Life. Luck. Love. Lowport. Life, so the wags tell us, is what happens while we're making other plans. Luck...or, as some have it, chance...Luck is what makes Life interesting; introducing spicy bits of chaos — good, bad, and neutral. Without Luck, there is no savor — no adventure — in Life. Love. Ah, Love. The yeast of Life, Love expands our horizons, deepens our understanding, and opens our eyes. Love makes us daring. And Lowport? Lowport...

When Clan Korval knows your name...Abandoned on a strange port by a scam gone bad, his license to pilot rescinded, and his pockets very much to let, Fer Gun pen'Uldra was teetering between trouble, more trouble, and bad trouble. Cornered in a cheap bar by a too-knowledgeable stranger with an unlikely offer, Fer Gun realized having no money and no license might be the least of his troubles. Clan Korval knew his name and that proposal was hard to refuse......

Naratha's Shadow pits a Scout and a priestess against a wandering artifact of the Old War a planet eater that hasn't, quite, run out of power. In "Heirloom," Pat Rin yos'Phelium and his young cousin Nova must unravel the puzzle behind an old rug that has been stored, not only dirty, but bloodstained.

Meanwhile, on another side of the Universe. . .Meet Gem ser'Edreth, a wizard with electronics and a freelance thief. Deliberately solitary, unencumbered by family or friends, he immerses himself in his profession, rising to a pinnacle of skill so exalted that the planetary crime boss seeks him out with a commission to steal. Refusing the commission, of course, is his first mistake.Gem's hidden past proves an unexpected liability and his plants to...

Moonhawk is a priestess of the Goddess, traveling on quest. Lute is an itinerant magician, specializing in sleight-of-hand and ventriloquism. The two of them meet on the road, and continue on together, down the road, and across lifetimes."Where the Goddess Sends," is the story of Moonhawk and Lute's first meeting. "A Spell for the Lost" sees them working, each in their different ways, to solve the mystery of their host's missing daughter. "Moonphase"...

Before Miri Robertson met Val Con yos'Phelium she was an acclaimed mercenary soldier. Before she was an acclaimed mercenary soldier with the Gyrfalks, she was "Redhead," a young recruit in Lizardi's Lunatics. On Klamath it was Miri's job to carry Lizardi's Lunatics' special meteorological and comm equipment. That was her duty. Meanwhile, there was a weatherman, a Liaden, known as Ichliad Brunner. A weatherman's job is to observe and predict, and...

When Ceola's bar-partner sister finds interest in the business waning, even leaving for days on end without warning, the tavernista needs help and she needs it fast. But along with the bar her sister has abandoned a young lover known to his friends as Shadow... and whoever else he is, he's not one to permit a good thing to die. A Scout to his core, young Shadow introduces Ceola to Jasper, and to other possibilities she never knew existed, in "Shadow...

Vertu dea'San, Delm of Clan Wylan, has her hands full with daughter, son, and taxi business, when she's offered an opportunity to solve several pressing problems in one fell swoop. All she needs to do is ferry a few people to a "picnic ground" to deal with an honorable matter of Balance. By the time Vertu discovers that Clan Korval is also involved, she's in over her head in one of the historic moments of Liaden history. Historic moments, it turns...

Pirates, politics, police, and plots! Meet William Drew Faro the 4th a human from Khareton's TriGrace Academy and Trikura Dai a rock-chewing, space-faring Chenri who is definitely not of this world! Now imagine a star-spanning civilization where information is bought, sold, and bartered, where scary dimensional folds allow hyperflight between stars, and where a young Terran student information broker has been given the OK to "go farshloggin" to...

Pilot of Korval finds Er Thom yos'Galan and Daav yos'Phelium, raised together as brothers, separated and beginning to learn their adult roles of trader and scout. In "Breath's Duty," a grown-up Daav must undertake a painful duty of friendship find his best friend's ship, which was lost in the aftermath of a space battle, and return it, if he can, to Scout Headquarters.