this novella is a typically charming and fast-paced entry in the saga of Miles Vorkosigan. basically a smash & grab caper. ah Mil3.5 stars, rounded up
this novella is a typically charming and fast-paced entry in the saga of Miles Vorkosigan. basically a smash & grab caper. ah Miles, I see so much of myself in you. the ego and pride, the sarcasm and humor, the irritation at not being a taller person, the ability to fuck anything that moves. really, he's the best. wait if I say that am I also saying that I'm the best? surely I don't mean to imply such an outrageous thing.
SPOILERS
so the story opens with Miles getting hit on by the ardent hermaphrodite captain of his ship (and who disconcertingly prefers "it" to he or she... kinda wish that wasn't the case, but this was written in the pre-"they" days, so can't really hold that against Bujold. she's trying.) which he handles sensitively and professionally and with no weirdness, and it closes with Miles happily getting it on with the physically dominating but quite insecure mutant werewolf-woman that he's just "rescued" (really, she's the one that rescues him). in between there is another exploited person rescued whose physical appearance is also quite different from the so-called norm. and all throughout are some strong emotions and some strong declarations all about how people experience difference, how people get othered, how it makes them feel. just like what Miles has dealt with his entire life. and yet despite the clear moral lesson on display, nothing felt forced. the story is brisk, fun, sweet, and casual.
and so a 3 star book gets a boost because I love the ideals. Bujold's beautifully progressive, humanistic nature really shines bright in this story. it made me happy....more
a colleague asked me a series of questions while we were out drinking the other night, questions like So what's next for you? and Is this all you are a colleague asked me a series of questions while we were out drinking the other night, questions like So what's next for you? and Is this all you are planning on doing with your career? and Is your current job how you want to be defined and does that actually give you satisfaction? I found myself annoyed then defensive then offended. what gave her the right to question me, I've accomplished a lot in my job and in my life, yes I am content with my career and why the hell shouldn't I be, blah blah blah. in the end I realized that I shouldn't have been offended because I think she was asking me those questions because she was asking herself the same. and so I calmed down and we continued to get drunk while philosophizing on the choices we've made and the nature of our existence blah blah blah.
I think some people like to live in boxes. I am such a person. I love my box, it's a safe and comfortable one and I've spent a lifetime constructing it. my box is one that gives me genuine satisfaction and the feeling that I am doing only what I want to be doing with my life. but I think other people resent and reject the idea of a box; they prefer to live in what can be called a "liminal space" - that space between, that place of ambiguity and movement and looking towards what comes next. you can look at your goals in life and try to come up with a plan or timeline to achieve those goals. or you can look at your goals and see them as constantly in flux, in movement depending on where you are, liminal. or you can look at yourself and realize that you are actually not a goal-oriented person. I think all of those are different kinds of boxes. I think my colleague may disagree.
so this book, Memory, is about those sorts of things. despite opening with a character getting his legs shot off and ending with a high-stakes trap for a devious villain, this is far from an action novel. it is a thoughtful story about who we are, why we are, the boxes we construct, the identities we create for ourselves and the separate boxes those identities live in, how our identity/identities can become dominos or houses of cards falling if something or someone takes those boxes away. Miles Vorkosigan's dual identities of mercenary fleet commander and aristocratic peer of the realm have always been bubbling in the background throughout his stories; in this novel they finally come to a head. Bujold does a superb and moving job in delineating who Miles is, and was, and can be; she gives the mundane, all-too-common situations of making errors & trying to cover up your tracks, losing a job & so losing a part of your identity, a palpably emotional resonance. she does all of that and then she doubles down and gives us another ongoing character, Simon Illyan, going through a similar thing but in an entirely different manner. Miles is the sort of character who assertively rejects the idea of a box and who insists he lives in a liminal space - but who has actually been constructing two boxes to live in, and has actively not been living in the space between, in that liminal space. Simon is the sort of character who has constructed his own perfect box - one that makes his career equal his actual self - only to find that box dismantled and his sureness of purpose and self destroyed as he moves into a purely liminal space. it is fascinating comparing the two journeys.
in sum, this is a wonderful novel about figuring out that who you are does not equal your job or your birth name or any specific, singular role or title; rather, it is the sum of all such things, and your experiences, and your internal workings, your actions and your potential, your ability to change or not change, and so much else. you = not easily summed up in one word.
