Local Custom, review

If I'm perfectly honest, this week really sucked for me. We had a death in our family, and I took my children to their first funeral. At ages 9 and 4, it was a lot for all of us. Buying black clothes for your little ones is never going to be a fun outing, and explaining something that even adults struggle with is daunting.

We got through it. We're okay. We're going to be okay. But it just was not a great week. Ever been there?

I didn't really want to read anything, but I also recognized that I needed a little emotional reprieve over the weekend. Reading fiction is that for me. The real world and all of its ups and downs are put on a brief hold while I live inside a place of imagination, walking alongside people who are more than likely going to get a happy ending.

As it happened, I didn't have a library book on hand. I had just read through some of my comfort reads, and I didn't want to repeat them so soon. I knew I had this Weird Old Books review post coming up, so I picked up one of my Thrifty Thursday finds and decided to give it a few pages to catch my interest. If I'm honest, I didn't have a lot of hope that it would!

I picked up a book called Local Custom, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. I'd never heard of the book, or the "Liaden Universe" which was stamped on the spine. I had a vague awareness of this couple who wrote books together, but hadn't read anything by either of them. I cracked it open, devoid of expectation.

What I found was the perfect escape from reality. It was perfectly paced, the characters practically leapt off the page, and I was captivated by the futuristic worlds presented. I can't recommend the book enough.

Local Custom is a sci-fi story centered heavily on the romantic story between Anne Davis, a Terran linguist, and Er Thom yos'Galan, a Liaden master trader. Before the story, they had met and had a lively, if short, love affair. Neither really ever recovered from it. Er Thom is now faced with mandatory contractual marriage, a common custom in his Liaden home culture, and can't stomach the idea of mating with anyone other than Anne. He has a vague idea that if he confesses his love for her, he can return home and get his memory wiped (another interesting Liaden possibility) and go forward with all of his familial expectations. But once he arrives at her university, where she teaches, he finds that she is not alone. Anne introduces him to her little boy, his son, who she has named after him. This changes everything for Er Thom.

I found the story compelling. We are introduced to Er Thom's relatives, as well as the complicated Liaden cultural rules and customs. When Anne Davis is thrust into this world as a reluctant outsider, we also feel a little reluctant and tense as the reader. We are, after all, Terrans! It is enough to introduce readers to an alien culture, without being completely overwhelming. I found Er Thom's relationship with his foster brother particularly interesting. Two grown men who are completely loyal and refer to each other as "darling" is pretty alien to what most of us have ever experienced in real life.

Another factor that I found interesting was the characters themselves, and the many ways in which they defied traditional expectations. Anne Davis is taller than Er Thom, described as having a square jaw, and even Er Thom admits that she is not "traditionally beautiful," yet he finds her compelling and alluring nonetheless. Er Thom is a small man, and I interpreted in the story that that was typical for Liadens. He's described as beautiful, almost delicate. Yet he is more than capable of defending her, and there is no question of his masculinity. I found that refreshing, personally.

Since reading the novel, I have learned that there are a whopping 28 novels set in the Liaden Universe. Honestly, there may be more. Trying to find exact numbers is a bit confusing because there are also a number of novellas and short stories, including at least five short story collections, all set in the Liaden Universe. Goodreads reviews suggest that Local Custom is a good entry point into these stories. Most of the stories are independent, while there are a few meant to be read in order. Overall, it isn't a series because of that.

As usual, I try to include content warnings. There is very little in the way of violence, language, etc. However, there is some mild sexual content. Er Thom and Anne Davis reunite with fireworks! While it isn't exactly "closed door," the scenes tend to fade to black pretty soon after they begin to ...er... come together. If you are used to reading books with sexual content, these books will be very mild and inoffensive to you. If you are used to reading completely clean books with no sexual content, then this one might be a little blush-inducing. Reader be warned.

The only other warning I would add is that there is a small sequence toward the end of the story in which Anne and her two year old child, Shan, are in danger. They are held at gunpoint for a time. That might be upsetting for some readers. I myself tend to have a low tolerance for children in danger, and I found this one to be handled so mildly that I almost questioned why it was included in the final story.

I found Local Custom last week at my local Goodwill. There were four other books there from this universe. I have every plan to go back as buy up any that are left after reading this one! Some reviewers on Goodreads compared this series to Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series. That really excited me, because I love Lois McMaster Bujold's books, and am currently working my way through the Vorkosigan series (another universe with a high number of books). I also learned from other reviewers that most of the other novels are more space operatic, Local Custom being the most romance-centered. Now that I have read Local Custom, I look forward to finding more Liaden Universe novels.

As usual, this novel will be available for purchase on my website! Below are some links to other used copies of this novel.

Tell me... have you heard of this book before? Would you read it?

Thriftbooks

Ebay

Abe books