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A review by ejimenez
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold
3.0
This is by far the most domestic book in the Vorkosigan series.
[take the spoiler cut seriously - I spoil basically every aspect of the book below]
And I'm glad the the book gives us snippets of it, but it made me sad that by the nature of the story, they had to be retrospective snippets - a picture of a relationship that is only a memory. We learn about the past triad only in the context of the growing new relationship. And I'm not mad at the Cordelia/Jole romance at all, but it's weird to have a past queer triad subsumed into a more-or-less conventional straight two-person relationship.
I also say fanservice because the book gives us many little moments of reflection back on past Vorkosigan adventures that don't exactly serve the present story, but that do offer a certain fannish pleasure, and many opportunities to see various significant characters show up in a 'where are they now and how will they react to this relationship' sort of way.
The tiny bits of plot that aren't directly related to the romance are paper-thin. Small governmental conflicts, easily and quickly resolved around the edges of the story, and a minor crisis at the end of the book that could have easily been cut without significantly impacting the plot as a whole.
So is this a good book, set on its own? Not really. Is it a decent picture of a late-in-life relationship? Sure. (Although I am considerably less compelled by reproduction plots than Bujold is, and a bit leery of the wisdom of starting to have babies for the first time or again at the age of 50. just because the technology says yes doesn't mean it's wise. YMMV.)
Is it a fun read for Vorkosigan fans? It depends on what you're looking for. If you're mainly in it for the grand capers or action-packed military and political arcs that have characterized most of the Vorkosigan books, then no, you won't find much of that here, except in reminiscence. If you want to reconnect with these characters and see where their lives (especially their personal lives) are going and what they have been up to behind closed doors throughout the series, then go for it.
[take the spoiler cut seriously - I spoil basically every aspect of the book below]
Spoiler
And by that I mean that the only real plot it has is a romance/relationship plot. There's very little actual tension in this book - it feels a lot like fan (or author) service. And I say that as exactly the demographic of fan that it's serving! I love the idea of the Cordelia/Aral/Jole relationship.And I'm glad the the book gives us snippets of it, but it made me sad that by the nature of the story, they had to be retrospective snippets - a picture of a relationship that is only a memory. We learn about the past triad only in the context of the growing new relationship. And I'm not mad at the Cordelia/Jole romance at all, but it's weird to have a past queer triad subsumed into a more-or-less conventional straight two-person relationship.
I also say fanservice because the book gives us many little moments of reflection back on past Vorkosigan adventures that don't exactly serve the present story, but that do offer a certain fannish pleasure, and many opportunities to see various significant characters show up in a 'where are they now and how will they react to this relationship' sort of way.
The tiny bits of plot that aren't directly related to the romance are paper-thin. Small governmental conflicts, easily and quickly resolved around the edges of the story, and a minor crisis at the end of the book that could have easily been cut without significantly impacting the plot as a whole.
So is this a good book, set on its own? Not really. Is it a decent picture of a late-in-life relationship? Sure. (Although I am considerably less compelled by reproduction plots than Bujold is, and a bit leery of the wisdom of starting to have babies for the first time or again at the age of 50. just because the technology says yes doesn't mean it's wise. YMMV.)
Is it a fun read for Vorkosigan fans? It depends on what you're looking for. If you're mainly in it for the grand capers or action-packed military and political arcs that have characterized most of the Vorkosigan books, then no, you won't find much of that here, except in reminiscence. If you want to reconnect with these characters and see where their lives (especially their personal lives) are going and what they have been up to behind closed doors throughout the series, then go for it.