Miles in Love; Lois McMaster Bujold

Another omnibus put out by Baen, this one has two full size novels and one novella. I read the two full size novels: Komarr and A Civil Campaign. The novella is Winterfair Gifts, also available in the romance anthology which I read when it came out. Links to LMB's webpage in the title above. Reminder, there are two ways to read about Miles Vorkosigan: publishing order or by internal series timeline. All of the novels in Miles in Love center around Miles falling in love (duh! lol) with and his courtship of Ekaterin Vorsoisson. I will try very hard not to give too many plot details away below.

Komarr is set on the planet of the same name not long after the war between Miles’ people and the Komarrans. Thus the stage is primed with latent hostilities and suspicion before the action begins. Komarr has been terraformed, a type of planetwide landscaping, for many years. One of the technologies used to improve life on Komarr is a giant solar array. Somehow, several of the giant mirrors were destroyed in a tug accident. Lord Auditor Vorthys and Miles are in orbit around Komarr to investigate the accident. Lord Vorthys is Ekaterin’s uncle and he brings Miles down to the Vorsoisson’s apartment in the capitol city of Serifosa. Things snowball dramatically from there.

Ekaterin, IMO, is exceptionally well drawn. Trapped both by her upbringing and by necessity in an unhappy marriage with a manipulative, emotionally unavailable man, Bujold limns Ekaterin with grace and light and strength. She finds Miles both puzzling and charming, but mostly she’s coping with her husband and trying to shield their son Nicolai from the worst of his father (which is indifference). Meanwhile, the investigation proceeds apace.

A Civil Campaign takes up immediately after Komarr. Ekaterin and Nicolai have returned to Vorbarr Sultana and are staying with Ekaterin’s uncle. The Vorr are still a patriarchal society, there are legal issues between Ekaterin and her male relatives that complicate matters. Then of course there’s Miles’ cousin Ivan Vorpatril who likes nothing better than to makes Miles’ life as difficult as possible ‘all in the name of fun,’ of course. Not only that, Miles’ clone brother Marc shows up. Politics and paternalism rear their ugly heads, but rest assured romance fans- there is a happy ending.

Winterfair Gifts takes place a few months later, just before Miles and Ekaterin get married. The primary story is set around Armsman Roic and Sergeant Taura of the Dendarii Mercenaries. Taura is in town for the wedding and Roic is assigned to her courtesy escort detail. Primarily the theme is one of finding a place where you can belong, looking beyond appearances, love and acceptance. This novella is also found in both Irresistible Forces and Miles in Love.

Images found on the following sites: Content Reserve, Princeton NJ public library, East Baton Rouge LA public library, and on Catherine Asaro's webpage.

Edited to correct book title Winterfair Gifts is in.

Thorne Family Trilogy; Judith Lansdowne

The titles in this group are: Just in Time, Just Perfect, and Just Impossible. I love Ms. Lansdowne's books, I've three on my keeper shelves already. I hemmed and hawed about the first one, bypassing it several times at the store. I'm nothing if not indecisive, so the longer I hesitated the scarcer traditional Regencies became. These are all longer than most TRs, though.

The first one Just in Time tells the story of Veronica Thorne, Dowager Duchess of Berinwick, and the new rector of the village church, Richard Dempsey. They were childhood friends decades ago, suddenly and unexpectedly reunited by her grace's now deceased husband. Veronica is plagued with guilt and sorrow concerning an episode long in her past, but one that has had profound impact on the lives of her family members. Richard proves to be a most unique vicar, but well up to the difficult task of wooing Veronica, rebuilding the local church and hunting antiquities, all simultaneously. Veronica is older than Richard, and both are in their forties. I also liked the fact that the little Berinwick family is close and loving and that they take their responsibilities to their villagers very seriously. Not only that but the servants are protective of the family as well.

