Rating: 
Summary: If this doesn't win the Sapphire Award
Review: (For romantic SF) it's because Georgette Heyer was reconstituted from beyond the grave and (after her spasm of culture shock) wrote her first SF novel.Wow! Tightly plotted, romantic and witty, I'm as tickled as when, lo these 2 decades past, I first read AGENT OF CHANGE. Don't miss this two-novels-in one edition! Warning: Once you've read Pilots Choice and exhausted the too-short list of Lee & Miller novels (Partners in Necessity and Plan B) you'll probably end up going on a Heyer reading-jag. It's the only thing that satisfies as well.
Rating:
Summary: Buy it, buy it now, and buy more than one copy...
Review: ...because if this isn't one of the best books you've ever read, then I would really like to go to YOUR bookstore. I mean, if it is better than Lee & Miller, it has to be nearly perfect! Pilot's Choice, like Partners in Necessity, is an omnibus of two complete novels. I won't bore you with a synopsis. Suffice it to say that Lee & Miller have created a believeable, intricate universe, some great, likeable characters that feel so real you could touch them, and some brilliant relationships. Romance and Sci-fi really mesh well here. The only draw back is that, in my opinion, Scout's Progress was about two pages too short. I wanted to know what she would say when she found out who Daav really was, but c'est la vie (shrug!).
Rating: 
Summary: Like Regency Romance? Like Science Fiction?
Review: ...then this duo is for you! The Regency roots are showing here; much more than in the original three Liaden books, but still these two novels in one are interesting and fun. The second story especially starts to sound like Sense & Sensibility after a while! All that witty repartee and heroines that are too shy (or abused) to make their true feelings known and wicked elder brothers plotting revenge. Truly Austen-ian. Or Georgette Heyer-ish. With Lee & Miller, you always feel there are a few sentences and scenes missing. There's a joke you're not getting here somewhere. The story sometimes jumps and especially the conversations between characters. It's a little disconcerting. The Liaden traditions and explorations of its language and matters are still interesting. How do all those bows look different, one wonders? "Local Custom" is about Shan's parents, Terran Anne Davis and Liaden Er Thom yos'Galan. Lots of interesting background about Liad here and a truly horrific Aunt Petronella and a young Aunt Kareen make for a compelling read. In feel, very similar to Lois McMaster Bujold's book, "Shards of Honor," in which a sophisticated Terran woman meets and falls in love with a "barbarian" or provincial man from a world of Byzantine social codes. The twist to this is that from the start of "Local Custom," Shan has already been born! The Aelliana/Daav yos'Phelium story ("Scout's Progress") does have quite a bit about Jump ship piloting and mathematics, so don't despair if romance isn't quite your thing. I do get quite tired of that old formula of brilliant herione hiding all her skills because of the mental and physical abuse of others. It just doesn't make sense at some points why Aelliana would allow this sort of treatment to continue when her mother is neither stupid nor weak and is totally capable of protecting her. Plus, Aelliana is a math genius and her family is totally oblivious of her worth to the Clan. Seems a little odd. This was a much stronger and richer story than the first despite that. The secondary characters (Scouts, Daav's intended bride, the pirates) all made you want to look for them in future books. (Or were they already there and we missed them?) The ending sort of leaves you hanging though! If you've enjoyed Conflict of Honors, Agent of Change, Carpe Diem and Plan B already, then sit back and relax with these two romance stories for a change of pace.
Rating:
Summary: You'll keep coming back...
Review: ...to this amazing universe. I have read this particualr omnibus, (as well as Partners in Necessity) probably 4 times in the past year-and-a-half, not only for the sheer enjoyment of the stories but for the added insights/revelations I continue to glean about the main characters and their world(s). The authors have done a fabulous job of character/society/world-building that immerses the reader completely.
