Crossing the Universe: not as easy as it sounds
Girl. Boy. Spaceship. Murder. Deception. Totalitarian political system, manipulation, and art.
I loved this book a very, very great deal.
Like Leviathan Wakes (and it’s about the only thing the two books have in common, aside from the whole space thing), Across the Universe is a dual narrative, although here it’s two first-person voices. In this case, one POV is Amy: frozen in hibernation, accompanying her parents to a new planet to be amongst its first colonists. (Which may make you ask how she can be a narrator… just trust me on this one.) On the other hand is Elder, awake on the same ship Amy is sleeping on, part of the generation crew tasked with looking after the ship while it travels to the planet – a journey of some 300 years. The story revolves around Amy waking up ahead of time. Accidentally. And she’s cranky about it. As you would be. Amy’s awakening is a disruption on two significant levels: for Elder personally, because he finally has someone around of the same age but she’s like no one else he’s met; and for the ship, not least because it is mono-ethnic – an ethnicity that Amy quite clearly does not fit. Both Elder and the ship as a whole struggle to figure out how Amy can fit in. On a ship hurtling through space, with limited resources and no way to leave if you don’t like things, fitting in seems of paramount importance. So what does Amy do, what does Elder do, and why is Amy awake now anyway?
Along with a cracking pace and intriguing plot, there are some meaty issues to be dealt with. On the large scale, there’s the issue of how a generation ship could be made to work. This is a question that has frequently taxed SF; Elizabeth Bear’s Dust/Chill/Grail sequence is one example that goes in completely different directions from Revis. On the face of it life on the Godspeed looks like it works quite well, but very quickly it becomes obvious that perhaps there are cracks that have been papered over. Connected to this is the question of leadership, and what makes a good leader; Elder is learning from Eldest, and his reflections on what works and what does not are by no means trivial. On the more personal scale is how individuals deal with trauma, and expectations, and their own inner demons. Amy’s angst over whether to join her parents, and then how to cope with being woken early, is visceral and compelling. Elder’s disagreements with Eldest and how discoveries about the ship are in some ways less shattering, but have further-reaching consequences. And then there’s Harley, who I wish had had more of a presence in the novel. An artist, impacted by tragedy, and a better friend to both Elder and Amy than either to the other. His perspective, even though we get it solely through Amy and Elder, adds great richness. And poignancy.
Also, there is a love story. But not an easy one.
Plus, that cover! Beautiful!
There is some hand-wavey science-y stuff that doesn’t entirely make sense, and for the more technically-minded this may well be enough to throw you out of the story (Niall H!). I am not that person; I love my science but I am willing, for a good cause, to be very forgiving of hand-waving when it’s not too obvious (to me!) – and as you can see, this was a very good cause indeed (for me).
This is (of course) the first in a projected trilogy. I hope Revis can maintain the awesomeness.
(To make things even more fun, Beth Revis sounds like a totally awesome person. She was a teacher, who loved teaching! She likes Shakespeare for the dirty jokes and wrote her MA on CS Lewis’ Till We Have Faces (oh I must re-read that, I haven’t read it in such a long time). She is racing her mother to see which can get to the most (US) states! That says… quite a lot, really.)
Some slight spoilers in the comments.
Mappa Mundi
Really enjoyed the story as a whole. It opens with a series of vignettes, “Legends,” mostly set in the childhood of various characters. One of the games I played as I read was figuring out which character had had a legend (this shouldn’t have been very hard, given they are all named… but I have a poor memory and I read too fast, so you know. It worked for me). This was a really cool technique. However, the characters are not a strong point – more to the point, I think the female characters are not a strong point. Some of the men weren’t great either, but more of them were interesting and appealing and relate-able than women, for me.
The story as a whole is a compelling one, dealing as it does with mind-mapping and (potentially) -controlling technology. The world is a very near-future one – even closer than when Robson wrote it, actually, since some of the technology she throws in that in 2001 may have seemed quite ‘tomorrow’ is already here! Most of the story flows nicely, with only a few only-for-the-narrative moments, none of which were tooo jarring. It’s well-paced, and the shifting between characters works nicely to build tension and provide juxtaposition.
This review was written ages ago and I meant to add more, and then… time went on… and now of course I have forgotten what I was going to say. I was also going to link to Dreams and Speculation, the blog that hosted the 2011 Women in SF Book Club until it folded a couple of months ago, but the blog itself seems to have disappeared – which is sad, because we had a really interesting discussion on various aspects of this novel.
The Leviathan may be awake…
… but it’s not that impressive, as these things go.
The inner solar system is quite well colonised, and humanity is beginning to move out into the outer reaches as well. Unsurprisingly, there is friction between the planets – and the asteroid colonies – in some of the same ways, I feel, as there was in Africa when European countries decided they wanted to establish colonies on that continent (without, happily, the mitigating issue of prior occupation). Who should have control – the people in the area or the people back home? How do you make decisions when communications suffer a significant lag – and when the conditions there are significantly different from the conditions here? And then you add in travel time, and rogue elements care of capitalism and free enterprise, and you have a rather chaotic system. On the scale of the solar system, even if you restrict yourself to the asteroid belt and in, that’s a very messy situation indeed. I really, really enjoyed the world-building here. The description of the living situation on the asteroids in particular was very compelling, and the way in which – for example – relying on external sources for all of your air and water would change people’s attitudes towards those fundamentals, and the corresponding cascading effects, was beautifully drawn. I also enjoyed that the focus was largely off-planet; it would have been a very different story had it been slightly more, well, grounded.
