Category: Space Opera

Book Review: Mirror Dance by Bujold (3.5 Stars)

Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold

3.5 out of 5 stars

Read in January 2010

I read this novel as part of the omnibus edition Miles Errant.

Miles’ six years younger twin brother, Mark, garners most of the screen time in Mirror Dance. Less lighthearted fun and more unhinged passion and desperation pervades while we focus on Mark. Miles’ fate remains unknown for much of the story.

I enjoyed Mark meeting Aral and Cordelia. Miles’ mother treated me to some wonderful scenes with Mark or that Mark overheard. Sadly, Aral suffers nearly the same fate as Miles. But no one suffers a fate worse than death better than Mark. At times, I feared I was reading a horror novel.

But all is well that ends well and Mirror Dance succeeds on that front.

Book Review: Brothers in Arms by Bujold (3.5 Stars)

Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold

Read in January 2010 as part of the omnibus edition Miles Errant.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Miles shakes the Cetagandans off the Dedarii Mercenaries’ tail and seeks sanctuary on Old Earth for repairs and recuperation. But something is rotten in London, where Miles repeatedly tries to collect the mercenary troops’ back pay and expenses. His investigation turns up a Komarran plot that threatens, you guessed it, the Barrayaran Empire at the highest levels. Believability was only stretched to the breaking point for one seemingly whimsical plot point that Miles pulled out of thin air to avoid an investigative reporter … which actually turned out to be true and bite him in the rear.

Miles managed to solve the various mysteries, save the Empire, get his mercenaries paid, get the girl, save his brother and salvage an almost enemy’s career. Too bad he missed out on touring Old Earth in all the excitement.

Book Review: Miles Mystery & Mayhem by Bujold (4 Stars)

Miles Mystery & Mayhem by Lois McMaster Bujold

4 out of 5 stars

Miles, Mystery & Mayhem is an omnibus edition containing the following three stories:

Cetaganda

Ethan of Athos

Labyrinth (see short review below)

Of the three, Cetaganda was my favorite. Ethan of Athos was a good story, but introduced a new character and re-used a minor character for a previous adventure, completely excluding Miles.

The omnibus included an informative Vorkosigan timeline.

Review of Labyrinth

I liked this Miles adventure, but not as well as all the ones that came before. Miles seemed different, not nearly as witty, and just plain off his game. The whole weird affair with Taura is just that … weird.

Book Review: Ethan of Athos by Bujold (3.5 Stars)

Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold

3.5 out of 5 stars

Read in November 2009 as part of the Miles, Mystery & Mayhem omnibus edition.

Miles is completely absent from this Vorkosigan series installment. Elli Quinn returns, with a new face and a new mission. The story is told mostly from the point-of-view of Ethan. Again, the theme swirls around genetics and reproduction, but definitely with a twist. The flip side of the female controlled genetic finesse of Cetaganda proves to be Athos, an all male planet rapidly running out of viable ovary cultures at their Rep Centers. When the batch of new ovaries is sabotaged, Athos sends Ethos to personally select, purchase and escort the replacements.

Even though I missed Miles, Elli and Ethan managed to keep me hopping and flipping pages. Nearly all the action takes place on the Kline space station. Mystery, torture, murder, galactic genetic experiments, political intrigue bordering on genocide – just about everything you’ve come to expect from Bujold’s imagination.

A fun, fast read and a nice addition to the Vorkosigan series.

Book Review: Cetaganda by Bujold (4 Stars)

Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold

3.75 out of 5 stars

Read in October 2009 as part of the omnibus edition Miles, Mystery & Mayhem

Miles and Ivan travel as diplomatic representatives of Emperor Gregor to the home world of the Cetagandan Empire for the funeral of the Empress. A ten-day trip to observe and enjoy social customs (and parties) quickly turns sour when Miles become embroiled in a mystery and suicide/murder that threatens to frame him, and by implication Barrayar, for a treasonous usurpation plot.

