Please scroll down
While investigating inconsistencies with a test site where gene-engineered bugs decontaminate the nuked Vorkosigan Vashnoi zone, Ekaterin Vorkosigan stumbles across some strange inhabitants.
An all too brief visit with the Vorkosigan famil
y. Even with something as brief and uncomplex as this novella, Ms. McMaster Bujold nails it as usual.
Three years after the death of Aral Vorkosigan at the end of Cryoburn, Cordelia is still serving as vicereine of Barrayar’s Sergyar colony. Feeling a desire to have more children, she starts the gestation of embryo’s combining previously frozen ova and sperm from her and Aral. She also makes an unexpected offer to Aral’s former aide and now commanding Admiral of the Sergyar fleet, who also happens to have a very deep involvement with the family.
Any new Vorkosigan Saga novel is cause for loud squeals of delight from yours truly. True to form, Ms. McMaster Bujold delivers masterful prose and exceptional dialogue, leaving me chuckling on almost every page, and frequently re-reading selected passages.
There is not much action in this novel. It is really “just” about romance and moving on with life. I was conflicted as to whether this was necessarily a weakness. I certainly enjoyed it despite the lack of anything really happening. Ms. McMaster Bujold could write about the weather and still keep me entertained.
There’s also the matter of the somewhat blatant retcon of previous events, inserting a key character where before there was none. I’m willing to forgive the author for this one as well.
Perhaps the only key weakness of the novel is that it may be a hard read for anyone not at least vaguely familiar with the Vorkosigan Saga. Looking at in an uncharitable light, it is full of shameless fanservice. But fans should love it. I, for one, savoured every moment.
Collecting five of McMaster Bujold’s early works, Proto Zoa is a lovely little gem, even though the stories have all been published before. “Barter”, “Garage Sale” and “The Hole Truth” are cute little vignettes in a suburban setting, one of which is not even science fiction. Bujold’s skill at finding the amusing and the ironic amidst the mundane shines in these three stories. The novelette “Dreamweaver’s Dilemma” is ostensibly part of the Vorkosiverse, but only in as much as Beta Colony is referenced. Aftermaths is a nice vignette about the dead and their relationship with the living (or is it the other way around?). It later formed the epilogue for “Shards of Honor” but started life as a short story.
As a big fan of Lois McMaster Bujold, I loved this book despite its brevity.
In the latest book set in the Vorkosiverse, Miles is conspicuously absent barring an amusing cameo. The protagonist is instead Miles’s cousin and close friend Ivan Vorpatril, a favorite secondary character in many of the earlier books. Ivan is mostly known for his somewhat overbearing mother, social secretary to the Emperor, his high birth but unwillingness to get close to the corridors of power, and his many successive girlfriends, none serious. While on the planet Komarr assisting the Chief of Military Operations on an inspection, now Captain Ivan Vorpatril receives an unexpected and unwelcome visitor, Byerly Vorrutyer, a part-time spy and old acquaintance of Ivan’s who specializes in ferreting out corruption in Barrayaran high society. Byerly leads Ivan to investigate a young lady on the run from a hostile  takeover in Jackson’s Whole, the definition of a Machiavellian society. Unsurprisingly, things blow up in Ivan’s face and he is found saddled with the young lady as a bride in order to protect her from both local security forces and outsystem bounty hunters. What follows when Ivan takes her back home to an encounter with his mother, and subsequently when parts of the young lady’s past resurface, makes for a caper of epic proportions.
Bujold is in super form here. The little ironies woven into descriptions and conversations made me chortle with pleasure and re-read certain passages over and over. The decision to explore the character of Ivan is an inspired one. He was always known to have a spine, even though he lacked the propensity of his cousin Miles to bash people over the head with it. His growing intimacy with Tej after their sudden wedding is marvelously portrayed, sweet without romantic comedy movie cheesiness, as are the complex family dynamics on both sides. This novel was a great pleasure to read for this Vorkosigan fan, and it should also be easily accessible for new readers.
