On October 1999, Lois McMaster Bujold once again returned to her saga about Miles Vorkosigan. This time, love is in the air, or is that politics? Or butter bugs? Or a wedding? I don't even think the book knows which. Synopsis: One cunning plan too many . . . ? It's spring in Vorbarr Sultana, and a young person's fancy turns thoughts of love . . . money . . . bio-genetics . . . love . . . lack of money . . . incompatible planetary sexual mores . . . love . . . District succession scandals . . . the Emperor's wedding . . . and, of course, love . . . Lord Miles Vorkosigan, youngest Imperial Auditor to be appointed by the Emperor since the Time of Isolation, has a problem all his new power can't solve: unrequited love for the beautiful Vor widow Ekaterin Vorsoinson. Ekaterin is violently allergic to marriage as a result of her first exposure. But as Miles learned from his late career in galactic covert ops, if a frontal assault won't do, go to subterfuge. He has a cunning plan . . . Lord Mark Vorkosigan has a problem: his love for the sunny Kareen, daughter of Comodore Koudelka, has just become unrequited again. But if all his new money can't solve their dilemma, perhaps a judicious blending of science and entrepreneurial scheming might. He has a cunning plan . . . Lord Ivan Vorpatril has a problem: unrequited love in general. True, with the men on Barrayar out numbering the women five to four, his odds aren't good. But Ivan had never thought the odds applied to him. He too has a cunning plan . . . If no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy, just imagine what all Miles' closest friends and relatives can do to his romantic energy!
The novel starts off with Miles making plans to woo Ekaterin; to do this, he hires Ekaterin to design a garden on one side of the Vorkosigan House in Vorbarra Sultana. Ivan, of course, interrupts with wedding details that Lady Alys has planned for the upcoming wedding of Gregor and Laisa. Meanwhile, Kareen misses Mark; Martya and Olivia rag on her, but Kareen informs them that Mark will be along later after a stop-over on Escobar. Miles suddenly becomes swamped with wedding plans and yet still tries to woo Ekaterin, much to her ignorance. Rene is waiting for confirmation that he's the Count Vorbretten, but Count Vormoncrief and Sigur Vorbretten are cock-blocking him in the Council of Counts. Mark finally arrives with a scientist named Enrique in tow. Alexi Vormoncrief treats Ivan and Byerly Vorrutyer to a meal and informs them of Lady Donna's attempt to claim the Vorrutyer title in the Council of Counts and also slips that he sent a Baba to Ekaterin, intending to woo her; Ivan believes this is a great mistake, but doesn't say so. Kareen and Mark propose to let Cordelia act as a Baba to Kareen's parents. Ivan and Byerly welcome Donna home, but she's now a he and is called Dono; she got a sexchange on Beta. Ekaterin learns from a family relative that Alexi has sent a Baba to formalize their engagement, but Ekaterin protests vehemently and states that she thought they were talking about Miles, to which her relative scoffs. Miles, rather stupidly, tells everyone but Ekaterin that he intends to woo her. He intends to throw a party where he'll ask her and invites Ivan, Kareen, Dono, Mark, Martya, Olivia, Alys, Simon, Ekaterin, and several others. At the party, things unravel faster than a romantic-comedy; Simon lets it slip what Miles intends, and Ekaterin sensibly runs away, but not without bumping into Cordelia and Aral, who are just arriving from Sergyar. Miles sinks into depression; Drou and Kou have forbidden Kareen from seeing Mark' and things seem to go wrong for all. Cordelia says that she might help Mark and Kareen, and informs Miles that his best strategy is to apologize via a recorded message, which Miles does in the form of a written letter. Kareen talks to Ekaterin about their womanly problems, with Martya worried for Enrique; Pym drop sit off and Martya takes the opportunity to learn all. Byerly informs Ivan of Alexi's and Richar's plans, and that they plan to reveal that Miles killed Tien, even though that's not true, but they believe it anyway. Mark and Enrique meet Kareen and Martya at the Vorthys house and Martya agrees to take Kareen's place in the R and D department to keep Enrique calm. Richars threatens Miles witih blackmail, but Miles won't have it; Miles informs Allegre who says to hold off telling Ekaterin until ImpSec can pin a handle on it.
