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Captain Vorpatril's Alliance (Vorkosigan Saga, #15)

Lois McMaster Bujold

Start date: June 1, 2013

Finish date: July 1, 2013

Discussion: 2013 Nominees

Why we're reading this: 2013 Nominee
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Showing 2 of 5 topics — 14 comments total

2013 Nominees

Hugo Winners
By deleted member · 1 post · 7 views

last updated Sep 03, 2013 09:41AM

Hypothetical Ballot
By D.L. · 3 posts · 4 views

last updated Aug 30, 2013 09:08AM

What Members Thought

Mar 25, 2013 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: sci-fi, humor

Bujold spins a wonderful, delightful, sweet, and let's face it: a romantic tale. I've always appreciated her novels for their wonderful characters and excellent plots, but I also have to say that the writing is always top-notch. This novel does not fail in any way. I laughed out loud many times, thanks to Ivan. Miles has always been a favorite of mine, but he shows up only briefly, here. It's been over a decade since I read all of those novels, but now I'm really motivated to dig into them and d ...more

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Jul 08, 2013 MD rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction

I read this because it is on the Hugo short list for best novel. I remember reading some Barrayar stories about Miles Vorkosigan in SF magazines some years ago and liking them quite a lot. The protagonist in this book is his mild-mannered cousin Ivan who I found much less interesting. I gather from other reviews that Ivan has appeared in some of the other books in the series and it seems that this book is primarily enjoyed by readers who have enjoyed that character in other books. Not having rea ...more

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Jun 03, 2013 D.L. Thurston rated it liked it

I'm going to start this review by admitting this is the first Vorkosigan Saga book I've read. Normally I wouldn't go diving into the deep end of a series like this, but my desire to read this year's Hugo nominees ran headlong into my inexperience with this series, and I had to make a choice. Therefore, I can only review this book as a newcomer to the series. Thus, I'm approaching it with a very specific question in mind: does this book work on its own?

The answer is yes.

Mostly.

First for the plotl I'm going to start this review by admitting this is the first Vorkosigan Saga book I've read. Normally I wouldn't go diving into the deep end of a series like this, but my desire to read this year's Hugo nominees ran headlong into my inexperience with this series, and I had to make a choice. Therefore, I can only review this book as a newcomer to the series. Thus, I'm approaching it with a very specific question in mind: does this book work on its own?

The answer is yes.

Mostly.

First for the plotline. I liked the integrated elements of espionage, space opera, and (dare I say it) romantic comedy. Though the romantic comedy elements were about as predictable as most romcoms put out by Hollywood, they weren't the central focus of the story, so I could forgive the broad cliches for the sake of enjoying their inclusion at all.

The story is clearly very well contained, which is aided by (as I understand it) a new protagonist stepping forward as the star of the book. There wasn't any pickup from a previous book's cliffhanger. There wasn't anything left unresolved. It felt like watching a monster-of-the-week episode of XFiles or Buffy or Angel without being aware of the broader mythology of the series. There were bits that I'm sure went over my head, but if they did they flew so high I didn't even see the contrails.

However. And this is a big however. At times I was left feeling that I'd stepped into the middle of a conversation between several old friends. They were trying to keep me up to date, explaining their inside jokes, telling me how they met, letting me know where they were coming from. But from the point of view of a reader, I didn't know which bits of back story were references to older books in the series, and which were new bits of back story being introduced for the first time. Which was...oddly uncomfortable.

I do plan on hitting this series up from the beginning, part of my larger quest to read all the past Hugo winners, and the world and writing style leave me looking forward. But as for stepping straight into this book? It's possible, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it. Perhaps I'll revisit this review when I wrap around to this book again in the series, when I understand things better. But for now, three stars is the best I can do. ...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Kat rated it it was amazing

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 28, 2013 Jeff Stockett rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, 2013-hugo-nominees

The best thing about this book is the characters, particularly, the protagonist, Ivan Vorpatril. From the first page, I remember thinking, "I really like this guy."

Captain Vorpatril is just plain good. He's a good guy who wants to do the right thing. He also thinks of himself as a womanizer, but is kind of awkward. He is brutally honest, fiercely loyal, and is very witty with a wry humor. One of the lines that made me laugh out loud, was his comment about his cousin's twin babies, "they leak, an ...more

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Jun 27, 2013 Jerry rated it liked it

Shelves: 2013, hugo-awards, epub

Dec 27, 2013 Nicholas Westley marked it as to-read

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