The story starts small, with an enigmatic wanderer, namely our hero Cazaril, making his way to a former employer’s household. It turns out that Cazaril is actually a nobleman, who through betrayal from his own side became a galley slave. His former employer, grandmother of the heir and heiress to the throne, tasks him with the education of said heiress, Iselle. Soon, the heirs and Cazaril must make their way to the royal capital, there to attend on the king, ostensibly for him to officially name his successor. But intrigue, dark magics and old enemies abound in the cut-throat enviroment of courtiers and politicians. A curse hangs over the kingdom of Chalion.
I love McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga. This book has a very different subject matter and setting, but Ms. McMaster Bujold’s supreme skills at characterization and dialogue remain. The plot is intriguing but the pacing is somewhat weak. Most of the book is set at the royal palace, The Zangre. While the story moves on, often with fascinating twists and turns, it feels a bit as if the first three quarters of the book merely set up the last quarter, in which the action truly picks up. Reading a slow paced story written by McMaster Bujold is still a pleasure, but I did spend a large part of the book waiting for something to actually happen.
Not, technically, a Vorkosigan novel since no Vorkosigan family member is so much as lurking in the background, it is nevertheless set in the Vorkosiverse, though, about two hundred years before Miles’ birth. The story is about the origin of the quaddies, humans genetically engineered for work in free fall, whose most striking adaptation is the replacement of their legs with arms (and hands). Leo Graf is an engineer and teacher assigned to the habitat where the quaddies are being “reared”. The corporation he works for intends to use them for free fall work, thus avoiding the costly planetside leaves necessary to ensure good health for normal humans. The thousand quaddies are young, the oldest only just out of adolescence, and are being treated like children, with no voice in their future. Legally, they are the property of the corporation, even as they live their lives, work hard, even procreate. As artificial gravity is invented, the quaddies become instantly obsolete, the need for free fall work decreasing dramatically. They are no longer cost effective for the company, which orders the experiment terminated, meaning sterilization and confinement to barracks (read, prison) on a planet. For the free fall adapted quaddies, gravity wells are an unnatural, dangerous and generally terrible environment. At this point Graf rebels and plans the exodus of the quaddies, away to make their own lives.
This is one of the best novels I have ever read. The characters, “normal” and quaddie alike are well rounded, interesting, authentic. Bujold quickly manages to turn the quaddies from freaks into just “different humans” in the mind of the reader. The plot is excellently constructed, with disparate elements and personalities meshing well to create an engaging whole with many page turner moments.
The illustrations of morality are particularly poignant. The company brass thinks of the quaddies as little more than animals. Creatures to be disposed of when their usefulness has run its course. Leo Graf and some of the other staff, on the other hand, sees them as people, as children to be protected. The parallels with slavery are obvious, but more clever is the message that corporate leaders often have a lack of scruples making them morally little better than the slave-masters of previous centuries. A brilliant read.
This novel is collected in the “Miles, Mutants & Microbes” omnibus.
This short story forms an epilogue of sorts to Komarr and A Civil Campaign. It is told from the viewpoint of armsman Roic. A few days before Miles and Ekaterin’s wedding guests in the form of Miles’ friends from the Dendarii Free Mercenaries arrive. Taura in particular is focused on in a brief tale leading up to the wedding.
The story is cute, but would not be worth much if it hadn’t been tacked on to the end of the Miles in Love omnibus. It is certainly worth reading, and it forms a nice bookend to the macrostory of Miles and Ekaterin’s courtship, but it is not a good standalone.
This short story is collected in the “Miles in Love” omnibus.
After the events of Komarr, Ekaterin returns to Barrayar to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Miles is more infatuated than ever. In the mist of the preparations for the Emperor’s wedding, he embarks on a campaign to win her heart. And screws up badly. Meanwhile, political intrigue lands him in trouble, and his brother Mark starts a bizarre business venture in the basement of Vorkosigan House. Much hilarity ensues.
