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thecanary's review
2.0
An incredibly and unexpectedly pastel read. The beginning had me giddy with the potential as romantic hints, mysterious genetics, and potential conflicts flirted with the narrative. I told my friend, "I love this about Bujold. I can never predict where she's going to go!"
It's kinda true. I didn't predict that the story wouldn't go anywhere. It circled around Cordelia and Jole as they built (rediscovered, recovered, reinterpreted) their old relationship, thought about family and children, struggled over whether to disclose it to the public, and hung out.
Each time a possible subplot reared its head, I got excited (a concrete company cheating Cordelia, the municipal government resisting the move of the capital, a possible Cetan spy, storm on the horizon, wilderness dangers while visiting a grave) and each time, they would be gently, casually dismissed by the book.
The relationship issues themselves were resolved with a magical epiphany - or several. A boat ride, a life-death experience, and voila, the character who's on the fence suddenly knows what he has to do. Family trumps career, peace trumps action, love trumps duty.
I found myself stretching for meaning throughout - maybe this is the launch story for a new cast of characters. Joel's grown children, never knowing who their relations are, go off to have adventures and then discover their links to the empire...a far fetched rationalization for the story that was debunked by the end of the book.
This is a soft, pastel-shade, epilogue-style story about a character (and characters) whose arcs have run their course. It feels like the Superman dilemma. When a character is so truly and fully leveled up, what true challenge could you throw at them? With Superman's powers, it's only the emotional dilemmas that an make an impact, and there's only so much of "Let's save Lois Lane" that you can do before it too becomes monotonous.
Similar here. What sort of enemy could you throw at Cordelia that couldn't be solved by her competence (and the fact that she can call on any resources in Gregor's empire, Mark's science conglomerate, and Mile and his clever mercenary detective contacts)? And any emotional or moral lapses would be incongruous for a character whose emotional compass has never wavered in more than fifty years.
Crafting a story for Cordelia would have been a real challenge and that challenge was what excited me about this book. I wanted to see it met.
My favorite bits of the story were the couple truly surprising bits - the revelation of Jole's and Cordelia's past relationship (though the subsequent way it was handled and its unevenness felt like a cop out), and the revelations about the truth behind the Cetegandan invasion and subsequent retreat.
All in all, it's very much a book for the fans.
It's kinda true. I didn't predict that the story wouldn't go anywhere. It circled around Cordelia and Jole as they built (rediscovered, recovered, reinterpreted) their old relationship, thought about family and children, struggled over whether to disclose it to the public, and hung out.
Each time a possible subplot reared its head, I got excited (a concrete company cheating Cordelia, the municipal government resisting the move of the capital, a possible Cetan spy, storm on the horizon, wilderness dangers while visiting a grave) and each time, they would be gently, casually dismissed by the book
Spoiler
(Mark helps out by sending his own concrete company, the governor never reappears again, the Cetagandan was just a guy wanting to do an art show, the storm passed, the wildlife stayed in the background.)The relationship issues themselves were resolved with a magical epiphany - or several. A boat ride, a life-death experience, and voila, the character who's on the fence suddenly knows what he has to do. Family trumps career, peace trumps action, love trumps duty.
I found myself stretching for meaning throughout - maybe this is the launch story for a new cast of characters. Joel's grown children, never knowing who their relations are, go off to have adventures and then discover their links to the empire...a far fetched rationalization for the story that was debunked by the end of the book.
This is a soft, pastel-shade, epilogue-style story about a character (and characters) whose arcs have run their course. It feels like the Superman dilemma. When a character is so truly and fully leveled up, what true challenge could you throw at them? With Superman's powers, it's only the emotional dilemmas that an make an impact, and there's only so much of "Let's save Lois Lane" that you can do before it too becomes monotonous.
Similar here. What sort of enemy could you throw at Cordelia that couldn't be solved by her competence (and the fact that she can call on any resources in Gregor's empire, Mark's science conglomerate, and Mile and his clever mercenary detective contacts)? And any emotional or moral lapses would be incongruous for a character whose emotional compass has never wavered in more than fifty years.
Crafting a story for Cordelia would have been a real challenge and that challenge was what excited me about this book. I wanted to see it met.
My favorite bits of the story were the couple truly surprising bits - the revelation of Jole's and Cordelia's past relationship (though the subsequent way it was handled and its unevenness felt like a cop out), and the revelations about the truth behind the Cetegandan invasion and subsequent retreat.
