Regency Romance and Ocean's Eleven, all in one!

Grover Gardner's reading brings a lot of nuances to the story. I've recently read a few more of Georgette Heyer's Regency romances, and I have to say that the first 2/3 of the Alliance story (up till Tej's family arriving on Barrayar) is very much like a Regency romance. After that, it's a high-stakes caper all the way. Delightful.

And to top it off, it won the 2014 Audie Award in the Sci-Fi category.

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"Ivan, you idiot!" provoked into maturity

Bujold dependably employs faults and cracks in fully developed characters to allow their inherent skewed (in Ivan's case, corkscrewed) points of view to shine new light on Vorkorsiverse imminent dangers, always delightfully looming. Bujold occasionally employs the Russian mythic image of the sleigh ride carrying the wedding party, at night, in a snow storm, chased by a ravening wolf pack. The original dilemma poses the question: who shall the riders sacrifice to slow the wolves and save the rest? In the original, it's the bride, of course, and everybody loses, life, joy, honor, even quarry.
In Bujold's sleigh, tho, the all male driver, guards, and husband and passive female bride are transmogrified to self-examining hero types matched equally with spunky heroines with weapons training. The sleigh, snowy night, and wolves remain, but the author introduces complexity to all the elements; keep your eye on the wolves, as even they may gain your sympathy.
You will meet lots of familiar folks from the "Miles" series, not on a walk down memory lane, but in a whole new adventure. I especially enjoyed Simon Illion, retired chief of security, making Puck-like mis-chief.

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nice history lesson

listened to this while gardening. it had been a while since I tapped into this series.. (which I mostly love). great way to get the span characters history and relationships.

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Not my favorite by Bujold but still good.

This book has my favorite moments of Ivan, who has largely irritated me most through most of the series. Tej is truly a beautiful character discovering who she is and growing from her trauma into appositive and wild unknown. Rish makes an interesting combination with Byerly. Ivans creative if not impromptu solution to Tej's dilemma was hilarious. I cheered for Tej and Ivan for about half the book until her family showed up. They are more obnoxious than the family of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I got to a point were I was tempted to not finish the book. That's never happened with Lois. I'm usually riveted by every paragraph in a chapter. With this book, I literally had to discipline myself to muscle through. I kept telling myself, "This is Vorkosigan series. It has to get better!" It did get better and had quite an inventive ending. I suppose it was worth it. I hope the next book is better.

I am sad to learn that there's only one more book in the series. Like Game of Thrones I will be like all the other fans just waiting for the next book to get my fix. Lois has taken us on quite a ride and I am sad at the idea of finding a new favorite author to fill my voracious reading appetite.

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Fun romp

Miles is off stsge for most of this story. Ivan does just fine! Lots of great one liners.

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love the story of the cousin and his love life.

Loved to see a more relaxed, and often funny love life if mile's cousin. Very enjoyable.

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A delight

This book is a romp, with the focus on Ivan who is usually a supporting character. It is beautifully intricately written, and Grover Gardiner lets the humor shine and sparkle without being cutesy.

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Long live the Empire! Bujold & Gardner are great

Would you consider the audio edition of Captain Vorpatril's Alliance to be better than the print version?

Haven't read the print version but it would be hard to believe the print could do as good a job of conveying the warmth and humor which Grover Gardner puts into this book. His ability as a narrator has caused me to buy more than one bookwhich I would otherwise have avoided.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Captain Vorpatril's Alliance?

The scene where everybody has been rescued from the lab / vault and the Impsec building is sinking into the ground has got to be the high point of the novel. However, it was a close call since Vorpatril's wedding is a very close runner up.

What does Grover Gardner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Grover Gardner is probably one of the best narrators ever. His capacity to express warmth without turning a passage maudlin and to convey dry humor and irony are unsurpassed by anyone.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The fall and rise of the last great Vor bachelor.

Any additional comments?

I've enjoyed reading each of this series as Lois McMaster Bujoldd carried it from a somewhat whacky, teenish tale of an insecure young man to a complex universe with fully developed characters who act in accordance with their history and experiences. She almost makes me believe the old saw about the best form of government being a benevolent dictator. Her humor tends toward the dry and ironic and it is plentiful. I'm not sure I would have gotten hooked on this series if it had not been for Grover Gardner but his narration and Lois McMaster Bujold's excellent writing have me impatient for more books in this series. I've even resorted to rereading some of the books which I already have.

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"Ivan, you idiot!"

It was great seeing Ivan finally come into his own in this novel. He spent a lot of time in the background, forced to play second fiddle to everyone in his own family. His whirlwind romance with Tej was hilarious, heartfelt, and they compliment each other beautifully.

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The 15th book, but a pleasant throwback

This is the 15th(!!) book in the Vorkosigan series, and, at this point, it would be a bit of shock to have someone reading this review who hadn't already been engaged in this particular series for a long time. If you are a Vorkosigan fan, the answer is yes, Bujold's new book is very good, she hasn't lost it, Grover Gardner is still solid, and you should listen to it. Strangely, for non-readers, especially those with a bit more interest in the interpersonal than the interplanetary, this may not be the worst place to start, since many new characters are introduced, and the book serves as a gently introduction to the Vor universe. But this is an excellent series, so , of course, you probably should start at book four ("Warrior's Apprentice"), if not book one.

And the early Vorkosigan novels do seem to haunt Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, though not in a bad way. As the hero of the series, Miles, has aged and matured into a fantastically well-rounded character, the series has generally gotten a bit more grim and focused even as Miles has grown in confidence and power. By instead choosing to develop a side character, Bujold gives us a little bit of some of the old Miles fun again - surprise interventions by the Emperor, offworlders baffled by Barrayar, and so on.

It is a nice change of pace after two darker books, and, while it doesn't advance the main Miles plot, it is fun to see another Vorkosigan-style comedy of manners, with a little less action and a little lower stakes than we have seen recently. Not the highpoint of the series, but definitely recommended!

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15 people found this helpful