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Avg. Rating: 4.5
Best in a hysterically funny series
The Miles Vorkosigan series of adventures is far and away the most amusing comedy science fiction series ever written. This is the ninth Miles Vorkosigan adventure, and in my opinion the funniest book in the series.
It is slightly different from the other nine books in the series - the first eight and the last one all have elements of action adventure, mystery and detection. This one, on the other hand, can best be understood as a regency romantic farce set several hundred years in the future on a planet which in some ways is used to high technology and in others is a quasi-feudal militaristic Empire.
The Miles Vorkosigan stories, and four other books set in the the same future universe, can stand on their own. However, a number of them, of which this is one, will give you something extra if you have previously read some of Bujold's books set earlier on the same timeline.
If you have not previously met Lord Miles Vorkosigan, he is 1) a brilliant intriguer who at one stage was juggling at least three identities; 2) physically very small, having been injured in his mother's womb by poison gas; 3) a former spy for Imperial Barrayan security, former mercenary admiral and present "Imperial Auditor"; 4) desperately trying to find a wife; and 5) hysterically funny to read about.
The book is set in the run-up to the wedding of Miles' cousin the Emperor. Several other people are thinking about lova and marriage, including Miles himself, who is very much in love with Ekaterin who he met in the previous book, "Komarr".
His friend Duv Galeni, his brother Mark, and his cousin Ivan also have their own romantic plans, and their various romantic intrigues collide not only with each other, but with those of various scheming nobles who are fighting over the inheritance of two titles, Ekaterin's idiotic relatives, and two luckless Escobarran policemen.
At one point, Miles' mother Cordelia has to sort out the angry parents of his friends the Koudelka sisters. If you want to understand some of the references here, you will have to read the story of how the previous generation of Vorkosigans and Koudelkas got together, which can be found in the books "Shards of Honour" and "Barrayar." These two books have been publised separately, and also together as "Cordelia's honour".
Sound complicated? It is. That's why there is something to be said for reading these stories in sequence. Having said that, you can read this on it's own and it is still funny.
The full sequence of books in this Universe is
"Falling Free" (set 200 years before Miles is born)
The story of the romance between Miles' parents:
"Shards of Honour"
"Barrayar"
The Miles Vorkosigan adventures:
"The Warrior's Apprentice"
"The Vor game"
"Borders of Infinity"
"Cetaganda"
"Brothers in Arms"
"Mirror Dance"
"Memory"
"Komarr"
"A Civil Campaign"
"Diplomatic Immunity"
And a separate adventure for Miles' friend Elli Quinn:
"Ethan of Athos"
All these books are excellent and strongly recommended.
The best of a great series
This is quite simply a great book. Even allowing for the fact that I am a“fan” of Bujold’s work this one and‘Memory’ stand out from all the others. Where‘Memory’ felt plot driven‘A Civil Campaign’ carries as compelling a plot but through words which are worth reading and re-reading time and again. This is the only book I will open just to read a favourite paragraph, whether it be“Lately I’ve come to realise that the principle difference between heaven and hell is the company you keep there” or“The only way you win that war is to start with unconditional surrender.”As for the plot, well it’s not one which brings huge surprises, boy meets girls etc. but in this case it’s padded out with a number of complications and satisfyingly complex subplots and additional characters. Bujold re-introduces a new major character whose point of view we are given and fleshes out some of the minor characters we’ve grown used to. Of course for Bujold a minor character seems to have the care and attention other authors can’t even get for their major characters. Readers used to Miles’ adventures will enjoy this hugely, bringing one stage of Miles’ life to a significant point and to some extent marking him reaching his adulthood. I can’t help feeling though that to enjoy it as much as I did readers would benefit from having read all the previous books. That’s not a criticism, simply an observation which I believe is true of many long running series. Considering what a joy that is I strongly suggest you turn on 1-click and get ordering, especially as the first two books are now collected into a single volume and you won’t have to wait a year for the next instalment!
The Battlefield of Love
Miles Vorkosigan is at it again, merrily planning (and attempting to execute) a very exacting military campaign. The only trouble is, the military objective is inducing his new-found lady love Ekaterin to marry him. His plan includes notable pieces of strategy: not to be too obvious about it, as she is still in mourning for her late husband (see the earlier book Komarr for details); keep other suitors well away; make sure there are frequent opportunities for the two to be in each other's presence; ensure that she becomes aware of all the niceties that would entail from marrying into one of the noblest families on Barrayar. Each piece of his plan, though, runs into one minefield after another, and as he puts emergency stop-losses in place, his situation continuously deteriorates, culminating in a dinner where absolutely everything goes wrong.The dinner may be the high point of this book - the person who can read this section and not fall over laughing, cringing, and crying all at the same time isn't a real human being. For this book is not about military action, political plots, or single-handed world-saving, but is rather a very witty comedy. The picture of Miles making just about every mistake a lovelorn suitor can is both marvelously funny and very believable, and the picture of Barrayaran society is solidly fleshed out, making the whole a perfect environment in which to play out such a comedy of manners. As usual, Bujold keeps several plot threads spinning at once, whose resolution, while (for once) not at all earth-shaking, makes for a nicely unified wholeness to the basic story. In another departure for Bujold, this story is told from several viewpoints, not just Miles', which adds a lot to the reader's perspective of the society and situation, and also allows for much greater character development of Ivan Vorpatril, Mark (Miles' clone brother), and Ekaterin than has been the case with previous books in this series. Perhaps my only real objection to this book was that some of the side plots from the main story just didn't seem to have enough importance and weren't detailed enough to make me really get involved with them, so that their major effect on the final outcome seemed to be larger than justified and a little bit of a surprise. This is a pretty minor quibble, though. Nominated for the 2000 Hugo award, this is a fine entertaining read, full of chuckles and belly-laughs, managing to make Miles into a normal human being without totally losing his aura of impossible competence, engaging and heart-warming. Possibly the best of all the Vorkosigan books.
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