Weatherman

Vorkosigan Saga (Publication Order) #5.4

by Lois McMaster Bujold

On Miles' first military posting, he is sent to an outpost with Arctic temperatures and a psychotic, unstable commander. When the commander orders his men to enter a facility that is leaking poisonous radiation, the men revolt, and it's up to Miles to use his wits to avoid a massacre. A story later incorporated into the Hugo Award-winning novel THE VOR GAME.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR

Bujold's "work remains among the most enjoyable and rewarding in contemporary SF."
- Publishers Weekly

“Bujold has a gift, nearly unique in science fiction, for the comedy of manners.”
- Chicago Sun Times

“Bujold is not just a master of plot, she is a master of emotion.”
- SF Site

"Bujold is one of the best writers of SF adventures to come along in years."
- Locus

Lois McMaster Bujold was born in 1949, the daughter of an engineering professor at Ohio State University, from whom she picked up her early interest in science fiction. She now lives in Minneapolis, and has two grown children. She began writing with the aim of professional publication in 1982. She wrote three novels in three years; in October of 1985, all three sold to Baen Books, launching her career. Bujold went on to write many other books for Baen, mostly featuring her popular character Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, his family, friends, and enemies. Her books have been translated into over twenty languages. Her fantasy from Eos includes the award-winning Chalion series and the Sharing Knife series.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, Fantasy, Short Stories, Science Fiction Fantasy, Novella

100 pages, Nook

First published February 1, 1990

About the author

Lois McMaster Bujold was born in 1949, the daughter of an engineering professor at Ohio State University, from whom she picked up her early interest in science fiction. She now lives in Minneapolis, and has two grown children.

Her fantasy from HarperCollins includes the award-winning Chalion series and the Sharing Knife tetralogy; her science fiction from Baen Books features the perennially bestselling Vorkosigan Saga. Her work has been translated into over twenty languages.

Questions regarding foreign rights, film/tv subrights, and other business matters should be directed to Spectrum Literary Agency, spectrumliteraryagency.com

A listing of her awards and nominations may be seen here:

http://www.sfadb.com/Lois_McMaster_Bu...

A listing of her interviews is here:

http://vorkosigan.wikia.com/wiki/Auth...

An older fan-run site devoted to her work, The Bujold Nexus, is here:

http://www.dendarii.com/

Reviews

[aria ✧ · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I had a nickel for every time a dwarf character had to use their wits and smarts to level the playing field in their political environment and became one of the best characters ever written, I'd have two nickels. Which is not a lot but it's a shame that it's only happened twice. Tyrion Lannister and Miles Vorkosigan, my beloveds🥰🫶🏾

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another re-read for the umpteenth time. This novella tales place shortly after The Mountains of Mourning. Miles is now an ensign, and his first duty station is nicknamed "Camp Permafrost". It's located on a harsh island near the planet's arctic circle. He is to be the new weatherman, despite knowing exactly zip about meteorology. His CO sends him there hopefully to learn proper subordination, something Miles distinctly lacks. Once there, things go from bad to worse as he gets on the wrong side of the camp's commanding officer. He's really talented when it comes to getting top billing on the fecal roster of superiors :)

This is a good one. Some of the chickens contained within this novella come home to roost later on in the series. There is more humor in this one, too, as well as growth for Miles. This shouldn't be missed when reading the entire series; otherwise, some of the background referring to one character, in particular, won't be fully understand in a future installment.

Next up is The Vor Game!

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I like this story and it's reflected in the rating, I wouldn't recommend buying it on its own. This is really the first part of The Vor Game featuring Miles and part of the Vorkosigan Saga and not only have a lot of events passed in previous stories, but the novel this is part of can be found in the Young Miles omnibus along with The Warrior's Apprentice and "The Mountains of Mourning." In this one Miles is on his first assignment in the Barrayar military out of the academy. He's promised he just has to stay out of trouble to get a prize berth on one of the newest space ships. Unfortunately, asking Miles to stay out of trouble...