The notion of Earth/Mars rivalry is not a new one, of course; many authors who have suggested planetary colonisation have imagined at least political disputes, if not war, over issues such as governance and resources. Here, though, it is not the focus of the plot; more the background, and the catalyst, and eventually the binding factor in two quite different narratives. One of those narratives is a detective yarn that owes a lot to the noir: grizzled cop looking for missing girl, ends up getting involved in something much bigger than he expects. The other narrative is of a space-lovin’ ship’s captain who stumbles across the wrong derelict, and ends up getting himself chased from one end of the system to the other because of some rather delicate intel that he accidentally gets his hands on. Miller, the cop, and Holden, the captain, trade chapters throughout most of the book – although it’s all in third-person, so there’s still a barrier between reader and character. Their stories start in quite different places (literally and metaphorically), and spend the novel (550-odd pages) merging and twining and departing in clever and intriguing ways. James S.A Corey is actually Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck writing together (quite why you would go with a nomme de plume and then tell absolutely everyone about it confuses me; were they told that collaborations didn’t sell, or was it whimsy?), and I wonder whether each of them was largely responsible for one narrative – not that I could pick a difference in writing styles.
I had one big problem with this novel, which colours my view of it, and that was Miller’s developing preoccupation with Julie, the girl he is tasked with finding. Some of the reasons for why he might become obsessed with her are developed along the way, but it made me feel quite uncomfortable, and additionally I did not feel as though that discomfort was part of the intended effect. While other characters acknowledge that Miller has taken it a bit far, quite how creepy and weird that is is not made explicit. This was problematic for me, although not enough to make me stop reading.
My view, then, of Miller is tainted by his (non-)relationship with Julie. Overall he is one of those not-necessarily-likeable characters whom a reader nonetheless can (perhaps grudgingly) admire and appreciate (caveat above in mind), making hard choices and occasionally getting them wrong but standing by them, and his own morals, through various tribulations. And I did end up overall admiring him. Holden is a very different character, as is appropriate for a multi-point of view novel. He tends more towards action, although to say that one is brain and the other brawn is doing both a disservice. I think Holden is easier to like, as a person, although he certainly has his own faults. This may partly be because we see Holden interacting more positively with more people, particularly the crew of his ship, whom we also get to know somewhat; Holden’s story is largely theirs as well, and they are a disparate and motley group indeed. Their banter, and their cooperation, helped make Holden’s sections of the story more enjoyable for me than Miller’s.
The cover of my paperback has George RR Martin proclaiming this book as “Kickass space opera” and, much though I hesitate to quibble with GRRM, I feel I must. An enjoyable piece of SF, absolutely. I’ll probably read the sequels (this is the first of a trilogy, and it ends with a really awesome twist). While I am not especially one to quibble over sub-categorisation, for me this was not space opera. It was not… operatic enough. Not grandiose enough. The distances involved were too small, the plots too petty (in the sense of petite, rather than mean), the scope and implications not wide enough for it to count as such. Still, it was an enjoyable ride and it will be interesting to see where Corey/Abraham/Franck go with the story in the rest of the trilogy.
Ship Breaker: not quite what I hoped for
I really enjoyed The Wind Up Girl. I know there are problems with it, and a lot of people have taken it apart, and I agree with at least some of those points. But still, I thought it was a breathtaking view of the world in the not-quite-near future. So I was looking forward to seeing what Bacigalupi would do with YA, and a loooot of people have been raving about this book. I’m sad, then, to say that I was disappointed.
It begins well: Nailer, a boy of indeterminate age, clambering through the wreck of a ship and scrabbling for copper to salvage and make the quote required by his work crew. It’s dangerous, unpleasant work, and that is carried very effectively indeed in the opening pages. In fact, the opening is the most effective – and affective – section of the whole novel: it conveys the reality of life for Nailer and others like him in stark simplicity, complete with dangerous working conditions and the possibility of betrayal. I certainly felt for Nailer in his circumstances, and this sympathy was probably the only thing that kept me reading to the end.
Living on a beach with a crowd of similarly destitute and desperate types, Nailer’s life is of course no picnic. It’s made worse when a massive storm comes in and threatens the entire beach, but starts to look up when the storm proves to have driven a modern, very expensive, clipper ship onto the rocks nearby. Naturally, there are complications, and events proceed neither as he expected nor, entirely, as he hoped. There is fighting, betrayal, hope, and agonising decisions as the story plays out. Through all of this, Nailer is exposed to both the better and worse sides of humanity (and the not-quite-human). It’s not quite a coming-of-age story, although given this is (I think) the beginning of a trilogy, perhaps it will evolve as such. It is a discovery-of-the-world story, and Nailer’s eyes – until this point restricted to an unpleasant family and a little-hope life of scavenging and starvation – are the perfect vehicle for Bacigalupi’s exploration of a dystopia where oil is scarce, oceans have risen, and the divide between rich and poor is even more obvious, in the USA, than it is (believed to be) today.
The world created is a compelling one, as dystopias like this, set not-that-far-away, in a world both familiar and unrecognisable thanks to the changes wrought by climate change (readers of The Wind Up Girl will know this is something Bacigalupi is fascinated by), can be. How the world might manage still to transport goods over the globe when there is next to no oil left is one of the big questions addressed here, as is how society would cope with the changes forced on it – and his answer (“not very well, for the poor”) is all too realistic. Unfortunately, the world-building was also one of the aspects I had a problem with. Too often I felt that new aspects of the world were thrust onto the reader with little forewarning, leaving me disoriented. It may not have been so bad had Nailer, our eyes, been equally jarred. Much of the time, though, he appeared to be comfortable with these ‘new’ parts of his world, as though it was what he had expected all along. This discontinuity was disconcerting.
The other issue I had was with the characters. Nailer’s development is fairly consistent with what we learn of him early on, and there is some lovely characterisation and discussion of his decision-making which genuinely felt real. Many of the other characters, however, are too far in the shade – they get too little light cast on their motivations, leaving them at best two-dimensional and Nailer having to carry the entire story himself… which he’s not quite up to. Nailer’s work crew, for example – a hodgepodge of ethnicities, religions and outlooks on life – are described well early on and then become largely irrelevant. The one exception is Pima, the boss girl. Yet even here, with Pima getting into the action much more than the other crew, the reader learns next to nothing about her thoughts or views on life. The same goes for a few of the other characters (explaining who they are would be a terrible spoiler, though, so I won’t go into details). This lack of depth in the characters was another of the disappointments.
