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 ReviewStarted reading this at 10:00 PM with the intention of reading a couple of chapters. Had to stop at 02:30 AM, and started again this morning. Every time I got to the end of a chapter I had to keep reading to see what would happen next. Deffinately the best book since "A Civil Campagne". What will Ivan do next?
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Product ReviewFantastic. Almost finished this in one night, the only reason I didn't was needing to sleep.
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Product ReviewI love the first chapters,and although I want this book like I want air,I think i'm going to wait for the hard cover,may be the special edition if there is one.Thanks to LMB,"FM"
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Product ReviewAwesomely good book! Lois has crushed this one right out of the park, over the wall, through the lights and heading downtown.
The Ivan point of view was stunningly well done. Very fun to see the Vorkosigans/Simon/Gregor from a different point of view. Just like Winterfair Gifts was wonderful for it's point of view of Armsman Roic. Think that... about 40 times more.
I literally couldn't put it down. So much fun, witty, wise and wonderful! Moved fast, a lot of great twists and turns and "ok now where the heck is this going??" etc etc As Anne said, she started laughing at Chapter 5 and didn't stop until the end. Yeah same here.
Read some of the more quotable lines to my wife who got some good chuckles from the total far left field that some seem to come from.
This book is just as good as Civil Campaign in its own way as well. Loved it! I really look forward to the audio version as well.Posted on
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Product ReviewAfter the disappointments of "Cryoburn" the old Bujold is back. Nothing will ever top "A Civil Campaign" but "Captain Vorpatril's Alliance" is at least the equal of any of her others.
After "Diplomatic Immunity" and the disastrous "Winterfair Gifts" I think Bujold has realized she has mined Miles for about all she can. But over the years she has given us a host of other characters waiting in the wings to step on-stage. This time it's Ivan, with support from Simon, Alys, and of all people, Byerly Vorrutyer.
Bujold remains the Mistress of the dry and witty turn of phrase, and the dialogue of "CVA" flows much better than parts of "Cryoburn" which at times seemed stilted and forced. At one point I asked my wife how far she'd read, and was answered Ivan just told Alys. My reply, she's just invited them to dinner--it's a Vorkosiverse book, what could possibly go wrong? The supper lacks the hilarity of "Campaign" but has nuances to pay attention to, 'nuff said.
Perhaps we wondered how Illyan, head adrenaline junkie of Adrenaline Junkie Central could so quietly vanish into a peaceful retirement? The answer is here: he couldn't.
And for those who've pondered the past hints that Ivan perhaps isn't so feckless we learn of the childhood loss and political danger that led him to hide behind the persona of "Ivan, you idiot" even as it grated on him.
I'm pleased that Bujold seems to have recovered from the inevitable dealing with the death of Count Aral, and is ready to retire Miles to the supporting cast for a while. I'm looking forward hopefully to finding out more about Mark and Kareen in a future book.
Bujold's and the Vorkosiverse are back in style. Buy it, you'll like it.Posted on
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Product ReviewOnce again - well worth buying the E-Arc! The "Ivan Book" was as good as I expected, and I wound up reading this in two sittings, because I could not stop turning the pages. To compare it to "A Civil Campaign" or "Cordelia's Honor" is somewhat unfair - but I will have to go back and re-read those, now...
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Product ReviewI wish there was more resonance in this book. I have to say that until I got to the end of "Cryoburn", I really wasn't feeling it, but the way Bujold created resonance with prior books really saved it for me. In Ivan's book, we do get to see more of other people's issues - Alys', Simon's, and some of Ivan's, but he still doesn't feel as real as Miles/Mark/Cordelia were in previous books.
If you love the series, get the book.Posted on
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Product ReviewI will join the legions of fans. Much better than Cryoburn or Diplomatic Immunity and, I think, a rival to A Civil Campaign.
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