Miles, being Miles, convinces himself, and Ivan, that only he can save Barrayar’s honor and salvage the Cetagandan society from destruction or evolving into a more aggressive and expanding threat to Barrayar. Miles manages to unravel the tangled web of political intrigue, gender and caste mores and sidestep his own ImpSec watchdogs.

Of the five Vorkosigan Saga novels I’ve read, Cetaganda is probably my second favorite, right after Barrayar The mystery muddled me, the bioscience intrigued me and the Cetaganda society bemused me. I didn’t roll my eyes or suspend my belief at Miles antics or the situations he found himself in. I can’t say the same for Ivan, but then he’s a healthy young male besieged by breathtakingly beautiful women and succumbs to the obvious.

Cetaganda also stands alone very well. I can comfortably recommend this to anyone who loves a good mystery in a space opera setting.

Book Review: Young Miles by Bujold (4 Stars)

Young Miles (omnibus edition) by Lois McMaster Bujold

4 out of 5 stars

Read in August 2009

The Warrior’s Apprentice

3.75 stars

Read as part of the omnibus edition Young Miles

I warped through this novel in record time, finishing almost before I realized it, because it was so much fun to read. I returned to the world of Barrayar and the Vor to pickup Miles at age seventeen. And how much trouble can one 17 year old “cripple” get into in say four months time? An astonishing amount apparently.

I am grateful that I first read Cordelia’s Honor so I had the back stories and histories of some of the supporting characters and I fully understood Miles’ disabilities.

Miles makes up for his physical disabilities with intelligence, logic and grace seemingly far beyond his years. My only small quibble with the story was Miles maturity – he felt more like a 37 year old than a 17 year old.

I will refrain from a synopsis to avoid spoilers. If you love space opera, pirate-like adventure or Robin Hood-esque escapades and secret/alternate lives and identities, then you’ve come to the right novel.

The Mountains of Madness

3.75 stars

This novella was sandwiched between Warrior’s Apprentice and The Vor Game in the omnibus edition entitled Young Miles.

It occurs three years after the end of Warrior’s Apprentice. Miles has graduated from the Imperial Service Academy and is home on leave before receiving his first assignment. A back country woman from the Dendarii mountains has come down to the lowlands demanding justice, as is her right, from her Count in the murder of her “mutant” infant. Miles’ father deputizes him as his Voice to investigate and dispense justice. Miles’ disabilities make him uniquely and ironically qualified to flush out the murderer.

Not much science fiction or space opera in this story, but plenty of mystery and hillbilly conservatism and ignorance. Miles excels at the logic and deduction necessary to uncover the culprit. He also find a justice that speaks to all the generations of the Silvy Vale.

The Vor Game

3.5 stars

I read this as part of the omnibus edition Young Miles.

We return to Miles while he and Ivan are collecting their first duty assignments after graduating from the Imperial Security Academy. Miles yearns for ship duty. Ivan receives his orders stationing him in the capital at ImpSec HQ. Miles orders send him to the farthest reaches of the Barrayar arctic as the weatherman for Kyril Island. Miles questions his assignment, especially since he only took one perfunctory meteorology course his first year of academy. He learns the duty assignment is a test to see if he can work with, lead and be led by common (not Vor) soldiers. If he passes, his carrot is ship duty on the newest ship-of-the-line, the Prince Serg.

Miles’ insubordination plays a major them in this story. He stumbles into the most improbable situations and then believes only he is capable of finding a way out of it, ignoring the advice and orders of his colleagues and superiors. It doesn’t help that he actually does succeed in saving the day.

I enjoyed the action and intrigue, including more space opera elements, especially in the climactic space battles for control of various strategic wormholes. Parts of the story bogged down, though, especially after Miles removal from the arctic and subsequent detention. And I almost stopped reading when I had to suspend belief almost completely regarding the unlikely scenario of Miles finding Gregor off-planet and working as slave labor on a space station.

It was a fun read, but not as fun as Warrior’s Apprentice, yet it won the Hugo in 1991. To date, I’ve read four novels in Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga. I recommend this book as well as the series to all loves of space opera.