My disappointment overall probably stems from the book having been over-hyped, and my own expectations of Bacigalupi. It is a well-realised world, and one that I am pleased to see being examined in a YA context – the possible results of oil scarcity and changes to the weather are definitely worth exploring. The plot is interesting enough, and there’s certainly a lot of action; there is some variety in the characters and their situations, which breaks at least some of the monotony stemming from being Nailer-focussed. But I don’t think I will be hanging out for the sequel.
Cryoburn, or The End of Bujold… so far
Tehani and I conclude our conversational reviews of Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan series. There are LOTS of spoilers! (The rest can be read here.)
ALEX:
Well Tehani, I guess we actually have to bite the bullet and admit that we have come to the end of the Vorkosigan saga, as fas as has been published so far anyway.
TEHANI:
*sniff* I think we might have put this last review off a little, cos it’s THE END (so far, we can only hope!).
ALEX:
I KNOW I was putting this off! I have read somewhere that she is working on ANOTHER one, but given it took a decade to get from Diplomatic Immunity to this, there will be no holding of breath.
I’ll start off by sacrificing my reputation and saying that this is definitely not my favourite story – I would not want to come to Miles with this book, because I think that the first couple of chapters might have really turned me off! In fact for the first third or so I wasn’t overly impressed at all. It was a very abrupt beginning, the whole wandering-through-the-tunnels thing; being suddenly on a world that we’ve never experienced before, AND minus Ekaterin – to whom I had become so accustomed over the last few books – was quite disorienting. I had to keep reminding myself that I trusted Bujold’s story-telling and character-development skills in order to keep going.
TEHANI:
The beginning is a bit off-putting, for sure. There is precedent though, as it uses the same technique as in “Borders of Infinity”, dropping us into the middle of action we know nothing about. I thought it was very effective, especially given most people reading the book WILL know the characters, so you’re not coming into it blind. Having said that, you’re right in that if this was your first Miles book it would be a shock!
ALEX:
You’re right that it’s similar to “Borders.” Somehow though, that felt more… familiar maybe? Because Miles had been having similar-ish experiences. This time, though, it’s quite different from the last couple of books.
Anyway, as Bujold has started to implement over the last few books, we have multiple perspectives again in this novel; the other main one presented is that of the young boy, Jin, whom Miles befriends – or is befriended by, really. This was interesting and different for the Miles books, since previously it’s been the perspective of people we already know, or Ekaterin. It did make me like the young characters a bit more, and it was a different and otherwise impossible view of the world itself.
TEHANI:
And don’t forget Roic! The stoic armsman has a bigger role here, foreshadowed in his point of view narration of “Winterfair Gifts”. It’s interesting, because the first time I read Cryoburn, I absolutely raced through it, and was left with the impression when I talked about it later that it was Miles and Roic narrating, and that I hadn’t liked it. That first time, it felt like the two voices were too similar and there didn’t seem to be a purpose to the dual narrative perspective. THIS time though, I had a completely different opinion! I’d forgotten about Jin, and yes, I think that works really well – particularly interesting in that Miles is now a REAL DADDY and has a much better understanding of kids! But even the Roic POV worked better for me, and I think it was well done.
ALEX:
I do love me some Roic, I’ll admit. I like the adult-but-not-military-male point of view. And he’s a maybe a little less in awe of Miles, maybe? You’re right that Miles’ attitude towards Jin and his sister is maybe a bit more understanding than it was before, although he dealt with Nicky fairly well.
The plot is, on the surface, a standard investigative one – is a cryogenic company doing, or going to do, something dodgy on Komarr?
TEHANI:
Yep, but we don’t find this out until quite a long way into the book! For a goodly while, we’re really not certain what the heck Miles has been sent to do – doesn’t help that he finds himself an even more interesting mystery while on the planet, which occupies much of the storytelling 🙂
ALEX:
Oh that’s right! I forgot that – it just gets all so tied together in the end 🙂
Miles is sent to find out, on the pretence of attending a cryogenics conference – which also allows us to be reconnected with Raven, the very young clone who helped Miles a bit way back in Memory. Of course, this being Miles, the whole thing develops into something even more unsavoury. As with his meddling on Cetaganda, Miles ends up helping another planet discover something rather wrong at the heart of their system. In this case, on a world where cryogenic storage is close to being the accepted norm for every person (at least those who can afford it…), it turns out that a few decades ago the preserving fluid was faulty, so the people preserved then are actually, genuinely dead. This is bad enough, but is made worse – and far worse, perhaps, from the companies’ perspective – because in storing those bodies, the companies get the rights to the frozen people’s votes. So they are in effect exercising the rights of people who are dead. The whole situation on this planet is gerontocracy taken to a bizarre degree. Miles doesn’t exactly end this, but he certainly helps the world out. And foils the dastardly plans of the cryogenics corp, Chrysanthemum, to do the same on Komarr.
The story is made the more interesting with Mark and Kareen turning up to make a business investment, meaning we get to see the brothers interacting outside of the family sphere and with their respective businesses potentially either colliding or colluding.
TEHANI:
And I’d forgotten this entirely! That Mark and Kareen have a part (and quite an important one!) in the story. Was most odd rereading – almost like I hadn’t read it before at all!
ALEX:
That’s a good thing!
And then Mark and Miles travel together most of the way to Barrayar and… well, then we get to the bit where I cried just a little. Because after an entire book about death, and with Miles earlier brooding over what it would be like when he was finally told that his father had died, that’s exactly what happens. He is greeted by those three little words: “Count Vorkosigan, sir?” For me, this was a fairly heart-rending moment. When I read it, it had only been 7 weeks since I first met Aral, as he was capturing and falling in love with Cordelia. For him to them up and DIE so soon was… hard. And poor, poor Miles. I really appreciated the way Bujold then told the end of the story, in five discreet ‘drabbles’ – stories of exactly 100 words each. The different perspectives on Aral’s death and its aftermath were very compelling. I had more tears, actually, when it got to Gregor’s perspective, and his insistence that he be a pall-bearer because “the man has carried me since I was five years old … it’s my turn.” SO SAD.
