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A review by mlejoy
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold
2.0
It kills me to say anything bad a Vorkosigan book (it is one of my very favorite series of all time), but this one was BORING. In glancing at reviews before I read the book, I saw a lot of other people saying the same thing and I thought, "Well they must just mean there isn't a lot of space fighting action", but it wasn't that. Literally, nothing happens in this book except a bombshell in the first chapter.
Basically, this book should have been a novella - a sweet story to let us know that Cordelia ended up OK. Instead we get a book with a surprising first chapter, and then a meandering story, that you THINK is going to lead to something important (like the concrete mixup or the Cetagandan attache) but never does. Some of my favorite Vorkosigan books are the ones that are heavily about the characters - like Memory and Civil Campaign - but they had a great story line going with them. I really wanted to love this one, but I just can't.
Speaking of that bombshell first chapter - I don't mind the idea of it, but it doesn't fit at all with anything we know of the series and in fact it cheapens everything that came before it. It's a complete retcon of two major characters and it feels like it's just there to be controversial.
Another problem I have with the book is that 25% of it was just an info-dump about what happened in previous books. Every time anything to do with previous history came up, there would be a multi-paragraph explanation rehashing old events. For example when a Cetegandan ghem lord is introduced there will be a long explanation of the what that is and then someone would mention Aral and there would be a retelling about something he did in the Cetegandan war. Whenever Mark was mention he was always called "clone-brother Mark" - which is in direct opposition to events of the previous book where the struggle was to get people to stop calling him a clone and just identify him as "Mark". Anyway, all the backtracking and history telling started to get annoying. I'm sure it was done because Bujold or the publishers want this to be a book a first time reader can start with - but it really is not the book to start on. A first time reader is just going to be totally overwhelmed with the history dumping in this book and without the context of 15 previous books it will be meaningless.
One last thing -
Basically, this book should have been a novella - a sweet story to let us know that Cordelia ended up OK. Instead we get a book with a surprising first chapter, and then a meandering story, that you THINK is going to lead to something important (like the concrete mixup or the Cetagandan attache) but never does. Some of my favorite Vorkosigan books are the ones that are heavily about the characters - like Memory and Civil Campaign - but they had a great story line going with them. I really wanted to love this one, but I just can't.
Speaking of that bombshell first chapter - I don't mind the idea of it, but it doesn't fit at all with anything we know of the series and in fact it cheapens everything that came before it. It's a complete retcon of two major characters and it feels like it's just there to be controversial.
Spoiler
Aral had enough things to worry about in his life to add to it by having an affair with someone who was directly under his command. Not only would he not have allowed that from his other senior officers, neither would Illyan or Gregor have allowed it. Security was always a major theme of the series - no way he's risk his family by something so unacceptable by Barrayaran social and military standards. The beauty of the Aral/Cordelia relationship was that they both found each other and been through so much, and she was his everything. He isn't going to cheat on her behind her back. Even allowing for Cordelia's "Betan" mindset it still doesn't fit for me. Also -the book establishes early on that Jole only likes men, then all of a sudden he decides he likes women - people don't change their sexual preferences like flipping a light switch.Another problem I have with the book is that 25% of it was just an info-dump about what happened in previous books. Every time anything to do with previous history came up, there would be a multi-paragraph explanation rehashing old events. For example when a Cetegandan ghem lord is introduced there will be a long explanation of the what that is and then someone would mention Aral and there would be a retelling about something he did in the Cetegandan war. Whenever Mark was mention he was always called "clone-brother Mark" - which is in direct opposition to events of the previous book where the struggle was to get people to stop calling him a clone and just identify him as "Mark". Anyway, all the backtracking and history telling started to get annoying. I'm sure it was done because Bujold or the publishers want this to be a book a first time reader can start with - but it really is not the book to start on. A first time reader is just going to be totally overwhelmed with the history dumping in this book and without the context of 15 previous books it will be meaningless.
One last thing -