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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
I was very clever and read the "Borders of Infinity" novella before coming back to this book. While the book Borders of Infinity comes next in the chronological order, the novella (which can be found in the book) comes just before Brothers in Arms. While it isn't absolutely necessary to read them in that order, much of Brothers in Arms is dealing with the aftermath of the story in "Borders of Infinity", so I do think it's best to read them in order. What I did was read all the novellas in Borders of Infinity, then come back and read Brothers in Arms, then read the framing device in Borders of Infinity.
It's probably no surprise that I really loved this one. So far, the Vorkosigan has been a whole lot more hit than miss. I love the dissection of identity and personhood, and I love the exploration of how wartime actions and choices can keep coming back to haunt whole lineages.
We haven't heard much about Earth so far in the series, so it was interesting to see how Bujold sees the future right here at home.
It's probably no surprise that I really loved this one. So far, the Vorkosigan has been a whole lot more hit than miss. I love the dissection of identity and personhood, and I love the exploration of how wartime actions and choices can keep coming back to haunt whole lineages.
We haven't heard much about Earth so far in the series, so it was interesting to see how Bujold sees the future right here at home.
Still not loving the series but it's good enough to continue on at this point.
6/10
6/10
There's two of him, now. And he's in love, too!
Yeah, Miles Vorkosigan is a character for the ages.
Yeah, Miles Vorkosigan is a character for the ages.
This series continues to impress me; while it took me a little longer to get into this book, once I did, I finished it in a single sitting.
The book is a little rough around the edges, but I'm giving Bujold a pass since this was actually one of the earliest published books in the saga. As a continuation to Borders and Warrior's, this book is actually a step-up in terms of making the story interesting and believable as opposed to contrived, but there's plenty of contrivances to see here as well.
Overall, I still love this series, though I'm going to take a short break from it now.
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Publication Order Re-read Review:
I find it interesting how little my views about somethings have changed despite the context of the entire story. I still think this is a step up from Warrior's especially in terms of the story not being contrived, and I also think it's not up to the quality of the rest of the Miles' books. The improvement in Bujold's writing is clearly self-evident in publication order much more than it was in chronological order (which, honestly, is all over the place).
One major complaint I had with the series was how Miles was at sex and romance, even for a coming-of-age tale. It seems, this complaint goes away when read in publication order - he gets over Elena in the second book he appears in!
One other thing about this book is that Mark is not really a character unto himself yet. In later books, he becomes a character about as well rounded as any of the other Vorkosigans, but here, he's just a macguffin character of sorts. When I originally heard about Mark, I was a little surprised that this was the direction in which Bujold chose to go with these books, but so much of ACC depends on Mark that I can't really say I'm sorry she did this.
The book is a little rough around the edges, but I'm giving Bujold a pass since this was actually one of the earliest published books in the saga. As a continuation to Borders and Warrior's, this book is actually a step-up in terms of making the story interesting and believable as opposed to contrived, but there's plenty of contrivances to see here as well.
Overall, I still love this series, though I'm going to take a short break from it now.
==========================================================================
Publication Order Re-read Review:
I find it interesting how little my views about somethings have changed despite the context of the entire story. I still think this is a step up from Warrior's especially in terms of the story not being contrived, and I also think it's not up to the quality of the rest of the Miles' books. The improvement in Bujold's writing is clearly self-evident in publication order much more than it was in chronological order (which, honestly, is all over the place).
One major complaint I had with the series was how Miles was at sex and romance, even for a coming-of-age tale. It seems, this complaint goes away when read in publication order - he gets over Elena in the second book he appears in!
One other thing about this book is that Mark is not really a character unto himself yet. In later books, he becomes a character about as well rounded as any of the other Vorkosigans, but here, he's just a macguffin character of sorts. When I originally heard about Mark, I was a little surprised that this was the direction in which Bujold chose to go with these books, but so much of ACC depends on Mark that I can't really say I'm sorry she did this.
adventurous
fast-paced
Read as part of [b:Miles Errant|76813|Miles Errant (Vorkosigan Omnibus, #4)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1440170020s/76813.jpg|74292].
While I always enjoy being part of this universe and in Miles’ head, this one wasn’t my favourite. The plot felt way too reactive. And I’m still not quite on board with the clone - I hope the next book can differentiate his personality.
I did enjoy anything with Elli Quinn and especiallyher taking a hard pass on Miles’ impromptu proposal because marrying him would mean abandoning her dreams. You go Elli! The future earth setting was fun - I wish we had gotten more of it.
While I always enjoy being part of this universe and in Miles’ head, this one wasn’t my favourite. The plot felt way too reactive. And I’m still not quite on board with the clone - I hope the next book can differentiate his personality.
I did enjoy anything with Elli Quinn and especially
Solid 3.5 on the reread. Decent space adventure though some of the worldbuilding and attitudes don't age really well.
Here's another Miles classic. To get out of a sticky situation and save his cover, he improvises a story about Admiral Naismith being his clone. Only problem is, it seems there just might be a real clone running around Earth with him. Not a lot of military action in this one, the Dendari Mercenaries are broke, tired and overdue to get paid and get some downtime for rest and repair. Also, Miles is in love, again, this time with Eli Quinn. It's a little more requited than his love for Elena Bothari, but not entirely successful, she loves Admiral Naismith but can't stand Miles Vorkosigan. Since they're kind of a package deal, the problems are obvious.
Just enough action scenes to keep it interesting, Bujod's usual light humor, a twist of romance, and plenty of intrigue spice this entry to the Vorkosigan series to a nearly perfect flavor.
Just enough action scenes to keep it interesting, Bujod's usual light humor, a twist of romance, and plenty of intrigue spice this entry to the Vorkosigan series to a nearly perfect flavor.