[Cheesecake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miles's first posting is as a weatherman in a far away place nobody would ever want to visit.
People make the usual assumptions about him and he manages to survive by his wits alone.
Some assholes, some not as much assholes, and a crazy man.
Not my fave by far. But it was still interesting.

[Grond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lois McMaster Bujold's novella 'Weatherman' is, like 'The Mountains of Mourning', a concise reminder of how good a writer she is. In relatively few pages she manages to create plot and illuminate character in ways that not many writers can manage.

A vignette in the life of protagonist Miles Vorkosigan is turned into a thoroughly satisfying read by a careful, brilliant assembly of all the parts therein. The greatest testament to a successful writer is the way that you are both quite pleased and satisfied by the story being told while simultaneously wanting to immediately read more by the same author.

Do yourself a favour. Start reading McMaster Bujold's 'Vorkosigan' books as soon as possible.

[Robiok · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy shit.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short and imaginative story as we follow Miles to a remote island location where (once again) he knows nothing but walks away escaping CERTAIN death. That felt like the Princess Bride moment there for a second.

Our fearless hero has finished his 3 years of training and had hoped for ship duty. He ended up in the arctic because he has a little problem with authority. HA. And to think no one saw this coming. He does a great job figuring out what his new job will be (as a Weatherman on base) and dealing with bullies. I love what he says to the base commander upon first meeting- hilarious.

He finds himself in a position where he has to make a moral life choice and by taking a stand, jeopardizing his whole career. I loved the interaction at the end with Illyan and Aral, his dad, as they discover what Miles has been up to.

And yes, total change of career coming up as he is once again selflessly taking the hit to save his fellow man.

[Sibil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miles. You need to start this series because you need to meet Cordelia and Aral, and then you need to keep reading because you need to meet Miles, too. And it's amazing to see how he is his own person, a marvelous one at that, and at the same time, he can be the perfect mix between his parents. It's like you really knew him, as a real person, and you get to see him grow into an amazing man.
He tries so hard to do the right thing, and he keeps trying, and it hurts, but in the best possible way!
And here we get to see him being by himself in a really unforgiving land, with ice and winds and nothing else around for miles and miles, and it's amazing to see how well he manages to go on with his duties (sure, there is a mutiny of sort involved, he has problems with the chain of command and all that, so oops! )

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I marked this read because it is essentially the first part of The Vor Game and LMB said I didn’t need to read both.

[Katie Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

For his first post-Academy assignment, Miles is hoping to be given ship duty. Instead, he's sent to the remote arctic, to a training base for the infantry, where he'll serve as their weather officer. This is a test - will Miles pass, or will the swirling currents of Lazkowski Base prove to be too much for him?

This novella is actually the first part of the novel The Vor Game. Bujold split it off during the editing process, but also retained it in the novel. It does work as a standalone story, but you would lose eight-tenths of the nuance; it's very integrated into the Saga and relies on it for both plot and character resonance.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

controversial but I think this is my favourite flavour of Miles (having read the one before and the one after); the mercenaries and the bluffing are fun, but the creative problem solving, him on his own managing Situations, without the uh, ethical issue of a Tower of Lies, is even more compelling for me. I liked this one a lot.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Weatherman as the first section of The Vor Game. Not sure if that really counts. I guess I'd need to scan a copy of the original story to know for sure. In the Vor Game it kind of ends fairly abruptly. And has the feel of something you get back to later. Which I kind of remember that we do, but I haven't re-encountered that yet. That said, it's an interesting first posting for Miles post academy. And has some nice bits to it. Reserving judgement, but for now calling it a 3.5 of 5.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

Included in The Vor Game Miles graduates from the Imperial Military Academy and gets planet duty as Chief Meteorology Officer at Camp Permafrost under a "homicidal psychotic" Base Commander. Where he prevents a mass torture murder.

