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Cetaganda Vorkosigan Adventure Lois McMaster Bujold 9780671877446 Books

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Cetaganda Vorkosigan Adventure Lois McMaster Bujold 9780671877446 Books

This is a fun, standalone adventure with Miles and Ivan. I'm not done with the entire Vorkosigan series as yet, but in this particular novel Miles and Ivan Vorpatril are introduced to the Cetagandan Empire, historical occupiers and enemies of Miles and Ivan's homeworld, Barrayar.

This is a nice little work because it establishes the complexities of Cetagandan society, and since the Cetagandans feature as important antagonists in later adventures, this understanding is valuable for enjoyment of those works. It also shows that Ivan is a little more complex than just "that idiot Ivan," and can be a competent officer in his own right. I like to think that Ivan Vorpatril exists as an example of who Miles might have been if he did not have so much to prove in light of his physical deformities.

Things you won't find within this book: the Dendarii mercenaries or any of Miles's normal space combat adventures. This is a palace intrigue novel, with Miles and the reader equally clueless about the complexities of Cetagandan society. It's fun, but if space battles are what you're looking for and you don't care about intrigue, you could get away with skipping this one.

But you'd be missing out. Especially given the parade of beautiful, complex, and frighteningly strong female characters who show up throughout the novel.


Tags : Cetaganda (Vorkosigan Adventure) [Lois McMaster Bujold] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Impersonating the nobility in order to gain diplomatic skills, Miles and Cousin Ivan find themselves in big trouble in the wake of two deaths,Lois McMaster Bujold,Cetaganda (Vorkosigan Adventure),Baen,0671877445,Science Fiction - General,Fantasy fiction,Interplanetary voyages,Science fiction.,Vorkosigan, Miles,Vorkosigan, Miles (Fictitious character),FICTION Science Fiction General,Fiction,Fiction - Science Fiction,General Adult,MASS MARKET,Science fiction

Cetaganda Vorkosigan Adventure Lois McMaster Bujold 9780671877446 Books Reviews

Much of classic science fiction consisted of what came to be called "space opera"—and most of it was junk. With some notable exceptions, the format is rarely used today. However, the multiple-award-winner Lois McMaster Bujold has updated the space opera with a long (and ongoing) series of novels, novellas, and short stories about a brilliant military officer who happens to be a dwarf. His name is Miles Vorkosigan. He's the son of the (now) former regent of the Empire of Barrayar, a backward planet on the fringes of galactic civilization about one thousand years in the future; the emperor is his cousin. The Vorkosigan Saga continues with book #6, Cetaganda. (The numbering of the sequence is the author's, which differs from the sequence in which the books were published.)

In Cetaganda, Miles and his (much taller) cousin Ivan are dispatched to represent the Barrayaran Empire at the funeral of the Dowager Empress of their bitterest and longest-standing enemy, the Cetagandan Empire. However, to call both entities "empires" gives the lie to the vast difference between them. Barrayar, a single planet located off the main trade routes of the galaxy, has only recently become integrated into galactic civilization. Barrayarans, even the most noble, are considered barbarians elsewhere. The Cetagandan Empire is vast and wealthy beyond compare. Barrayar managed to survive an invasion by the Cetagandan military only through the brilliant soldiering of Miles' father, then Admiral Count Aral Vorkosigan. Thus, when Miles and Ivan arrive on Eta Ceta IV, "the heart and homeworld of the sprawling Cetagandan Empire," they feel like country yokels visiting the big city for the first time.

The author paints a fascinating picture of Cetagandan society. Though an emperor rules, the empress (who is not necessarily his wife) wields what might be considered even greater power. She commands the Star Creche, where bioengineers have been tinkering for centuries with the genome of the ruling caste, the haut. (Think haute cuisine or haute couture.) Though the emperor reigns over the men who serve as governors of the eight satrap planets, their freedom of action is circumscribed by the haut women who are assigned to be their wives. The haut are effectively a super-race and possibly no longer truly human. The governors, by contrast, are members of a decidedly human and subordinate military caste called the ghem. 

Miles, now 22 and a lieutenant in Barrayaran Imperial Security, has been cautioned to avoid drawing attention to himself on his mission to Cetaganda. However, this is a difficult, if not impossible, assignment, since Miles is 4'9" tall, hunchbacked, and wears braces to prevent the brittle bones in his legs from breaking. In any case, it's not in his nature to play by the rules. It's a sure thing that Miles will get into trouble—and drag Ivan along with him.