TEHANI:
And I teared up even just reading THAT! Hits me every time. Even though Aral hasn’t played a huge role in the actual storytelling for most of the books, he always loomed so large in Miles’ life, in so many of his decisions (particularly to do with honour, and what it means to be a hero), that he seemed to be hugely present in every book. And how masterful is Bujold. Just three words reduce me to floods of tears – the connotation of what it means for Miles to be addressed that way is something only a seasoned campaigner in the Vorkosigan universe would be so affected by and it’s Bujold’s nod to the intelligence of her fans that she could end the chapter that way, knowing that we would KNOW what it meant. In some ways, I would have preferred the book without the drabbles, although they are indeed heartrending – but for me, I think they are there for the newbie reader, not us.
ALEX:
I thought the drabbles were the perfect conclusion, actually. It saved Bujold from the potential to be all saccharine and unbelievable by trying to do the funeral etc from Miles’ perspective, and allows us an insight into the other characters that we love.
TEHANI:
So where could it possibly go from here? What will happen to Cordelia, adrift in Barrayaran society as a widow? How will Miles handle life as the Count? Will Bujold write more novels? Should she? Who should they focus on?? Of all the threads Bujold has woven in her Vorkosigan tapestry, are there still some unfinished? (I think Ivan’s story isn’t yet done, myself, and maybe Mark and Kareen? And then there’s the children…). Do we WANT more?
ALEX:
A large part of me of course wants more, but… like you say, where would it go? I don’t know whether I want to know about Miles the Father and the stinky nappies, or Miles the Count and the Disappearing Money. I really don’t think I like Ivan enough to want an entire book about him, but I know you disagree rather violently! And if the focus were not Miles… well. That’s not really a Vorkosigan novel, is it? I can’t imagine another Cordelia novel, but I’d sure as hell read the heck out of it.
14 Vorkosigan novels in 7 weeks. I think I am officially an addict.
TEHANI:
YAY!
The Sparrow: a tale of religion and aliens
This book was recommended to me I think when I was lamenting the lack of religion in modern SF on Galactic Suburbia, and then also somewhat at random by my school librarian. Who then proceeded to buy it for school… but put it on my desk before putting it on the shelf. Truly I am looked after.
The premise behind it is one that, once stated, makes an enormous amount of sense when you consider the history of colonisation and exploration from a European perspective. Which group of people have, historically, often been the first into new, uncharted-by-white-folks areas? That would be the Jesuits. Of course. So, in 2019 when a signal is received from another planet, it is the Jesuits who finance and send the first interplanetary mission. As the history of Earth’s colonisation would also suggest, it is not an easy mission, and fraught with all sorts of difficulties – physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.
The narrative follows two timelines: one from the time of the discovery of the radio signal, and the subsequent preparations to go to the new planet; the other, some 40 years later, with the one returnee being… interviewed… by his Jesuit brethren about what happened there. This is a difficult process for a variety of reasons: some pertaining to the priest (Emilio) himself, some to the interviewers, and others to the way the situation has been handled and reported. This second timeline is the most difficult to read, obviously, but in turn it has a big impact on the way in which the first has to be read. In the first, Emilio is not the man he has become in the second, so reading the two congruently gives the reader quite a sense of dissonance – which of course makes sense and adds to the experience of understanding just how this man changed, and why.
Did I mention it’s not an easy book to read?
Most of the characters are compelling, and usually in a good way. Emilio is probably the most enigmatic of them, right from the start. The rest of the crew who head off to the alien planet are more accessible, to a greater or lesser degree; most of the Jesuit investigators likewise, although we get to know them to a much lesser extent. There is a nice variety of character – different religious backgrounds being the greatest and most important example of diversity, given the book’s premise. I found most of the characters intensely believable, too, with one exception – and that exception I can’t really talk about without giving spoilers. Suffice to say, I hope, that I didn’t find that this took away from the book in the slightest.
In some ways this book can be seen as a meditation on the impact of European contact and colonisation on the rest of the world in the so-called Age of Discovery. Interestingly, and intriguingly, it looks at the impact on both the subject and the colonisers, which is I think something often missing from the literature (Heart of Darkness being an obvious parallel here). Connected to this, and really really interestingly from my perspective, is the fact that the impact of such an experience – right from the discovery of aliens to contact and the end result of that – on religious people is also front and centre. And taken seriously, and described in ways that I, as a Christian, found quite profound and… accessible, I guess. (The author discusses her own religiosity in an afterword, saying that she was a lapsed Catholic until she had children, at which point she started thinking about religion again and converted to Judaism.) I appreciated this attempt to grapple with what I think are incredibly important issues, and that are often overlooked in the genre.
There is a sequel, apparently, and I’m not sure what I think about that; it stands so starkly and brilliantly by itself that I would be reluctant to add to the ‘afterwards’. That said, this book is so beautifully written that I’m a bit in love with Russell’s prose and I think I could read every other bit of fiction that she’s put out there, so I guess I’ll be reading the sequel.
Shades of Milk and Honey are delicious
This has been on my to-be-read list for a long time – since Tansy recommended it at least, and definitely since it won the World Fantasy Award last year (2010). It’s not really the sort of book that might immediately seem appealing to me; I don’t think the list of books that I’ve read recently and reviewed here would indicate that I’m much of a romance, or Jane Austen, reader. (Hmm. Maybe the Carriger. And possibly the Bujold if you’ve actually read them….) The reality of course is that I am a sucker for a well-written romance that isn’t set in my normal world, and that includes other interesting elements. So, Austen – because I dig the social commentary, and it is indeed so far from my own experience. Not that I’m a great Janeite; I think I’ve only read three completely? (I Could Not get through Emma. She annoyed me too much.)
Anyway. This book is described as one that Austen might have written… had she lived in a world with magic. And, yes, I could pretty much leave a review at that, except that someone else has already stolen that line and where would be the fun in such a short discussion?
