Captain Ivan Vorpatril is happy with his relatively uneventful bachelor's life of a staff officer to a Barrayaran admiral. Ivan, cousin to Imperial troubleshooter Miles Vorkosigan, is not far down the hereditary list for the emperorship. Thankfully, new heirs have directed that headache elsewhere, leaving Ivan to enjoy his life on Komarr, far from the Byzantine court politics of his home system. But when an old friend in Barrayaran intelligence asks Ivan to protect an attractive young woman who may be on the hit list of a criminal syndicate, Ivan's chivalrous nature takes over. It seems danger and adventures have once more found Captain Vorpatril.
Tej Arqua and her half-sister and servant Rish are fleeing the violent overthrow of their clan on free-for-all planet Jackson's Whole. Now it seems Tej may possess a hidden secret of which even she may not be aware. It's a secret that could corrupt the heart of a highly regarded Barayarran family and provide the final advantage for the thugs who seek to overthrow Tej's homeworld.
But none of Tej's formidable adversaries have counted on Ivan Vorpatril. For behind Ivan's façade of wry and self effacing humor lies a true and cunning protector who will never leave a distressed lady in the lurch—up to and including making the ultimate sacrifice to keep her from harm: the treasured and hardwon freedom from his own fate as a scion of Barrayar.
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Product ReviewBujold builds brilliantly on her world and characters. This was an extremely fun book to read. I'm especially fond of the scene at the end involving the ImpSec HQ - unexpected and laugh-out-loud funny (especially Simon's comments and implied thoughts).
It took me a little while to realize that this book occurs before Cryoburn. I'm encouraged by this, as it gives me hope that we may see other out-of-sequence books about Miles' mercenary/agent days.Posted on
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Product ReviewAs expected, a story about Ivan was hilarious.
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Product ReviewBest of the series yet. I was in my doctor's waiting room and had to stifle my giggles at so many points! Adored it.
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Product ReviewI liked the book, Ivan finally got married, the only way that idiot could. He he... I missed Miles. Hopefully she will write at least one book with Miles as the Count. This book was really funny, especially from Ivan's view. I laughed a lot!! Was this book prior to Cryoburn? If you like the Miles series you will like this one even if you only have miles in passing (very very small part).
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Product ReviewFunny and a joy to read.
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