I love that this space opera is all about these 'mysteries' that every human experiences. I know when I pick up a Vorkosigan Saga novel that I will be enjoying some action and some intrigue and some political maneuvering and maybe even some romance. standard space opera pleasures. but I also know that I will be enjoying a human tale about actual human beings and the things that happen in life, to everyone. it is that last sentence, that particular quality, that makes this series so special....more
when appreciating characterization, Space Opera - much like its cousin Epic Fantasy - is often more about surface appeal rather than depth. for the mowhen appreciating characterization, Space Opera - much like its cousin Epic Fantasy - is often more about surface appeal rather than depth. for the most part, that's okay by me. I can enjoy the expansive world-building and intriguing concepts, the science and adventure, without realistic or meaningful characterization. as long as the characters are fun, I'm not going to overthink it. I'll look for rich, resonant characterization elsewhere.
Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga is very nearly the opposite of all that. there is quite a bit of world-building & intriguing concepts & science-magic & awesome adventure... but it is not expansive in the way of most space operas. Bujold's sagas are not dense tomes filled with microscopic detail; the elements mentioned are present but are more subtle, streamlined, carefully parsed out in thoughtful ways. and most importantly, depth of characterization is the key ingredient in this series. the tension and excitement and appeal come directly from these books' exceedingly well-developed characters. it is pretty wonderful.
so this one is about Miles and his clone-twin Mark; it features a botched rescue and what family is about and ways that trauma impacts us and how we escape from that trauma. it does a superb job at showing the intrinsic differences and similarities between Miles & Mark and it does an equally excellent job at rehabilitating the reader's understanding of who Mark actually is and how he is able to be heroic, despite the basically pathetic traits he's exuded so far. it has a fantastic action sequence in the beginning of the book, a nicely quiet and relaxed sojourn on the planet Barrayar in the middle, and a surprisingly disturbing torture-and-escape sequence near the end. for me, the novel's stakes felt so high not because of the importance or pathos of the mission (the rescue of slave children would be a generalized way to describe it) - but because the stakes for these utterly three-dimensional characters are so high. I was anxious about how all of this played out because I lived in these two characters during my time in Mirror Dance. it is the darkest and richest of the Vorkosigan novels that I've read so far. I loved it!...more
engineer encounters hideous situation involving exploitation of a unique group of workers. engineer fights against this hideous situation.
so this is rengineer encounters hideous situation involving exploitation of a unique group of workers. engineer fights against this hideous situation.
so this is really a 2 star book, whatever, I'm giving it 3 stars because yeah I liked it, and more importantly I would never give 2 stars to a friend and at this point I kinda feel like Lois McMaster Bujold is my friend. I've been working my way back and forth through her Vorkosigan Saga and I think that not only do I believe in everything she believes in - the points she wants to make and the anger she feels at some things and her perspective on gender & race & sexual identity, all that - but I think that she has been working out those points as a sort of conversation with this series' readers about progressive values and fighting against authority, about how different people stand up in different ways but those different ways may amount to the same kind of courage, a conversation about how Bujold herself feels about these sorts of things and how her own viewpoint has progressed (well, perhaps progressed... maybe she has just become increasingly sophisticated in how she expresses her viewpoint and values). so what if the situation presented is a bit maudlin, the villain obnoxiously rote and two-dimensional, too much mechanical-technical-engineering mumbo jumbo, the ending rather on the wish fulfillment side of things, some unnecessary infantilizing of the labor force in question, etc... well what of it. the novel was for the most part fun, exciting, moving, and thoughtful. that's how I like my space operas. the central character is great and just as appealing is the major supporting character Silver, whose characterization is surprisingly dynamic. Bujold moves her past her race's adorable but limited childlike attributes; she eventually displays cunning, insight, leadership, a sensitive sort of ruthlessness, and in the end transcends what could have been a clichéd type - the ambitious young lady who uses sex to get ahead. and the ending... well, sometimes I like wish fulfillment, so sue me.
