Vorkosigan 7.5 -- Labyrinth --note--numbers are OUR reading order only

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

Here's where you can talk about Labyrinth

[Joe]

I really enjoyed Labyrinth.. I've definitely decided I like Admiral Naismith better than Miles Vorkosigan.

I really hope we see Taura again, she was very intriguing, though I admit that the story could go a bit too far down the road of genetic engineering themes such that it takes over the series.

Lots of well written diplomatic wrangling here that I really appreciated.. sometimes that sort of thing can be boring, but here it was perfect.

[Allan]

I thought Labyrinth was good, but not up to the standard The Mountains of Mourning set. Granted, it’s a high standard, but this fit well into the Miles story. My only real complaint is the same as with some of the other books, convenience.

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

I think, once again, written earlier. Not looking right now, though

[Antti]

So far the Miles novellas have been better than Miles novels. Labyrinth was just the right length: any longer and it would've gotten implausible and/or repetitive. As it is, the story is a nice space adventure with some deeper themes about humanity and the need if being seen as a person.

Miles' and Taura's first meeting was one of those gray moral areas that LMB excels at. (view spoiler)[You could make a case that Miles was raped, because can you really consent in a situation like that? He was, after all, legitimately fearing for his life.

OTOH you could say that Miles was using sex to manipulate Taura, James Bond -style.

Neither really comes off as a victim in the story, though. (hide spoiler)]

[Nick]

Antti wrote: "Miles' and Taura's first meeting was one of those gray moral areas that LMB excels at."
Yes, I was thinking that too! (view spoiler)[Especially because 16 is below the legal age of consent in many American states, I was wondering if people here would find that problematic.
I think Miles seemed willing enough - although, as you say, it would've been a very difficult situation if he'd refused!
It seems to me that Miles keeping Taura in the dark about the real reason of his mission was more manipulative than giving in to her demands.
You can even see it as a totally benign act: Taura wanted the act of love as a confirmation of her humanity - Miles wanted to confirm to her that she was a person and not a monster, and duly did so! (hide spoiler)]

I was also pretty pleased with the way it wrapped up:
(view spoiler)[I honestly though the Miles was burning too many bridges. I was like: 'All of these guys are going to come after Miles with everything they've got. The Dendarii mercenaries are ruined.' But then his final piece of trickery turned them all against each other and the Dendarii are unlikely to be persued. Hopefully they'll all kill each other before Miles needs to go back to Jackson's Whole! (hide spoiler)]

[Lee at ReadWriteWish]

Just finished. Loved it. Was it really that short?! (I have the ebook of all three novellas and it's really hard to tell how many pages that is.) It felt like a lot squeezed in there. I too found the 'romance' disturbing at first. I was like... 'did they really just do that?!'. But, I think, by the end I was turned around a little and accepted it more as a pure 'friends with benefits' type thing.

[Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning]

Because in my multiple rereads of this series, I tend to read my favorites and skip the short ones, I had forgotten all the neat info about Jackson's Whole that were in here. Neat!

I always liked the name, Jackson's Whole.