Miles calls Dono and invites him over to meet with Rene and that the three of them will hatch a plan to take down Richars and Alexi in the Council of Counts. Simon pays Ekaterin a visit and tells her about Miles and how it is to be with him and that he's a fast learner; Alexi interrogates Nikki about Miles' state after Tien's death, but Ekaterin berates him, but Alexi seems hellbent on persecuting Miles and says that Miles killed Tien. Simon interrupts and Alexi flees in terror; he drops an angry Ekaterin off at Vorkosigan House with Nikki; she tells him to make sure Alexi is hanged. Miles gets Gregor to agree to reveal what happened--at least a slimmed down version--to Nikki. Cordelia agrees to act as Baba for Mark and Kareen and that she'll be using the Library for the meeting. Meanwhile, Miles meets with Dono, Rene, Byerly and Ivan and form a plan of political dealings. Miles takes Nikki and Ekaterin to visit Gregor; the Emperor tells Nikki that Miles is innocent and that Tien was a fiend who redeemed himself in death to right his wrongs; Gregor gives Nikki a personal vid card to call him in case of emergencies such as kidnapping. Hugo Vorthys and Vassily Vorsoisson arrive at the Vorthys house and demand that she and Nikki return to the family proper, but she refuses and they leave. Cordelia directs the Baba meeting and both Mark and Kareen reveal what they want, a year to explore themselves and each other; everyone agrees, even Kou. After a party, Ivan, Dono, and Olivia are ambushed by Richar's men on Count Vorfolse's residence and Ivan hatches a plan. At the Council of Counts, Ivan storms in with Counts Vorfolse, Falco Vorpatril, Vorhalas, and Vorkalloner and they, after Rene allows Dono his time and vice-versa, vote in favor of giving the Vorrutyer title to Dono and keep Rene as Count Vorbretten; Richars is arrested. Meanwhile, Vassily and Hugo threaten to remove Nikki from Ekaterin, but Nikki calls Gregor and the Emperor sends ImpSec to take them all to the Council of Counts where they witness the defeat of both Alexi and Richars, during which Ekaterin proposes to Miles in front of the entire Council of Counts; he accepts. Subsequently, armed Escobaran men arrive to take Enrique from Vorkosigan house, but Martya, Kareen, Mark, and a couple of Vorkosigan armsmen halt them with improvised weapons and butter bugs, but the men don't do down easily. Miles, Ekaterin, Nikki, Vassily, Hugo, Cordelia, and Aral return to the Vorkosigan house and find this ruckus happening; Miles demands an explanation to which the Escobaran men alert him to the tale, but Miles refuses to accept their warrant and has them removed from Barrayar. The wedding happens and all is seemingly fine . . . until the next tale. Oh, and Byerly is an ImpSec agent with a rating of IS-8.
All in all, a decent novel that takes a lackadaisical plotline and twists it into something worth reading. And now we come to November: the month of many game releases. I'll start it off with a couple of game tie-ins from either Star Wars or Mass Effect.
The novel starts off with Miles making plans to woo Ekaterin; to do this, he hires Ekaterin to design a garden on one side of the Vorkosigan House in Vorbarra Sultana. Ivan, of course, interrupts with wedding details that Lady Alys has planned for the upcoming wedding of Gregor and Laisa. Meanwhile, Kareen misses Mark; Martya and Olivia rag on her, but Kareen informs them that Mark will be along later after a stop-over on Escobar. Miles suddenly becomes swamped with wedding plans and yet still tries to woo Ekaterin, much to her ignorance. Rene is waiting for confirmation that he's the Count Vorbretten, but Count Vormoncrief and Sigur Vorbretten are cock-blocking him in the Council of Counts. Mark finally arrives with a scientist named Enrique in tow. Alexi Vormoncrief treats Ivan and Byerly Vorrutyer to a meal and informs them of Lady Donna's attempt to claim the Vorrutyer title in the Council of Counts and also slips that he sent a Baba to Ekaterin, intending to woo her; Ivan believes this is a great mistake, but doesn't say so. Kareen and Mark propose to let Cordelia act as a Baba to Kareen's parents. Ivan and Byerly welcome Donna home, but she's now a he and is called Dono; she got a sexchange on Beta. Ekaterin learns from a family relative that Alexi has sent a Baba to formalize their engagement, but Ekaterin protests vehemently and states that she thought they were talking about Miles, to which her relative scoffs. Miles, rather stupidly, tells everyone but Ekaterin that he intends to woo her. He intends to throw a party where he'll ask her and invites Ivan, Kareen, Dono, Mark, Martya, Olivia, Alys, Simon, Ekaterin, and several others. At the party, things unravel faster than a romantic-comedy; Simon lets it slip what Miles intends, and Ekaterin sensibly runs away, but not without bumping into Cordelia and Aral, who are just arriving from Sergyar. Miles sinks into depression; Drou and Kou have forbidden Kareen from seeing Mark' and things seem to go wrong for all. Cordelia says that she might help Mark and Kareen, and informs Miles that his best strategy is to apologize via a recorded message, which Miles does in the form of a written letter. Kareen talks to Ekaterin about their womanly problems, with Martya worried for Enrique; Pym drop sit off and Martya takes the opportunity to learn all. Byerly informs Ivan of Alexi's and Richar's plans, and that they plan to reveal that Miles killed Tien, even though that's not true, but they believe it anyway. Mark and Enrique meet Kareen and Martya at the Vorthys house and Martya agrees to take Kareen's place in the R and D department to keep Enrique calm. Richars threatens Miles witih blackmail, but Miles won't have it; Miles informs Allegre who says to hold off telling Ekaterin until ImpSec can pin a handle on it.
Miles calls Dono and invites him over to meet with Rene and that the three of them will hatch a plan to take down Richars and Alexi in the Council of Counts. Simon pays Ekaterin a visit and tells her about Miles and how it is to be with him and that he's a fast learner; Alexi interrogates Nikki about Miles' state after Tien's death, but Ekaterin berates him, but Alexi seems hellbent on persecuting Miles and says that Miles killed Tien. Simon interrupts and Alexi flees in terror; he drops an angry Ekaterin off at Vorkosigan House with Nikki; she tells him to make sure Alexi is hanged. Miles gets Gregor to agree to reveal what happened--at least a slimmed down version--to Nikki. Cordelia agrees to act as Baba for Mark and Kareen and that she'll be using the Library for the meeting. Meanwhile, Miles meets with Dono, Rene, Byerly and Ivan and form a plan of political dealings. Miles takes Nikki and Ekaterin to visit Gregor; the Emperor tells Nikki that Miles is innocent and that Tien was a fiend who redeemed himself in death to right his wrongs; Gregor gives Nikki a personal vid card to call him in case of emergencies such as kidnapping. Hugo Vorthys and Vassily Vorsoisson arrive at the Vorthys house and demand that she and Nikki return to the family proper, but she refuses and they leave. Cordelia directs the Baba meeting and both Mark and Kareen reveal what they want, a year to explore themselves and each other; everyone agrees, even Kou. After a party, Ivan, Dono, and Olivia are ambushed by Richar's men on Count Vorfolse's residence and Ivan hatches a plan. At the Council of Counts, Ivan storms in with Counts Vorfolse, Falco Vorpatril, Vorhalas, and Vorkalloner and they, after Rene allows Dono his time and vice-versa, vote in favor of giving the Vorrutyer title to Dono and keep Rene as Count Vorbretten; Richars is arrested. Meanwhile, Vassily and Hugo threaten to remove Nikki from Ekaterin, but Nikki calls Gregor and the Emperor sends ImpSec to take them all to the Council of Counts where they witness the defeat of both Alexi and Richars, during which Ekaterin proposes to Miles in front of the entire Council of Counts; he accepts. Subsequently, armed Escobaran men arrive to take Enrique from Vorkosigan house, but Martya, Kareen, Mark, and a couple of Vorkosigan armsmen halt them with improvised weapons and butter bugs, but the men don't do down easily. Miles, Ekaterin, Nikki, Vassily, Hugo, Cordelia, and Aral return to the Vorkosigan house and find this ruckus happening; Miles demands an explanation to which the Escobaran men alert him to the tale, but Miles refuses to accept their warrant and has them removed from Barrayar. The wedding happens and all is seemingly fine . . . until the next tale. Oh, and Byerly is an ImpSec agent with a rating of IS-8.
All in all, a decent novel that takes a lackadaisical plotline and twists it into something worth reading. And now we come to November: the month of many game releases. I'll start it off with a couple of game tie-ins from either Star Wars or Mass Effect.