Bujold would later improve her technique - but the awesome person she clearly is, well, that's already present in this early work. sister, I really dig you.
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so how tall is Tyrion the Imp anyway? I think Miles Vorkosigan is well under 5 foot. both characters are brilliant, idiosyncratic, lovelorn, and reallso how tall is Tyrion the Imp anyway? I think Miles Vorkosigan is well under 5 foot. both characters are brilliant, idiosyncratic, lovelorn, and really full of themselves. I always thought that Tyrion was a complete original but there's a lot of Miles in him and Miles came first, right? I suppose it doesn't matter who came first, what matters to me is that these are two of my favorite creations in all of genre fiction. well I've always had a fondness for short guys with big brains. Miles actually calls himself a genius again, second time I've seen this. oh, Miles. Bujold you are awesome for making sure your wonderful creation has his own flaws that are completely separate from his physical flaws, that crooked spine, those brittle bones, those little legs, poor adorable Miles. well at least he finally gets laid. Bujold you are also awesome for spinning another fun yarn that moves fast and still manages to think deep at times too, dropping things like The man who assumes everything is a lie is at least as mistaken as the one who assumes everything is true. If no guarantee can suit you, perhaps the flaw is not in the guarantee, but in you." and "well, people do get hypnotized by the hard choices. And stop looking for alternatives." Bujold, I love those comments. they may not be the most mind-blowing things to read, but they do pop out at a person who is basically reading a bit of light, escapist space opera. that last quote in particular struck me, I deal with that on the council a lot, people I would otherwise respect talking about "making hard choices" when what they mean is that change is coming and we better start looking at which services we should slash or eliminate, as if that is actually hard when the actual hard work would be in figuring out how not to do unnecessary crap like that. ugh! I hate bullshit. unfortunately Miles spends some time thinking that bullshit too but there's a few other people around to set him straight. I have a fairly strong crush on Miles but I think that crush has expanded to the loyal and lovely Eli and her post-facial reconstruction take on the nature of beauty and of course walking boner Ivan and his amiable bickering. great supporting characters. and they live in a thoroughly enjoyable novel. this one has Miles traveling to Old Earth and getting caught up in various terrorist plots, oh Miles, you are always getting into trouble but fortunately you are a genius and so you always get yourself out of it. maybe a bit too easily at times, which is probably why this is 3 stars and not 4. and at long last, Miles' two identities and his schizophrenic lifestyle are fully explored and made central to the narrative. we have him splitting himself into two via a surprising tall tale that - spoilers beyond this point - turns out to be true, we have various characters finally addressing all of the issues that Miles faces in his two personas, and we have a great little hallucinogenic scene when he confusingly glimpses a very stressed-out version of himself across the way. best of all, we have a clone. yay for clones!
Miles and his clone don't really see eye to eye that way, and certainly not mind to mind. I guess I just love that gif. well, obviously, since it is the second time you've used it mark. for chrissakes find some new gifs already.
okay, Miles-style stream of consciousness review DONE....more
I dunno, I'm just not feeling too inspired to write a review, it's like I'm forcing myself here. is it the novella's fault? I don't think so. the storI dunno, I'm just not feeling too inspired to write a review, it's like I'm forcing myself here. is it the novella's fault? I don't think so. the story is about intrepid, quick-witted Miles on a secret mission in a POW camp. it's rather a perfect prison: just a big force field dome, the prisoners can do as they like, they are given clothes & bedding & regular food rations and that's pretty much it. the folks who have built the prison trot it out as some kind of benevolent example of how to do things and how to give the inmates a sort of freedom; they are using this place as a kind of publicity stunt, one designed to allay any criticism and to illustrate their ultimate benevolence. one that exists to hide its creators' true intentions. and the inmates turn on each other while their captors just watch - because it's not their fault after all, right? it's just business.
