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Tracy

https://www.goodreads.com/laughingwoman3

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Tracy is Currently Reading

Tracy is currently reading

Unquiet Land (Elemental Blessings, #4)

by Sharon Shinn

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Feb 10, 2026 04:05PM

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The Wrong Unit

by Rob Dircks (Goodreads Author)

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Reading for the 2nd time

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(page 0 of 358)
"This is adorable." — Jan 24, 2026 08:28AM

Jan 21, 2026 05:48PM

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Mirror Dance (Vorkosigan Saga, #8)

by Lois McMaster Bujold (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: speculative-fiction, space-opera, mystery, adult-fiction, favourites, hugo-winner, locus-award-winner, my-copy, should-have-won-all-of-the-awards, totally-fun-read, totally-fun-to-read, currently-reading

Reading for the 3rd time

read in September 2011

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Tracy said:

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

" When I read the Vorkosigan books I read them out of order, first "The Mountains of Mourning" followed by Mirror Dance. I was hooked and I then had to read the books in sequence. The series is brilliant and I believe Mirror Dance is the best of the se When I read the Vorkosigan books I read them out of order, first "The Mountains of Mourning" followed by Mirror Dance. I was hooked and I then had to read the books in sequence. The series is brilliant and I believe Mirror Dance is the best of the series. Bujold's characters are compelling, she even makes Mark a sympathetic character. Of course Miles is Miles, and Cordelia is amazing (I wish I could be her). Do yourself a favor and read this. Read all of them!!!

Reread review:

It has been many years since I read this book. I had said this book was the best of the series and I stand by that. I've been rereading these books of late and in hindsight I think that this is an excellent place to start reading the series. Miles is older in this, less of an "entitled little shit", to quote my son and more thoughtful. He dies in this book and if that doesn't make a person grow up, nothing will. But mostly this book is about Mark. Miles' younger by six years clone twin. And Mark is something different from Miles entirely. We first meet Mark in Brothers in Arms, on earth. He was part of a Komarran plot to destroy Barrayar, revenge for the Solstice massacre and he is an assassin, created and trained to murder Aral Vorkosigan. He has undergone a lot of training to be Miles, in fact that is his whole reason for existing. He manages to escape from Ser Galen's clutches with some assistance from Miles and Elli and has spent the past three years trying to hide from the Barrayarans. In this book he comes out of the cold.

Mark is such a fascinating character in a universe overflowing with such. He has been crippled much as Miles is (albeit surgically, not from birth) and has suffered much already, prior to this book. He lacks Miles' supreme self confidence in his own abilities however and puts himself in a position where he has to fake it. His intentions are pure, the rescue of fifty young clones from the clutches of House Bharaputra where they have been bred and raised to provide healthy young bodies for their old progenitors brains. Wholesale murder and Mark wants to stop it. He enlists Bel Thorne, captain of the Ariel of the Dendarii Mercenaries to help and with Sergeant Taura they descend on Jackson's Whole. The raid is almost successful. But it goes to shit, Mark is definitely not Miles...and when Miles arrives to save the day he gets himself killed. He is flash frozen in a cryochamber but in the resulting melée his body is lost. Mark is almost crippled with guilt and decides to find his brother.

This novel looks at relationships mostly. Between adult children and their parents, between siblings near the end. Mark never meets Aral and Cordelia until he is twenty-two years old. He wasn't expecting parents who want to care for him and stand by him. He definitely wasn't expecting Cordelia with her bottomless compassion and shrewd insights into human nature. In this book Mark learns to stop being Miles and starts learning to be himself. Figuring out who Mark is.

I've read some criticism that this book is too dark. It is much darker than the rest of this series, definitely. It places Mark in some dark places...there are themes of rape, psychological and physical torture both in Mark's past as a young teenager and in the present. Little Mark Pierre hasn't had a happy life. But someday he may have a happy future ( it's going to take a lot of therapy).

I think what makes the book so great is seeing Barrayar from an outsiders perspective. This happened in the novel Barrayar as well except Cordelia was the outsider. Now Mark can benefit from her hard won knowledge. I don't think it s an accident that Barrayar is another novel in this series that is a standout. Don't get me wrong, I love this whole series but I do think the books that go into darker places are the best ones. What leavens the darkness is the little touches of humour in unexpected places. I'm a nurse, I used to work in an ICU and I get that. ...more "

progress:

(70%)
— Aug 04, 2017 01:10PM

Aug 06, 2017 04:10AM · see review

See all 4 books that Tracy is reading…