McMaster Bujold herself describes Komarr as the romantic drama, while A Civil Campaign is the romantic comedy. It is definitely the funnies Vorkosigan book. The author was inspired by authors like Dorothy Sayers and Jane Austen for this comedy of manners. It is definitely a melding of Science Fiction with those romantic styles, and brilliantly done. The infamous dinner party scene is one of the most inspired and funniest passages I have ever read. McMaster Bujold has a talent for putting her characters in the deepest trouble. She seems to revel in it, never protecting them from embarassment or injury. This makes for greatly engaging stories.
This novel is collected in the “Miles in Love” omnibus.
Now a permanent Imperial Auditor, Miles is sent to Barrayar’s subject planet of Komarr to investigate an “accident” on a solar mirror. The mirror is part of a centuries long projecto to terraform Komarr. Currently, Komarrans live in domed cities. Through a fellow auditor, he makes the acquaintance of Ekaterin Vorsoisson, the unhappily married wife of a Barrayaran terraforming administrator. Miles is smitten. He must now solve the mystery of the accident, while sorting out his feelings for Ekaterin. Unfortunately, she is used as a pawn the by the sinister conspirators behind the accident when these move to enact their terrorist
I found Komarr absolutely stellar. Confident Miles is stepped back from the action a bit to make room for the conflicted character of Ekaterin. She seems everything he could wish for, but she is married and suspicious of men in general. A challenge worthy of our hero. McMaster Bujold manages to make her vulnerable and angry without making her weak and abrasive. By delving deep into the source of her unhappiness, McMaster Bujold lays out a character one cannot help but like despite her flaws. It is made clear how Ekaterin dug herself this hole. The sense of duty which noble Barrayarans so treasure has trapped her in a loveless marriage to a loser. The resolution, while bringing forth the “true” Ekaterin, does not end with “happily ever after”. The author acknowledges that life is not so simple, but without depriving us of a satisfying triumph.
This novel is collected in the “Miles in Love” omnibus.
Somewhat oddly, this is the only Vorkosigan novel not collected in an omnibus. It forms a pivotal point in Miles’s character development. In it, Miles continues feeling the effects of the injuries from Mirror Dance. This, and his own fear of losing the pursuits he loves, leads to his dismissal from Imperial Security. In an odd turn of events, he finds himself a depressed bachelor with not much to do. Luckily, trouble is afoot at the ImpSec he had to leave. Emperor Gregor appoints him an Imperial Auditor, a sort of all-powerful troubleshooter, and sets him to investigating the mysterious circumstances of ImpSec head Illyan’s disablement.
Memory is a wonderful book. As is her wont, McMaster Bujold figures out the worst thing she can do to her hero, and skewers him with it. Miles’ dual identity as Admiral Naismith is completely destroyed. This was his safety valve, his way to escape the pressures of being a cripple in Barrayar’s militaristic society. The sections that deal with coping are insightful and excellently written, but still sprinkled with McMaster Bujold trademark humor. The last part of the book, with Miles as Imperial Auditor, is a pure pleasure to read. The role suits Miles’ personality perfectly, and I found myself frequently chortling at his antics. The author deserves admiration for daring to kill off her hero’s raison d’être. She could surely have milked a few more books out of Admiral Naismith, but probably felt that there was more interesting character development to be found this way. This reader is truly grateful.
Miles’ twin brother Mark is back. He manages to infiltrate the Dendarii while acting as Miles. In short order, he is taking a ship on a harebrained mission to Jackson’s Whole in order to free clones doomed to act as replacement bodies for the rich, a procedure which leads to the clones’ brain being dumped. Naturally, it all goes to hell, with Miles chasing after. Miles is shot “fatally” and cryo-frozen, at which point Mark is whisked off to Barrayar to meet the parents for the first time. Meanwhile, Miles’ frozen body is lost.
McMaster Bujold is back in good shape here. The first part of this book is merely good, but the fireworks really fly when Mark ends up on Barrayar. His mother, Cordelia, steals all the scenes she is in. A truly great character who does even better in middle age as a bit player than in the books featuring her as protagonist (Shards of Honor and Barrayar). The parallel plot following the lost (in several senses) Miles is equally engaging. One of the best in the series so far.
This novel is collected in the “Miles Errant” omnibus.
While traveling with the Dendarii Mercenaries, Miles ends up on Earth. While there, he is entangled in a plot to replace him with a clone.
The elements to create a good story are in place. Miles’ clone brother Mark is an excellent addition to the series, seeing as how he can act as a counterpoint to Miles himself. The character development and exploration in this book is on par with McMaster Bujold at her best. The plot, unfortunately, is not. It seems a bit forced, somehow. And while still an enjoyable read (this woman is a fabulous writer) it is weak compared to other installments in the series.
This novel is collected in the “Miles Errant” omnibus.
This short story, collected in the Miles Errant omnibus, is a tidy set piece. It opens with Miles in a Cetagandan prison camp. The camp consists of some terrain enclosed in a dome shaped force field. No visible guards or anything like that. Every day, ration bars (one per prisoner) are passed through the force field. Inevitably, fights break out about the food. Equally inevitably, cliques have formed, for mutual protection and for acquisition of food. Miles has a secret agenda, but how will he take command of this group, using only his quick tongue?
“The Borders of Infinity” is a fine example of the short story genre. McMaster Bujold displays her uncanny grasp of the human psycho and logic. She manages to both solve the problem in a plausible manner, and tack on a realistic motivation for Miles’ actions, while keeping the reader guessing right up until the end.
This short story is collected in the “Miles Errant” omnibus.
This novel was chronologically the last one in the Vorkosiverse for several years until Cryoburn came out. Miles and Ekaterin are diverted from their honeymoon as Miles is ordered to Quaddiespace in order to sort out a diplomatic tangle involving an interned Komarran/Barrayaran trade fleet. Needless to say, complications abound as a Cetagandan plot involving haut unborn babies is uncovered.
Not knowing at the time about Cryoburn coming years later, it was quite bittersweet to read the last of the books. While Diplomatic Immunity is not the best of the Vorkosigan books, it certainly does not disappoint. As usual, the enormously talented McMaster Bujold demonstrates her prowess at seeing things from many points of view. Her descriptions of Quaddies, their actions and thought patters, are particularly impressive. A lot of thought was obviously given to how even basic mannerisms could be decidedly different for humans with four arms, no legs, and a life in zero gravity habitats. The interaction between a happily married Miles and Ekaterin is charming and alluring, leaving the reader hungering for many more books. Perhaps it is a good thing that the author quit when at the top of her game, but I couldn’t help feeling at the time that Miles, and now Ekaterin, still have many stories left to be told.
This novel is collected in the “Miles, Mutants and Microbes” omnibus.
Cryoburn is chronologically placed about six years after Diplomatic Immunity. Miles is sent by Emperor Gregor to investigate a corporation on the planet of Kibou-Daini, where millions of people are cryogenically frozen, hoping to be revived when they can be cured or rejuvenated. As inevitably seems to happen, large corporations (in this case specialized in cryopreservation) have accumulated more power than any nation should feel entirely comfortable with. Miles, as is his wont, stumbles on a whole big conspiracy and, as usual, can’t restrain himself from stretching his official job description of investigator to the very limit. Well, way beyond the limit for that matter.
McMaster Bujold had Vorkosigan fans wait seven long years for a new adventure with Miles. Luckily for me, I only started reading the books in 2008, but the wait for this next installment still felt far too long. Stepping back into the Vorkosiverse and being a fly on the wall while Miles plows through his adventures like a “hyperactive lunatic”, as Dr. Raven Durona so aptly describes it in the book, is a sheer visceral pleasure. Ms. McMaster Bujold has most definitely not lost her touch, mixing humor, an interesting and thought-provoking plot and emotional impact in perfect measure. Her skill at encapsulating emotions within a clever and witty little sentence is peerless. While it felt somewhat sad that only Miles and Armsman Roic were actually on this jaunt, (SPOILER: Mark and Kareen join up at the end) the colorful supporting cast loomed over them in spirit, with many references scattered about like easter eggs for the serious fan.