I should be able to write an interesting review about this - interesting to me at least. but I think I'm just being mopey and irrational, because I couldn't help but see all these odd parallels to the nonsense that is happening on Goodreads now, the way Goodreads staff has been changing its own rules and pretending that everything that they are doing isn't actually some repulsive attempt to become a money-making machine that doesn't want to offend the authors who are giving them that money but who are also all too willing to secretly penalize the folks who actually live in this place. who have built a community in this place. was all that community-building just so much wasted effort? ugh.
so Miles figures out how to solve things fairly easily - a bit too easily for me, which made for a certain lack of tension. there are a couple deaths in the end and they serve to make a very strong point. still, Miles handles things remarkably well and very little gets in his way. although Miles is a genius, so of course. I wish there were a Miles here on Goodreads, I'd put him in charge.
well I guess I wrote a review after all! sorta....more
"How do you do," Ethan began politely. "I represent the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization of the Planet Athos. If I may, I'd like to tell you a"How do you do," Ethan began politely. "I represent the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization of the Planet Athos. If I may, I'd like to tell you about the pioneering opportunities for settlement still available there--"
The sudden dead silence of his audience was interrupted by a large worker in green coveralls.
"Athos? The Planet of the Fags? You on the level?"
was Bujold on the level when she wrote this? sad to say, this book is sort of a mess. although it does have the genial tone, fast pace, (semi-)amusing banter, bursts of action, and (attempted) emotional depth of other Vorkosigan Saga novels... it really doesn't work. it feels half-baked and, even worse, just rather silly and easily dismissed. ah well. can't win 'em all, Bujold.
so the planet Athos was founded by some fanatical religious dudes who thought women were the root of all evil. there are certainly plenty of equivalents in our world's history - and hey, right here in the modern world too! - and so that basic idea could have been an, ahem, fertile concept. but it charges right to the brink of HUH? WHAT? when we learn that millennia later, Athos has remained a planet of men only, men who fear women as evil's spawn and who procreate by importing ovaries and doing various reproductive science-y type things that I barely understood or cared about. all in all, Athos is a peaceful and pleasant planet full of what appears to be a bunch of sweet simpletons. but something goes wrong with the latest shipment of female parts and so the shy but apparently attractive Dr. Ethan Urquhart must brave the big scary galaxy full of women to track down a new shipment. while out and about, Ethan finds himself caught right in the middle of nefarious activities involving the lovely mercenary Ellie Quinn, space station administrators, humorless military types, a telepath on the run, and - egads! - some threatening flirtation from various women.
basic questions about sexuality remain unanswered or irritatingly ambiguous. on a planet of men, what happens to the heterosexuals? although I imagine a world of men only (ugh) may perhaps be appealing to some gay gents, I would think that basic sexuality would make this an unendurable prospect for the heteros stuck there. like a gay man forced to live in a lesbian sorority for the rest of his life. is Bujold saying sexuality is based on nurture, not nature? sorta sounds like it, because there is a whole planet of men who seem perfectly fine without the fairer sex. Athos is such a happy place... has the heterosexuality just been nurtured out of 9 out of 10 men? how in the world are they happy without any women whatsoever?
Athos is only the background, as most of the novel takes place on Kline Station. unfortunately, squarely in the foreground is Dr. Ethan. he is surely one of the most vapid, uninteresting, passive, whiny, basically useless "heroes" I've had to deal with in a sci-fi actioneer. hey, I just made that word up! "actioneer", I like the ring of that. anyway, I really missed this series' usual protagonist Miles. Ethan was an exceedingly poor substitute....more
this one hit a sweet spot that I didn't know I even had: incredibly beautiful, highly intelligent, aristocratic geneticists who prize elegance and subthis one hit a sweet spot that I didn't know I even had: incredibly beautiful, highly intelligent, aristocratic geneticists who prize elegance and subtlety, float around in their floating chairs while encased in pearly force fields, and never cut their hair! much like the protagonist Miles, I was immediately enchanted.
unlike Miles, the reader is able to quickly discern that these remote and regal ladies actually control their empire. power lies not with the Emperor nor the warlike generals, and certainly not the various upper crust dandies who wander around creating scent-art; all bow to my newly-found sweet spot's authority. perhaps Miles was fooled by titles like "Consort" and "Handmaiden" - but still, it was a little surprising seeing that both Miles' mom and the love of his life are subtle, independent women who are completely in control. well I guess I can understand a little. Miles turns into a walking boner as soon as a "Haut" Lady (yes, that is what they are called, um) opens up her force bubble... and that state is not conducive to clear thinking.
