Authors’ Foreword
Well, here we are once again. Welcome and thank you for picking up this, the sixth collection of Liaden Universe® short works.
This volume collects stories from 2015 though 2025, which may seem odd, since we published three Constellations between 2015 and 2022. In fact, you might rightly ask, what happened there?
Allow me to explain.
“Chimera,” was published on Baen.com in May 2015, too late to be included in Constellation Three, which was published in July. It ought to have then been included in Constellation Four, but . . .
As much as it pains me to make such an admission, Lee-and-Miller sometimes forgot to do quite simple things, like, for instance, make a notation on a story card, or move said card from “published” to “secondary rights available.”
So it was with “Chimera,” and the authors remained unaware of their error until an alert reader of the Constellations mentioned the story as MIA.
Its inclusion in Volume Six corrects this administrative error.
The other story which remained uncollected for nearly a decade is “Wise Child,” and here I am happy to report that it was not Auctorial Error, but honor that kept it so long from taking its place in a Constellation.
“Wise Child,” was published to Baen.com in June 2016. In September of that same year, it received a Reader’s Choice for Best Military and Adventure SF Award, and was afterward commissioned for republication in The Year’s Best Military & Adventure SF Volume 3, edited by David Afsharirad, published by Baen in June 2017. Terms of the contract meant that “Wise Child” needed to wait until it could be placed in a Constellation.
The third “late” story appearing in these pages is “Standing Orders,” originally published in Derelict, edited by David B. Coe & Joshua Palmatier, Zombies Need Brains, LLC, in June 2021. “Orders” is also tardy by reason of honor, as it was a finalist for the WSFA 2022 Small Press Award, and needed to be held back from republication until the issue was decided. (No, it did not win, “Eight Miles and the City,” by Steven Harper, won—a most excellent story.)
The last four pieces in this volume were all published in 2025. Two of them are what we in the writing biz call “discovery” stories.
“Neutral Ground,” was written between Ribbon Dance and Diviner’s Bow while we were still learning about Colemeno, the society, and its ambient conditions.
“Mother’s Love,” is an outtake from Ribbon Dance, removed when we discovered that we didn’t want the story to go in quite so dark a direction.
“Core Values,” was written after the publication of Diviner’s Bow, because I wanted to know how Geritsi slentAlin came to be a Haosa.
The fourth, and last, work “published” in 2025 is the acceptance speech for the Robert A. Heinlein Award, presented at Balticon 59, the Baltimore Regional Science Fiction Convention. The award is given annually to an author whose work inspires the human exploration of space; Sharon Lee accepted for herself and for Steve Miller.
And there we are: Volume Six, twelve works. How very Liaden of us.
Thank you for reading. Do enjoy the stories.
—Sharon Lee (and for Steve Miller)
Cat Farm and Confusion Factory
November 2025