Return to my Book Review pages
Go to my home page
Book Review, © Copyright 1998 & 1999, Jim Loy
My worst nightmare has been realized. I've found a series of twelve or so amazing books, which I must read. And, I'm too busy to read them. [I have read all of them now.]
The books are the stories of Miles (Admiral Naismith) Vorkosigan and his ancestors. I highly recommend The Vor Game, which won the 1990 Hugo Award for Science Fiction Novel.
Miles Vorkosigan is a short, deformed young man, and good friend of young Emperor Gregor of the planet Barrayar. Miles is a smart alec. Strings were pulled to get him into the military, to teach him to take orders. It doesn't work for long. Miles destroys other people's careers, as he saves the Empire. If he pretends to be an admiral, and he wins all of his battles, maybe he's a real admiral.
I want to read this book again. I want to write like Ms. Bujold. The dialog, and especially the characters' unvoiced thoughts are amazingly clever. We often read a character's thoughts as he/she considers and rejects several alternative flippant remarks, before saying something quite ordinary. Here is where Miles meets a Base Commander, who is not wearing evidence of his rank:
... Miles snapped, "Are all the keepers on vacation, or is anybody actually running this bloody zoo?"The man's eyes sparked, as if their iron had struck flint; they ignited a little warning light in Miles's brain, one mouthy moment too late. Hi, there, sir! cried the hysterical commenter in the back of Miles's mind, with a skip, bow, and flourish. I'm your newest exhibit!...
Miles is a great character. And so is the sour and thoughtful Emperor Gregor.
The books in this series:
The book, Barrayar is also a Hugo winner. This book tells the story of what happened just before Miles' birth. It is very good, and very bloody. I really enjoyed the book, Memory, as well. I enjoyed the whole series. Falling Free won the Nebula Award. There is also a book, Cordelia's Honor, which contains Shards of Honor and Barrayar (See my complaints about this book and Miles, Mystery & Mayhem at Cordelia's Honor). The Spirit Ring is by Ms. Bujold, and is not part of this series. Also see The Curse of Chalion - by Lois McMaster Bujold.
To order any of these books from Amazon.com, click its name in the list, below: