Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
Yeah, well, y'know, I was going to take a few months off before reading the next installment in Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga.
Just like I was only going to eat one Dorito.
As I wrote in my review of the series's preceding volume, "The Warrior's Apprentice," I'm 100% in the bag for Bujold as a writer. I find her prose style amusing, her characters interesting, and her plots great fun.
The Hugo Award-winning 'The Vor Game' is no exception. In it, young Miles Vorkosigan has graduated from his government's service academy and is all set to join the fleet as an ensign. All he has to do first is suck up a 6-month tour as the meteorologist at an Arctic training outpost without making any trouble, just to show that he can function as an obedient junior officer.
Um, Miles Vorkosigan is not good at not making trouble. Neither is he good at functioning as an obedient junior officer.
And so, we're off on another adventure that finds Miles getting into progressively more trouble as he tries only to survive through a combination of brains, audacity, and a finely tuned moral compass. Seeing as how there are many more volumes in this series, it's no spoiler to say that he succeeds. The joy in the story comes from reading how he succeeds, shaking one's head (along with the author's, it seems) when he gets out of some impossible bind through the implementation of some cockamamie scheme, and generally enjoying the ride as his seniors complain, "What has that kid gotten himself into this time?"
If I have one quibble, and it's totally a fan service quibble, it's that the book takes pains to establish that one of the supporting characters on "team good" idolizes another, very senior, supporting character who is one or two steps removed from the action. Near the end of the novel, when Bujold is putting a ribbon on things, she contrives for the latter to invite the former to lunch. I think that was supposed to be the junior character's narrative payoff for being on "team good," but I was left with a sense of incompletion: I wanted to see Miles commend the junior character to the senior, recognizing the former for his good service. I wanted a line or two about the junior character hitting it off with, or at least being praised by, the senior. Basically, I wanted more closure for that storyline than Bujold chose to give us, and I found myself writing my own headcanon to provide it.
As I said, however, that's fan service stuff. While this novel is billed as "Vorkosigan Saga #6," it can function perfectly well as a stand-alone volume for anyone whose interest in it is piqued by my enthusiasm. I encourage you to give it a go.
Note on the Audiobook edition: Grover Gardner, a narrator with 633 titles in his Audible bibliography, is a real pro. His diction is sufficiently clear to allow the trained ear to listen at 2.75x speed, and he brings a certain archness to his performance that fits quite well with Bujold's authorial voice. His work is certainly one of the reasons I'm enjoying this series so much.
Just like I was only going to eat one Dorito.
As I wrote in my review of the series's preceding volume, "The Warrior's Apprentice," I'm 100% in the bag for Bujold as a writer. I find her prose style amusing, her characters interesting, and her plots great fun.
The Hugo Award-winning 'The Vor Game' is no exception. In it, young Miles Vorkosigan has graduated from his government's service academy and is all set to join the fleet as an ensign. All he has to do first is suck up a 6-month tour as the meteorologist at an Arctic training outpost without making any trouble, just to show that he can function as an obedient junior officer.
Um, Miles Vorkosigan is not good at not making trouble. Neither is he good at functioning as an obedient junior officer.
And so, we're off on another adventure that finds Miles getting into progressively more trouble as he tries only to survive through a combination of brains, audacity, and a finely tuned moral compass. Seeing as how there are many more volumes in this series, it's no spoiler to say that he succeeds. The joy in the story comes from reading how he succeeds, shaking one's head (along with the author's, it seems) when he gets out of some impossible bind through the implementation of some cockamamie scheme, and generally enjoying the ride as his seniors complain, "What has that kid gotten himself into this time?"
If I have one quibble, and it's totally a fan service quibble, it's that the book takes pains to establish that one of the supporting characters on "team good" idolizes another, very senior, supporting character who is one or two steps removed from the action. Near the end of the novel, when Bujold is putting a ribbon on things, she contrives for the latter to invite the former to lunch. I think that was supposed to be the junior character's narrative payoff for being on "team good," but I was left with a sense of incompletion: I wanted to see Miles commend the junior character to the senior, recognizing the former for his good service. I wanted a line or two about the junior character hitting it off with, or at least being praised by, the senior. Basically, I wanted more closure for that storyline than Bujold chose to give us, and I found myself writing my own headcanon to provide it.
As I said, however, that's fan service stuff. While this novel is billed as "Vorkosigan Saga #6," it can function perfectly well as a stand-alone volume for anyone whose interest in it is piqued by my enthusiasm. I encourage you to give it a go.
Note on the Audiobook edition: Grover Gardner, a narrator with 633 titles in his Audible bibliography, is a real pro. His diction is sufficiently clear to allow the trained ear to listen at 2.75x speed, and he brings a certain archness to his performance that fits quite well with Bujold's authorial voice. His work is certainly one of the reasons I'm enjoying this series so much.
The pacing on this book is much slower than the past few. Liked it! Miles is growing up. Looking forward to reading the next.
adventurous
funny
medium-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
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
when you have to accidentally on purpose rescue your emperor from indentured servitude #awkward
- Essentially a retelling of The Warrior's Apprentice but bigger, better, and more fun
- Considering the protagonist's disabilities I was left wishing that the book had a little more to Say
- We'd be lucky if all adventure fiction were this good
- Considering the protagonist's disabilities I was left wishing that the book had a little more to Say
- We'd be lucky if all adventure fiction were this good
Great continuation of the Vorkosigan Saga. The characters are superb, the plot is ludicrous but fun.
Miles takes to the skies once more in The Vor Game, but does it live up to The Warrior's Apprentice? Much of the cast is the same, and so is the theme of Miles sinking himself deeper and deeper in trouble only to pull himself out of the muck just in time.
So if you like The Warrior's Apprentice, you ought to like this one. Except The Vor Game has a lot of plot contrivance. Too much to overlook. Gregor's presence in the story strained credulity. I also found Miles's choices more questionable. He felt less competent in this novel, seemingly causing more problems than he solved until he just happened to stumble onto a big plot that made his earlier bumbling all worth it in the end.
But this is still the same competent writing and the same solid characters, even if the plot is shakier this time around. Worth a read for sure, but not Bujold's best work.
So if you like The Warrior's Apprentice, you ought to like this one. Except The Vor Game has a lot of plot contrivance. Too much to overlook. Gregor's presence in the story strained credulity. I also found Miles's choices more questionable. He felt less competent in this novel, seemingly causing more problems than he solved until he just happened to stumble onto a big plot that made his earlier bumbling all worth it in the end.
But this is still the same competent writing and the same solid characters, even if the plot is shakier this time around. Worth a read for sure, but not Bujold's best work.
Miles is a weatherman, reprises his role as Admiral Naismith, sends most of his commanding officers to the brig, and has adventures with Gregor.
adventurous
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