The Vor Game

At first reading, I wondered whether to give this two or three stars. On second reading, I hesitate between three and four. I think I'll keep it at three for now, but clearly I appreciated it better this time.

Although I like Bujold as a writer, her long-running hero Miles Vorkosigan isn't one of my favourite characters. He's a stunted cripple, an aristocrat, unusually brave, and in some ways a genius—and I'm none of these things, which tends to hinder my sense of identification with him.

He had a military career, followed by a civilian career when his medical problems got in the way of the first. I prefer his civilian career, but this book is the second part of his military career.

At this stage he's 20 years old and has the official military rank of ensign (junior officer). The story shows him navigating his way with difficulty (but ultimate success) through a series of complicated, uncomfortable, and dangerous situations; although most of the people he encounters are left in a state ranging from bewildered through irritated to furious—or, in some cases, dead.

The plot is overcomplicated and riddled with coincidences: transported into strange and unfamiliar places, he keeps running into people he knows (friendly and unfriendly). Some of them may be more insane than he is, which is alarming.

If you allow all the complications to wash over you, it makes quite an exciting story.