A review by spookynymph
A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold

4.0

This was the first Vorkosigan book I read that dealt with Miles's extended family. Hoo boy. I got a little lost, but I managed to sort things out. I didn't find the butter bug subplot the screwball hoot that I think Bujold was shooting for, but it did provide an interesting window into Mark, which helped me understand him. I also found the Lord Dono subplot fascinating in a "That's seriously what it takes to succeed to a Countship, my goodness" sort of way. The most interesting aspect of it was the... there's a story by Virginia Woolf I think, called "Orlando" about someone who starts out as a man and lives for hundreds of years and then abruptly -- in the middle -- changes gender for no reason given in the text. He simply becomes a she. Dono's transition seemed to me to be the same, only backwards.

My main criticism of the book is the evolution of Ekaterin's feelings for Miles: it's rather opaque. While I understand that it's supposed to click for her in that scene in his attic -- and I do like that scene -- the jump to betrothal still seems a bit rushed.