All in all, it's very much a book for the fans.
mlejoy's review
2.0
It kills me to say anything bad a Vorkosigan book (it is one of my very favorite series of all time), but this one was BORING. In glancing at reviews before I read the book, I saw a lot of other people saying the same thing and I thought, "Well they must just mean there isn't a lot of space fighting action", but it wasn't that. Literally, nothing happens in this book except a bombshell in the first chapter.
Basically, this book should have been a novella - a sweet story to let us know that Cordelia ended up OK. Instead we get a book with a surprising first chapter, and then a meandering story, that you THINK is going to lead to something important (like the concrete mixup or the Cetagandan attache) but never does. Some of my favorite Vorkosigan books are the ones that are heavily about the characters - like Memory and Civil Campaign - but they had a great story line going with them. I really wanted to love this one, but I just can't.
Speaking of that bombshell first chapter - I don't mind the idea of it, but it doesn't fit at all with anything we know of the series and in fact it cheapens everything that came before it. It's a complete retcon of two major characters and it feels like it's just there to be controversial.
Another problem I have with the book is that 25% of it was just an info-dump about what happened in previous books. Every time anything to do with previous history came up, there would be a multi-paragraph explanation rehashing old events. For example when a Cetegandan ghem lord is introduced there will be a long explanation of the what that is and then someone would mention Aral and there would be a retelling about something he did in the Cetegandan war. Whenever Mark was mention he was always called "clone-brother Mark" - which is in direct opposition to events of the previous book where the struggle was to get people to stop calling him a clone and just identify him as "Mark". Anyway, all the backtracking and history telling started to get annoying. I'm sure it was done because Bujold or the publishers want this to be a book a first time reader can start with - but it really is not the book to start on. A first time reader is just going to be totally overwhelmed with the history dumping in this book and without the context of 15 previous books it will be meaningless.
One last thing -
Basically, this book should have been a novella - a sweet story to let us know that Cordelia ended up OK. Instead we get a book with a surprising first chapter, and then a meandering story, that you THINK is going to lead to something important (like the concrete mixup or the Cetagandan attache) but never does. Some of my favorite Vorkosigan books are the ones that are heavily about the characters - like Memory and Civil Campaign - but they had a great story line going with them. I really wanted to love this one, but I just can't.
Speaking of that bombshell first chapter - I don't mind the idea of it, but it doesn't fit at all with anything we know of the series and in fact it cheapens everything that came before it. It's a complete retcon of two major characters and it feels like it's just there to be controversial.
Spoiler
Aral had enough things to worry about in his life to add to it by having an affair with someone who was directly under his command. Not only would he not have allowed that from his other senior officers, neither would Illyan or Gregor have allowed it. Security was always a major theme of the series - no way he's risk his family by something so unacceptable by Barrayaran social and military standards. The beauty of the Aral/Cordelia relationship was that they both found each other and been through so much, and she was his everything. He isn't going to cheat on her behind her back. Even allowing for Cordelia's "Betan" mindset it still doesn't fit for me. Also -the book establishes early on that Jole only likes men, then all of a sudden he decides he likes women - people don't change their sexual preferences like flipping a light switch.Another problem I have with the book is that 25% of it was just an info-dump about what happened in previous books. Every time anything to do with previous history came up, there would be a multi-paragraph explanation rehashing old events. For example when a Cetegandan ghem lord is introduced there will be a long explanation of the what that is and then someone would mention Aral and there would be a retelling about something he did in the Cetegandan war. Whenever Mark was mention he was always called "clone-brother Mark" - which is in direct opposition to events of the previous book where the struggle was to get people to stop calling him a clone and just identify him as "Mark". Anyway, all the backtracking and history telling started to get annoying. I'm sure it was done because Bujold or the publishers want this to be a book a first time reader can start with - but it really is not the book to start on. A first time reader is just going to be totally overwhelmed with the history dumping in this book and without the context of 15 previous books it will be meaningless.
One last thing -
Spoiler
I'm also not buying that Cordelia wanted to have six more children at her age. I would accept she wanted to have a few, but six is just ridiculous IMOejimenez's review
3.0
This is by far the most domestic book in the Vorkosigan series.
[take the spoiler cut seriously - I spoil basically every aspect of the book below]
And I'm glad the the book gives us snippets of it, but it made me sad that by the nature of the story, they had to be retrospective snippets - a picture of a relationship that is only a memory. We learn about the past triad only in the context of the growing new relationship. And I'm not mad at the Cordelia/Jole romance at all, but it's weird to have a past queer triad subsumed into a more-or-less conventional straight two-person relationship.