Just Perfect takes place nine years later when young Hannah Thorne is twenty three and is spending the Season at Berinwick rather than in London. It seems his Grace's carefully cultivated fearsome reputation scares off all but one of Hannah's potential suitors. Deciding to quit the field, Hannah is spending the Season at home. First though, she must rescue a traveller lost in the middle of the moor, fend off well meaning matchmakers and figure out who murdered a long lost young woman who returned to the village unexpectedly and was murdered before anyone knew she was back. Ian Denham, Marquis of Kearny and Mallory is also in the village because the Squire is auctioning off some prime horseflesh and every red blooded aristocrat with the slightest inclination to breeding racehorses is in the area. Ian also happens to have an odd 'gift' that can put people off and is afraid of the dark. But Anne Gazenby thinks Hannah and Mal would be perfect if only she can get them together in the right circumstances..The loving relationship between the siblings was nicely done. Richard and Veronica make an appearance as well. For those who are interested in such things, Ian is a beta hero.

The last one in the family group is Just Impossible and is, at long last, the story of the bad, evil, audacious Duke of Berinwick himself, William Thorne. Julia Delacroix has something she hopes his Grace will want enough to pay her a princely sum. Enough so Julia give her young cousin Emma one gilded Season before Julia's bigger plan unfolds. One she has carefully nurtured for nearly twenty years. William and his young ward Elf are determined to help Julia- even if she doesn't particularly want them to. There are several very funny scenes with the dog, which leavened the over the top drama at the end. Still and all with the one overdone scene, this is one of those romances where I was really glad the hero found someone to love him. Like the other two books in the series, strong healthy family relationships were deftly done. According to the story, Julia is twenty nine, nearly thirty and William is thirty nine, pushing forty. Again there are glimpses of life behind the green baize door separating the Family from the servants.

All of these books are put out by Zebra, 2003 and 2004 respectively. Keepers all, because the Thornes are one of my favorite family groups.

Miles, Mystery & Mayhem; L.M. Bujold

I finally managed to finish this one. I'm slow I know. In more ways than one. This is the second omnibus, composed of three previous works: Cetaganda, Ethan of Athos and Labyrinth. I discuss the first omnibus here.The first and last directly tell a Miles story, the middle one details a Dendarii stationer's spy mission against a black market genetics dealer who has also shown up in previous Miles adventures.

This particular group of books is more themed than the previous ones. Cetaganda deals with genetic manipulation and problems arising from concentration of power into a small group of individuals. Miles and his cousin Ivan have been sent to a week long diplomatic funeral on Eta Ceta IV. Cetagandan society has evolved into a highly compartmentalized tiered society. Ivan and Miles are there merely to polish their diplomatic skills in what ought to be a simple week's events. Unfortunately, they become embroiled in a complex scheme involving ancient secret keys, women who float around in opaque bubbles and Ivan's hormone fueled adventures. At the center of it all- who started this and why? And why involve Barrayar?


Ethan of Athos is more of an espionage/thriller type tale, taking place on a space station. A small agrarian planet buried in the back of beyond in the universe needs fresh ova cultures to help their men have children (via uterine replicators- an extension of test tube conception). There are no women here. Women are forbidden even as tourists. Women are the vessel of all that is evil/corrupt/weak etc. You get the picture. So Athos sends a scientist out into the universe (filled with these evil, horrible women) to buy new ova cultures and find out why they were gypped. He gets to a station & is then assaulted. The remainder is a study of life on a station. Commentary on genetic manipulation, single sex societies and the growth of ties between persons whose interests diverge and yet they need each other.

Labyrinth also involves genetic manipulation, the side effects of said manipulation and ethical boundaries. Miles has been sent to recover a top secret scientist off of a planet. The scientist refuses to leave unless Miles rescues the scientist's 'experiment', which has gone haywire and must be destroyed. Then follows Miles' and the other Dendarii's efforts to accomplish these goals.

I have to admit I didn't analyze the moral and ethical issues discussed on a superficial level by these novels. I read them strictly for story & character content. Unlike the Asaro novels (which often contain large amounts of physics), Bujold's novels don't inspire a great desire to delve deeply into the issues the novels bring up. I am now burning the Miles candle at both ends. I just borrowed the most recent Miles book, which features his wife, from the library.