Reviews

Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold

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ricksilva's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Mercenary admiral Naismith, AKA Barrayaran noble and intelligence agent Miles Vorkosigan brings his mercenary fleet to Earth for some repairs and recuperation, only to find themselves short on finds. Placed in the unusual position of having to function as both of his identities in the same city, Miles invents a story of having a clone. Then an actual clone shows up. Cue the mayhem.

This started a bit slow, although the glimpse of Earth (the origin of the human species, and now primarily a tourist destination), and the surprisingly interesting details of the finances behind the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet were some nice details to keep my interest.

The character who will become Mark Vorkosigan is fairly rough here, and will wait for Mirror Dance to really get a true spotlight, but the character work on Miles more than makes up for that.

The wackiness of the climactic battle is loads of fun, and the story has an absolutely great ending line.

eve_prime's review against another edition

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4.25

This one's set almost entirely in London (although our characters don't actually get to see much of London). Miles acquires a surprising new relative, and we also meet one of my favorite secondary characters, Duv Galeni. It's not quite as fast-paced as some, and I like that we get to see Miles adapting to new information and making solid choices.

stevenyenzer's review

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3.0

Fun, if a little rote. The twist is certainly shocking!

dwhito's review

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

ktaylor1164's review

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4.0

Ah, back to Miles. Phew. I was ready after reading Ethan of Athos, which I didn't love. This book shows us a more adult (though in many ways far from grown up) Miles who must grapple with family and duty and destiny. At first I thought I was going to really dislike the idea of Mark, but Bujold does a really great job setting him up as more than he originally seems.