Book Review: Young Miles by Bujold (4 Stars)

Young Miles (omnibus edition) by Lois McMaster Bujold

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: 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.

May the Mouse Be With You

Thirty-five years ago I got sucked into Lucas’ Star Wars like most everyone else in the world. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched that movie since then. More than once in a movie theatre, and many, many times since via my own home theatre. Every word of dialog is memorized. Every scene emblazoned on my mind’s eye. Every soaring sound of the score composed by John Williams ringing in my ears. It was the right movie magic at the perfect time.

So I scratched my head earlier this week when my phone kept crawling across my desk or buzzing in my pocket because of the swarm of tweets bombarding cyberspace about Disney buying Lucasfilm. I didn’t get a chance to really delve into that development until days later, thanks to endless meetings at work. I did glimpse some pretty funny images cropping up in my newsfeeds.

Here are a few of the ones that caught my eye:

And my thoughts on the billions Disney gave George for the Star Wars franchise? At least there will be a seventh movie. I’ll keep hoping it will better than the last three. George doesn’t need to worry about his retirement now (not that he ever had to worry much).

Meanwhile, I’m still missing those droids I was looking for . . .

FBR reblog: Meanwhile at the Discussion Group: March 2012

Another group I love over at GoodReads is Beyond Reality. And as if I wasn’t crazy enough already, I volunteered to take over as discussion leader in our series read of Weber’s Honor Harrington space opera.

Movie Trailers: Anticipating Some SciFi Soon

I’ve seen three trailers in theaters in the past few weeks that have caught my eye. I’m starved for a good science fiction film, especially since most of the reading I do is epic fantasy (which gets less screen time than scifi by a long shot) and I don’t care to read many science fiction novels (although I do indulge the occasional space opera).

Today, while waiting to see This Means War, we saw a trailer for Prometheus, a Ridley Scot film that looks amazing and is a prequel to his 1979 classic (and also amazing) Alien (it and it’s sequel Aliens are two of my favorite scifi movies and I will re-watch them, any part of them, any chance I get). The trailer didn’t reveal much, beyond the stunning space and spaceship scenery. “The plot follows the crew of the spaceship Prometheus in the late 21st century, as they explore an advanced alien civilization in search of the origins of humanity. … According to Scott, though the film shares “strands of Alien’s DNA, so to speak”, Prometheus will explore its own mythology and universe.” Wikipedia Prometheus article. Even if this film doesn’t add much, if anything, to the Alien mythos, I’m definitely looking forward to it’s release because I can rely on Ridley Scot to deliver a well told tale that will most likely knock my socks off.

Last weekend, while Terry and I waited to watch Red Tails, we saw the trailer for Battleship, a military science fiction film slated to be released later this year. The Wikipedia article’s synopsis: “In the Hawaiian Islands, an international naval fleet at Pearl Harbor engage in a dynamic and intense battle against an alien species known as “The Regents”. The aliens come to planet Earth on a mission to build a power source in the ocean. Upon their visit, they come in contact with the naval fleet. The film is also purported to show both sides of the story, from the aliens’ perspective, as well as the humans’ so the audience knows exactly where the opponent’s ships are.”

But the one film I’m really excited about this year is John Carter, billed as a epic science fantasy, and I’d agree with that assessment. Terry and I saw the trailer back in late January while waiting for We Bought A Zoo. Not only did they get the aliens and the alien animals correct, they used Led Zeppelin‘s iconic Kashmir as the audio backdrop, which gave me goose bumps. I read Burrough’s A Princess of Mars five years ago and loved it. The film is largely based on that same book, the first one to feature John Carter. “In the novel John Carter is a former American Civil War Confederate Army captain who is mysteriously transported to Mars, known to its inhabitants as Barsoom. In the course of his adventures he learns that the planet is dying from the loss of its atmosphere and water, and that only a peaceful alliance of its intelligent inhabitants can save all the species of Barsoom from extinction.” — Wikipedia John Carter article.

I’ve seen three movies thus far, in 2012, and each time I’ve seen a trailer for yet another movie I can’t wait to see. Keep them coming! Last year left me high and dry, so much so that I think the only movie Terry and I saw in the theater was the last Harry Potter film.

Space Opera Showdown without the Corral

September is Space Opera month at the five thousand strong (and growing) SciFi and Fantasy Book Club on GoodReads. Wikipedia offers this definition of Space Opera:

Space opera is a subgenre of speculative fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to “soap opera” (see below). Perhaps the most significant trait of space opera is that settings, characters, battles, powers, and themes tend to be very large-scale.

Sometimes the term space opera is used pejoratively to denote bad quality science fiction, but its meaning can differ, often describing a particular science fiction genre without any value judgement.

So help us choose from among these excellent contenders and make our September space opera adventure glorious!

September SciFi Space Opera Poll

Leviathan Wakes
A Deepness in the Sky
The Tar-Aiym Krang
Downbelow Station
Pandora’s Star
Star Wars: Heir to the Empire

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And the Winner Is . . .

Honor Harrington

The poll closed Saturday midnight and, despite close voting, Honor edged out Harry. In mid-August, Beyond Reality will commence their third series group read. Join us in the Honorverse next month!

Read Stefan’s introductory post for more information.

Honor v. Harry (Not the Harry Your Thinking Of)

-v-

The Beyond Reality group at GoodReads posted a run-off poll this week to decide our next series group read, pitting space opera legend Honor Harrington, created by David Weber, against urban fantasy gumshoe wizard Harry Dresden (no, he’s not a graduate of Hogwarts and doesn’t have a lightning bolt scar on his forehead), created by local Kansas Citian Jim Butcher.

The Honor Harrington series barely hangs onto a narrow lead by her fingernails over the Dresden Files in this last day of voting. Both series offer a full year’s worth of reading with a dozen novels published in each (assuming we read one book a month).

So if you’ve been looking for an excuse to read either one of these series, come join the party! Cast your vote before the stroke of midnight tomorrow.

Beyond Reality Series Selection Poll

SERIES DISCUSSION: This run-off poll decides which series will be the topic of our third Beyond Reality Series Discussion!

the “Honor Harrington” series by David Weber
the “Dresden Files” series by Jim Butcher

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Book Review: The Mote in God’s Eye

The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I should read more space opera, especially when written by Niven and Pournelle. The human Empire (Russian in origin, which seemed odd considering in 1974 when first published, the USSR was Communist not Imperialist) has first contact with aliens from a system referred to as “The Mote.” Communication is key, but as expected, truth is the first casualty in diplomacy and war. By the time I reached the end, having had bits of both sides of the story, I kept wishing and hoping … ‘if only’ the aliens had divulged the truth behind their species’ biological problem, I believe, even a militaristic human society would feel compassion for them and strive to solve what the alien’s considered unsolvable or impossible or ‘Crazy Eddy.’

Join in the discussion of this book at the Beyond Reality GoodReads book club.

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