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laurastephen's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
jendilemma's review
4.0
The main problem with these books is the gender/sexuality mess — not really surprising considering this came out in the 80s, but still disappointing. The political/tactical sci-fi side is pretty flawless.
sophisticotton's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
katieinca's review
3.0
Absurd in delightful ways, with occasional deadly seriousness. Galloped through it, and will gallop through more.
kzimm2024's review
5.0
The saying "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" totally applies to this story. Or maybe this whole series starting with Cordelia. What makes this a refreshing series is that these characters are so smart that somehow all their good intentions bear fruit! And what tasty fruit. I laughed and cried my way through these truly satisfying stories. And I am only 3 books in!
I now love Miles, he is a total handful full of life and I can totally see why Elena said she is a bucket of water compared to his ocean. He is an unstoppable force of nature and I love it. It was hard to come to terms that he was only 17 in this story, as was Elena, so they seemed much older than that.
Miles tries to become an Officer but fails training by BREAKING his LEGS. His bones are so brittle and he has ongoing health issues due to the attack on his mother while he was in utero. Its hard to picture him as he truly looks due to the deformity because he is so capable.
This is a long book jam packed with action, so its a little hard to convey the depth and magnitude of this amazing story. After failing to become an Officer, it is decided that Miles would go visit Betan and his grandmother and that is where the story really starts popping.
He is accompanied by Bothari and Elena and before you know it he has gathered a drunken pilot, the pilots ship that was headed to the junk yard, the debt for the ship and a AWOL soldier from the last war. He needs to make some money since he is leveraged to the hilt and takes on a risky delivery to a war zone.
As he is sealing the deal:
---Daum nodded slowly, “I see. And by what rank should I address you?” Miles nearly appointed himself admiral on the spot. Captain? Yeoman? he wondered wildly. “Let’s just leave it at Mr. Naismith, for now,” he suggested coolly.---
And Bothari, truly a man of patience:
---"Bothari maintained an admirable stillness, against the wall, but Miles could feel his eyes boring through his shoulder blades with his sharpest what-the-hell-are-you-doing-now look. Miles did not turn."---
And as they take over an enemy warship, his BS truly shines in his advice to Elena:
---“I’ve never taught anybody before . . . she said.”
He smiled up at her, willing confidence into her face, her eyes, her spine. “Look, you can probably kill the first two days just having them demonstrate what they know on each other, while you stand around and say “Um,” and “Hm,” and “God help us,” and things like that."---
He is a master motivator, lol, saying this repeatedly to people:
---It’s only for a week. If I can do it,” he said manfully, “you can do it.”
“I’ve heard that before somewhere,” she muttered."---
It was so clever, the angle of sabotaging the space suits, so funny:
---He pinpointed the reservoir from the man’s pilot relief tube, already half-full.
“Must be a nervous sort of fellow—” He set it to backwash (URINE) at full power, and checked the audio transmitter. Savage swearing filled the air briefly, overridden by a snarl calling for radio silence. “Now, there is one distracted soldier."
Sigh, and his love for Elena tragically derailed by Baz:
---"Elena was observing him anxiously. “What’s the matter, Miles? You don’t look happy. We won!” A true Vor, Miles told himself severely, does not bury his face in his liegewoman’s breasts and cry—even if he is at a convenient height for it."
And how he convinces the enemies to join his "Dendarii Mercenaries" is just as priceless as their reactions about what their pay will be, their benefits, paid vacations! LOL, he ended up with employees and had to put together an handbook for them!
---"He was getting mortally tired of having to reinvent the wheel every fifteen minutes."
And the pain of losing Bothari, what a twist I did not see coming. The story was so well told that I did not mind shedding tears for the pain and life that was Bothari. What a loss to the story, what a great character. I still want to cry for him, how he was able to salvage some virtue in a life of vice and pain. Gentlemanly to the end for his lady love, as twisted as it was.
When Miles discovers the plot against him, with Ivan the Idiots help :), he hot foots it home with a story so wild it is astonishing, especially to his father. He is so proud of Miles:
---"I wanted—I wanted to serve something. To”—he raised his eyes to his father’s, driven to a painful honesty—“to make my life an offering fit to lay at his feet.” He shrugged. “Screwed up again.”
“Clay, boy.” Count Vorkosigan’s voice was hoarse but clear. “Only clay. Not fit to receive so golden a sacrifice.” His voice cracked."---
Oh my heart.
And the tribute to Bothari, I am tearing up again just reading it...
---“You shall lie warm here, watching the long lake change its faces, winter to spring, summer to fall. No armies march here, and even the deepest midnights aren’t wholly dark. Surely God won’t overlook you, in such a spot as this. There will be grace and forgiveness enough, old dog, even for you.” He lit the offering. “I pray you will spare me a drink from that cup, when it overflows to you."
Oh man- Lois, you are amazing and I am honored to read these stories. Can't wait to continue.
I now love Miles, he is a total handful full of life and I can totally see why Elena said she is a bucket of water compared to his ocean. He is an unstoppable force of nature and I love it. It was hard to come to terms that he was only 17 in this story, as was Elena, so they seemed much older than that.
Miles tries to become an Officer but fails training by BREAKING his LEGS. His bones are so brittle and he has ongoing health issues due to the attack on his mother while he was in utero. Its hard to picture him as he truly looks due to the deformity because he is so capable.