Kowal has clearly and consciously set out to write a Regency romance + magic – no attempt here to hide her influences. It is a comedy of manners – and one of those comedies that falls perilously close to being a tragedy, as such things must in order to make the comedy (not the laugh-out-loud sort, but the all-coming-good sort) all the more poignant and wonderful. The main character, Jane, is very plain indeed, but possessed of a remarkable talent for manipulating glamour – the art of using magic to enhance or change appearances. In the same way that the Bennet sisters were to be skilled at the arts of music in particular, well-bred young ladies in this Regency are to be familiar with magic. Its subtle and sensible use are key to a charming, upper-class home. Jane has little hope, though, that her talents will secure her a husband, being that terribly old-maid age of 28. The plot progresses with mishaps and misunderstandings, revelations and rescues, and some utterly delightful pieces of descriptive prose.
There are a number of things that make this book a wonderful, relaxing, read – much like a bath with a book and champagne, or a spring afternoon in the sun with a book and chocolate. The first is the assurance that, because Kowal has taken Austen as her muse, you just know that things are basically going to turn out all right. Of course, it was possible that Kowal would totally throw readerly expectations, but after the first couple of chapters – discovering that the mother is Mrs Bennet to the nth degree, and observing the love-tangles – I was fairly sure that I could rely on Kowal to subvert some aspects but not the basic premise of the comedy. The second is the really wonderful description that Kowal employs throughout, which makes both the setting in general and the idea of glamour in particular come alive. There is no attempt at really explaining how glamour works – just like Austen never attempts to explain how music works. It’s simply a part of the world, this idea of folding light to create illusion.
I enjoyed all of the characters, in the same way that one does with Pride and Prejudice; Mrs Bennet may be a car crash in motion, Lydia a tornado and Wickham a particularly nasty form of blight, but they’re still fascinating to watch. A similar principle applies to Shades, although I shan’t reveal any of the character parallels (some are obvious from early on, others not so much). Jane is an appropriately plucky, thoughtful, and sensitive heroine, one that I at least could certainly empathise with. She deals with her family, friends, and neighbours in the sensible and demure way expected of a Regency lady, always aware of her her social standing and the need to protect her own and others’ reputation. The reader is afforded more of an insight into her thoughts that Austen allows, though, so we also get some of the alternatives she runs through before doing The Right Thing, which modernises her a little but not to the detriment of overall believability.
The one omission I was surprised by was the lack of reference to church, which gets just one mention I think towards the end. I would have been quite interested to see how Kowal imagined her Regency working with the actual one, where church was one of the foci of village life and the minister an important member of the community. Perhaps we will get this in the sequel, which is apparently due early next year (hooray!).
Overall this is a really lovely, gentle, engaging and joyful novel.
Diplomatic Immunity: Miles really needs it
Tehani and I approach the end of our mammoth Bujold re/read with the (currently) penultimate novel in the Miles universe. Many many spoilers for this one and all the preceding! The others can be found here.
TEHANI:
This is a fantastic book because it brings together a whole heap of elements from books gone by. It’s a very nostalgic read, while still being centred very much on Miles in the “present”, learning to be a husband (and father-to-be!) and an Imperial Auditor. It’s got lots of Ekaterin, which is great, but we also get Bel Thorne! And Cetaganda! And quaddies! And of course, mystery, misdirection, action and danger. All par for the course in a Vorkosigan adventure!
ALEX:
If anything could be said to be a ‘standard’ Miles adventure, this probably comes close. It includes many aspects of previous adventures, as you mention, and it’s definitely a Miles-solves-the-mystery-and-saves-the-day. And it doesn’t have the excruciating embarrassment that A Civil Campaign sometimes offered! ‘Nostalgic’ is indeed the word I am searching for here. 😀
Adding to the nostalgia, and something that I loved, is the fact that we are brought back Miles’ own birth in many ways with Miles and Ekaterin waiting for their babies to be born… from their uterine replicators. While they are in a tizz about getting home at the right time, the reality is that missing the birth would be sad but not actually tragic – and how weird to think that this applies to both father and mother! That it’s not the end of the world for, ostensibly, a pregnant woman to be off having adventures! (Makes me think of Gail Carriger’s latest Alexia Tarabotti novel, Heartless, where her heroine is seven or eight months pregnant, and still running – or waddling at least – around.) This compares directly with Cordelia and Aral’s immense worry over Miles – that he had two births! – and of course with Count Piotr’s immense distaste for the very procedure that Miles now sees as, if not routine, then not abnormal. (Also? I’m quite sure every mother reading this either fainted in horror or hilarity at the suggestion that if they wanted to have four children, they should just get them all out of the way at the same time…. I’m not a mother, and even I couldn’t decide between my reactions, and feel sympathy for Ekaterin for having to deal with such a manic as Miles.)
TEHANI:
I hadn’t even thought of the parallels to Miles’ own birth, but you’re completely right. The bit where Ekaterin and Miles are jaunting off round the solar galaxy while officially eight months pregnant? FRUSTRATING! *I* want that!! 🙂 And yeah, twins is enough work I reckon, although people do have more at once even NATURALLY, so I guess it could happen – but four lots of baby Miles? Eep.
ALEX:
Plus: Bel Thorne! Not forgotten! Hooray!
TEHANI:
One of the best elements of the Vorkosigan Saga is that Bujold builds on what has gone before, allowing growth and change in her world but still giving the reader familiar elements to cozy up to. The use of Cetaganda in Diplomatic Immunity is far better here than the match up between Ethan of Athos and the book Cetaganda – Bujold played to the strengths of the better worldbuilding this time, ensuring continuity.
ALEX:
Yes, I was very pleased that Cetaganda made a comeback; they seem like far too important a part of Barrayar’s universe to not interrupt Miles’ life again. (I loved that the Emperor sent a delegation to Gregor’s wedding, as of course he had to, in ACC – and Miles’ interaction with Benin and the haut Pel.)
