Captain Vorpatril's Alliance

It has been observed that most human males die before reaching maturity.Lord Ivan Xav Vorpatril has nearly managed that several times in his short life. The earliest such occasion occurred about an hour before he was born, during an attempt on the throne of Barrayar in which his mother and father were caught by forces loyal to the pretender. His father died while friends tried to rescue them; his mother managed to escape with them and give birth to Ivan while in hiding afterwards.So, given that early pre-natal conditioning as it were, Ivan has spent most of his life trying to avoid politics or attracting too much attention to himself while attempting to live a comfortable life. Not an easy task for someone potentially in line for the throne, and made even less easy by his manic cousin Miles Vorkosigan, who has an absolute genius for attracting chaos in his wake - and dragging Ivan into it. And it doesn't help that Ivan's determination to avoid living up to all of his potential too visibly is made all the more conspicuous by contrast with the friends and family around him.By age 34, Ivan has managed to work himself into a fairly comfortable position: a taste for good food and drink, comfortable lodgings, and a job as Captain and aide to a high ranking admiral in the Barrayarran armed forces where he serves ably. A certain amount of status, a job challenging enough to be interesting without the headaches of high rank, enough leisure and status to attract a fair number of bedmates on a regular basis, and distance from his mother, who is still waiting for Ivan to get on with his life. True, most of Ivan's old girlfiends seem to have all gotten married. Even his cousin Miles has managed to settle down and start raising a family. And things don't seem to be quite as much fun as they were when he was younger...Nonetheless, despite his efforts to keep a low profile, avoid politics, and romantic commitment, Ivan can't help himself when his sensibilities override his normal caution. He's proved himself able to act swiftly and intelligently when circumstances force it on him, and his proven loyalty to the Emperor (and family connections) have of late earned him some respect - and attention - in his own right. So it's not entirely unexpected that an otherwise routine assignment would be interrupted by a undercover agent of Imperial Security in a tight spot calling on him without warning for help.Nothing too dangerous, nothing too arduous - Byerly Vorrutyer just wants him to see if he can make the acquaintance of a young woman and find out why the dangerous people the agent is trying to corral are so interested in her. Ivan reluctantly agrees. (It doesn't hurt that she's beautiful after all.)Boy meets girl; girl rebuffs boy; boy persists; girl's unexpected female companion stuns boy and the two of them drag him into their apartment and tie him up while they figure out what to do next. It seems Ivan's target is on the run from a rather nasty power struggle, doesn't know if the others in her family have survived, and is about out of options. Tej and her exotic companion Rish are refugees from Jackson's Whole and figure Ivan is an assassin. Ivan manages to convince them of his bona fides by frustrating an attempt to kidnap the two women - while still tied to the chair!And after that, it begins to get really interesting. Ancient secrets, complex familial relationships, deadly adventures, sheer comedy, pathos, romance, Imperial crogglement - Bujold has crafted another richly satisfying tale.Ivan Vorpatril has been in the Vorkosigan saga as long as Miles. He's grown from being a comedic foil and butt of jokes to an interesting character in his own right. (A running gag in the series has been his constant disparagement as "Ivan-You-Idiot". This time around a character is impressed enough to comment "Your mother told me she didn't think you could be an idiot.") This novel is Ivan's first full story, and continues the growth that began in  Memory (Miles Vorkosigan Adventures)  and flowered in  A Civil Campaign  to a satisfying fulfillment.Along the way, we also get some wonderful glimpses of how Miles and his wife Ekaterin are getting along, not to mention Duv Galeni and Delia. And what happens to Imp Sec is worth the price of admission all by itself. (An additional note: this story takes place about 4 years before Miles most recent novel:  Cryoburn (The Vorkosigan Saga) .)

Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series is one of the best and most successful series in SF. It was built around the character of Miles Vorkosigan, who faced a universe with an unusualset of problems. Over time, the background of how Miles came to be was filled in with stories of his parents' meeting and the time of the Vordarian Pretendership. Nevertheless, the serieswas generally thought of as centering on Miles.There is a long history of literature of writers creating successful, ongoing characters, and finding themselves either bored with them (Conan Doyle's feelings towards Sherlock Holmesare famous) or having exhausted the dramatic possibilities they began their series with. Miles has changed, over the Vorkosigan series, and is no longer the character Bujold began with.His weaknesses are largely gone, overcome or rendered irrelevant. He is, in terms of the series, a middle aged man, married, with children, a senior figure in elite of Barrayar. He is a troubleshooter for the Emperor and has begun exerting serious influence in the Council of Counts. His physical problems are no longer central in his life and he has achieved the goals heonce burned to achieve. Most of the basis for drama inherent in his creator's conception of his character and circumstances have been exhausted. The Miles Vorkosigan who was a very smallcharacter facing very large challenges is largely a matter of the past of the series.So, what's left for Bujold to write about? She took a delightful turn in A CIVIL CAMPAIGN, turning out what is, as much as anything, a comedy of manners, but that's not a trick that worksoften. So, having spent so much time creating a world and interesting characters, it seems she's examining the possibilities in figures other than Miles.CAPTAIN VORPATRIL's ALLIANCE brings Ivan Vorpatril to center stage. Miles does not appear in this novel, save as an occasional offstage presence. The story centers on Ivan, with significant roles for his mother, Lady Alice, Byerly Vorrutyer, and Simon Illyan, and a medium size role for Gregor. Same universe, same background, but told from a notably different viewpoint. Avoiding spoilers, this story is, more or less, Ivan's belated Coming-of-Age story, told in character and with a sense of humor. Ivan has always been a very different character than Miles, so he grows up in a very different way. But, their endpoints are remarkably similar in terms of the development of character, which probably says something about the nature of novels, the nature of Man, Ms. Bujold's worldview, or all these things.It's a good read. It's probably a much better read for those who are familiar with the series, as so much resonates against characters and points made elsewhere in the series. I enjoyed this novel more than CRYOBURN and DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY, which seem to me to suffer from the problem mentioned in above; the change in Miles. It's my favorite entry in the series sinceA CIVIL CAMPAIGN, which is my own favorite.Where the series goes from here is a real question. Nothing in CVA precludes more Ivan-centric stories. The ending is merely stage dressing, in character in the large sense, but not final in terms of plot logic.There are other possibilities in peripheral characters, as WINTERFAIR GIFTS showed, although these are probably limited. A story centering on Elli Quinn? Elena Bothari Jesek? Bel Thorne? Taura? And, some other possibilities in the Barrayar area: Gregor, Byerly, Lady Alice and Illyan come to mind, as well, obviously, as the story of Mark. In some ways, in terms of the evolution of the saga, Mark has become a more interesting character than Miles, in that he still has major issues and challenges to overcome, although he is well on his way. There is also still potential in the interplay between Miles and Mark, although here, too, the relationship has already been laid out in some detail. And, there is always the possibility of new storiesset earlier in the timelime of the series. Perhaps something by way of the Count and Countess Vorkosigan's view of the man Miles has become, looking sideways at events in one of the existing stories.Still, we should enjoy the later stories as we can, because it's possible that the end of this series is in sight. The original conception of Miles Vorkosigan which made his stories unusual in SF and allowed the author to explore what, in SF, was an unusual set of dramatic issues, is finished, in the chronology of the series. Unless some way is found to breathe new life into Miles, we may find fewer stories published at greater intervals from here out and that would be a shame.

I prefer fantasy to sci-fi, but having loved the Bujold 'Chalion' books I've been gradually picking my way through the Vorkosigan series in fairly random order. This is my favourite so far, even though Miles barely gets a mention. I'd recommend this book to anyone else who hasn't closely followed the order of publication, because it takes place almost entirely on Barrayar and tidies up a lot of references to Vor-names, places and history.It's also a huge amount of fun. In previous outings Ivan has often been the butt of Miles' humour, but here he's the hero, albeit one who doesn't always toe the Vor-family line. While on Barrayar for a week or so as part of his role as aide-de-camp to the Vor chief of naval operations, he's persuaded by Byerly Vorrutyer (clown-about-town and imperial spy) to check out a beautiful woman who may be involved in one of his investigations. Naturally Ivan falls in love.At this point I thought I was reading a nice fluffy romance.Then suddenly everything lurched sideways a bit and the second half of the book pretty much turned into a caper movie. Things get just a bit silly, pitting Jackson Whole-style private enterprise against Barrayan militarism, and culminating in a hilarious scene where Gregor has to Sort Everyone Out.Highly recommended.

Ivan gets his own novel - Miles appears only in passing. If you enjoyed "A Civil Campaign" you will also enjoy this. It perhaps does not reach the heights of the earlier book but again is best described as romantic comedy set in an age of interstellar travel but more akin to Jane Austin than Star Wars. If you want non-stop space battles you will not find them here, but if you want to chuckle out loud at regular intervals and appreciate beautifully crafted prose this may well be for you. You will not need to be a space opera devotee to appreciate it! You could probably read it in isolation but you will not fully appreciate references to past events and their relevance for the main recurring characters.Highly recommended entertainment from a brilliant author.

Ivan Vorpatril is one of Barrayar's most eligible bachelors and notorious rakes, but now in his mid-thirties he is finding his life of chasing women and partying is no longer as satisfying as it once was. On assignment to Komarr, his path crosses of that of two fugitives from a coup on Jackson's Whole and his attempts to help only make things worse...and change his life forever.The most interesting thing about the Vorkosigan Saga has been Lois McMaster Bujold's willingness to experiment, switch protagonists and POVs and generally not sit still and bash out a load of action-adventure novels. Her willingness to put the series on hold for years at a time until she has a good idea for a new book has also helped it retain a high level of quality.Captain Vorpatril's Alliance is one of the lighter novels in the series. It is a romantic farce with an underlying adventure story and also dwells on the notion of ageing, growing up and maturing, a theme of Bujold's that she returns to repeatedly in the later books in the series. Using Ivan, Miles's womanising cousin with no interest in settling down, to explore this theme is extremely effective. It would have been easy to have done a "growing and learning" story in which Ivan suddenly mans up and accepts responsibility, but this would not have been true to the character. Instead Bujold develops Ivan's character (and, we realise, how she's been developing it subtly in the background all along) naturally and much more convincingly, by having him fall for a woman who seems to be right up his street (superficial and pretty) but whose hidden depths and complex background make her a lot more interesting.These elements of growth and change are accompanied by some quite uproariously hilarious scenes, some nice catching-up moments with old characters who we haven't seen for a while (most notably Simon Illyan) and some more musings on the changing nature of Barryaran society, which are all handled quite well.On the downside, the novel is a bit too long (over 500 pages) to support a slight premise and the lack of some well-motivated villains (we never even meet the bad guys who set the whole story in motion) and there are a few too many scenes of Tej's family scheming or Ivan feeling overwhelmed. A bit more of a serious editing pass to streamline the book would not have gone amiss.Captain Vorpatril's Alliance (****) is not one of the best books in the series and could be a bit better paced, but it remains well-written with a refreshing focus on the characters and how they have evolved over the years, with some nice SF flourishes and very funny moments.

This latest novel in the "Miles Vorkosigan" universe provides at long last a story centred on Miles' cousin, and often his reluctant sidekick, Ivan Vorpatril.Although at the time of writing (Feb 2013) this is the sixteenth and most recently published book in the series it is chronologically the fifteenth and penultimate story: it is set around a year after the conclusion of " Diplomatic Immunity " and about four years prior to " Cryoburn SC (Miles Vorkosigan Adventures) ."Captain Lord Ivan Xav Vorpatril came over, most unfairly, as a bit dumb during most of the previous books of the series because they were told from the perspective of his brilliant cousin Miles. Throughout his life he has never had the opportunity to forget how dangerous politics can be: his father was gunned down on the day he was born, (for the story of the "Vordarian Pretendership," an attempted coup in which Ivan's father was killed, see " Barrayar )" with the result that Ivan's birthday has also included a commemoration of his murdered dad. For the third of a century following his birth, until his cousin Emperor Gregor married in " A Civil Campaign (Miles Vorkosigan Adventures) " and started producing children, Ivan was never more than three heartbeats away from the throne of Barrayar, and therefore had to be constantly watched by Imperial Security. In self defence he has developed a persona designed to stop him looking like a threat, keeping his nose as clean as possible while avoiding any distinction which might get him promoted above the rank of Captain, building an (inaccurate) reputation for having no great intelligence and a (largely accurate) one as a ladies' man.At the start of this book Ivan is just coming up to his thirty-fifth birthday and has accompanied his present boss, the Admiral who is Chief of Operations for the Barrayaran Navy, to the Komarr system. There is a knock on the door of the apartment where Ivan is staying: Byerly, (By), a distant relative who works for Imperial Security, has a favour to ask. The criminals By is trying to catch are taking an interest in a beautiful woman who may know something about them or may need protecting from them. Can Ivan try to make friends with her, protect her and find out what if anything she knows?Unfortunately By has not told Ivan the full story: this assignment is both a lot more complex and a lot more dangerous than Ivan realises - getting through this one may require the sort of quick reactions and outragous tactics more often associated with Cousin Miles ...Up there with "A civil campaign" as one of the most hysterically funny books in a very amusing series: this book had me laughing out loud more than once.At its best, as it is in this volume, the Vorkosigan SF saga is one of the most amusing comedy science fiction series ever written.It currently consists of ten full length Miles Vorkosigan novels, five other novels including this one set in the same fictional Universe, several novellas and short stories, and " The Vorkosigan Companion ".All these novels and stories can stand on their own. But several of them, of which this is one, will give you something extra if you have read the books set earlier in the same timeline.In particular, you will get more out of this book if you have previously read "Barrayar," " Cetaganda (Miles Vorkosigan Adventures) " and "A Civil Campaign."The full sequence of books in this Universe is as follows. The tale of the bioengineered quaddies and how Leo Graf helped them free themselves from slavery, which happened about 235 years before this book, is given in" Falling Free "The story of the romance between Miles' parents is given in the two books:"Shards of Honour""Barrayar"and these two books have also been published together in one volume as " Cordelia's Honor ."The Miles Vorkosigan adventures are:" The Warrior's Apprentice (Vorkosigan) ""The Vor Game"" Borders of Infinity " which is a set of 3 linked novellas"Cetaganda""Brothers in Arms""Mirror Dance""Memory""Komarr""A Civil Campaign""Diplomatic Immunity""Cryoburn"And finally this book, "Captain Vorpatril's Alliance" set between "Diplomatic Immunity" and "Cryoburn" is one of two novels in which the central character is one of Miles' friends. The other is a solo adventure for Miles' friend Elli Quinn, in which she meets a doctor from a planet whose population consists entirely of gay men. That story is called"Ethan of Athos"All the books in the Vorkosigan Universe prior to this one and "Cryoburn" have been republished in six compilation volumes, each of which contains two or three of the individual novels or novellas.I have already mentioned "Cordelia's Honour" and the other compilation volumes are"Young Miles""Miles Errant""Miles, Mystery and Mayhem""Miles in Love" and"Miles, Mutants and Microbes."I enjoyed all these books and strongly recommend them, just be careful if you are trying to complete the set that you don't accidentally duplicate the books you own by purchasing a compilation volume consisting of books you already have! Diplomatic ImmunityCryoburn SC (Miles Vorkosigan Adventures)BarrayarA Civil Campaign (Miles Vorkosigan Adventures)The Vorkosigan CompanionCetaganda (Miles Vorkosigan Adventures)Falling FreeCordelia's HonorThe Warrior's Apprentice (Vorkosigan)Borders of Infinity

The plot: Ivan Vorpatril is doing duty on Komarr, a colony planet, when an ImpSec agent asks for help - a help that neatly synches with Ivan's style in rescuing beautiful young women. Only, this time the women shoot him... and so starts another of those mad headlong Komarr/Barrayar/Jackson's Whole stories, with (and I quote) "almost-stolen treasure, crime lords, off-world invasion, secret bombings, ugly kidnappings of beautiful women, and much, much more..."My opinion: most enjoyable - not her *very* best, I think, but that is after just one readthrough - a bit unfair, that, since I have read Cordelia's honor at least six times, and the others in the wonderful Vorkosigan saga many times as well. Bujold is up to her usual tricks, both stylistic and story-wise: you are being seduced into a romantic mood when the next bomb explodes all over the plot, literally or otherwise, and throws it all into glorious disarray... with Ivan, as usual, muttering "*not* my fault... " I was taken aback in seeing a reference about consulting Aral on Sergyar, but in the timeline stat at the end of the book I see this (CVA) slots in just *before* Cryoburn. More to come, we all fervently hope!P.S. I almost forgot - Baen has provided, as usual, a ghastly cover (back cover, the front is standard SF fare) with really *really* bad interpretations of what the main personages look like - you have been warned!