As usual with her novels, Bujold wrote this one to fit both into the wider series and a standalone, and it works perfectly well as the latter. With Miles flying solo again, it felt like a throwback (perhaps even an homage) to the pre-Memory books, before Miles became got his “adult” job of Imperial Auditor. McMaster Bujold even hints at this in the epilogue, when Ivan wonders what “the old Miles would have said”.
All the books are good, and while this one is not quite as superb as, say, Memory, it still easily proves why McMaster Bujold is one of my very favorite authors.
This short story is set in the Jackson’s Whole system, a place where capitalism has run completely wild and unchecked. Miles’ mission is to pick up a scientist wishing to defect from one of the large syndicates that run Jackson’s Whole. But of course, things are never that easy and simple when Miles is involved.
This piece was a lot of fun, with McMaster Bujold showcasing how she understands what makes characters tick and how they react to one another. Quite enjoyable.
This short story is collected in the “Miles, Mystery & Mayhem” omnibus.
Somewhat unexpectedly, this story doesn’t feature Miles at all. One of the main characters is Elli Quinn, introduced back in “The Warrior’s Apprentice”. She is now a Commander in the Dendarii Free Mercenaries and is hunting down a mysterious character named Terrence Cee. The titular protagonist, Ethan of the planet Athos, comes from an isolated society made up exclusively of males. He is a reproductive specialist who is sent on a mission to find ovarian cultures in order to enrich Athos’ failing gene pool. On arrival to his first waystation, he finds himself embroiled in the struggle surround Terrence Cee and his valuable genetic heritage.
Ethan’s initial contact with galactic society is very entertaining. He has never met a woman, and really has understanding whatsoever of that sex. Luckily, McMaster Bujold doesn’t make the entire novel an essay on this point. The action, almost exclusively confined to one massive space station, is entertaining and leavened with the author’s almost trademark sharp wit. The evolution of Ethan’s character from hopeless naif through angry victim to assertive decision maker makes this a bildungsroman of sorts, and a good one.
This novel is collected in the “Miles, Mysery & Mayhem” omnibus.
Miles, now a Lieutenant working for Imperial Security, is sent off to a Cetagandan state funeral along with his less than brilliant but dashingly handsome cousin Ivan Vorpatril. While there, they are embroiled in a complex plot to stir the waters of Cetagandan nobility genetic engineering.
The plot is in fact very complex, and while showcasing Miles’ intelligence, it goes perhaps a bit too far. The Cetagandan empire is a remarkable edifice constructed by McMaster Bujold. The highest caste controls the evolution of their own and the soldier caste through rigidly held gene banks and elaborately calculated pairings. It is almost worth reading the book for the descriptions of ceremonies, locations and people. Unfortunately, the plot is not as strong as one would want, and quickly bogs down in far too many twists and turns. I’m all for a nice mystery but there is very little actual action to propel the mystery along. I caught myself no longer caring very much what actually happened, as long as I could read about Miles and his ever entertaining adventures.
This novel is collected in the “Miles, Mystery & Mayhem” omnibus.
Miles’ first assigment after graduation from the Barrayar Service Academy seems like a complete dead end. Weather officer at a remote arctic training station. He is replacing an officer who has spent fifteen years at the base, and uses his nose to compile the forecast. Miles has been more or less promised a very attractive ship assignment if he can prove that he can follow orders and keep out of trouble for six months. For even after graduation there are many who believe Miles is too weak and short to be a real officer, and too arrogant to follow orders. Of course, Miles doesn’t manage to stay out of trouble, and ends up leading a mutiny against the deranged commander of the base. A just mutiny, perhaps, but this wasn’t what they meant when they told him to stay out of trouble. In the end, his father the prime minister and the head of Imperial Security decide that it would be safest to make him part of Imperial Security itself. To that end, he is sent as a subordinate on a fact finding mission about an impending crisis at an critical frontier wormhole hub. Yet again, Miles cannot stay out of trouble. He is forced to rejoin the Dendarii Mercenaries (from The Warrior’s Apprentice) and finds himself attempting to rescue the young Barrayaran emperor while trying to prevent an invasion.
