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colossal's review
5.0
Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan is at a turning point in her life. It's been three years since the death of her husband and she's ready to make some changes. One of those changes may well be with her relationship with the Admiral of the Sergyar Fleet, Oliver Jole and centering around a strange offer she makes him.
This is [b:A Civil Campaign|61899|A Civil Campaign (Vorkosigan Saga, #12)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924032s/61899.jpg|1093445] without the comedy and most of romantic fumbling. This is a tale of older, more sensible people with a shared grief and potential for the future. We often get the perspective in SF of someone either just starting out, or quietly confident in their established abilities. It's not often we see someone retiring to take up another occupation, or following someone pondering the latter stages of their career. It works really well, particularly as an umpteenth volume in a long series.
It's still chock full of lovable and relatable characters, as we've come to expect from Bujold as well as her characteristic humor. She's always had a lot of fun playing the sexually-liberated Betan Cordelia against the traditional feudal conservative Barrayaran culture and there's plenty of that here. There's a particularly good quote that I put in my updates on the book regarding explaining the meaning of dating to her son Miles.
If this is the last time we see the Vorkosigans, I think it ends on a solid note, nostalgic in places but looking towards the future.
This is [b:A Civil Campaign|61899|A Civil Campaign (Vorkosigan Saga, #12)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386924032s/61899.jpg|1093445] without the comedy and most of romantic fumbling. This is a tale of older, more sensible people with a shared grief and potential for the future. We often get the perspective in SF of someone either just starting out, or quietly confident in their established abilities. It's not often we see someone retiring to take up another occupation, or following someone pondering the latter stages of their career. It works really well, particularly as an umpteenth volume in a long series.
It's still chock full of lovable and relatable characters, as we've come to expect from Bujold as well as her characteristic humor. She's always had a lot of fun playing the sexually-liberated Betan Cordelia against the traditional feudal conservative Barrayaran culture and there's plenty of that here. There's a particularly good quote that I put in my updates on the book regarding explaining the meaning of dating to her son Miles.
If this is the last time we see the Vorkosigans, I think it ends on a solid note, nostalgic in places but looking towards the future.
fantasticraccoon's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
prgchrqltma's review
4.0
This one is very internal, and looks over a lot of the past with newly revealed information that changes the characters' (and readers') perception of what happened. I think the revelations aren't so much surprises as confirmations.
jmeston's review
4.0
Satisfying visit to Cordelia Vorkosigan's planet. An excellent read for a person about to turn 52. The military/ scientific exploration outlook is retro. I am fond of it. But I also bridle at the assumption that humans should carve up the landscape and slaughter the inconvenient fauna of a new world. (Manifest destiny indeed.) I loved the deus ex machina resolution of the concrete swindlers dilemma.
archergal's review
3.0
Full disclosure: I've read all the Miles Vorkosigan books, but not recently, and most of them only once. So I didn't have the depth of background that maybe more hard-core fans of the series might have. I honestly didn't remember a lot of the detail that was brought up in the story from the past.
As other reviewers have said, this is pretty much a book about starting over, in lots of different ways. It's about older folks falling in love and having sex. (I really appreciate love stories that involve older folks, because even old folks like me like to have role models in fiction.) It's not a book with big happenings like battles or planet-wide conflicts. It's about taking new paths at whatever point in life you're at, without forgetting or dismissing anything that went before. It's about family in whatever shape family takes for you, or how you make your family.
I'm not a romance reader, but I did enjoy Cordelia and Jole discovering their love for each other. It's a kissing book, but one even an old unromantic soul like mine can enjoy. It's also a little uninvolving toward the last part, largely because of the absence of any real conflict going on. But it's an easy, pleasant read, and I liked it well enough.
As other reviewers have said, this is pretty much a book about starting over, in lots of different ways. It's about older folks falling in love and having sex. (I really appreciate love stories that involve older folks, because even old folks like me like to have role models in fiction.) It's not a book with big happenings like battles or planet-wide conflicts. It's about taking new paths at whatever point in life you're at, without forgetting or dismissing anything that went before. It's about family in whatever shape family takes for you, or how you make your family.
I'm not a romance reader, but I did enjoy Cordelia and Jole discovering their love for each other. It's a kissing book, but one even an old unromantic soul like mine can enjoy. It's also a little uninvolving toward the last part, largely because of the absence of any real conflict going on. But it's an easy, pleasant read, and I liked it well enough.
naomiysl's review
4.0
Mind. Blown. I don't think it's too much of a spoiler to say that this will make you want to reread all the other books to see if you can spot the things mentioned in this one.
As a stand-alone it would really only be a 3 star novel, but as the cap to a saga that manages to bring new pieces to the universe and make it all fit beautifully, it's solidly a 4 star.
As a stand-alone it would really only be a 3 star novel, but as the cap to a saga that manages to bring new pieces to the universe and make it all fit beautifully, it's solidly a 4 star.
tomislav_d's review
4.0
Just the right combination of chaos, comedy and feels as usual. Not a typical entry for the saga, but still awesome.
badmc's review
2.0
The awesome: Vorkosiverse! Aaaaa
The good: It's character driven, so can be ideal for a nice, slow read before sleep.
