Elitist Book Reviews

While the majority of the books in the Vorkosigan Saga are from Miles' PoV, there are other characters who are just as loved. One of them is Ivan Vorpatril. And after years of fans clamoring for his story, Bujold delivers. But do you have to be a fan of the series to enjoy this book? Nope.

Unlike Miles, Ivan doesn't seek out the adrenaline-rush of adventure and mayhem. He's happy being a desk jockey for the Ops admiral without any ambition above that; he's glad that the throne of Barrayar recedes further away from his inheriting it as his cousin Emperor Gregor's children grow up; the only thing that would make him happier is finding a willing woman at the local bar.

While on Komarr for a routine two-week military audit, Ivan is visited by Byerly, undercover Imperial Security agent who, knowing Ivan's luck with the ladies, asks for help keeping track of a woman on the run. Despite being suspicious of Byerly's motives, when Ivan sees a picture of Tej his concerns are set aside, and decides he's willing to help a lady in distress. Ivan thwarts a kidnapping attempt and takes Tej and her handmaiden to his flat to keep them safe until Byerly can smooth things out. Unfortunately the local authorities get involved and in order to protect the women, Ivan and Tej perform a quick and private wedding ceremony.

The rest of the book is about the fallout over what Ivan calls his 'accidental' wedding. I'm pretty sure Bujold was on a Diet Coke IV drip the entire last 3/4 of the book because the writing has this semi-hysterical pitch to it. Sure the story may not have Miles involved, but just because he isn't there doesn't mean that strange things won't happen. Poor Ivan, he only wants a quiet life, but there are too many people who are interested in his personal happiness.

Ivan was determined to be a lifelong bachelor; however, now he is finding that maybe married life isn't too bad. Tej isn't like the other women he's dated. Tej grew up on Jacksons Whole, where anything goes, and if you aren't a ruthless businessman/woman then you won't survive. Her parents' business is taken over by a competitor and have sent bounty hunters after her. Tej couldn't care less about business, but she loves her family and fears them dead. When Ivan appears in her life she's intrigued, not only because he's tall and handsome, but because he couldn't be more different from her family if he tried.

If you liked A CIVIL CAMPAIGN in which Miles courts Ekaterina, this is your kind of book, with romance, fun characters, and an interesting setting. Bujold does a great job with not only the characters in the story--especially Ivan and Taj's romance--but also the relationships between the family members. I have, however, heard complaints about CIVIL because it was such a departure from the rest of the series. Bujold does her best to make CAPTAIN VORPATRIL'S ALLIANCE balance out more action with the relationship aspect. How? Remember Tej's business-minded family? Well, in order to take their business back, they need capital, and descend on Barrayar and their new son-in-law with less than altruistic intent. Hilarity ensues. Poor Ivan.

CAPTAIN VORPATRIL'S ALLIANCE is a fun book. It isn't groundbreaking, it doesn't tell us much new stuff, and gives enough background so that new readers won't get lost. There are some fun science-y things and her prose is as slick and entertaining as usual. But, ultimately, this book is about relationships: with family and friends, and how romantic relationships happen when you least expect them.

Recommended age: 16+
Language: Not much, if any
Violence: Some tussles and stun guns, but no blood
Sex: Implied and referenced, but without detail

Find this continuation of Lois McMaster Bujold's fantastic series:

CAPTAIN VORPATRIL'S ALLIANCE

(This book is set about four years before CRYOBURN - read that review here.)

Miles Vorkosigan is reliable. Reliably clever. Reliably entertaining. Reliable at finding trouble. But does reliability equal excellence? For Miles it does because he's reliably awesome, but for Lois McMaster Bujold, who can and has written better, CRYOBURN is merely better-than-average entertainment.

Something's rotten on the planet Kibou-diani, and Miles is trying to sniff out the secret. Known for their use of cryonics to preserve the ill or aged until medicine advances enough for a cure, the crybobanks pretty much run the planet and are looking to expand and provide services for a new population on another planet. But there's more to it than a business making money, and Miles is determined to get to the bottom of it--even if it means breaking a few rules and stretching beyond his own diplomatic immunity.

The story opens with our rascally Miles lost in underground cryobanks after a botched kidnapping. He eventually escapes and is taken in by the young Jin, a homeless boy, who has a problem that Miles is just itching to solve.

And thus sets off the usual mayhem that surrounds Miles' long career as a mercenary and now as problem-solving auditor for Barrayar's Emperor Gregor.

Bujold is one of the best speculative fiction writers out there, she can do it all: prose, plot, characterization, dialogue, science, setting. And yet. After reading this I just didn't get the buzz I usually do when I read her stuff. Sure it's a fun story, with subplots and subtlety, interesting science, fascinating characters....hmm, I don't make it sound very bad, do I? Perhaps she's spoiled me too much in the past with her brilliant CORDELIA'S HONOR, THE WARRIOR'S APPRENTICE, and etc. But she probably should have let her fans continue to clamor for more Miles Vorkosigan books and just let the series end its already long and glorious run, especially if it meant dragging it out with a random side-story like this.

And yet. It's still a good book by any standard. What's nice about the series is that even though we follow many of the same characters throughout, we watch them grow and change; events alter the characters and we see those consequences. In CRYOBURN that doesn't happen, which is one reason why it falls short of the excellence of previous novels in the series. Perhaps Bujold was just looking for some good, cathartic fun, in which case she succeeds here.