The entire first part of the novel at the arctic base felt like an (admittedly entertaining) throwaway for quite a while. I was worried that this would make the novel disjointed, but one of the main characters from that section did crop up in a key role later. So no worries there. McMaster Bujold certainly knows how to throw together a complex plot. Luckily for the reader, she also knows how to sort it all out. The Vor Game is entertaining, engaging, exciting, and at times laugh-out-loud funny.
This novel is collected in the “Young Miles” omnibus.
After graduating from the Barrayar Service Academy, Miles has a few weeks of leave. He ends up having to solve an infanticide while acting as the “Voice” of his father, Lord Vorkosigan.
This rather long short story is neat little piece. Miles gets to be clever and driven, while at the same time acquiring an increased sense of purpose for his life. Very good.
This short story is collected in the omnibus “Young Miles”.
This was the second novel that McMaster Bujold wrote, and the first one about Miles proper. Miles fails the entrance exam for the Barrayar (military) Service Academy in spectacularly humiliating fashion. The physical handicaps caused by his in utero poisoning make him short, crooked, brittle boned and ugly. As a young Vor lordling, he doesn’t really need to work for a living, but he is expected, and expects of himself, to serve Barrayar. For now, he is sent off to visit his grandmother (Cordelia’s Mother) on Beta Colony, a world as egalitarian and “modern” in its views as Barrayar is feudal and provincial. A chance encounter on arrival eventually leads to Miles commanding his own mercenary fleet. As if that’s not trouble enough, collecting such a personal army is tantamount to treason for a Vor lord.
It is not necessary to have read “Cordelia’s Honor” in order to enjoy “The Warrior’s Apprentice” but it does help with understanding the background, in particular the peculiar character of Sergeant Bothari and his relationship to his daughter Elena. The novel is a lot of fun. Miles as a character, with his boundless energy and quick thinking, is enormously entertaining. The plot is quite far fetched, asking the reader to make some rather challenging leaps of faith. If it weren’t so engaging and frequently humurous, this novel would go from pretty good to awful.
This novel s collected in the “Young Miles” omnibus.
Behind the rather tacky cover is an omnibus edition consisting of McMaster Bujold’s debut novel “Shards of Honor” and its immediate chronological sequel “Barrayar”. The latter won the Hugo in 1992. These chronicle the adventures of Cordelia Naismith from the time she first meets her future husband, Lord Aral Vorkosigan, when she is his prisoner of war. At the end of the “Shards of Honor”, she goes to Vorkosigan’s home planet of Barrayar to become his wife. Barrayar is quite different from her own modern home planet of Beta Colony. It has only recently been rediscovered, and an old system of blood ties, honor, nobility, and plain Machiavellian insanity keep it ticking. Cordelia’s adaptation to Barrayar, and her key role during a civil war, are the subject of “Barrayar”.
The first book, “Shards of Honor”, is decent but not stellar. McMaster Bujold shows an early talent for characterization, describing motivation and personal development. “Barrayar”, on the other hand, is a rich story of adventure and one woman’s fight for herself and her family in the midst of an (to her) insane civil war. I enjoyed it immensely. McMaster Bujold has a knack for describing emotion and motivation that sweeps the reader along as if he is looking right over Cordelia Naismith’s shoulder. As a heroine, Cordelia is perfect. Heroic when need be, but more importantly rational and humble in a world where honor and revenge pull society’s fabric to the breaking point and beyond. Highly recommended.
Shards of Honor
Barrayar
