Diviner's Bow

Liaden Universe, Book 27

De: Sharon Lee, Steve Miller

Narrado por: Eileen Stevens

New entry in the best-selling Liaden Universe® series

A world divided cannot stand.

A people divided cannot thrive.

The Oracle has Seen the end of Civilization, and the end of the Haosa, too. Reactions to this are—mixed.

On the one hand, foresight is a notoriously erratic Gift. On the other, can Civilization—or the Haosa—afford to assume that the prophecy is an error?

And if the Oracle has Seen truly—is it possible to alter the future?

While well-meaning people struggle to implement change that might, at least, mitigate a disaster, others are looking toward the profit they can make from the end of the world.

In the meantime, the Tree-and-Dragon Trade Team has concluded its whole port inventory, and is about to propose Colemeno as a trade-hub and anchor to a brand-new route. Padi yos’Galan is preparing to step into new roles, personally, and in trade.

And the lives of two small children may be the thread that binds the future—or unravels it.

Maine-based writers Sharon Lee and Steve Miller teamed up in the late 1980s to bring the world the story of Kinzel, an inept wizard with a love of cats, a thirst for justice, and a staff of true power. Since then, the husband and wife have written dozens of short stories and more than two dozen novels, most set in their star-spanning Liaden Universe®.

Before settling down to the serene and stable life of a science fiction and fantasy writer, Steve was a traveling poet, rock-band reviewer, reporter, and editor of a string of community newspapers. Sharon, less adventurous, has been an advertising copywriter, copy editor on night-side news at a small city newspaper, reporter, photographer, and book reviewer. Both credit their newspaper experience with teaching them the finer points of collaboration. Sharon and Steve passionately believe that reading fiction ought to be fun and that stories are entertainment. Learn more about the Liaden Universe® at korval.com.

©2025 Sharon Lee and Steve Miller (P)2025 Audible, Inc.

Whole Lot of Eating Going On

A very satisfying, continuation of events in Ribbon Dance. I enjoyed the engaging interaction between the off and on worlders and between the diverse cultures of the world. The friction between Civilization and the Haosa as they attempt to reconcile the differences between orderly and wild magic is absorbing and thought provoking. And then, of course, there’s cake because no one wants an incident.

Rich world building

Another in rhe Liaden series , just as good. I never fail to buy these books and am never disappointed.

Consistent characters

It did jump around a bit from time to time. Other than that, I give it 2 thumbs up.

Onward...

Liadan Universe novels are not easily characterized. They swing between interstellar war, weird science (electron replacement drive!?!) romance, and space opera. While this one was a little more mystical than others I quite enjoyed the story arc and was glad to see Padi come into her own. I really appreciate that Sharon (& Steve) have kept the different story lines so, well, different, while the universe itself is so consistent. I've been reading since the beginning, and I have never been bored. Real talent and imagination. This isn't the story to begin your Liadan journey, but you don't have to start at the beginning, 25 or so novels ago, just at the start of this arc will do (I think it's Leap, Dance, Bow and maybe Alliance?), although you may miss some subtleties as Padi's story isn't as separate from the other story lines as Theo's was. (See how I tried to suck you in there by mentioning Theo? Really, this series has lots of great characters!)
A short, dare I say political, note. I've always appreciated that Lee & Miller blur gender roles, using he/she interchangeably for unknow persons instead of defaulting to the cultural norm of 'he' for any generic other person, and I even more appreciate that the jobs and roles are equally often assigned to any gender seemingly at random: the mechanic isn't always a man for example. This book has gone a step further by having a main character who's gender is never assigned or assumed. It's careful and subtle and you might not even notice for a while. Makes you more aware of the many assumption tied to gender in our culture, and how hard it is to value another person for the essence of themselves, without that bias. Well done!
Lastly, I don't love Eileen Stevens as a narrator, but that's personal preference and she did a good job with this book.

Placeholder in overall series

I had hoped this entry in the series would focus on Padi auditing the new loop with interesting adventures involving the relic of clan Korval but instead we are mired in brain numbing minutiae plot points and tedious dialog surrounding Colomeno’s boring, slowly evolving social structure between the civilized, uncivilized and deaf populations of the planet. Plus the idiotic “heart friends” subplot between Padi and Telekia. Wtf? Every single scene with Shan is same old, same old. And cookies. And guzzling wine. And a reworking of the dept of the interior mold to acquire villains who oppose change.
This is a filler book to end all filler books. Considering the sad loss of Steve Miller last year, I really hope Diviners Bow is not the end of the series, that would be a huge pity.
Eileen Stevens as always delivers a solid performance but she’s not able to drag this plodding plot into the light.