The Warrior's Apprentice (Vorkosigan Saga, #2) in The Alternative Worlds

May 26, 2013 mark monday rated it liked it

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

so i was engaging in a favorite pastime on friday night, namely verbal one-upmanship slash sadistically using the power of my oh so mighty intellect to tease my poor innocent friends, when the very drunk birthday boy said "You know you are going to get smacked if you keep on talking like that." i couldn't help myself: i reached up and gave him a very light & friendly tap on the cheek with the palm of my hand while dropping another dazzling bon mot. sadly, in the middle of my witticism, birthday so i was engaging in a favorite pastime on friday night, namely verbal one-upmanship slash sadistically using the power of my oh so mighty intellect to tease my poor innocent friends, when the very drunk birthday boy said "You know you are going to get smacked if you keep on talking like that." i couldn't help myself: i reached up and gave him a very light & friendly tap on the cheek with the palm of my hand while dropping another dazzling bon mot. sadly, in the middle of my witticism, birthday boy enacted a decidedly non-verbal response and proceeded to smack the shit out of me. later, as i walked drunkenly home, ear still ringing from the horrific attack, it occurred to me that this would never happen to one of my recent heroes, Miles Naismith Vorkosigan of the the space opera lite The Warrior's Apprentice.

ah, Miles. what a great creation he is! clever and sharp-tongued, vaguely ambitious, shorter than most, the opposite of a physical threat, kind and even-tempered, clear-eyed in his self-assessments, a little bit self-sacrificing but not in an eye-rolling way, queasy at the thought of causing others harm, full of both self-doubt and ego, always the girl's trusted best friend rather than the object of her passion, the wittiest man in the room and he knows it but he is going to try to keep that to himself so that you don't get upset and take it out on him in surprise smack-attacks. and he talks and he talks and he talks. i love Miles. his character is usually the supporting character, the hero's best friend, the brother who dies, an amusing cameo. it's a great thing for me to know that there is a whole series practically devoted to this lil' guy. he's endearing i suppose, but i personally don't see him as "endearing" because i don't see him as a cute character type. he feels very real to me. part of that may be due to reading all about his parents in the prior books - i know where Miles comes from, i understand the context, i get how his background informs his present. part of that may be due to how much i empathize with him and his various personal travails.

the novel itself is about Miles leaving his home planet of warlike Barrayar and inadvertedly creating a mercenary army. oops! for me the plot is really secondary to just sitting back and enjoying Miles. the writing is fine, nothing special but certainly nothing problematic either. Bujold veers towards the bland. style is not the selling point in her skill set - readers come to her for the surprisingly grounded and rich characterization. and so The Warrior's Apprentice may have space battles, mercenaries, revolutionaries, mechanized war-suits, etc, but that's almost besides the point. Miles is the point.

Miles - and Bothari. the latter character - a former brainwashed rapist and sadistic torturer who now acts as Miles' bodyguard - is the other big selling point of the novel. Bujold does not downplay his past or excuse it - although in some ways it can be excused (i would say that brainwashing excuses many things) - nor does she overplay his redemption. she gets the character right, she doesn't leave out the ugly or disturbing parts, and yet she still allows the character grace and dignity within his tragic arc. Bujold definitely knows how to write characters that the reader can feel. i felt Bothari, i felt Miles, i felt Elena and Ivan and i am looking forward to feeling the rest of the characters that will be introduced to me in this saga. ...more

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May 03, 2011 Daniel Roy rated it it was ok

Shelves: sf

Having just finished "Shards of Honor" and "Barrayar", I simply couldn't wait to pick up the first book in the Miles Vorkosigan series. Unfortunately for me, it seems Mrs. Bujold has shifted tones when going from Cordelia to her son Miles.

Where Cordelia's novels were sometimes funny, sometimes inclined to the romantic, but as a whole well-crafted and dramatic, "The Warrior's Apprentice" feels more like a running joke. It seems Mrs. Bujold has decided she would show Miles is human by making him w ...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Kara Babcock rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, ebook, space-opera, 2015-read

Miles Vorkosigan has a mixed bag. On one hand, he’s the Barrayaran heir to a title. He has parents who care about him and have given him a first-class education. When he travels off-world to Beta Colony, he gets sweet diplomatic immunity and a tough bodyguard. Then again, the bodyguard is there in case someone tries to kill him. That’s the other hand. Exposure to a toxin in the womb has left Miles with weakened, underdeveloped bones that are prone to breaking. His diminutive stature doesn’t work ...more

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Aug 07, 2008 Hirondelle (not getting notifications) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sf

The first Miles book, hard to imagine never having read about him.

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Feb 22, 2011 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: sf

This series belongs to a sub-genre that I don't often read, and I think I've unfairly pigeon-holed it. When I think of space opera I think of Star Wars, but this is really closer to Firefly. The main characters are engaging and flawed and very human. There are no aliens. There is drama and humor and loads of good action, all of which services the plot. I'll enjoy reading the rest of the series, as suggested by lots of people I should have trusted not to steer me wrong. ...more

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Mar 03, 2011 Suz rated it really liked it

Shelves: book-club, non-men-sff-authors, space-opera, science-fiction, kindle, free, military

This book is hilarious, entertaining, and interesting all at once. It's a humorous story about an intrepid little (literally) man who is bumbling his way through space. I've never read a humorous space opera that was so much fun, and yet serious. It's the first story in the Vorkosigan Saga that features Miles Vorkosigan himself, and I hope it sets the tone for the series.

Miles, a deformed scion of the impressive Vorkosigan line, must not only deal with his physical disability, but the attitudes ...more

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Aug 27, 2009 Carolyn rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, 2009-read, science-fiction_space-opera

I just finished Warrior's Apprentice last night and I understand why this series is so popular - Miles is a great untraditional hero - winning the day by using his brain instead of brawn.
I always like a clever hero!

Read as part of the omnibus Young Miles. ...more

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Nov 22, 2009 Lee rated it really liked it

Shelves: speculative-fiction, 2009

More book candy for some crazy times.

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Jan 03, 2009 This Is Not The Michael You're Looking For rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks, science-fiction, fiction, space-opera, military-science-fiction

The first book about Miles Vorkosigan, this was an amusing space romp with Miles more-or-less accidentally stumbling into the middle of a war after failing to gain entrance to the military academy. The first part of the book was a bit slow, but it really takes off in the second half.

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