Captain Vorpatril's Alliance (Bujold)
Jul. 18th, 2012 04:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cahn4/5. I HAVE MISSED YOU, LMB! AND YOUR PLOTS TOO!
I wasn't intending to read this until the hardback came out, but thenjulianyap intervened. So.
So this review really boils down to SQUEE! This was an incredibly indulgent book -- and I don't care, I wanted it to be indulgent, and so (I suspect) did LMB. For this reason, it read a lot like extremely well-written fanfic, with a nice plot, from someone who really likes Ivan! Which I'm all for! (Interestingly, I just requested something almost exactly like this in a fic exchange, which amused me no end while reading it.)
It's most like Civil Campaign in feel -- not so surprisingly, as it's a slightly tongue-in-cheek romance (oh, come on, that's not a spoiler, is there anyone, anyone at all reading this book, that didn't know Ivan was going to get hooked up in this one?), but without either the Barrayan politicking or the Milesian tendency to get himself, um, hoist on his own petard. Because if there's anything that would be out of character for Ivan, it is getting himself hoist on his own petard. It's really kind of refreshing. Though I looooved the politicking of ACC and would have preferred more of that.
It isn't deep. It isn't serious. It isn't even super-plot-heavy (this disappointed D, actually; he was sort of hoping that there would be some sort of super-plot-twist at the end tying it up really nicely, but there wasn't). It doesn't tell us anything about life we didn't already know (as was true with Mirror Dance, Memory in spades, and even Civil Campaign). It's just a rollicking adventure with an old friend who gets some of the happiness we all always hoped he would get.
Some reactions I had to the characters:
Byerly: HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Regarding Ivan: "And call your mother." HAHAHAHAHA. Ivan is surely the only citizen of the Vorkosiverse who has to be told by his boss to call his mother!
Miles: so pleased he only showed up for a brief cameo -- because Ivan can't really shine when he's around, can he?
Ekaterin: WHERE WAS EKATERIN??
Illyan: Not a secret how much I adore Illyan. ILLYAN! Stepdaddy issues! Being sad that Ivan says "um" so much around him! Cackling! "What the hell, Simon?" HA.
A couple of things that mildly bothered me: I did keep feeling as if Tej's reactions weren't quite... right, for a scion of Jackson's Whole. For example, early in the book she is impressed by Miles being able to order summary executions. Umm... any Baron or Baronne of JW would be able to do the same, no? I mean, I'd expect her to respect that power, but not necessarily to be impressed by it. Several other similar examples I can't think of right now -- I know we've heard of JW mostly from the more corrupt denizens of the place, but still I'd expect any kid growing up as a Baron's child to have a working knowledge/cynicism of the more corrupt aspects which Tej was just lacking. And indeed the rest of her family feels that way -- but there's not really any explanation given as to why she thinks about things differnently, except oh, she's the youngest. Or something. I'd really have liked a little more amplification here... it would have been so easy to do, just point out gently that she was the only one with Betan tutors, or something? So Tej didn't really ring true to me. I mean, as a character she was great! But as a character given her backstory... not so much.
Another thing: The Koudelkas are the only females in the Vorkosiverse I can think of who actually manage to have friends whom they don't meet through their husbands or father. I was kind of psyched to see an actual female character in the Vorkosiverse have a female friend whom she doesn't inherit from her husband! But then it ends by her... saying goodbye to all her friends and family, so now she's dependent on people Ivan knows again! Whee. Sigh.
In general things seemed a little, um, simplified? But I still loved it.
I wasn't intending to read this until the hardback came out, but then
julianyap intervened. So.So this review really boils down to SQUEE! This was an incredibly indulgent book -- and I don't care, I wanted it to be indulgent, and so (I suspect) did LMB. For this reason, it read a lot like extremely well-written fanfic, with a nice plot, from someone who really likes Ivan! Which I'm all for! (Interestingly, I just requested something almost exactly like this in a fic exchange, which amused me no end while reading it.)
It's most like Civil Campaign in feel -- not so surprisingly, as it's a slightly tongue-in-cheek romance (oh, come on, that's not a spoiler, is there anyone, anyone at all reading this book, that didn't know Ivan was going to get hooked up in this one?), but without either the Barrayan politicking or the Milesian tendency to get himself, um, hoist on his own petard. Because if there's anything that would be out of character for Ivan, it is getting himself hoist on his own petard. It's really kind of refreshing. Though I looooved the politicking of ACC and would have preferred more of that.
