This is a novella written as part of the Vorkosigan saga, a multivolume science fiction series about a family of scientists, soldiers, and reluctant politicians. The series is best described as a space opera, a sprawling story with a believable in detailed world built by the author in a future where multiple planets and cultures both clash and ally. The characters are rich, full, genuine, and sympathetic. It is really the characters that drive the novel, although the plots are often full of mystery and surprise reveals.
This is the 4th book in the series (internal chronology rather than publication chronology), which largely focuses on the son of the original protagonists, Miles Vorkosigan. The son of an interplanetary marriage, a gas attack on his parents while he was in the womb caused him to have serious physical deformities. His brilliant and clever mind makes up for this, despite his insecurities.
In this novella, Miles is sent to a small mountain village on his planet to investigate an infanticide. The baby was killed because it had a physical defect, a pattern that is found in some outlying regions derived from a prejudice against “mutants.” This sets up the story, which is a science-fiction murder mystery, and Miles uses his skills and cleverness to navigate the difficult situation and the prejudice against him as well as a person with physical defects.
It is one of the more heart-strings-tugging stories in the series, largely because of the murder of an infant in the family and village people involved. It is difficult not to feel deeply for the characters—even the accused and eventually revealed perpetrator. The reveal was handled well without being maudlin, as we learn more about Miles’ character and growth.
The author does a wonderful job of drawing the characters, giving them depth and fullness and feeling—their pain or joy or conflict, resonate off the page.
The Novella won both the Hugo and Nebula Award.
Like the rest of the series, this book is engaging, the characters are full, and the plot drives the story forward in an excellent and well-written manner. It takes place three years afterThe Warrior’s Apprentice (see my review of this volume; see also my reviews of the first and second volumes, Shards of Honor and Barrayar.
If you’ve read any of the other books in the series, you will enjoy this one. If you haven’t, I highly recommend it. It can stand on its own, although there is deeper enjoyment when you have read the books previous in the series.
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