I also say fanservice because the book gives us many little moments of reflection back on past Vorkosigan adventures that don't exactly serve the present story, but that do offer a certain fannish pleasure, and many opportunities to see various significant characters show up in a 'where are they now and how will they react to this relationship' sort of way.
The tiny bits of plot that aren't directly related to the romance are paper-thin. Small governmental conflicts, easily and quickly resolved around the edges of the story, and a minor crisis at the end of the book that could have easily been cut without significantly impacting the plot as a whole.
So is this a good book, set on its own? Not really. Is it a decent picture of a late-in-life relationship? Sure. (Although I am considerably less compelled by reproduction plots than Bujold is, and a bit leery of the wisdom of starting to have babies for the first time or again at the age of 50. just because the technology says yes doesn't mean it's wise. YMMV.)
Is it a fun read for Vorkosigan fans? It depends on what you're looking for. If you're mainly in it for the grand capers or action-packed military and political arcs that have characterized most of the Vorkosigan books, then no, you won't find much of that here, except in reminiscence. If you want to reconnect with these characters and see where their lives (especially their personal lives) are going and what they have been up to behind closed doors throughout the series, then go for it.
[take the spoiler cut seriously - I spoil basically every aspect of the book below]
Spoiler
And by that I mean that the only real plot it has is a romance/relationship plot. There's very little actual tension in this book - it feels a lot like fan (or author) service. And I say that as exactly the demographic of fan that it's serving! I love the idea of the Cordelia/Aral/Jole relationship.And I'm glad the the book gives us snippets of it, but it made me sad that by the nature of the story, they had to be retrospective snippets - a picture of a relationship that is only a memory. We learn about the past triad only in the context of the growing new relationship. And I'm not mad at the Cordelia/Jole romance at all, but it's weird to have a past queer triad subsumed into a more-or-less conventional straight two-person relationship.
I also say fanservice because the book gives us many little moments of reflection back on past Vorkosigan adventures that don't exactly serve the present story, but that do offer a certain fannish pleasure, and many opportunities to see various significant characters show up in a 'where are they now and how will they react to this relationship' sort of way.
The tiny bits of plot that aren't directly related to the romance are paper-thin. Small governmental conflicts, easily and quickly resolved around the edges of the story, and a minor crisis at the end of the book that could have easily been cut without significantly impacting the plot as a whole.
So is this a good book, set on its own? Not really. Is it a decent picture of a late-in-life relationship? Sure. (Although I am considerably less compelled by reproduction plots than Bujold is, and a bit leery of the wisdom of starting to have babies for the first time or again at the age of 50. just because the technology says yes doesn't mean it's wise. YMMV.)
Is it a fun read for Vorkosigan fans? It depends on what you're looking for. If you're mainly in it for the grand capers or action-packed military and political arcs that have characterized most of the Vorkosigan books, then no, you won't find much of that here, except in reminiscence. If you want to reconnect with these characters and see where their lives (especially their personal lives) are going and what they have been up to behind closed doors throughout the series, then go for it.
krayfish1's review against another edition
4.0
A bit of a retrospective on the previous books in the series from Cordelia's point of view. Oliver Jole is a good character. Also a snapshot of Sergyaran life/politics/colony challenges. Couple of nice subplots about the younger characters getting mentored.
lauralauralaura's review against another edition
4.0
I read this series for pure goddamn pleasure and it delivers every time. I am not sure what the opposite of space opera is, but this is that.
veethorn's review
4.0
I don't think this book was absolutely necessary, but it was extremely comforting and sweet and Cordelia is the best and deserves this.
anna_hepworth's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
For those who already love the Vorkosigan series, particularly the later ones which focus more on relationships and people rather than politics and war, then this is probably worth your while. I wouldn't recommend it to people who are not familiar with the series, because it relies a lot on already knowing the characters, setting (physical), and context (political).
It focuses on Cordelia, who I remember quite clearly from previous books, and Oliver Jole, who I have no memory of at all -- I have a feeling that they were a background character where they were seen at all. It does a really good job of following them as they start to recover from the grief of Aral's passing (in one of the previous books, although I've forgotten which one) and start planning for the future.
I'm a little amused at the plans that Cordelia chooses, although the relatively long lifespan they anticipate puts them at a different life stage than I attribute to at 70. Bujold does a really good job of making Cordelia's motivations understandable, and comprehensible even while I boggled at them.
And as a personal bit of entertainment -- reading the story of the organisation of Jole's 50th birthday bash, and the way that it pans out, in the week in which my own 50th happened (sans birthday bash, because covid is just starting to ramp up in my home state in a way that the rest of the world has been living with for rather a long time) made parts of this story, and the decisions that Jole is making, very surreal.
