Heavy Cetagandan politics await the reader within. It is wise to have a couple of stress balls nearby so that one doesn't rip up the couch as I did when reading this political thriller that looks short and yet seems to take forever to get anywhere. Synopsis: Miles Vorkosigan and his cousin Ivan are sent on a diplomatic mission to
the court of the Cetagandan Empire, Barrayar's former enemy. This
sophisticated, genetically advanced but in many ways alien society both
fascinates and repels, and when the Cetagandan Empress and her attendant
die suddenly, Miles and Ivan find themselves embroiled in intrigues
that are hard to fathom. Ivan's romances and Miles' infatuation with a noble Cetagandan lady further complicate matters in this novel by
four-time Hugo Award winner Lois McMaster Bujold.
And the synopsis and my review pretty much say the same thing. Nothing much happens and that hits the reader on the head, but the political intrigue is quite under par if one has read David Weber's Honor Harrington series where political intrigue takes stage around book five and up.
Anyway, it starts off, near enough at the beginning and something of a rarety for Bujold, with Miles and his cousin Ivan Vorpatil arriving at Cetaganda to attend a funeral of the late haut Empress dowager when they run into a ba--genetically engineered sexless slave--and attain a rod. Miles suggests they keep it much to Ivan's annoyance. Vorob'yev--a Barrayan ambassador to Cetaganda--ushers Miles and Ivan to a function/party-thing where Miles becomes ill after staring at a multicolored object (I can't quite remember what it is at this exact moment). During a second function, Ba Lura--a slave of the late Empress--shows Miles to haut Rian Degtiar who demands that Miles return the rod he stole. Miles being Miles, says he left it at the Barrayan embassy (which he did, but Rian doesn't seem to believe him until he starts taking an interest into how Barrayar could be set up to look like it stole the rod). The funeral interrupts them and they part ways with Rian promising to send for Miles again. During the funeral, Miles witnesses Ba Lura kill itself--or so he thinks. A few days go by, one ending with Ivan being poisoned and can't "perform" well for two attractive Cetagandan women, before Miles and Rian meet again.
This time, Miles gives her the rod and she identifies it as a copy of the Great Key of the Star Creche that unlocks the haut genetic bank(s) and Miles promises to help her solve the mystery of where the real Key is and who killed Ba Lura, since Miles is beginning to doubt that Ba Lura's suicide was as simple as it looked. Over the course of nine days, Miles and Rian manage to piece together that Ba Lura was persuaded by Ilsun Keyt, ghem-General Naru, haut Nadina and haut Vio d'Chilian to give them the real key for the Empress' project (which takes away the power that the Star Creche has in deciding who's DNA gets paired with who's) and gives Ba Lura a copy to drop off with the arriving Barrayan ambassadors (Miles and Ivan) so Keyt can urge the Cetagandans to declare war on Barrayar again, something neither Miles nor the Emperor of Cetaganda want.
After Vio tries to kidnap Ivan believing he's the brain
behind the whole thing--something that irks Miles to no end--Miles, Rian and a
few other trusted haut women corner Vio and take her down. Miles, with haut
Pel, decide to board Keyt's ship and retrieve the real Key and rescue Nadina
(who has been held captive since a meeting between the haut women to hand over
all their genetic material banks to recreate a new Key). After retrieving the
real Key and Nadina, Keyt and Naru corner them but the arrival of ghem-Colonel
Benin (who has been following Miles since Miles showed interest in Ba Lura's
death and is tasked with finding the murderer) shows up with Ivan and a few
Cetagandan guards. They arrest Keyt and Naru and Benin takes Miles, Pel, and
Nadina to meet the Emperor haut Fletchir Giaja who demands answers.
Rian and Miles tell all and, in a meeting between Giaja and the haut woman which Miles gets to sit in on, learns that Naru will be executed while Keyt and Vio are to be offered retirement (Keyt)/become a sexless slave (Vio) or suicide. Ghem-General Benin, recently promoted, escorts Miles back to the Barrayan embassy, then takes him the following morning to Giaja. Giaja awards Miles the Cetagandan Order of Merit and orders Miles to accompany him to a ceremony where Giaja will choose the next haut Empress. It is then that Rian (who has been secretly starting to love Miles and Miles is showing interest in her) gives Miles her bracelet for Miles to remember her by as it is the only thing she truly owns. Giaja appoints Rian as the Empress and they become married--which is it's own awkward thing on Cetaganda for neither partner actually has sex with the other, just the same haut-genetic breeding the rest get. As Miles and Ivan leave Cetaganda, Miles points out that he and Giaja aren't done with each other yet.
All in all, a good political thriller in the Vorkosigan saga that details (quite excruciatingly at times) the Cetagandan politics and all their traps and snares. Nevertheless, a decent, if somewhat heavy politicking at times, addition to the series.
