reading each instalment the Universe is waiting. What is the final balancing with DOI going to be? Will more Liadens from the home world come to Surebleak to follow Korval once the effect of their leaving Liad starts to settle in? These things are always there waiting for more light to be shed. So therefore for me the Big Story is the Liaden Universe.

Re: The big story.....

[quotidian-c.livejournal.com]

The Universe is a good answer, although I would define that a bit more tightly than you. I would say the Big Story is the slow reveal of how the universe is put together and how it relates to the old one - so Uncle and timonium and old technology are definitely part of that; the connection of Nelirikk's unit to Jela; it looks like the DoI may also be a piece of the puzzle. There are tidbits sprinkled all through the books and stories that hint at these inter-connections.

But that's the extra depth that's going on in the background; a side puzzle. It's not what any specific book is about, and it's not what I read for. As other people have said, it's the characters that keep drawing me back in.

As far as there is a Real Story, I guess it is "the life and times of Clan Korval and those they affect". But that's not a single story, it's many interlocking arcs, which rise and fall out of focus.

< tries to remember Dragon Ship> I guess Dragon Ship is more of a character book and is not super plot focused. It also has quite a broad focus, with additions to several storylines. I've certainly had problems with multi-stranded books before (by other authors), where I'm really only interested in one set of characters and start skipping sections to get back to them. I can imagine that if one likes a clearly defined story arc and especially if one is only reading for a specific character's storyline, then Dragon Ship might not be one's cup of tea.