It isn't deep. It isn't serious. It isn't even super-plot-heavy (this disappointed D, actually; he was sort of hoping that there would be some sort of super-plot-twist at the end tying it up really nicely, but there wasn't). It doesn't tell us anything about life we didn't already know (as was true with Mirror Dance, Memory in spades, and even Civil Campaign). It's just a rollicking adventure with an old friend who gets some of the happiness we all always hoped he would get.
Some reactions I had to the characters:
Byerly: HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Regarding Ivan: "And call your mother." HAHAHAHAHA. Ivan is surely the only citizen of the Vorkosiverse who has to be told by his boss to call his mother!
Miles: so pleased he only showed up for a brief cameo -- because Ivan can't really shine when he's around, can he?
Ekaterin: WHERE WAS EKATERIN??
Illyan: Not a secret how much I adore Illyan. ILLYAN! Stepdaddy issues! Being sad that Ivan says "um" so much around him! Cackling! "What the hell, Simon?" HA.
A couple of things that mildly bothered me: I did keep feeling as if Tej's reactions weren't quite... right, for a scion of Jackson's Whole. For example, early in the book she is impressed by Miles being able to order summary executions. Umm... any Baron or Baronne of JW would be able to do the same, no? I mean, I'd expect her to respect that power, but not necessarily to be impressed by it. Several other similar examples I can't think of right now -- I know we've heard of JW mostly from the more corrupt denizens of the place, but still I'd expect any kid growing up as a Baron's child to have a working knowledge/cynicism of the more corrupt aspects which Tej was just lacking. And indeed the rest of her family feels that way -- but there's not really any explanation given as to why she thinks about things differnently, except oh, she's the youngest. Or something. I'd really have liked a little more amplification here... it would have been so easy to do, just point out gently that she was the only one with Betan tutors, or something? So Tej didn't really ring true to me. I mean, as a character she was great! But as a character given her backstory... not so much.
Another thing: The Koudelkas are the only females in the Vorkosiverse I can think of who actually manage to have friends whom they don't meet through their husbands or father. I was kind of psyched to see an actual female character in the Vorkosiverse have a female friend whom she doesn't inherit from her husband! But then it ends by her... saying goodbye to all her friends and family, so now she's dependent on people Ivan knows again! Whee. Sigh.
In general things seemed a little, um, simplified? But I still loved it.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-19 08:10 am (UTC)This, exactly. Can you imagine Tej and Mark's first meeting? Also 100% with you on Ekaterin's presence (ha): Kareen in ACC said, "notice how the stories end when women get married" and despite the lampshade? Ekaterin hasn't been a PoV character since... she got married.
But good things! Ivan and Tej are ambitious, in their own way: ambitious to not get dragged into their family's plans. The annual death-offering wasn't new information, but its re-introduction reminded me that Ivan has had the blood price of Barrayaran politics hammered into his consciousness every birthday of his life.
Simon and Alys were awesome, no surprise; the, ah, unintended consequences of the mycoborer were definitely best witnessed through ex-ImpSec eyes.
The By/Rish interaction felt too neat - I don't like my romances like dominoes, knock one down and cascade the rest, even if (as I check facebook) life is sometimes exactly like that - I wanted Rish to be awesome on her own. And not simplified.
The implications about Jackson's Whole biochemistry / genetics are, again, not new, but are extremely unsettling to contemplate at any length.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-19 01:18 pm (UTC)THIS BOTHERS ME SO MUCH I CAN'T EVEN. I don't even ask for her to be a POV character! I don't even want her to have, like, her own career (okay, I totally do, but I am willing to compromise on that). All I want is for her to display some of the awesomeness we know she has, and that there are so many opportunities for. There were so many wasted opportunities in DI and so many here... and even in Cryoburn; why couldn't there have been a parallel Barrayan plot... oh well.
the annual death-offering wasn't new information
In general I thought sometimes there were way too many info-dumps in this book (is there really anyone who is coming to this as a first Vor book?) but this one was really nice, to see a parallel view from Alys and Ivan.
The By/Rish interaction felt too neat - I don't like my romances like dominoes, knock one down and cascade the rest, even if (as I check facebook) life is sometimes exactly like that - I wanted Rish to be awesome on her own. And not simplified.
