Apr 27 2007

Diplomatic Immunity

Category: Books — ChrisM @ 10:32 am

Diplomatic Immunity – Lois McMaster Bujold

Returning to the traditional novel format, Lois finally bowed to fan-pressure. (OK, no proof of that, to be honest, but I know people were asking her if they’d return) The Quaddies return :> (See the Falling Free review)

Miles and his wife go on their honeymoon, whilst their babies are approaching full term in their uterine replicators. (The same system that enabled Miles to be born after the attack on his mother and father). When Miles and Ekaterin are returning home, his friend the Emperor dispatches Miles to sort a problem with the Quaddies.

Not only does he have to use all his mental faculties to try and sort out the initial incident, but another conflict is brewing, both on the inter-stellar scale, but also domestically – if he isn’t back home before his children are ‘born’ his mum & wife will have his guts for garters.

That marks the end of my Vorkosigan Saga book reviews, we have 3 more offerings from the same author to come, but these are based in a different time and universe.

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Apr 26 2007

Borders of Infinity

Category: Books — ChrisM @ 12:52 am

Borders of Infinity – Lois McMaster Bujold

This is actually a collection of three other books, all pressed together. The books – The Borders of Infinity, The Mountains of Mourning and Labyrinth do vary in their style slightly, and the scenes surrounding the areas betwixt original stories do feel a little strained at times.
However, the very fact that they vary, and touch on such delicate subjects as infanticide make this collection worth reading. The 1st book is a reasonably predictable PoW story, but you’ll still find yourself cheering Miles on, constantly second guessing what will happen next.
In Mountains of Mourning, Miles is sent out into the wild backwards country, where the old laws of nature often take precedence over any decrees from the Regent – Miles’ father. He is sent out mainly to gain some experience, and to appreciate what a heavy responsibility being a judge can be. His own deformed body is a constant reminder that ‘muties’ (genetic mutations) will experience a tough life outside of the cities, if they live that long.
In the last book, we start to discover that playing with sexual preconceptions will become a running theme for Lois’s books, and for this reason, I couldn’t really recommend this particular book for young children. Obviously this is down to the parents concerned, but I wouldn’t want parents to buy this book for their children without reading it first. Anyway, Miles goes on a mission to pick up a scientist whose expertise are in fields with highly questionable ethics. Nothing goes to plan, and Miles has to escape imprisonment with a creature called Taurus.
It has been a while since I read this last book, but I’m pretty sure a quad (last seen in Falling Free) gets a couple of quick mentions.

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Apr 25 2007

The Warrior’s Apprentice

Category: Books — ChrisM @ 7:42 pm

The Warrior’s Apprentice – Lois McMaster Bujold
Looking back, this is the book where we start to meet the ‘real’ Miles. His bones are still extremely brittle (from the gas attack on his mother), yet he attempts to enter the Military Service on Barrayar. Whilst recuperating, he sources a ship and a pilot, in less than ideal circumstances.
In his first potentially violent confrontation with off-worlders, his brains and luck come to the forefront, with unexpected results. A new alter-ego is born, and he slips into the new persona with ease. Miles’ cousin Ivan pops up in this book, a character who we will get to know better over the next 10 books.

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