Admittedly, I initially favored "Scout's Progress" over "Local Custom", but my most recent rereading made me realize that although each is a fine stand alone novel in its own right, the two complement and complete each other perfectly, much like Er Thom and Anne, Daav and Aelianna. I have become increasingly selective of the titles I purchase; I love books that I get the urge to pick up and read again every year or so. These have me diving back in within a matter of months. Buy this series if you enjoy intelligent, rollicking space opera, romantic but not cloyingly so, with an undercurrent of ever-present danger and potential violence. Addendum: To be fair, there were one or two small plot holes that I felt weren't adequately resolved, but in the overall scheme of things, the excellent storytelling renders them insignificant.
Rating:
Summary: Two great books in one
Review: A wonderful read! I finished it at three o'clock in the morning, then stayed up another hour re-reading "the best bits". The book is actually two novels under one cover. The first, Local Custom, is about two cultures in conflict, revolving around the parentage and custody of a child of mixed lineage. The second, Scout's Progress, is one woman in conflict with her own culture. Don't look for great space battles or the trappings of action/adventure. This is well-drawn, likeable, *believable* characters interacting within the bounds of equally well-drawn and believable cultures. I confess that the second novel, Scout's Progress, is my favorite of the two. Aelliana Caylon is a fascinating and complex character. Her mathematical genius is respected, even honored, among the pilots and scouts to whom she teaches "math for survival", yet it does her no good against her abusive brother and the restrictive social conventions that give him power over her. It does provide her with a tantalizing hope--escape by fleeing the planet. But to survive she needs to learn to pilot a ship and operate in cultures not her own. The scouts are masters at piloting--and flouting convention....
Rating:
Summary: Two great books in one
Review: A wonderful read! I finished it at three o'clock in the morning, then stayed up another hour re-reading "the best bits". The book is actually two novels under one cover. The first, Local Custom, is about two cultures in conflict, revolving around the parentage and custody of a child of mixed lineage. The second, Scout's Progress, is one woman in conflict with her own culture. Don't look for great space battles or the trappings of action/adventure. This is well-drawn, likeable, *believable* characters interacting within the bounds of equally well-drawn and believable cultures. I confess that the second novel, Scout's Progress, is my favorite of the two. Aelliana Caylon is a fascinating and complex character. Her mathematical genius is respected, even honored, among the pilots and scouts to whom she teaches "math for survival", yet it does her no good against her abusive brother and the restrictive social conventions that give him power over her. It does provide her with a tantalizing hope--escape by fleeing the planet. But to survive she needs to learn to pilot a ship and operate in cultures not her own. The scouts are masters at piloting--and flouting convention....
Rating: 
Summary: A high-grade Harliquin romance set in the future.
Review: Although well-written, and in a story line I liked in the first three books in the series, this one is really nothing but a Harliquin romance, set to science fiction.
The first three books offered something for "us guys" too, but this one follows the Harliquin "formula" way too much.
There just isn't anything here for us, so unless Mr Miller re-asserts himself in the future books, I'm done.
Rating:
Summary: I would like to be a Yos Phelium too!
Review: Clan Korval, otherwise known as the dragons guarding the tree, are an intersting lot. One would seem guarenteed to have a thrilling time with them. Hmm, can I join the family? Again part one was slow, but part 2 satisfied a need to better understand the Liaden universe and how it works.
Rating:
Summary: Strange convergence
Review: Do you enjoy the witty romances of Georgette Heyer? Do you read the space operas of the likes of James H. Schmitz and Lois McMaster Bujold with a smile for their intelligent world-building, strong characterization and fast-paced adventure? If so, give the lastest Liaden adventure a try. You won't be disappointed. But don't say I didn't warn you: You can't read just one...
Rating:
Summary: I can't wait for the next book!
Review: I admit I was dubious about this book, as much as I love the first 4 books (Agent of Change, Conflict of Honors, Carpe Diem, and Plan B). I was pleasantly enthralled after page 1. Pilot's Choice provides a more in depth view of Liaden society and its interaction with other cultures, the complicated nature of "Balance", and the struggle between the many roles each person must play (my'lanti). I could go on and on, but I'd never do justice to it. Put simply, if you liked the cast of characters from the other four books, the love stories surrounding Shan and Val Con's parents will be immensely satisfying to you.
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