Huh. This made me realize that I had rather compartmentalized Rish-as-awesome-friend and Rish-as-By-love-interest, and what happened in one compartment didn't affect the other one. Mostly, I think, because ever since Sharing Knife I simply don't trust LMB and romance anymore, so when she does it I'm all "OK, sure!" and move on :) I thought Rish was pretty awesome on her own, and considered By more as a little toy that she brought along (and notice that he goes with her, not the other way around, YAY).
The implications about Jackson's Whole biochemistry / genetics are, again, not new, but are extremely unsettling to contemplate at any length.
Yeah. I really wanted, once I knew this was a book about JW, to see this delved into more. I'm ok with this not being the book for that, but I wonder whether she's ever going to write gritty in this universe again.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-19 08:01 pm (UTC)This! This! Where the heck is an Ekaterin novel? My teenage feminism as fostered by LMB's novels is raging at the handling of female characters.
Along those lines, I am cheering Rish picking up a By. But I noticed that I was more sensitive to his loss/abandonment of his Barrayaran life than Tej's similar loss of her Jacksonian life. Talk about unrecognized assumptions.
Re: JW: I'm ok with this not being the book for that, but I wonder whether she's ever going to write gritty in this universe again.
This, exactly. Based on the last three Vorkosigan (ish) novels, and the fantasy novels, I'm thinking no. MD and Memory have elements of Protagonist is Wrong that LMB doesn't seem interested in exploring at the moment, see particularly the way the Jeeves concept is raised and dropped like a hot potato in CVA. Bonus points for the family dynamics of the Baronne's even and odd "children". Oh, I could go on and on about the ghem Esif genetic fiddling and concepts of family/us.
(Related to "Protagonist is Wrong", stories I'd like which Bujold will never write, are a.) the Father's book in the Five Gods universe, which may or may not be the same as b.) a 5G novel exploring the Quadrene heresy's side.)
no subject
Date: 2012-07-20 05:07 pm (UTC)And yes, so much interesting that could have been done with the Baron/ne's family dynamics, which in the end boiled down to "my family doesn't understand me," which... didn't require such a detailed setup, it seems...
OH. I sooooo want the Quadrene heresy book! You gotta figure that they've got some good reason for having such a heresy, in a universe where the gods actually come down and talk to you... and yes, heck, I want the books of all the other gods!
no subject
Date: 2012-07-21 06:35 am (UTC)The two remaining 5G novels are the Father and the Mother, so I am guessing it will be a very long time before they get written. (But say, Father's book about the Golden General? Or people in his entourage? Would be awesome. Not just because tragic yet inevitable downfalls are my bulletproof. Cough.) There could be more than one good reason for the Quadrene heresy, starting with People Are Thick As Bricks and moving on to epistemological discussions of what is divinity, anyway; and finally there is the question of whether gods evolve. (Or people's relationship to the gods, at least in this universe. That puts me back at epistemology!)
As long as I'm coming up with novels unlikely to be written, I'd like the Mother's book to involve lesbians dealing with parenting problems, while doing other plot things. There's a notable lack of LMB protags dealing with dear Junior while saving the world (ahem, Cryoburn, cough) as well as same-sex romantic relationships, especially women's. I'd like to see that amended.
(This is what happens when my internship isn't demanding enough brain power.)
And an Ekaterin novel. A spinoff series would be nice, but just one all-Ekaterin -PoV novel would be fantastic.
no subject
Date: 2012-07-21 02:34 pm (UTC)Yeah, I'd love to see *anyone* write the parenting-while-saving-the-world story (the only one I can think of offhand is a lovely little understated story by Connie Willis), sigh.
What Connie Willis story?
Date: 2012-10-15 06:56 pm (UTC)Re: What Connie Willis story?
Date: 2012-10-15 08:26 pm (UTC)The story I'm thinking of is called "And Come from Miles Around," and is in her first story collection Fire Watch. It's a brief, very understated story starring a stay-at-home mom, so understated I don't think I got it the first time I read it (I was also in high school at the time, though :) ) It may be the only story I know of that stars a stay-at-home mom (friends have recced a couple of others to me, but I haven't got around to them yet).
And, okay, honestly, now that I think about it a little more, she doesn't save the world at all, but for anyone who's been in the situation described in the story, it probably felt to the people around her a bit like she did ;)