Short Book Reviews: Ekaterin Vorkosigan Solves a Radioactive Mystery

What a pleasure it is to return to the adventures of Miles Vorkosigan, or rather those featuring his resourceful and compassionate wife, Ekaterin. In The Flowers of Vashnoi, Miles has inherited a tract of land, the Vashnoi exclusion zone, that was once a rich agricultural area, a veritable garden. Now, generations after the Cetagandan war, it’s still radioactively contaminated and uninhabitable. Ekaterin has gone there to check on the clean-up progress. One of the methods used is a bug that consumes and concentrates contaminated matter so that it can be collected and removed from the site. But, as Ekaterin discovers during her tour of the facilities, a significant number of “radbugs” have gone missing. And there’s a mysterious, pale figure flitting through the forest like a wood elf.

This mini-adventure is paced just right, contained within the mystery plot structure yet evoking the larger universe of the Vorkosigan novels. It’s lovely to spend more time with Ekaterin, who tries to take a lesson in leadership from Miles now and again but falls back on her own innate capacity for insight and her scientific curiosity.
Bottom line: just delightful.
The usual disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book, but no one bribed me to praise it. Although chocolates and fine imported tea are always welcome.