TEHANI:
There’s only one tiny point where this falters, and that is easily explained. Diplomatic Immunity was published before “Winterfair Gifts” was written. In “Winterfair Gifts”, Roic has an interlude with Sergeant Taura, which would be a pretty important memory to him, and Ekaterin is nearly poisoned by a wedding gift. However, when Taura’s visit and the wedding are mentioned in Diplomatic Immunity, there’s no note of this (understandably, as Bujold probably hadn’t conceived of it at that point!). What grated though, was the reference to Ekaterin’s “tense, distraught state the night before the wedding” which “reminded Miles forcibly of a particular species of precombat nerves he’d seen in troops facing, not their first, but their second battle. The night after the wedding, now – that had gone much better, thank God.” Having just read “Winterfair Gifts”, this jars significantly because Ekaterin’s “nerves” or behaviour had nothing to do with worry about her first marriage or what lay in store for her in her second. But we have to allow for these little issues, I guess!
ALEX:
As someone reading these now, in internally chronological order, it still weirds me out to see these inconsistencies because overall, the series is so consistent – for something not written thus!
TEHANI:
Other than that, this is a brilliant book. Miles is learning to rely not just on his on manic wits, but on Ekaterin’s thoughtful observations as well (and his own reliance on her to moderate him and calm him is becoming very sweet). The extra element of needing to be back on Barrayar to open the uterine replicators for the birth of their first children gives a very important deadline to wrap up the case, which naturally means the case gets more and more complex! The actual plot of this one is nicely twisty, and it’s the sort of mystery that ONLY Miles, with his rather varied background, could have solved, at least without a major interplanetary incident.
ALEX:
I really liked Miles’ comment on basically wanting to use Ekaterin to help his investigation – recognising that some people would be more willing to talk to her about things, in order to relay information. Of course this only works because Ekaterin is herself more than willing to be involved, at least to some degree, and readily acknowledges that she does indeed have talents and uses that Miles just doesn’t. They are delightfully complementary.
I was bemused at the start as to how all of the various skeins would end up tying together – because I knew that they would. I certainly didn’t expect the ‘herm’ to actually be a ba! And a renegade ba at that! The tie back to Cetaganda was very neatly accomplished, I thought, and of course Miles’ dealing with the whole thing was perfect.
TEHANI:
Was very cleverly put together indeed – Bujold working her magic as usual!
Great to see Nicol back, and with Bel – so sweet. Bel’s departure from the Dendarii was a bit heartbreaking, so it’s really good to see what happened to it, and where it ended up.
ALEX:
So SWEET!!
TEHANI:
It was also interesting to see how other places react to Barrayaran ships and their crews at a local level – we know that Barrayarans are generally regarded as fairly brutish by civilised races, but this is drawn more explicitly in Diplomatic Immunity. It’s particularly interesting given that we’ve seen such a lot of gentility on Barrayar more recently, as well as the brutality (particularly towards mutants), and could have been fooled into thinking this perception may have changed.
ALEX:
I was intrigued by the idea of a Barrayaran having deserted in order to be with a ‘mutie’ – one of the quaddies – and then of course his shipmates’ responses to this. I can’t help but see it as a comment on responses to mixed-race couples, personally.
TEHANI:
In all, it’s a great book. But so sad because we’re getting so close to the end…!
ALEX:
ONE MORE! Well… one more published so far, anyway… oh my, I’ve joined the ranks of Bujold fanatics rather hard…
This chick digs time lords… although maybe not as much as them
I got sick, realised that I had this to read thanks to the Hugo voters’ pack, and read it in a day. Well, there were a couple of entries that I skipped over a bit because they weren’t that engaging for me and my experiences, but I swear I read almost all of it.
I love Doctor Who, but I do not LOVE it. I am a fan, but I am not a FAN. I don’t think I ever realised the difference between the two before meeting people like Tansy and other serious, mad FANS (in much the same way that I didn’t really know about or understand about SF fandom before attending conventions). That is, I will watch Doctor Who anytime it is on TV, and go out of my way to do so, but I don’t own any DVDs, and I’ve never read the books; I’ve not watched the entire history, although I watched a fair chunk of the First Doctor when the ABC put him on a few years ago. So… love, but not obsession, perhaps?
This book was written largely by women who are closer to the obsessed end of the spectrum. I don’t imagine that I would ever attend a Doctor Who convention, but it seems most of the women here have done so. That’s ok, though; I certainly don’t think any less of them for it! In fact it was really fascinating to see what it would be like to be fully in a fandom on which I am at best on the periphery. What many of the writers were writing about, at heart, was the sense of community that being in Who fandom allowed them to experience: the cosplay, the acceptance of a child with special needs, people who shared a wider range of interests than Who but which converged on that central point. The fact that frequently, the cast and crew of Doctor Who featured in these reminiscences adds to their overall appeal, too. (The fact that I too have been on the receiving end of the warmth of Rob Shearman’s generosity and boundless nuttiness made it all the more amusing.)
When they weren’t writing about that community aspect, writers tended to be dissecting aspects of the Who universe and their own love of it, despite its flaws: the role of companions was a particular topic. I remember one of my university tutors remarking once that there are some loves that can withstand ruthless and relentless examination, and that others just can’t (her example for the latter, I recall, was Home and Away…). Who clearly falls into the former category for these authors, and it was with great joy that I read critical (in the best sense) examinations of Donna, Martha, and Rose – often different from person to person.
The thing that I haven’t mentioned yet about this anthology, of course, is that it was entirely written by women. Not being a part of Who fandom either during the Wilderness Years or even with New Who, it had never really occurred to me to consider whether it was a boy thing or not; I guess I’ve always just read and watched whatever and not been fussed by it – and been lucky enough not to be told not to by anyone I met. So it was also very interesting to read a little about how female fans have been treated, and also about how people (especially women) coming to Who lately have been treated by old-school fans (badly, often). I am led to wonder just how different this book would be were it written by men. I think it probably exists, but honestly I have little interest in seeking it out. I may be wrong, but I harbour a suspicion that it would be more hung up on internal consistency (or lack thereof), and lavishing attention on gizmos. This is probably a dreadful generalisation, and I apologise to male fans to whom this is insulting, but….
Miles in luuuuurve
Tehani and I continue our voyage into Lois McMaster Bujold’s Miles-land, in a conversational review utterly replete with spoilers. Other reviews can be found here.
