A review by endiamon
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold

3.0

An otherwise very fun book that is dampened thoroughly by a very odd choice.

I found the first half of the book to be quite entertaining and Bujold at her best. However, one character reaction near the end struck me as odd to say the least, and the more I thought about it, the more I felt that it ruined not just this book, but even managed to taint the series as a whole.

Spoiler

In short, Miles is presented with a pretty massive revelation about the lives of his parents. I don't know how to describe the situation except to say that it feels like Bujold considered the problem exclusively from Cornelia's perspective and never from his. I was waiting the entire book for a moment of catharsis when Miles could say how frustrated/upset/angry/sad he was that his parents kept this massive secret hidden from him, not because he was being childish, but because he wanted to know about their happiness. That Cornelia kept this a secret from him is peak hypocrisy, coming from the woman that valued honesty and openness above almost everything else. That Miles responds to the ultimate reveal with little more than shrugging acceptance simply feels bizarre, out of character, and in service of little more than justifying Cornelia's righteousness at every turn.

It feels especially odd coming after Cryoburn, which was exceptional and definitive proof that the series isn't going downhill. However, given how a similar situation arises in her Penric series, I have to wonder if this is going to be a recurring problem going forward.