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A review by quorumbutton
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold
4.0
Keeping in the style of LMB's later books, GJ&tRQ is much more a philosophical and psychological exploration than a space adventure. I enjoyed it immensely; the deep look into Cordelia and Jole's psyches (and the well-handled polyamorous relationship of my dreams!! sort of), the little references to previous books (seeing what misconceptions/inaccurate info certain characters held about previous events was a DELIGHT), and pretty much all of the actual dilemmas. You can really tell that some of the issues the characters think through/express opinions about are what LMB has thought about (and may believe) personally.
The one complaint I had was the re-occuring 'problem' of the building materials -- I kept expecting it to turn into a Miles-like disaster plot, but it didn't happen? So every time it came up I would be trying to figure out why it was so important. Not sure if LMB did that on purpose or not, but I felt like it distracted me from the main focus of the book. The only reason this is 4 stars instead of 5! (Also, I compare this to all the other books in the series, and I admit I'm biased toward more plot-oriented ones, like Vor Game and Memory.)
The one complaint I had was the re-occuring 'problem' of the building materials -- I kept expecting it to turn into a Miles-like disaster plot, but it didn't happen? So every time it came up I would be trying to figure out why it was so important. Not sure if LMB did that on purpose or not, but I felt like it distracted me from the main focus of the book. The only reason this is 4 stars instead of 5! (Also, I compare this to all the other books in the series, and I admit I'm biased toward more plot-oriented ones, like Vor Game and Memory.)