TEHANI:
It seemed logical to do the whole omnibus at once this time. We had both raced ahead of ourselves, more interested in reading the books than reporting on them, and before we knew it, Komarr, A Civil Campaign and “Winterfair Gifts” were all done! These three works are very strongly tied though, with the arc of the love story between Miles and Ekaterin, so it makes sense to talk about them as a whole.
ALEX:
Yes, absolutely. Reading them in the omnibus, I just… kept right on reading…
Komarr
TEHANI:
Now an official Imperial Auditor, Miles tags along with Imperial Auditor Vorthys to investigate an incident on the Barrayaran colony world Komarr, and finds himself imposing on the hospitality of Vorthys’ niece, Ekaterin Vorsoisson, and her husband and young son. The Vorsoisson household is not a happy one, with Ekaterin’s husband Tien hiding a secret. Miles finds himself drawn to Ekaterin, although his honour forbids him ever to act upon this, and Ekaterin, miserably trapped in a marriage she long grew out of, can only dream of a happier life. Despite his change in status, trouble still follows Miles wherever he goes, and the Komarr situation is no different. Balancing a diplomatic disaster in the making with the mystery of the solar mirror accidents, Miles, as always, finds more problems than he bargained for.
ALEX:
And it’s not like Miles doesn’t half COURT danger, let’s be honest. Nosey little git is a NICE way to describe him, most of the time! Anyway, there are indeed two narratives going on her. First, the detective business that the Auditors essentially find themselves in and bring them to Komarr, figuring out what happened to the soletta – deliberate or accidental damage? – which in turn leads to a much bigger issue: someone trying to close Barrayar’s wormhole permanently. I really enjoyed the investigative aspects of the story, and the way in which Miles used and explored his new Auditor powers. Pairing him with Vorthys, much older and much wiser, with different skills and a more relaxed take on life, was clever from the Emperor and from Bujold – it sets Miles up nicely to work the way he works best, as well to continue growing as a character. And I really really liked that the issues at stake got so much bigger from something quite small; it developed over the course of the novel very smoothly.
The second narrative, of course, if Miles falling in luuuurve with Ekaterin – already married, and then widowed, partly through Miles’ own negligence. And doesn’t that play on his conscience…
TEHANI:
One very interesting aspect of this book is that it’s the first time we get another point of view character for a big chunk of a Miles story. And this in itself is a dead giveaway as to Ekaterin’s importance to the world. Elli Quinn and Elena Bothari-Jesek were never given the narrative. Obviously things were a bit different in Mirror Dance, when Miles was dead or missing for much of the book, but in this case, it is as much Ekaterin’s story as it is Miles’, if not more, and this is very telling.
ALEX:
I loved that we got Ekaterin’s perspective! I’ll admit that I had accidentally looked over a chronology of Miles’ life and saw “Miles and Ekaterin on honeymoon”, so there was no surprise for me in their relationship developing – although I did wonder what we were going to do with Tien! – which I was a bit cranky about. As you say, that she gets so much personal airtime in the book is indeed a giveaway. The insight into the more domestic side of things, and how Miles impacts on people, was a fascinating one.
TEHANI:
I didn’t feel like Komarr was the most engaging of the newer books, but really, that’s a comparative issue – when the two books that precede it are Memory and Mirror Dance, it’s a challenge to stand up and be equal or better! It’s still absolutely solid storytelling, giving us action, drama and mystery, with a little glimpse of love thrown in.
ALEX:
I really enjoyed it! It’s a very different book from either Mirror Dance or Memory, and it benefited from that. There’s a bit less introspection from Miles, and a bit more action, which helps to distance it from Memory in particular. It’s a nice change of pace, given we still get to keep Miles being Miles.
TEHANI:
I’m really glad Bujold didn’t leave poor Miles in the lurch again here. It’s really been so unfair that all the women in his life are not interested in being Barrayaran wives, and while of course, happy ever after is not where we leave the book, at least we know the possibility is now open.
Ekaterin herself plays an important role in Komarr. She’s not there to be Miles’ love interest or complication, although there is that aspect. She plays a big part in the plot as well, but I think the most interesting aspect is her insight into what it means to be a Vor woman. We’ve seen a bit of this with Ivan’s mother and some others, but here, Ekaterin is in the spotlight and she is true Vor. Miles has been our benchmark of Vor, supplemented by Ivan, Aral and many other MEN. now we get the other perspective, one that Cordelia, being Betan, could never offer – that of what it’s like to grow up, and live, as a Vor woman.
ALEX:
The insight into being a Vor woman was utterly captivating – as you say, Cordelia is so totally off the map for Barrayar that she can’t offer this sort of perspective. My heart ached to see Ekaterin’s personal life… and realise that actually Bujold is talking about the experiences of many women today. Her relationship with her son Nikki was interesting too, for being (it seems to me) very real. I was so pleased that she got an action part to play, too – although I will admit that when she and her aunt got nabbed at the station, I had to put the book down and walk away for a little while, because Bujold just KEEPS DOING NASTY THINGS TO HER CHARACTERS. I was fairly sure she’s be ok, but the stress was no good for me. And then Ekaterin destroyed the weapon and it was all ok. Thankfully. Also, I really really liked Aunt and Uncle Vorthys and their relationship – which is developed much more in the next book – that they both have successful, professional careers and have a good marriage says that the Vor aren’t completely and totally useless.
A Civil Campaign
TEHANI:
THIS BOOK IS SO. MUCH. FUN!
ALEX:
Hell yes!!
TEHANI:
I adore this from beginning to end. Bujold once again demonstrates her incredible ability to cross genres, writing a marvellous romantic comedy with intrigue and gender bending and politics and Miles bumbling about! There’s a name for that, right?
ALEX:
Awesome?
TEHANI:
There are lots of plot threads crisscrossing this book. Underpinning it all is Miles’s attempts to woo Ekaterin, now living back on Barrayar with her aunt and uncle Vorthys (side note: I ADORE Ekaterin’s aunt – she’s up there with Cordelia for awesome) and Nikki, her young son. We know how well Miles does in the romance stakes, so his concerted efforts go rather awry – he really must get used to the fact that his vision is not always the same as the vision of those around him!