speaking of walking boners, Miles' cousin Ivan is very much a part of this novel and he is just as enjoyable as ever. dim, grouchy-sweet, unimaginative, loyal, lady-killin' Ivan, what's not to like. and speaking of what not to like, Miles actually refers to himself as a genius in this one. oh Miles. you and Kvothe, sweet Jesus, the egos on some of these kids. fortunately, Bujold is aware of Miles' flaws and they are happily skewered. she is also completely aware that a person's flaws are often intrinsically connected to their virtues; one can't exist without the other in Miles, and in so many others. ain't that the truth!
the world-building was especially well-done in this one. not info-dump world-building, but rather slowly drawn-out Let's Figure Out This Mysterious Place Called Cetaganda type world-building. the empire of Cetaganda is a marvelous creation, layered and compelling and very carefully thought-out.
Miles be nimble! Miles be quick! Miles jump over the candlestick any situation or dumbass that gets in your goddamn way!
Go, Miles, Go!
so Miles finds himMiles be nimble! Miles be quick! Miles jump over the candlestick any situation or dumbass that gets in your goddamn way!
Go, Miles, Go!
so Miles finds himself stuck in a miserable freezing arctic station as his reward for graduating from the Barrayar military acadamy with top honors but also with a serious issue of not treating authority with the respect and passivity and obedience that authority apparently deserves. and from the arctic station he finds himself tossed pell-mell, willy-nilly, etc, right into the middle of a plot teeming with ruthless villains, a young emperor trying to escape his duties, nervous colonies, anxious bodyguards, two mercenary camps, new space gadgets, and reunions galore with characters from prior novels. the novel is fast and fun fun fun.
I suppose one take-away from the series is ALWAYS QUESTION AUTHORITY. nice.
the character of Gregor le petit emperor really comes into his own here. a beautiful bit of characterization and not a little tragic as well.
my favorite part of the novel was the first third, in that freezing arctic station. watching hyperactive Miles practically bounce off of the walls trying to figure out what to do was wonderfully amusing. and the setting was certainly well-rendered. cooooooooold.
there is a spicy lil' villainess just like Miles is a spicy lil' hero. she wears some kind of sexy catsuit. or it may be a jumper but I much prefer to imagine it as a catsuit, plus I really wanted to type the word "catsuit". much like Miles, she has a quick and improvisatory way of thinking, always on the fly and always taking advantage of any opportunity she sees. for some reason the novel takes pains to compare Miles and Catsuit, at times even theorizing that if Miles doesn't watch out, he may end up like the amoral Catsuit sometime in the future. ha! as if. equally key to Miles' persona are his decency and his compassion and his refusal to see death as something that just happens so time to move on. those traits are hallmarks of this book and its predecessors as well. Miles ain't gonna turn into no Catsuit! although I do predict that he will eventually tap that Catsuit.
this review is a part of a larger piece on the Vorkosigan Saga novels I've read so far, posted onShelf Inflicted...more
i'm getting old - i'm 42! that is definitely old to a lot of people. happily, i've always felt i was born old so getting older doesn't really bother mi'm getting old - i'm 42! that is definitely old to a lot of people. happily, i've always felt i was born old so getting older doesn't really bother me. but what does bother me is the idea that in a couple decades my viewpoint may have become so inflexible, so stubbornly outmoded, that my opinion will simply have no value. i think that to be relevant, pretty much every thing and every one needs to be considered as a work in progress. capable of change and adjustment and re-evaluation. fortunately i have met many older people who are fully capable of such things. fully capable of revisiting concepts and laws and ways of interacting with people that are now understood as potentially offensive and demeaning and dehumanizing. i would like me and my age-peers to be that kind of old person. and so, in a way, not really old at all. not a barrier to change, but instead a positive part of the living, breathing, ever-changing world.
but i have also met many older people who are truly "old". who are so stubborn in their narrow viewpoints and who view change as automatically threatening. who uphold disgusting laws and repulsive ways of interacting with people. who live within some nonsensical so-called moral high ground that they had to deal with all of their lives and so everyone should deal with the same. hell no they're not going to change because they've always been this way and plus why should anyone get away with what they never got away with, what gives them the right when they never had that right? it's a simplistic, toxic mind-fuck that they seem to embrace. i can't help but look at those sorts of folks with both pity and scorn. and then wait for them to die - because that's the only change that they can't stop.
