A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold
Read in March 2010
I cried. I raged. I laughed. I laughed some more. Any author who can make me care so much about characters who don’t exist deserves five stars.
A Civil Campaign picks up just three months after Komarr. Ekaterrin and Nikki returned to Barrayar to live with her aunt and uncle so she can attend university. Miles not-so-cleverly thought to persuade Ekaterrin to create a public park next to Vorkosigan House in Vorbarr Sultanna just so he could see her everyday and to get a leg-up on the competition for the widow’s hand. Eventually, this plan backfires — spectacularly.
While the preparations for the Emperor’s Wedding swing into high gear, the political scandals among the Counts seem in a mad rush to pick up the pace. Miles crosses that minefield nearly intact and Ivan matures enough to help the Empire, but learns something new about his mother which drives him to drink, temporarily, to ease the shock.
I loved this novel, but I’m sad that I’m nearly to the end of the Vorkosigan Saga series. This installment was the best of the bunch to date.