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A review by barry_x
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold
3.0
Felt a little sad reading this. It's the bookend of the Vorkosigan saga and sadly I think the series has quietly petered out rather than than going with a bang. Perhaps the novels themes are apt and the series ending with a gentle retirement rather than a glorious death is a better way to end things but I am not sure it actually makes a good book.
Sadly, not a whole lot happens in the book, the story is effectively sign posted and concluded in the first chapter, the pace is gentle but there is no real conflict or antagonism in the book. Even the themes which could have required a lot more unpacking by the characters are just quietly and easily accepted.
I felt annoyed at times with the smugness, and privilege of the main characters, at their all around wonderfulness and even, which I never imagined myself saying about this series - a little bored. Furthermore I suspect the humour was so subtle and gentle it just didn't land for me at all.
My relationship with the book was such that events and characters in older novels when referenced gave me quite a warm happy feeling and an opportunity to reminisce. I loved this, but in the absence of not a lot else going on it made the memory of the 'better' books a bigger comparator.
Having read some of the criticisms of the book I think it is important to recognise that the Vorkosigan saga has always been sex and gender positive and furthermore one of key areas of discontent has been canon for roughly 15 years prior to the publication of this book. Where I do have some sympathy with the critics is this canon position amounts to a couple of sentences in a single book. I found it a little jarring and I can certainly understand why others thought so. I suspect it has always been there in the authors head and just needed to come out, but there was never the right time. Maybe this book does that...
I guess, in some ways this book is a love letter to the past both for the reader and the author but it feels like an old conversation between friends and not a final brilliant entry for this wonderful universe.
Sadly, not a whole lot happens in the book, the story is effectively sign posted and concluded in the first chapter, the pace is gentle but there is no real conflict or antagonism in the book. Even the themes which could have required a lot more unpacking by the characters are just quietly and easily accepted.
I felt annoyed at times with the smugness, and privilege of the main characters, at their all around wonderfulness and even, which I never imagined myself saying about this series - a little bored. Furthermore I suspect the humour was so subtle and gentle it just didn't land for me at all.
My relationship with the book was such that events and characters in older novels when referenced gave me quite a warm happy feeling and an opportunity to reminisce. I loved this, but in the absence of not a lot else going on it made the memory of the 'better' books a bigger comparator.
Having read some of the criticisms of the book I think it is important to recognise that the Vorkosigan saga has always been sex and gender positive and furthermore one of key areas of discontent has been canon for roughly 15 years prior to the publication of this book. Where I do have some sympathy with the critics is this canon position amounts to a couple of sentences in a single book. I found it a little jarring and I can certainly understand why others thought so. I suspect it has always been there in the authors head and just needed to come out, but there was never the right time. Maybe this book does that...
I guess, in some ways this book is a love letter to the past both for the reader and the author but it feels like an old conversation between friends and not a final brilliant entry for this wonderful universe.