This book is a much better romance than previous of the Vorkosigan saga. I think this might be one of the few romances in the series so far that I found truly believable.
It focuses on Cordelia, who I remember quite clearly from previous books, and Oliver Jole, who I have no memory of at all -- I have a feeling that they were a background character where they were seen at all. It does a really good job of following them as they start to recover from the grief of Aral's passing (in one of the previous books, although I've forgotten which one) and start planning for the future.
I'm a little amused at the plans that Cordelia chooses, although the relatively long lifespan they anticipate puts them at a different life stage than I attribute to at 70. Bujold does a really good job of making Cordelia's motivations understandable, and comprehensible even while I boggled at them.
And as a personal bit of entertainment -- reading the story of the organisation of Jole's 50th birthday bash, and the way that it pans out, in the week in which my own 50th happened (sans birthday bash, because covid is just starting to ramp up in my home state in a way that the rest of the world has been living with for rather a long time) made parts of this story, and the decisions that Jole is making, very surreal.
This book is a much better romance than previous of the Vorkosigan saga. I think this might be one of the few romances in the series so far that I found truly believable.
tophthesapper's review
5.0
I know this book is polarizing, but I fall very firmly into the camp that absolutely loved it. A beautiful story of love blooming into friendship, older romance, loss, and moving on after significant chapters in your life come to an end. Cordelia’s character is a pleasure to read and discover, as always.
Side note: I’m puzzled by fans’ insistence that Aral cheated on Cordelia, because it read more like they had a conversation off-page about opening the relationship, not that it never occurred. It also did not seem out of character, as the previous books have mostly focused on Miles, who is rarely home and even when he is home, would theoretically pay about as much attention to his aging parents’ romantic lives as…well, as any son would, which is not much. The revelation of their polyamory imo did not clash with any previously established character traits; they were monogamous, they were not, and they kept their private lives very private in a judgmental Vor society. I’m familiar with ethical non-monogamy though, so that’s where my bias comes through; being poly doesn’t mean you suddenly are a dramatically different person from who society (or readers) perceives you as. Who you are in the bedroom is a private and personal choice, and simply because Aral and Cordelia’s romantic choices are only now divulged to the reader, does not mean their characters were retconned into other people.
I also don’t understand the low reviews given by those who claim there’s barely any Miles in this — hello? The title alone should clue you in that the story is about The Red Queen (so, not Miles) and Gentleman Jole (also….not Miles)
Side note: I’m puzzled by fans’ insistence that Aral cheated on Cordelia, because it read more like they had a conversation off-page about opening the relationship, not that it never occurred. It also did not seem out of character, as the previous books have mostly focused on Miles, who is rarely home and even when he is home, would theoretically pay about as much attention to his aging parents’ romantic lives as…well, as any son would, which is not much. The revelation of their polyamory imo did not clash with any previously established character traits; they were monogamous, they were not, and they kept their private lives very private in a judgmental Vor society. I’m familiar with ethical non-monogamy though, so that’s where my bias comes through; being poly doesn’t mean you suddenly are a dramatically different person from who society (or readers) perceives you as. Who you are in the bedroom is a private and personal choice, and simply because Aral and Cordelia’s romantic choices are only now divulged to the reader, does not mean their characters were retconned into other people.
I also don’t understand the low reviews given by those who claim there’s barely any Miles in this — hello? The title alone should clue you in that the story is about The Red Queen (so, not Miles) and Gentleman Jole (also….not Miles)
rigawiz's review
3.0
This is not a Miles book. This is a Cordelia book. The Vorkosigan series seems to have morphed from space adventure to futuristic familial soap operas with familiar characters.
bowienerd_82's review
3.0
I went ahead and purchased the ARC e-book because I was so excited to get a new Cordelia book. And while this book did deliver lots of Cordelia (including her inner monologue when it came to Miles, which was priceless), I kept waiting for the book to deliver some sort of plot. This one reminded me a bit of [b:A Civil Campaign|61899|A Civil Campaign (Vorkosigan Saga, #12)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924032s/61899.jpg|1093445] in terms of being more about characters and interpersonal relationships, but it had even less going on.
I was still glad to have more details about Sergyar, and more about what Cordelia has been up to, but this wasn't the book I was expecting or hoping for.
I was still glad to have more details about Sergyar, and more about what Cordelia has been up to, but this wasn't the book I was expecting or hoping for.