[Norman Simms · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weatherman is worth reading again

I’ve read this book at least four or five times. It is still is an exciting read and like Mountains of Mourning very revealing of Miles developing character as he learns what he is capable of and how to deal with people and situations

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been working my way back through the Vorkosigan Saga, as I felt in need of some inspiration from people who care about honor. I've read this before in a colection, but apparently did not review. Another outstanding Miles Vorkosigan tale.

[Francesca M. Cordi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story line and characters

Great book. I happened upon bujold and vorkosigan back in the '80's and still read and re-read the books. I wouldn't miss one.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this in its guise as The Vor Game and enjoyed the usual Miles mayhem and ingenuity.

[Austin Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

If "The Vor Game" seemed like two completely different parts, it's because it literally is.

[rixx · Rating 4 out of 5]

**Weatherman** is a novella that is also part of **The Vor Game**. It was the weaker part of Vor Game, but it's still bloody good. I mean, it's Lois McMaster Bujold.

[Genie McFate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Lois McMaster Bujold's science fiction and fantasy series. She's a talented world builder and it's been a delight seeing how Myles has changed over the course of this series.

[Meagan]

Incorporated in The Vor Game. Not read individually.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice little novella. I didn’t quite realize that it is literally the same as the first chunk of The Vor Game, though. Oh well!

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Vorkosiagan books.

Short story found in the Borders of Infinity collection.

Reread October 2020

[Daniel Coffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Relatively good.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy buena lectura corta del gran Miles. Sobre cómo tratar con la autoridad, las órdenes inmorales y, además, un toque de seguridad informática.
Inicio del juego de los Vor.

[Renae Guetzkow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like this author. I loved all the books in the Vorkosigan series.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plot: Ensign Miles Vorkosigan, young graduate of the Imperial Service Academy, receives his first assignment: Weatherman, at Kyril Island Military Base, near the Arctic Circle. He's sorely disappointed, but this assignment comes with a promise: If Miles proves to be a good little subordinate at Kyril Island his next assignment will be a dream come true: Placement on the new starship fighter, The Prince Serg.

I enjoyed the section where Miles is confronted with a tough choice, one that could cost him everything, even his soul. That whole bit was great. However, the corpse section had nothing to do with the main plot and was not resolved to my satisfaction. It seemed like filler. Also, I didn't care for how it ended, how the military applied "justice" in this case.
_______

My reviews of this series (*favorites):

Shards of Honor review
*Barrayar review
*The Warrior's Apprentice review
The Vor Game review
Cetaganda review
The Mountains of Mourning review
Labyrinth review
*Borders of Infinity review
Brothers in Arms review
Mirror Dance review
*Memory review
*Miles in Love: Komarr, A Civil Campaign, Winterfair Gifts review
*Komarr review
Diplomatic Immunity review
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance review
Cryoburn review

[Peter Lau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This military science fiction novel is quite an easy read. The aspiring hero, Miles, is thrown into difficult situations, being forced to take up an assignment he knows nearly nothing about. His resilience and strong-will force him against his strict and slightly mad boss. This story is timeless, even though it is shelved as science fiction; besides the aspiration for Miles to take a position on a space battle-cruiser and mention of "old Earth", this story could be played out today, on Earth. The tale is also very believable and lifelike. Highly recommended.

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

THIS IS SIMPLY THE FIRST 1/3 (approximately) of THE VOR GAME, so if you're planning on reading the Vor Game next, you don't have to buy this separately. It's good, but no need to read it twice! (I'd thought it was a stand-alone bridging short story or novella, but no, it's not).

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!

[Mayank Agarwal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Small story showing us the start of Miles military career, I liked the setting’s, the challenges he faces and the unorthodox way he goes about in resolving them, what I didn't like is the ending, it’s lackluster.

Like all the books I have read of the Vorkosigan Saga, it’s a standalone story but it’s recommended to read the series in chronological order. Although the story is set in future there is not much of Sci-fi or Military stuff, it’s more of a character building story.