ALEX:
Oh heck, that dinner party!! That was another moment when I just wanted to crawl under the carpet on behalf of Miles and his shame. But honestly, why the hell did he go around talking about her?? I guess I understood, a bit – hard to keep your trap shut about being in love – but at the same time, he was telling himself so firmly that he had to WAIT… and then it got out of hand… and then it all came good! Hurrah! I think this is one reason why I don’t tend to read or watch romantic comedies, actually; I do not enjoy other people’s embarrassment; I feel it too keenly myself.
Once again I enjoyed Ekaterin’s perspective – that she is coming to understand herself so much more, in particular with how she treats her would-be suitors and her relatives. That she is still trapped to an extent in Barrayar legalities and expectations is excruciating. I also really enjoyed her love of gardening – it’s nice to have at least one person expressing an appreciation of the native flora, rather than just wanting to totally terraform the place. On the Miles front, being privy to her turmoil in thinking about him was very cleverly done. Also, it ends up giving us a whole new insight into Miles himself – and finally a proper tour of Vorkosigan House!
TEHANI:
But the side plots are such fun. The butter bugs, brought to Vorkosigan house by Mark, under the erstwhile care of the mad professor (that’s totally what he was, right?), and Mark’s own love affair with the wonderful Kareen Koudelka gives us a madcap zaniness, which while often under the surface in the Vorkosigan saga, is rarely so overt. And seeing Mark really becoming a person, with a girlfriend and a business, is just lovely. Lady Alys is still organising that darn imperial wedding, keeping everyone, particularly Ivan, hopping. And poor Ivan, now left on the shelf, thinking he might have a chance with a three-time widow who goes and has a sex change in order to take legitimate success of a District … well, that’s just typical for Ivan, isn’t it? I do love that Ivan gets a chance to be a hero here though – without him, the outcome of the meeting of the counts would have been rather different. And you know I’ve always had a soft spot for Ivan 🙂
ALEX:
BUTTER BUGS!! So gross. And Mark turns up, hurrah! I like Mark – the sub-plot with him and Kareen was also a very interesting one, with Kareen paralleling Ekaterin in some ways, with her trying to figure out how to be herself with her parents as well as with Mark. I love Mark for his love of her – and I really love the way Cordelia deals with Kou and Drou, dragging that couch out of the attic!! Ivan… see, Ivan lost some of my goodwill, for trying to be nasty to Miles in upsetting the Ekaterin applecart somewhat. Grrr.
TEHANI:
This book shows Barrayar itself growing up too. The count with the replicators, the one who finds he has Cetagandan heritage, and the Donna/Dono subplots demonstrate ways in which Barrayar is becoming more galactic, and how well her people are, or are not, dealing with this change. I think it’s a very important change Bujold is making here, because while Barrayar has been so set in its cultural ways for many generations, things HAD to change (and it’s a nice tip of the hat to Aral and Cordelia’s own efforts to bring about change).
ALEX:
The Donna/Dono plot was AWESOME. I had so not expected that, and it was a marvellous challenge to the stuffy Counts! I did get a giggle out of the fact that they were, in the end, more scandalised that one of their own could attempt an assault – and worse, fail – than by the sex-change. Additionally, Gregor and Laisa finally get married (with almost no problems!), which provides a nice bit of development/improvement for Barrayar as a planet too; ties to a colonial possession at a very personal level certainly help.
TEHANI:
This book is full of misunderstandings, miscommunications, missed opportunities and mischance. It’s surprisingly long, but is the most amazingly quick read. The characters are so dryly funny, even in their utter despair, and the story absolutely belts along in pace, weaving the myriad plot threads into a gorgeously fun tapestry of a book. I think this has to be my favourite book, for the sheer fun of it (with its underlying serious elements), despite my adoration of Memory and Mirror Dance. I can’t imagine being like Tansy and STARTING with this book, because the back story adds so much more depth, but I can see how it would provide a brilliant introduction to the madness of Miles!
ALEX:
The idea of starting with this book makes my head HURT. This is indeed a whole lot of fun, but it can’t rate as my favourite, I’m afraid; there were too many cringe-moments!
“Winterfair Gifts”
TEHANI:
While not next in the publishing schedule, “Winterfair Gifts” is a neat little tie up of the events of A Civil Campaign. Miles and Ekaterin are finally getting married, and this sweet little tale tells that story. Again we switch point of view, this time to the young armsman Roic, who gives us a fresh perspective into what being around the Vorkosigans is like. Naturally, nothing is easy on Barrayar. Sergeant Taura comes to the wedding, shocking Barrayar with her fearsome appearance (but the Lady Alys handily takes her under her wing and helps Taura understand her own beauty) and uncovering a nasty plot that would destroy not only the wedding, but Miles himself, by killing Ekaterin. In a fairly short piece, all is resolved and tied up in a bow of the beautiful winter wedding.
ALEX:
It was nice to have this next in the omnibus – although I did wonder at Ekaterin’s nerves and whether Bujold was going to actually make Miles WORK in this one! It was awesome to get Roic’s point of view, this time – his discomfort at not being from the military was sweet, and his reaction to Taura was awesome – as was Taura’s reaction to Lady Alys! But, a winter wedding in the garden? The man is crazy.
TEHANI:
If I have one disappointment it was that we didn’t see any more than a brief glimpse of Elena and Baz and their baby, and more of Ekaterin than as a plot device here. That said, Taura and Roic were lovely, if sad, and I liked that it showed the backwater boy learning to understand a bit more that looking different doesn’t mean being different. I don’t know that we had to have “Winterfair Gifts” to complete the Miles/Ekaterin love story, but it’s a nice touch.
ALEX:
True. I was a bit sad Quinn wasn’t there, but I guess having one old flame and one old lover in the place for the wedding was enough for Miles’ potential discomfort…
TEHANI:
Onwards, to Diplomatic Immunity where Ekaterin once again gets to demonstrate why she really is a great match for Miles and we run across some old friends!
Randomly Yours, Alex 