so this thoughtful little novella is about Miles Naismith Vorkosigan and his encounters with both types. it is melancholy and tragic and, somehow, uplifting in the end. nice work, Bujold....more
so i was engaging in a favorite pastime on friday night, namely verbal one-upmanship slash sadistically using the power of my oh so mighty intellect tso i was engaging in a favorite pastime on friday night, namely verbal one-upmanship slash sadistically using the power of my oh so mighty intellect to tease my poor innocent friends, when the very drunk birthday boy said "You know you are going to get smacked if you keep on talking like that." i couldn't help myself: i reached up and gave him a very light & friendly tap on the cheek with the palm of my hand while dropping another dazzling bon mot. sadly, in the middle of my witticism, birthday boy enacted a decidedly non-verbal response and proceeded to smack the shit out of me. later, as i walked drunkenly home, ear still ringing from the horrific attack, it occurred to me that this would never happen to one of my recent heroes, Miles Naismith Vorkosigan of the the space opera lite The Warrior's Apprentice.
ah, Miles. what a great creation he is! clever and sharp-tongued, vaguely ambitious, shorter than most, the opposite of a physical threat, kind and even-tempered, clear-eyed in his self-assessments, a little bit self-sacrificing but not in an eye-rolling way, queasy at the thought of causing others harm, full of both self-doubt and ego, always the girl's trusted best friend rather than the object of her passion, the wittiest man in the room and he knows it but he is going to try to keep that to himself so that you don't get upset and take it out on him in surprise smack-attacks. and he talks and he talks and he talks. i love Miles. his character is usually the supporting character, the hero's best friend, the brother who dies, an amusing cameo. it's a great thing for me to know that there is a whole series practically devoted to this lil' guy. he's endearing i suppose, but i personally don't see him as "endearing" because i don't see him as a cute character type. he feels very real to me. part of that may be due to reading all about his parents in the prior books - i know where Miles comes from, i understand the context, i get how his background informs his present. part of that may be due to how much i empathize with him and his various personal travails.
the novel itself is about Miles leaving his home planet of warlike Barrayar and inadvertedly creating a mercenary army. oops! for me the plot is really secondary to just sitting back and enjoying Miles. the writing is fine, nothing special but certainly nothing problematic either. Bujold veers towards the bland. style is not the selling point in her skill set - readers come to her for the surprisingly grounded and rich characterization. and so The Warrior's Apprentice may have space battles, mercenaries, revolutionaries, mechanized war-suits, etc, but that's almost besides the point. Miles is the point.
Miles - and Bothari. the latter character - a former brainwashed rapist and sadistic torturer who now acts as Miles' bodyguard - is the other big selling point of the novel. Bujold does not downplay his past or excuse it - although in some ways it can be excused (i would say that brainwashing excuses many things) - nor does she overplay his redemption. she gets the character right, she doesn't leave out the ugly or disturbing parts, and yet she still allows the character grace and dignity within his tragic arc. Bujold definitely knows how to write characters that the reader can feel. i felt Bothari, i felt Miles, i felt Elena and Ivan and i am looking forward to feeling the rest of the characters that will be introduced to me in this saga....more
Barrayar continues and completes the story of former survey ship captain Cordelia Naismith and her husband Aral Vorkosigan, Regent of Barrayar. it is Barrayar continues and completes the story of former survey ship captain Cordelia Naismith and her husband Aral Vorkosigan, Regent of Barrayar. it is pretty enjoyable. is Bujold becoming one of my favorite scifi authors? i'm surprised at that realization. her style is not particularly striking, often rather plain and unadorned. i don't usually gravitate to those sorts of writers - the straightforward ones. but her themes, her careful way with characterization, her undramatic recognition of the complexity, fallibility, and occasional heroism of the human species are all things that this usually impartial robot observer finds himself genuinely responding to, with uncharacteristic human warmth.
