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A review by graljon
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold
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 hopeCordelia 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.
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
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.