false 2228670 28 male Cambridge, P9, The United Kingdom 04/2009 12/2009 4 483 454 true 5674469 read 2 true 4850143 currently-reading 27 true 4850142 to-read The Pillars of the Earth (Paperback) by Ken Follett]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/81966161 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165517379s/5043.jpg 2228670 William Marnoch http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2228670-william-marnoch Thu, 24 Dec 2009 13:55:28 -0800 Nights of Villjamur (Hardcover) by Mark Charan Newton]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/81695016 http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51IJKmt8OFL._SL75_.jpg 2228670 William Marnoch http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2228670-william-marnoch Thu, 24 Dec 2009 13:54:46 -0800 more...]]> Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure (Hardcover) by Michael Chabon]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/81694870 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1189135103s/587638.jpg 2228670 William Marnoch http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2228670-william-marnoch Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:11:40 -0800 The Gathering Storm (Wheel of Time, #12; A Memory of Light, #1) by Robert Jordan]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77135586 http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51TWB0B5ZEL._SL75_.jpg 2228670 William Marnoch http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2228670-william-marnoch Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:07:00 -0800 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/240032-cetaganda-any-final-thoughts http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1257088802p2/16548.jpg 2228670 William Marnoch http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2228670-william-marnoch Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:25:10 -0800 As fun as Naismith & the Mercenaries are, I prefer Miles as Miles and that's why I liked this book so much.
"

I agree, I don't think Bujold could have written such a long, interesting series just focusing on Admiral Naismith. He is an entertaining persona, and his fleet does have some good plotlines, but the series has most depth when Miles is being Miles Vorkosigan. There's also not really as much opportunity for character development when focusing on Naismith, since he isn't a real character and Miles has to keep up a certain facade at all times when he is the admiral.

]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/201749-2009-08-consider-phlebas-final-thoughts-haiku-limericks http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1257088802p2/16548.jpg 2228670 William Marnoch http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2228670-william-marnoch Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:46:45 -0800 Peregrine wrote: "Thanks, Ron. Much as the violence in CP grossed me out, it's the ideas and thoughts in the story that stay with me, and I find myself looking forward to reading another Culture novel at some point."

There's a fair bit of violence in some of the other Culture books as well, but plenty of interesting ideas as well (I'd say that Use of Weapons and Player of Games in particular are much better than Consider Phlebas).

]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/225988-cetaganda-the-cetagandan-empire-and-culture-spoilers-likely http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1257088802p2/16548.jpg 2228670 William Marnoch http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2228670-william-marnoch Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:47:56 -0700 http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/157248-some-general-housekeeping http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1257088802p2/16548.jpg 2228670 William Marnoch http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2228670-william-marnoch Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:23:39 -0700 http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/214257-the-vor-game-discussion-spoilers http://photo.goodreads.com/groups/1257088802p2/16548.jpg 2228670 William Marnoch http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto-M-50x66.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/2228670-william-marnoch Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:50:21 -0700
For those reasons I think The Vor Game is possibly the weakest Vorkoskigan novel due to the weak plotting and structure, although it is still an entertaining read.

"Now that he has a 'place' in the scheme of things, I expect the novels will be more like Warrior's Apprentice? (I hope so!)"

I wouldn't say that most of the later novels were actually much like either Warrior's Apprentice or The Vor Game, the two of them probably have more Dendarii Fleet space battles than the rest of the series combined .]]>