The Ten Reasons Game

[rolanni]

So, there are all these "Ten Reasons to. . ." articles going around the barn, again.  You've seen them:  TEN REASONS to visit Acapulco.  TEN REASONS to skip high school.  TEN REASONS to eat ice cream for breakfast.  TEN REASONS not to read TEN REASONS articles.

. . .anyway, I'm feeling a bit beleaguered by all of these reasons to do things I wouldn't even have thought of except that I saw the headline of a TEN REASONS article, and!  I think it's time to fight back.

I mean, why shouldn't we compiled a list of TEN REASONS to read the Liaden Universe® -- and then release it into the wild?

I'm going to need your help, of course.  So! You don't have to hold it inside any longer!  Give me your Very Best Reason for Reading the Liaden Universe®  in comments -- no more than three per respondent, please -- and we'll compile a list of the ten best.   If we get more than ten, well. . .why shouldn't we escalate?

TWENTY REASONS to read the Liaden Universe® has a nice ring to it.

Everybody ready?

Go!

Comments

[eseme]

The Liaden Universe has very alien aliens - sentient trees and giant bipedal turtles.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

It's fun!

Where to begin.

[bookmobiler.livejournal.com]

Considering your multitudinous fans "A Hundred Reasons" would still not be enough.
1: Space opera and Romance. If you read Georgette Heyer you'll love these stories.
2: Clutch turtles. The most likeable aliens you'll ever encounter.
3: A universe of people and stories that will keep you coming back for more.
Ok, I know you said three, but I don't want to give up the ones I've listed.
3A: Always worth re-reading.

[bandicoot.livejournal.com]

Gak! Three only! Gak!

Characters - very three-dimensional, really likeable (except the ones you love to hate), and seen in widely different situations.
Language - the way I wish we could all use it.
Readability - not only wonderful to re-read, but re-read many, many times, getting more out of it each time.

[melita66.livejournal.com]

Competence porn (is there a better name for this?) : Smart characters getting in, and out of, all kinds of situations

Really likable characters (except for the bad guys)

[star-horse3.livejournal.com]

But the bad guys are essential too. I mean, don't you want to just throw down the Commander of Agents and stomp all over him? Slap the ignorant Liaden-hating humans upside the head? Smack the sneering Liadens right in the smirk? The bad guys are part of what sucks the reader in because you have to Find. Out. What. Happens. Next. So well created bad guys that you love to hate are right up there as one of my three. I have whittle my list down to 2 before I give the others.

[star-horse3.livejournal.com]

Oops, I meant ignorant Terrans.

[attilathepbnun.livejournal.com]

Liaden --- the books that are better than chocolate!!
And won't rot your teeth or make you fat!

P.S. I'm saving my other two for when I think of something really good

[elbales]

Because the situation had only lacked eight-foot turtles.

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

The Liaden Universe has giant turtles, with spacefaring asteroids.
The people in the Liaden Universe are nicer, politer, and more interesting than a lot of the people in this universe.
Liaden families do not seem to be nuclear, to the betterment of all.

1. Craft; 2. Craft; 3. Craft

[aska-kettlingur.livejournal.com]

1. The characters, human and alien alike, are multi-dimensional and finely crafted. You believe in them and like or dislike them as you do people in your real life. Quotes from conversations are memorable and touch you on a personal level. These people experienced life events that remind you of your own life, and carry some of the same emotional scars that you carry.

2. The events and the story lines they occur in are carefully plotted. An insignificant-seeming event will turn up as a cornerstone of the plot in a future novel.

3. The writing is superb. Descriptions, conversations, events--nothing is a throw-away; nothing is dashed off to make the required total number of words or to meet a deadline.

For all of the above reasons, these are books that are enjoyable at first reading and at subsequent re-readings. People who have read the first novels wait with anticipation for each new book or story. Even snippets are greeting with delight. I am old enough to have been reading Agatha Christie while she was still writing and publishing. The feeling of waiting for the next gem from Sharon & Steve is the same.

Re: 1. Craft; 2. Craft; 3. Craft

[drammar.livejournal.com]

These are exactly my reasons, only much more well-stated.

So count this as a +1.

[lornastutz.livejournal.com]

1. Characters that seem like real people and wish you could meet (or knock off)
2. Sentient trees
3. 8 ft. Turtles

[thewol.livejournal.com]

1. People who share their brains with each other.
2. Space pilots who wear leather jackets.
3. Tough, smart girls.

[catherine kelleher (from livejournal.com)]

1. Sentient trees with biochemical skills and a talent for wizardry.
2. An engaging family with muliple generations to argue and support each other.
3. A Military AI that bonds with cats.
4. A series of complex but believable social structures in space and on planets.
5. A really spot on pummeling of academia and the politics thereof.
6. Some wonderful romances.
7. Long story/character arcs that intrigue you with more information layered into other books. (I really enjoy the Uncle)
8. Contrasting societies - gender-egalitarian, patriarchal, matriarchal.
9. The idea of the thriller/action chaos being a large scale form of art. (ahhh Edger we all love you)
10. Authors who are expanding the universe and managing to keep it fresh, thoughtful, and emotionally moving.

My 3 Reasons:

[redpimpernel.livejournal.com]

1. Sentient Trees
2. Fantastic characters that you will love.
3. Dragons, real and symbolic.

My three reasons

[robotech-master.livejournal.com]

1) I enjoy the themes to be found across most of the books and stories: culture clash, exploration and adventure, but most of all, the way emotionally-damaged people get rescued (or rescue each other) again and again. I never get tired of reading that.

2) The expansive nature of a universe big enough for all these stories to happen and somehow interweave.

3) I have to read them...nobody's turned them into movies yet! :)