Vorkosigan saga
I am well aware I owe the internet an update on graduate school. (Still in, still nuts).
But the more important thing is, I got a Kindle as a present for passing my PhD exams. And the Vorkosigan saga is available for free download. And I am down to the last two books and I have so much to say.
Spoilers through A Civil Campaign.
So, Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan is everything I wanted Kathryn Janeway to be, plus a mom who makes Irina Derevko look sedate. There are no words for how much I imprinted, and I was tempted never to use lowercase again, after I finished Barrayar . Aral and Cordelia, it almost goes without saying, are my new OTP. And we have over a decade of canon time where Aral is Regent and we don't know what Cordelia was up to. I have really enjoyed all the available fic dealing with that period.
And I find it really amusing no one tried to pitch these books to me as "disabled protagonist manages to win at life against a lot of stupidity." It took me a long time to warm up to Miles, because his adolescence was in certain ways too much like mine. Also, Miles mooning over Elena was just annoying. But then I started thinking of Miles as Francis Crawford of Lymond in space and then it all got better.
By The Vor Game , I completely adored him. Especially his ability to bond with Gregor and save his ass. I think the thing most impressive about the later books is how clear it is that as much as Miles does know about his parents, we as the reader always know more, or at least different, than he does, because we had two books of Aral and Cordelia before they were anything other than Aral and Cordelia.
Mirror Dance and Memory are clearly my favorites, because I love Barrayaran politics the best, and Cordelia interacting with Mark was just lovely. Though I felt rather punched in the gut realizing Aral is mortal. I disapprove. And there is just no such thing as an insignificant secondary character in this universe-- I am a little breathlessly thrilled with how much Simon Ilyan becomes a character I can't imagine the series without. And I called Simon/Alys before Miles or Ivan, but their reactions were hilarious, nonetheless.
I suspect I approve so thoroughly of Ekaterin because I actually never liked Elli. I liked Admiral Naismith fine, but Miles Naismith Vorkosigan is the one who really won me over. That, and Komarr is one of the better drawn straight mysteries (though I also really like Cetaganda ). My husband was mocking me for breathing funny while reading A Civil Campaign. He just doesn't know that any Gaudy Night homage is going to win me over, even if it doesn't feature bugs and Cordelia playing headgames with Kou and Drou.
In conclusion, can we have Ivan's Book now? How about now?
This entry was originally posted at http://dagnylilytable.dreamwidth.org/1273.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
But the more important thing is, I got a Kindle as a present for passing my PhD exams. And the Vorkosigan saga is available for free download. And I am down to the last two books and I have so much to say.
Spoilers through A Civil Campaign.
So, Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan is everything I wanted Kathryn Janeway to be, plus a mom who makes Irina Derevko look sedate. There are no words for how much I imprinted, and I was tempted never to use lowercase again, after I finished Barrayar . Aral and Cordelia, it almost goes without saying, are my new OTP. And we have over a decade of canon time where Aral is Regent and we don't know what Cordelia was up to. I have really enjoyed all the available fic dealing with that period.
And I find it really amusing no one tried to pitch these books to me as "disabled protagonist manages to win at life against a lot of stupidity." It took me a long time to warm up to Miles, because his adolescence was in certain ways too much like mine. Also, Miles mooning over Elena was just annoying. But then I started thinking of Miles as Francis Crawford of Lymond in space and then it all got better.
By The Vor Game , I completely adored him. Especially his ability to bond with Gregor and save his ass. I think the thing most impressive about the later books is how clear it is that as much as Miles does know about his parents, we as the reader always know more, or at least different, than he does, because we had two books of Aral and Cordelia before they were anything other than Aral and Cordelia.
Mirror Dance and Memory are clearly my favorites, because I love Barrayaran politics the best, and Cordelia interacting with Mark was just lovely. Though I felt rather punched in the gut realizing Aral is mortal. I disapprove. And there is just no such thing as an insignificant secondary character in this universe-- I am a little breathlessly thrilled with how much Simon Ilyan becomes a character I can't imagine the series without. And I called Simon/Alys before Miles or Ivan, but their reactions were hilarious, nonetheless.
I suspect I approve so thoroughly of Ekaterin because I actually never liked Elli. I liked Admiral Naismith fine, but Miles Naismith Vorkosigan is the one who really won me over. That, and Komarr is one of the better drawn straight mysteries (though I also really like Cetaganda ). My husband was mocking me for breathing funny while reading A Civil Campaign. He just doesn't know that any Gaudy Night homage is going to win me over, even if it doesn't feature bugs and Cordelia playing headgames with Kou and Drou.
In conclusion, can we have Ivan's Book now? How about now?
This entry was originally posted at http://dagnylilytable.dreamwidth.org/1273.html. Please comment there using OpenID.