Book Review: Cordelia’s Honor by Bujold (4 Stars)

Cordelia’s Honor (omnibus edition)by Lois McMaster Bujold

4 out of 5 stars

Read in June 2009

Warning: Spoilers

Shards of Honor

I read this as part of the omnibus edition entitled Cordelia’s Honor.

Cordelia Naismith is the “Juliet” to Aral Vorkosigan’s “Romeo.” Star-crossed (galactically speaking) lovers separated by time, space and politics but thankfully without the suicidal tragic ending.

Cordelia spends six days as Aral’s prisoner on a planet her team was surveying for her home colony Beta. During that time, the inevitable occurs and they fall in love. Circumstances prevent consummation, so unrequited love prevails as they part the first time.

Her second encounter with Aral results in the more traditional prisoner of war scenario, although he did manage to rescue her from torture and rape by a deranged officer. She spends weeks as a prisoner, ironically back on the planet she was originally surveying, having little or no contact with Aral until the prisoner exchange negotiations complete. A second proposal of marriage, their first kiss, but the stars are just not aligned.

Cordelia returns home, more exhausted from avoiding psychotherapy from her escort, only to be further “tortured” by her own employer, the military. Since she is not a civilian, she can’t refuse treatment. Cordelia’s vision of democratic bliss crashes in on her and she escapes back to Barrayar and the political cesspool of their Empire … and Aral.

Cordelia finds Aral at the Vorkosigan estate, committing slow suicide by alcoholism. She saves his life by accepting his marriage proposal. All is bliss until the Emperor plays his final card on his deathbed, asking (actually commanding) Aral to be the Regent for his heir.

I liked the story of these two characters. The action, adventure, intrigue and romance were all well done, just not always convincing.

The science part of the science fiction was very much in the background – weapons, defense technology, pilot-navigation computer interfaces, etc. – all essentially unexplained but assumed to be plausible.

I’ll be reading the Hugo winning Barrayar, the second half of the omnibus edition Cordelia’s Honor, starting today.

Barrayar

I read this as part of the omnibus edition Cordelia’s Honor. Barrayar is an impressive, richly layered, multifaceted sequel well deserving of the Hugo award it received in 1992.

I warmed to Cordelia as she struggled with the culture shock of her adopted Barrayaran world. Her observations contrasting life on Beta with the sometimes barbaric and backward Barrayar society lent credibility to her actions.

Even though the first book, Shards of Honor, had more traditional science fiction elements, like space ships, wormholes, advanced technology and weaponry, Barrayar felt more convincingly like science fiction. I really connected with Cordelia, the marooned egalitarian Betan in the ocean of Barrayar Imperial political intrigue and corruption.

As the author notes in her Afterword, much of this story is devoted to different variations on motherhood. Perhaps that is what appeals to me the most. So many children at risk, even from their own male family members, and so few women to guard and protect them.

Book Review: A Fire Upon the Deep by Vinge (3 Stars)

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge

3 out of 5 stars

Read in January 2009

I read this for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club at GoodReads. It was the science fiction theme (space opera) selection for January 2009.

I must admit that only about a third or half of this story kept my interest. I was drawn in to the plight of Jefri and Johanna. And, by proximity, the inhabitants of the Tines world where Jefri and Johanna’s parents crash landed them and left them stranded and orphaned.

The rest of the tale, which most likely qualifies as the space opera epic, was confusing, sometimes appeared to be pointless, boring and just plain slow. As I approached the end, I admit I skimmed nearly all the parts that dealt with Ravna, Pham, the Skoderiders, the Blight and the chase to the Tines world.

If it weren’t for the uniqueness of the Tines world and the independent struggles of Jefri and Johanna, I probably would have given this a two star rating. But I love the resilience of Jefri and his ability to assimilate and adapt to Amdi, an eight-member pack of about the same maturity level as Jefri but extraordinarily gifted in mathematics. And Johanna was the rebellious teenager, convinced she was the only survivor of the crash and out to get revenge on the packs who had ambushed her family. Great drama, politics and manipulation, espionage and intrigue – all you could want to keep you riveted to the page.