This is a long book jam packed with action, so its a little hard to convey the depth and magnitude of this amazing story. After failing to become an Officer, it is decided that Miles would go visit Betan and his grandmother and that is where the story really starts popping.
He is accompanied by Bothari and Elena and before you know it he has gathered a drunken pilot, the pilots ship that was headed to the junk yard, the debt for the ship and a AWOL soldier from the last war. He needs to make some money since he is leveraged to the hilt and takes on a risky delivery to a war zone.
As he is sealing the deal:
---Daum nodded slowly, “I see. And by what rank should I address you?” Miles nearly appointed himself admiral on the spot. Captain? Yeoman? he wondered wildly. “Let’s just leave it at Mr. Naismith, for now,” he suggested coolly.---
And Bothari, truly a man of patience:
---"Bothari maintained an admirable stillness, against the wall, but Miles could feel his eyes boring through his shoulder blades with his sharpest what-the-hell-are-you-doing-now look. Miles did not turn."---
And as they take over an enemy warship, his BS truly shines in his advice to Elena:
---“I’ve never taught anybody before . . . she said.”
He smiled up at her, willing confidence into her face, her eyes, her spine. “Look, you can probably kill the first two days just having them demonstrate what they know on each other, while you stand around and say “Um,” and “Hm,” and “God help us,” and things like that."---
He is a master motivator, lol, saying this repeatedly to people:
---It’s only for a week. If I can do it,” he said manfully, “you can do it.”
“I’ve heard that before somewhere,” she muttered."---
It was so clever, the angle of sabotaging the space suits, so funny:
---He pinpointed the reservoir from the man’s pilot relief tube, already half-full.
“Must be a nervous sort of fellow—” He set it to backwash (URINE) at full power, and checked the audio transmitter. Savage swearing filled the air briefly, overridden by a snarl calling for radio silence. “Now, there is one distracted soldier."
Sigh, and his love for Elena tragically derailed by Baz:
---"Elena was observing him anxiously. “What’s the matter, Miles? You don’t look happy. We won!” A true Vor, Miles told himself severely, does not bury his face in his liegewoman’s breasts and cry—even if he is at a convenient height for it."
And how he convinces the enemies to join his "Dendarii Mercenaries" is just as priceless as their reactions about what their pay will be, their benefits, paid vacations! LOL, he ended up with employees and had to put together an handbook for them!
---"He was getting mortally tired of having to reinvent the wheel every fifteen minutes."
And the pain of losing Bothari, what a twist I did not see coming. The story was so well told that I did not mind shedding tears for the pain and life that was Bothari. What a loss to the story, what a great character. I still want to cry for him, how he was able to salvage some virtue in a life of vice and pain. Gentlemanly to the end for his lady love, as twisted as it was.
When Miles discovers the plot against him, with Ivan the Idiots help :), he hot foots it home with a story so wild it is astonishing, especially to his father. He is so proud of Miles:
---"I wanted—I wanted to serve something. To”—he raised his eyes to his father’s, driven to a painful honesty—“to make my life an offering fit to lay at his feet.” He shrugged. “Screwed up again.”
“Clay, boy.” Count Vorkosigan’s voice was hoarse but clear. “Only clay. Not fit to receive so golden a sacrifice.” His voice cracked."---
Oh my heart.
And the tribute to Bothari, I am tearing up again just reading it...
---“You shall lie warm here, watching the long lake change its faces, winter to spring, summer to fall. No armies march here, and even the deepest midnights aren’t wholly dark. Surely God won’t overlook you, in such a spot as this. There will be grace and forgiveness enough, old dog, even for you.” He lit the offering. “I pray you will spare me a drink from that cup, when it overflows to you."
Oh man- Lois, you are amazing and I am honored to read these stories. Can't wait to continue.
seriuzbiznus's review
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
waheela's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Just as good as I remember. And did laugh out loud a lot.
Still cried at at certain point.
Definitely one of my favorite series.
Still cried at at certain point.
Definitely one of my favorite series.
badseedgirl's review against another edition
4.0
Smitten. That is the best word to describe my feelings towards Lois McMaster Bujold’s first book in her series “The Vorkosigan Saga.” I have a little bit of a crush on her main character, Miles Naismith Vorkosigan.
I’m calling this one the first book in the series, but I’m not sure if it is or not. According to what I consider to one of the ultimate sources of genre fiction on the web, isfdb.org, This is the first book in the “Miles Vorkosigan series”. And that works for me.
Miles is one of the best characters I have read in a long time, and this book balances just the right amount of rip-roaring space adventuring, and serious political strife. Add in a splash of dark humor and a smidge of romance and Ms. McMaster Bujold has produced a seriously good series.
I’m calling this one the first book in the series, but I’m not sure if it is or not. According to what I consider to one of the ultimate sources of genre fiction on the web, isfdb.org, This is the first book in the “Miles Vorkosigan series”. And that works for me.
Miles is one of the best characters I have read in a long time, and this book balances just the right amount of rip-roaring space adventuring, and serious political strife. Add in a splash of dark humor and a smidge of romance and Ms. McMaster Bujold has produced a seriously good series.
gin19's review
5.0
I love a good brains over braun story and this one certainly fit the bill. Fast paced and full of politics and action. A very fun ride!