As is the case with all the previous novels in the Vorkosigan Saga, the action comes thick and fast from the very beginning of Cetaganda. As Miles and Ivan are docking in orbit around Eta Ceta IV, a mysterious local man bursts into their shuttle, apparently intent on assassinating them. They tackle the man and seize his weapon as well as a mysterious tubular object they'd thought was also a weapon. As they puzzle over the object, the Cetagandan escapes. Any discerning reader will be aware that this strange object will play a central role in the tale that follows. (It's pictured on the cover of the edition I read.) Not long after arriving on the planet's surface, Miles realizes that he and Ivan will be accused of stealing the object, whatever it is, presumably as a pretext for the Cetagandan Empire to go to war again with Barrayar.

In the complex series of events that follow, Miles becomes embroiled in a desperate search to understand why he and Ivan have been targeted, and who was behind the attack. The two cousins soon find themselves socializing with Cetagandans of the ghem caste. Although barbarians like them aren't supposed to come into contact with the exalted haut, it doesn't take long for that to happen, too. The story that unfolds involves a murder investigation and political intrigue of the highest order within the Cetagandan Empire. Bujold writes with a light touch. The dialogue is clever and sometimes very funny. The book is a great deal of fun.

For example, consider this exchange between Miles and Ivan

Miles "you have to stay absolutely cool. I may be completely off-base, and panicking prematurely."

Ivan "I don't think so. I think you're panicking post-maturely. In fact, if you were panicking any later it would be practically posthumously. I've been panicking for days." 

For some reason, when I read dialogue like this, I think of Redford and Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
How the heck did I miss reading any of these in SciFi reading career? I cut my teeth on Tom Swift, first editions I bought with lawn mowing income. This is hands down the best SciFi series of books I've ever read. I bought the first one and simply couldn't stop. The Flying Spaghetti monster only knows how many hours of sleep I missed and how much work time I procrastinated to read these books. I read them in the order the author recommended and they were right on target. Don't put it off, just buy them all now, tell your wife and kids goodbye and read your heart out.
His home world is military minded so the stories have some violence, but not an over abundance and any sex is talked of but no graphic descriptions. Miles gets into the middle of a mess and the mystery is how he can get out of it with the least amount of damage.

Miles is sent to represent his planet at an extremely important funeral on their #1 enemy's home planet, all pageantry and extremely polite. Of course, complications arise and Miles ends up solving a murder, stopping a coup, rescuing the kidnapped lady, and returning the stolen key. All for the enemy.
There are few things I can say about Bujold's Vorkosigan books that are not high praise. I've even started reading other military sci fi authors as a result, something I would have never anticipated. But I'll try for an unbiased review all the same.
This is the third book I've read, following The Vor Game. In it, we get to see Miles and Ivan working together on an alien world, and also get our first true impression of what sort of people the Cetagandians really are. Bujold is quite inventive here, creating a race both obsessed with genetic control and yet at times utterly human in its mistakes and misunderstandings. We also see more of the author's awesome character building, something she really excels at. I felt that, by the end, I could have held a conversation with these people, they seemed that real.
However, while the last book of hers I read only took me three days, this one did take three months for me to finish. I put it down several times, and though engaging, it just wasn't as amazing in terms of plot as Vor Game was. I'm looking forward to the next though!
If you haven't read a book in this series, this isn't the place to start, but if you are currently reading the whole saga, definitely keep going with this one.
This is a fun, standalone adventure with Miles and Ivan. I'm not done with the entire Vorkosigan series as yet, but in this particular novel Miles and Ivan Vorpatril are introduced to the Cetagandan Empire, historical occupiers and enemies of Miles and Ivan's homeworld, Barrayar.

This is a nice little work because it establishes the complexities of Cetagandan society, and since the Cetagandans feature as important antagonists in later adventures, this understanding is valuable for enjoyment of those works. It also shows that Ivan is a little more complex than just "that idiot Ivan," and can be a competent officer in his own right. I like to think that Ivan Vorpatril exists as an example of who Miles might have been if he did not have so much to prove in light of his physical deformities.

Things you won't find within this book the Dendarii mercenaries or any of Miles's normal space combat adventures. This is a palace intrigue novel, with Miles and the reader equally clueless about the complexities of Cetagandan society. It's fun, but if space battles are what you're looking for and you don't care about intrigue, you could get away with skipping this one.

But you'd be missing out. Especially given the parade of beautiful, complex, and frighteningly strong female characters who show up throughout the novel.