did i not reply to this? that's odd!
i read tawnyman before liveships cos i couldn't stand liveships when i tried to read it. some stuff came up in tawny man that does mean you need liveships to understand it, BUT its so minor its really not that big a deal. i read liveships after, though oh, and still hated the series.
and strenevor, does a character really have to ahve a point? i never saw that much use for starling, in all reality! ok she gave fitz his adopted kid person, but i am sure fitz could have fuond the kid some other way. perhaps serilla was just to show how awful the satrap was? tho that was fairly clear in other ways!
and i agree, i think that some of the characters had forced changes put upon them or at least, we were told they had changed, while i saw no real evidence of it personally.
just hated that series.