The ending was a bit tragic and I was left with uncertainty as to the Blight and the Countermeasure’s struggle. I was never really given the chance to determine if the Blight or the Countermeasure were “evil” or “good” so I was ambivalent as to the Titanic struggle between the two. The only thing certain is that both the Blight and the Countermeasure destroyed billions upon billions of lives and whole swaths of civilizations in a large portion of the Galaxy. For that alone, neither of them are classified as “good” to me.

Book Review: The Lost Colony by Scalzi (3.5 stars)

The Lost Colony by John Scalzi

3.5 out of 5 stars

Read in December 2009

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the plot twists, and the conundrum of The Last Colony. I couldn’t keep from reading it, even while attending an all-day technology conference. At least no one looked at me strangely between sessions, since we were all geeks and I was reading a Scalzi novel, for goodness sake.

All the main characters were well established from the first two series installments, with the exception of Zoë. Several years have passed since John, Jane and Zoë became a family and settled on Huckleberry. Character development for Zoë hinges on her teenager-ness. Aside from the usual suspects (political power grabbing colony members, pacifist Mennonites, a meglomaniacal journalist and manipulative military generals), the rest of the cast exist to drive the plot.

One subplot was completely cut off and unresolved about midway through the story. It irked me to no end that the author would string us along, kill off a favorite supporting cast member and leave us dangling just because a more interesting external alien forces were threatening the colony. I’m not even sure that the sacrificed character got a decent burial, even though he of all the colonists deserved one.

Rather than connecting with any one character, like I did in the previous two novels, I really connected to the colony as a whole and the fate of humanity as encapsulated by the colony.

On an interesting side note, I now understand why John Scalzi is listed as a creative consultant to the Stargate: Universe television series. The fate of the stranded, lost people trapped on the Destiny mirrors many of the challenges and situations faced by the members of the colony Roanoke.

Not sure I could recommend this as a stand-alone novel, but it might survive a reading if you hadn’t read Old Man’s War or The Ghost Brigades first. The story occurs in the same universe, but is a vastly different type of story compared to the first two installments.

Book Review: The Human Divison by Scalzi (4 stars)

The Human Division by John Scalzi

4 out of 5 stars

Read Episodically January through April, 2013

Scalzi sucked me into a serialized novel last autumn with After the Coup, a short story set in his Old Man’s War universe.  He cooked up a scheme with his publisher, Tor, to not only return to that universe, but serve up the new book like you would a television season, with weekly episodes airing after midnight (in the States) on Tuesdays.  Since science fiction television in this country is all but non-existent, I took the bate – hook, line and sinker – and started reading the serialized Human Division in early January, ending with the final episode, released today.  Tor hosted a read-along at their web site, but I didn’t participate.  Not because I didn’t want to, but I just couldn’t carve out the time from an already hectic real-world schedule.

When I began this journey, I wasn’t sure if I would like waiting a week between chapters of a novel, especially if a particular chapter proved exceptionally riveting or left me hanging, just like television series tend to do (an overused trope if ever one existed).  I needn’t have worried.  Just as I used to look forward to new episodes of Stargate or Star Trek, I went to bed Monday nights knowing I would wake up to a fresh shiny new Human Division segment.  A handful of times, I even woke up after midnight and found myself reading the latest episode in the middle of the night (when I should have been sleeping … unforgiving 5:00 a.m. alarm clock).

Of the thirteen episodes, I only gave two of them less than four stars – the second episode (Walk the Plank) and the tenth one (This Must Be the Place).  Only one of the episodes got five stars from me – A Problem of Proportion.  The final double episode – Earth Below, Sky Above – would have gotten five stars, had it not been for the ending (or lack of one).  Even this morning’s announcement by the author stating the Human Division had been ‘renewed’ for a second season couldn’t assuage my angst.  I just wanted to raise an eyebrow in my best Spock impersonation and say ‘Really?’ (no, not ‘Fascinating’ … just ‘Really?!?!’).

All kidding aside, I did enjoy reading a serialized novel (in ebook format) during the first quarter of 2013.  By the time the second season rolls around, I’ll have gotten over my angst and dive right in to the next Human Division.