For Bujold, the science in the Vorkosigan series is about the morality of life and death (no technical over-my-head showing off for the sake of it), and these dilemmas often drive the story. In CRYOBURN it's about the problems inherent in a society that relies on being frozen indefinitely until there's a cure for death. It's this speculation and focused view of these dilemmas that give her science a human aspect with more immediacy.

CRYBOBURN is fast-paced, because that's the only pace Miles knows. In this novel, however, the PoV is not exclusively Miles: we experience things from armsman Roic and then also young Jin. We get to see Miles from outside eyes, and understand how much Miles affects the people he comes in contact with. The ending gets a little bogged down with explanations and wrapping up the various characters' stories. But it's satisfying to see everything explode and then watch the pieces fall into place as they land.

Once it's ended, we get a 'second' ending with a mind-blowing revelation that begs for sequels. This second ending feels tacked on, so long-time Vorkosigan readers may be frustrated that the subject is given so little storyline, and new readers won't feel the full impact.

Certainly you can read this book and enjoy it without having read the previous ones. But, really, you should read CORDELIA'S HONOR and THE WARRIOR'S APPRENTICE to begin to understand this big universe Bujold has crafted.

Recommended Age: 12+
Language: A handful of instances.
Violence: Mild to moderate; but the medical procedures are more graphic than any violence. It's a YA friendly book, and having a 12-year-old PoV character may give it appeal to a wider audience.
Sex: None.

Enjoy some of her books (or parts of) for free online at her website including the first ten chapters of THE WARRIOR'S APPRENTICE where we meet Miles for the first time.

Lois McMaster Bujold is easily one of my favorite authors, from her Hugo Award winning PALADIN OF SOULS to the immensely popular Miles Vorkosigan series. When she began The Sharing Knife series I was excited to see her writing new fantasy, and picked up BEGUILEMENT when it first came out in paperback in 2007. The fourth and final book, HORIZON, was released in paperback this past January.

If you liked PALADIN OF SOULS this new series may pique your interest: like PALADIN it has a love story, magic, fascinating characters, and a well-developed setting. However, if you're a fan of Miles and the excitement and high adventure he usually falls into, The Sharing Knife may be too leisurely to grab your attention.

That isn't to say the series isn't well written or interesting, because it is. Bujold's prose is among the best in speculative fiction today, and this series is no exception. She knows how to paint a picture that flows authentically from her PoV characters. The Earth-like world feels real, from the harsh climes of the north, to the expanses of farmland, to life along the river. And, as always, the magic is subtly woven into the story.

But since it's a story about two people who fall in love and get married, many male readers may never get past book one. Oh well, their loss.

Dag is a Lakewalker, a nomadic people with a purpose: to hunt down and rid the world of 'malices'. A malice is an immortal monster that appears at random to consume everything around it, and the only way to kill it is with a Lakewalker sharing knife, which is made using their magic 'groundsense'. Anyone not a Lakewalker is considered a farmer, and are treated as inferiors since they have no groundsense of their own. Dag has been patrolling for over thirty years and taken part in nearly as many malice kills, making him a legend among his own people. At the start of BEGUILEMENT, Dag is foundering, his tragic past weighing him down.

Fawn crosses paths with Dag during a routine patrol gone chaotic with the discovery of a new malice not far from her family's farm. She's almost killed by the malice, but Dag saves her, and for the first time in her life she's admired and taken seriously. So begins their unlikely romance, much to the dismay of their families--and not only because of the age difference, but because they come from two different worlds.

The story isn't all about the romance, equal time is spent on groundsense: the subtle magic that Lakewalkers rely on to tell them about the world and people around them. Groundsense is the natural manipulation of their environment, from healing to sensing surroundings to strengthening their handiwork. Dag takes an unconventional approach to his magic as he struggles to innovate in order to solve problems previously thought to be insurmountable. As a result of his magical discoveries, Dag realizes how he can begin to heal the rift of distrust between Lakewalker and farmer--recognizing that none of his progress is possible without his farmer bride Fawn at his side.

Each book builds on the previous ones, with new information about the setting and magic expanding our knowledge of the world and its inhabitants. BEGUILEMENT sets the tone for the series, as well as the foundation for the setting and its characters. LEGACY deals mostly with the problems associated with Dag and Fawn's Lakewalker-farmer relationship. PASSAGE is the weakest and slowest of the novels because it's even more character and setting driven as Dag tries to solve problems with his groundsense. The series momentum doesn't really get rolling until the last half of HORIZON, with its meaningful climax and tidy resolution.

Unfortunately, the series may disappoint Bujold fans, and her new fantasy readers would be better served to begin with the excellent THE CURSE OF CHALION. While I enjoyed the romance between the fascinating Dag and Fawn, as well as the details of how groundsense works, Bujold takes too long to tell the overarching story. The excitement potential with the malice troubles is spread too thin and the pacing may frustrate readers who want to see a quicker payoff. The four-part series breaks up awkwardly between the books (likely because it was originally planned as a duet) and would have been better if it had been written as a more streamlined trilogy.

If you like beautiful prose, world-building, complex characters, the nitty-gritty of what makes magic work, and you're patient enough for a satisfying conclusion, then this series is worth reading. If you prefer Miles-like action-packed craziness, then not so much.

Recommended Age: 16+
Language: Tame.
Violence: A few fights with monsters or bandits, but not particularly graphic.
Sex: In the first and second book there are a handful of detailed, but tasteful scenes. The later books mostly have innuendo.