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A review by chirson
Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold
4.0
To engage in a brief recap: on the morning of March 8, International Women's Day, I had the sudden idea that maybe I should try some older sff by a woman, so as to celebrate in style. In the evening, I was almost done with Shards of Honour, the first volume of Bujold's Vorkosigan saga.
Now, the month is over, and seven novels and three novellas later, I can only look back and be grateful for that excellent choice on my part (thanks, past self!). These books aren't *always* brilliant, but they are consistently entertaining at worst and utterly great at best. There are some lows, for sure, but--the heights!
And this was an all-around really good installment. We get still more depth to the world, exploring Komarr and its current political status. We get more depth to Miles's relationship with his planet, his family and his other identity. We meet Galeni! (Who, I hope, is also going to be developed further.) There's more Ivan (always welcome).
We also get another shopping trip and a living fur.
For once, even the action sequences were gripping enough and interesting enough that I didn't zone out while reading.
Finally, I have to say there is a certain joyfulness and playfulness that I usually associate with fanfiction rather than ofic (although there are exceptions)*. It's not about originality or lack thereof, pastiche or even playing with convention. A little bit of it is about following some conventions (going that extra mile), and winking at the audience (implications of M/M), but a lot of it is, perhaps, about writing like a fan, and writing what you want to read (or, more precisely, the text reading as if it has been written in that way). This is how it feels a lot of the time when I read Vorkosigan novels. It's so, so fun.
*Granted, considering the time I spent in real ff community, so mostly the mid-to-late 2000s, it's possible there may well have been a good deal of inspiration going from Bujold to at least some of the writers I read back then, and that's a possible source of some je ne sais quoi.
Now, the month is over, and seven novels and three novellas later, I can only look back and be grateful for that excellent choice on my part (thanks, past self!). These books aren't *always* brilliant, but they are consistently entertaining at worst and utterly great at best. There are some lows, for sure, but--the heights!
And this was an all-around really good installment. We get still more depth to the world, exploring Komarr and its current political status. We get more depth to Miles's relationship with his planet, his family and his other identity.
Spoiler
We get Mark (albeit we don't get Mark meets the parents - I hope, because it's saved for a future book. I *deeply* want Mark to meet the parents).We also get another shopping trip and a living fur.
For once, even the action sequences were gripping enough and interesting enough that I didn't zone out while reading.
Finally, I have to say there is a certain joyfulness and playfulness that I usually associate with fanfiction rather than ofic (although there are exceptions)*. It's not about originality or lack thereof, pastiche or even playing with convention. A little bit of it is about following some conventions (going that extra mile), and winking at the audience (implications of M/M), but a lot of it is, perhaps, about writing like a fan, and writing what you want to read (or, more precisely, the text reading as if it has been written in that way). This is how it feels a lot of the time when I read Vorkosigan novels. It's so, so fun.
*Granted, considering the time I spent in real ff community, so mostly the mid-to-late 2000s, it's possible there may well have been a good deal of inspiration going from Bujold to at least some of the writers I read back then, and that's a possible source of some je ne sais quoi.