The Vorkosigan Saga is one of those classic SF series that has been a little intimidating to me because there are so many books in the series, and the suggested reading order of the series is not the publication order, so it doesn’t naturally lend itself toward easily identifying the “next” book in the series. Cordelia’s Honor is actually an omnibus edition comprised of Shards of Honor (Vorkosigan #1) and Barrayar (Vorkosigan #7)(???) Here’s a short plot description from Goodreads for both of those: Shards […]
Everyone is apparently legally required to review this book
Sleeping Beauties – 3/5 – SPOILERS by the Way So this has a fable quality to it, obviously. But in a lot of ways, this is like an episode of Star Trek (a Q episode specifically), where the small town created King squared become a stand-in for all humanity. In the same way that the Starship Enterprise becomes the crucible for the humanity and morality of all mankind, the small town of Dooling, West Virginia becomes the crucible for all MAN-kind! Boom! Punned. But in […]
Orientalism, Cultural Alienation, and Clones
Crocodile on the Sandbank – 3/5 Stars If you haven’t read this book, it’s a little hard to fully understand how to categorize it. It’s very British-feeling, even though it’s written by an American author. It’s very British-loving to be sure. It reads almost like a mystery novel, but it’s not entirely a mystery. Instead, it’s most close to a few of the antecedents mentioned in the book itself. It styles itself after HR Haggard adventure tales, but in a less buxom/masculine kind of way. […]
Culture novels always reminds me of Lois McMaster Bujold, so then I read more of hers too.
Use of Weapons by Iain M Banks – 4/5 Stars So I have read a few of Iain M Banks’s books in the Culture series, including the weird little novella “The State of the Art” and each time I read one, I think about how much it feels like a blend of Vorkosigan and Hainish novels. It’s not the most literary writing, but I do find it quite literary, and it’s weird, but not crazy, and it’s usually really good at creating worlds and filling […]
Don’t Promote Your Troubles Beyond Your Rank
Continuing the adventures of Penric, the demon hosting priest of Lois McMaster Bujold’s World of the Five Gods, we have two more novellas: Penric’s Mission and Mira’s Last Dance. These are two very closely related stories, so much so that if felt more like reading on novel then reading two novellas. I enjoy these little stories quite a bit, so realizing that I had two unread stories to read was a treat. In Penric’s Mission, Penric is sent to spy on some duke from some […]
Weirdly this reminded me of “Split”
So I haven’t read The Hallowed Hunt yet, but I will probably this summer. But otherwise, I don’t find the World of the Five Gods to be particularly funny. But luckily this book was funny, and it reminded me of how funny a lot of the Vorkosigan Saga is. Even the more serious books like Memory or Barryar have their moments, but the outright comedies like Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance and A Civil Campaign are not only funny, but constructed like comedies, where the stakes can be real but ultimately work […]
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