The bad: It hardly stands on its own - you have to know at least some of the previous works to get around. There were also the character-info-dumps, as well as endless talk about characters' past. It would have been nice to have some flashbacks, instead. And why do all the characters have to be paired up?
The ugly: It is soooooo booooooring. It should've been a 100 pages hommage, tops.
Final verdict: Yawn. Only for hardcore Miles fans.
The good: It's character driven, so can be ideal for a nice, slow read before sleep.
The bad: It hardly stands on its own - you have to know at least some of the previous works to get around. There were also the character-info-dumps, as well as endless talk about characters' past. It would have been nice to have some flashbacks, instead. And why do all the characters have to be paired up?
The ugly: It is soooooo booooooring. It should've been a 100 pages hommage, tops.
Final verdict: Yawn. Only for hardcore Miles fans.
aprillen's review
4.0
This book is even thinner on plot than Captain Vorpatril's Alliance. Scratch that: It doesn't really have a plot at all. It reads kind of like a short story expanded to novel-length, and is basically a romance, albeit not your run-of-the-mill type of romance.
Still, I really liked it. I kind of loved it. But then I always loved Cordelia, and LMB writes her and the Barrayar-verse with such love and skill, even here. It's full of reminiscences, of little grace-notes, of reverence and irreverence and sweet, funny moments. This book felt like a boon, a gentle gift. The whole saga started with Cordelia, once, and Shards of Honor is still one of the best and most believable love stories I know, as well as a whopping good sci-fi adventure with wonderful characters. And with this story, we come full circle, ending where the whole saga once began, which was then a nameless, newly discovered planet and now is called Sergyar, with Cordelia as Vicereine for Emperor Gregor. It tells the story of what happens (SPOILER WARNING) to the people closest to Aral Vorkosigan when the world only contains a huge, Aral-shaped void, and how they finally find a way to move on from that event horizon. This reveals part of Cordelia's and Aral's story in those years when the narrative was from Miles' perspective, and thus has not been told, since Miles never knew about it. The love story is bittersweet, like a coda to the whole saga. I don't know if this is supposed to be the last of the Vorkosigan stories, but it sure reads like it.
Still, I really liked it. I kind of loved it. But then I always loved Cordelia, and LMB writes her and the Barrayar-verse with such love and skill, even here. It's full of reminiscences, of little grace-notes, of reverence and irreverence and sweet, funny moments. This book felt like a boon, a gentle gift. The whole saga started with Cordelia, once, and Shards of Honor is still one of the best and most believable love stories I know, as well as a whopping good sci-fi adventure with wonderful characters. And with this story, we come full circle, ending where the whole saga once began, which was then a nameless, newly discovered planet and now is called Sergyar, with Cordelia as Vicereine for Emperor Gregor. It tells the story of what happens (SPOILER WARNING) to the people closest to Aral Vorkosigan when the world only contains a huge, Aral-shaped void, and how they finally find a way to move on from that event horizon. This reveals part of Cordelia's and Aral's story in those years when the narrative was from Miles' perspective, and thus has not been told, since Miles never knew about it. The love story is bittersweet, like a coda to the whole saga. I don't know if this is supposed to be the last of the Vorkosigan stories, but it sure reads like it.
jesshale's review
4.0
This book is quite, quite unlike the other books in the Vorkosigan saga - I've seen other reviews saying it's hard to categorise, and that's true. It's not a space opera, it's not a romance, it's almost a coming-of-age except not for young adults. In some ways, it feels like an extended epilogue - nothing really exciting happens, it's all intensely character focused, but not BAD for all that.
It's definitely a treat for Vorkosigan fans - so many old characters make an appearance or are mentioned, and it's pure indulgence to see what-happened-next for Cordelia and Miles.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading but I'm giving four instead of five stars because I wasn't 100% satisfied - I almost wanted Miles to be a bit more blindsided just for the humour of it, and it took me a while to find my footing understanding Cordelia and Oliver's relationship at the start of the book. It also felt like there were lots of threads that COULD have become Part Of The Plot as a chance to show Cordelia and Oliver doing what they do best - the plascrete thing? Mayoral opposition? Cetagandans? - which didn't quite go anywhere. Plus characters like Alex - I felt there was meant to be more there that didn't quite make it.
It's definitely a treat for Vorkosigan fans - so many old characters make an appearance or are mentioned, and it's pure indulgence to see what-happened-next for Cordelia and Miles.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading but I'm giving four instead of five stars because I wasn't 100% satisfied - I almost wanted Miles to be a bit more blindsided just for the humour of it, and it took me a while to find my footing understanding Cordelia and Oliver's relationship at the start of the book. It also felt like there were lots of threads that COULD have become Part Of The Plot as a chance to show Cordelia and Oliver doing what they do best - the plascrete thing? Mayoral opposition? Cetagandans? - which didn't quite go anywhere. Plus characters like Alex - I felt there was meant to be more there that didn't quite make it.