I have finally acted on my resolution to learn how to play piano. A lesson has been booked with a local teacher for the end of June, and I am working through the basics of scales and sight-reading through gritted teeth. I write this to remind myself that remembering which note on which stave-line corresponds to which finger on which key is - at time of writing - a monumental challenge. I look forwards to the Grade 1 exam ....
I romped through Gateway and Beyond the Blue Event Horizon pretty rapidly, and I'm currently in the middle of Heechee Rendezvous. Some reviews have it that after Gateway it was all downhill (they say the same thing about Dune) but I haven't found it so: it's all four-starred on Amazon too.
The fourth volume, Annals of the Heechee, by contrast gets 2.5 stars, and of course, I have that too (although judging by the reviews, this might have been a mistake)!