Reviews

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold

graljon's review against another edition

2.0

I chose this book to review the whole series which I almost completely read (missing a few of the short stories) or listened to because this book feels like one of the epilogues Ms. McMaster Bujold attached to each of her books for a calming down finish.

After being stranded with Alastair Reynolds “Revenger”, I promised myself to not touch a book with a young main character for a long while. I broke this promise fast when the Vorkosigan Saga has been recommended to me by a trustworthy friend as a counterpoint to the completely messed up Young Adult fanfiction that “Revenger" was. And I must say: my friend was right.

I quite enjoyed the tour with the Vorkosigans through a universe where every man is a little bit more dump and childish than their female (or mixed) counterpart and if they dare to be a bit more intelligent, you can be sure: they will be punished severely. With every new book I was curious anew which new way of punishing the male main characters Mrs. McMaster Bujold would come up with and have never been disappointed.

I honestly laughed several times over the course of the saga and I must say I do enjoy the authors humour very much. Sometimes I wished for a bit more of that and less punishments though.

If you’re looking for hard Sci-Fi or even “just Sci-Fi”, you will be disappointed. Ms. McMaster Bujold did create a true saga where she not only makes you love your enemy but also become part of a quite interesting family and their day to day problems in a complicated and diverse universe. Stuff is happening too though but not in a way which will leave you tired in the end.

Which brings me back to “Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen”. I was quite divided on it because as some other wrote already and as the Seinfeld meme goes: “It’s a show about nothing”. In the same sense as this wasn’t true for Seinfeld, it isn’t here too. This book is a good closure for the remaining characters of the saga and I hope Cordelia Vorkosigan Ms. McMaster Bujold won’t come back and continue the story after this point because it would demise the accomplishment of this book and of her.

The reason why I gave this book only 2 stars is because it surely is a steep decline in overall quality and content to the other books in the saga because it “only” is an epilogue to it and I plan to rate the remaining saga with 3 stars as far as I read it.

popestig's review against another edition

5.0

A book by Bujold. What's not to love. Exploring ahum...non-traditional relationships in an SF world in this one. The dialogue makes this book.

cynpra1520's review against another edition

4.0

Its been so long since a Vorkosigan book that it took me while to get back in the groove as well as generally used to Miles at the center. Really will enjoy this book if you have read the rest of the series. Don't read it as a standalone. It was nice to get back to Cordelia again and see some elders getting their turn at center.

motdiem's review against another edition

4.0

As with every Vorkosigan book, once started, I couldn't put it down until I had finished it.
I liked the quieter pacing, and you could see the author really enjoyed writing this book. It was good to have another Cordelia story. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as first to read in the series, but to fans, this is a sweet read.

joymarie's review against another edition

3.0

For a Vorkosigan saga novel, this was a disappointment. There was really no dramatic tension at all. It was obvious how the book would end. And unlike the other novels, where there is a serious life-threatening problem of intergalactic proportions, this was entirely domestic, and not terribly interesting. I did like the book. I read it to the end, and enjoyed it. But it did not meet the standard I've come to expect from Bujold.

jennayra's review

emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

bookishdi's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

julis's review

emotional funny relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I can see why people wouldn’t like it. There’s a Typical Vorkosigan book and this wasn’t it. I was vividly reminded of some popular fanfics, and the genre is less space opera and more [REDACTED].

THAT BEING SAID, I loved it, I love Cordelia even MORE, I love Jole, I love all of the children, Miles is Miles, I can’t wait for the next book.

There was the usual amount of wailing over Vorkosigan family relationships, especially because the torch is being passed to the new generation and old family stories are told in new forms.

I feel like the book could have benefited from an external conflict: Cetegandans are all over but don’t really do much and could easily have been leveraged to produce some tension on people. That’s the biggest failing in the book, how low stakes everything is.

And this did make it a very good book to read in a day, and I did wholeheartedly love it, and the lack of tension let interpersonal relationships take the fore (which I adore), but

It’s not a book of high stakes drama, and I did miss that.

emmajuettner's review

emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I absolutely loved this book. I am so happy Cordelia got a novel at the end of the series to get some more insight into the past 40 years during which the books focused more on Miles. Not sure if there are any more books planned for the Vorkosigan Saga, but if this is the last one, it certainly is a worthy ending for these characters. And not just an ending, but a beginning, which I very much appreciated. There's a feeling of circling back to the beginning (back in Cordelia's POV, back to Sergyar, back to a romance plotline) but with so much added as well. This is probably not a very coherent review, but if you've been reading the Vorkosigan books and enjoying them, you will almost certainly love this book. I would definitely recommend reading the rest of the series first, though-- not one that would function well as a standalone/introduction to the series.

jamiedhutch's review against another edition

3.0

Ok. Well I have two issues with this book. The first one is a little less insurmountable, I think, and it's the squick factor that was added to one of my favorite book romances ever. Like, ok, love conquers all and stuff, but was that really necessary? Really?

The other issue I have with it is that it's not terribly... plot-heavy. There's not a lot... going on. Ugh, it's kinda boring, guys. Like, almost Austen-esque in that you read like a hundred pages, just to realize nothing really happened.

A fairly painless read, but not a terribly riveting one.

Probably my least favorite LMB to date. :/

All that being said, when I reread it (which I will do at some point), I'll probably realize it wasn't THAT bad.