characterization is clearly Bujold's major strength and this novel supplies ample opportunity for intriguingly multi-leveled characters to shine. in particular Bothari - poor Bothari! - so damaged by life and the terrible things done to him that he has become a person who will take on the persona of whoever he is needed to be. his need for someone to guide him, his craving for validation and for purpose... made so palpable by Bujold.
the first half of the novel is pretty intimate in scale. it mainly concerns various domestic issues (and by "domestic" i mean "in & around the home" rather than "homeland") as Cordelia acclimates to the overly formal, high-strung, and resolutely warlike Barrayaran culture. it feels odd and a little wrong to use the words domestic and intimate when describing a (low-key) space opera whose first half includes two assassination attempts and various other dramatic incidents. but that is the feeling i got and it worked really well. the reader gets to know Barrayar in an unhurried fashion, just like Cordelia. and the reader continues to understand Cordelia in that same deliberate, slowly unfolding sort of a way. i liked the lack of hustle & bustle and i appreciated the calm, unrushed pace.
it all changes in the second part. and so swiftly! from slow acclimatization right into a fast-moving adventure narrative, things happening pell-mell... a flight, a rescue, a secret journey, confrontations, deaths, a raging fire... my gosh, a head gets cut off and carried in a bag to be dramatically tossed onto a boardroom table! awesome. it was incredibly satisfying to see how well Cordelia adapted to her new world, how easily she is able to win others to her side, how passionate and furious and even murderous she can get when dealing with people who have attacked her loved ones. Mother Bear! yet she still stays herself - compassionate, warm-hearted, saddened & angered by the small-mindedness of others. she's an awesome character. and this is a satisfying book....more
Cordelia Naismith is the captain of an astronomical survey ship from the peaceful Beta Colony. Lord Aral Vorkosigan is the leader of a secret militaryCordelia Naismith is the captain of an astronomical survey ship from the peaceful Beta Colony. Lord Aral Vorkosigan is the leader of a secret military mission from the warlike planet Barrayar. the title "Shards of Honor" no doubt refers to the small bits of honor that Aral must cling to as he finds himself a central figure in a massive undertaking that will sacrifice thousands of innocents for the greater good; it also may refer to the honor that Cordelia herself gains and loses and gains again as her fate becomes increasingly intertwined with that of the unjustly infamous Aral - also known as "The Butcher of Komarr". this excellent novel is the first in the massive Vorkosigan Saga, which currently numbers over 25 novels and short stories. it is also Bujold's first full-length work - an impressive achievement.
the novel is a chamber piece with a galactic background. space opera boiled down to two major characters and several intriguing supporting characters, with acts of policy and war that become palpable moral and ethical conflicts for those characters. it is space opera made intimate and personal; space opera where the psychology of its characters is writ as large and made as important as the various exciting twists and turns of the narrative. it is also a romance - one that is by turns surprising and moving and life-affirming. there are no ridiculously giddy or angsty moments that made me roll my eyes. Cordelia and Aral are decidedly adults, with a whole lifetime of pain and experience behind them. watching them matter-of-factly fall in love was key to my enjoyment.
it is a novel with some teeth as well. its issues are timely and timeless... is a terrible sacrifice worth all of those lives to stop the deaths of even more lives? should nationalism be a thing that we live and die for, a thing that defines our lives' trajectories? and what is "honor" anyway - a personal thing? a public thing? the thing that we cling to that gives our lives some kind of meaning, some sense of purpose? all are interesting questions to contemplate.
the prose is smart, clean, unfussy. our heroes veer towards the nonchalant rather than towards the melodramatic - they are life-sized, not larger-than-life - and so the prose is a perfect match for the characterization. the whole novel is excellent and thoroughly entertaining, but my favorite part may be the opening third - which is basically a two-person trek across an unknown planet. the reader gets to enjoy interesting bits of xenobiology (not delivered via massive world-building infodumps) while Cordelia and Aral's intriguing and entirely sympathetic personalities slowly unfold, to the reader and to each other. it was lovely. "lovely" may be an odd word to use for a novel that encompasses war, assassination, depraved villains, forced drug use, attempted rape, the children of rape, a mental breakdown, and the abandonment of one's home... but Shards of Honor is indeed a lovely thing - a quietly moving experience....more
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