Falling Free (Vorkosigan Saga, #4) in The Alternative Worlds

Jan 19, 2014 mark monday rated it liked it

Shelves: scifi-60s-70s-80s, x-vorkosigan-saga

engineer encounters hideous situation involving exploitation of a unique group of workers. engineer fights against this hideous situation.

so this is really a 2 star book, whatever, I'm giving it 3 stars because yeah I liked it, and more importantly I would never give 2 stars to a friend and at this point I kinda feel like Lois McMaster Bujold is my friend. I've been working my way back and forth through her Vorkosigan Saga and I think that not only do I believe in everything she believes in - th engineer encounters hideous situation involving exploitation of a unique group of workers. engineer fights against this hideous situation.

so this is really a 2 star book, whatever, I'm giving it 3 stars because yeah I liked it, and more importantly I would never give 2 stars to a friend and at this point I kinda feel like Lois McMaster Bujold is my friend. I've been working my way back and forth through her Vorkosigan Saga and I think that not only do I believe in everything she believes in - the points she wants to make and the anger she feels at some things and her perspective on gender & race & sexual identity, all that - but I think that she has been working out those points as a sort of conversation with this series' readers about progressive values and fighting against authority, about how different people stand up in different ways but those different ways may amount to the same kind of courage, a conversation about how Bujold herself feels about these sorts of things and how her own viewpoint has progressed (well, perhaps progressed... maybe she has just become increasingly sophisticated in how she expresses her viewpoint and values). so what if the situation presented is a bit maudlin, the villain obnoxiously rote and two-dimensional, too much mechanical-technical-engineering mumbo jumbo, the ending rather on the wish fulfillment side of things, some unnecessary infantilizing of the labor force in question, etc... well what of it. the novel was for the most part fun, exciting, moving, and thoughtful. that's how I like my space operas. the central character is great and just as appealing is the major supporting character Silver, whose characterization is surprisingly dynamic. Bujold moves her past her race's adorable but limited childlike attributes; she eventually displays cunning, insight, leadership, a sensitive sort of ruthlessness, and in the end transcends what could have been a clichéd type - the ambitious young lady who uses sex to get ahead. and the ending... well, sometimes I like wish fulfillment, so sue me.

Bujold would later improve her technique - but the awesome person she clearly is, well, that's already present in this early work. sister, I really dig you.

...more

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Oct 15, 2017 Denise rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Well done mix of science and conflict with a few important moral questions added to the mix. Is Bujold an engineer??

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Oct 20, 2013 Richard rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, ebook

Three and a half stars really, just for the sheer joy of galloping along with a good story and likeable characters.
As I work my way through the series though I'm becoming a little bored with the constant theme of here's another tricky problem for us to solve followed rapidly by another tricky complication to overcome until yippee we get there in the end.
Nothing wrong with that in itself, it's just me overdosing slightly on the series and maybe expecting something a little different from this o ...more

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Apr 20, 2012 Tam Linsey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: keeper-shelf

I listened to this on unabridged audio book while down with the flu, and loved every moment of it. The narrative made me forget I was sick and brought me great joy. Bujold is a master of world-building, and as someone interested in genetic engineering, I loved her new "species" of human - the Quadies. The main character, Leo Graf, is a wonderful portrait of "everyman." Plain, maybe a little nerdy, a company man at the outset, but his growth arc in this novel carries him through a series of moral ...more

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