Captain Vorpatril's Alliance

"I, Ivan Xav Vorpatril, ..., do take thee, uh ... what did you say your name was, again?"

If I had to rank books in this series by their comedy, this book would be up there right behind A Civil Campaign. Ivan Vorpatril has always had a long series of girlfriends but has dodged marriage as much as he's dodged extra work. The plot hook here is that in an attempt to save two women who are on the run from bounty hunters, immigration, and the local police, Ivan comes up with the idea to marry one of them in a rush (temporarily, of course!). Comedy ensues.

I love that there's a lot of ambiguity about how everybody else reacts to this "temporary" marriage. You get the feeling that everyone is sort of raising their eyebrow at Ivan, but also taking it seriously and are waiting for Ivan to come around to realize he's actually married and it's not just a temporary deal.

There's a lot of good parallels in this book. I liked getting to see Alys Vorpatril whose husband had been killed get to talk about loss and rememberances with Tej, who also has lost her entire immediate family. I like Shiv and Simon both being father-in-laws betting and dealing with each other (and how seeing Simon in this role makes Ivan realize that maybe Simon wants a different relationship with him). I love that Tej and Ivan can connect over how overbearing their families are, and how both of them just involve them in their plans without asking their permission or what they want. I love that both Tej and Ivan alternately both take and don't take their marriage seriously.

Thematically, I also appreciate that we get to see Ivan's reasons for being deliberately "middling" laid out here. In previous books, there's an increasing assumption that he's smarter than he looks but that he just chooses not to apply himself. However, this book really gets into the crux of the issue; because he's always been hyper aware that he's in the line of imperial succession (although not without a few murders and a civil war that he was born into), he has always applied himself to be conspicuously middling at all times. He also talks about being in the shadow of Miles, whose whole family overdoes everything. And truly, he's also just lazy and would rather not be handed work he doesn't need.

I think there are a few minor things that mar this book for me, and both are largely functions of this book being near the tail end of a long series with many characters, being set on a planet where all those characters reside, and also being one of the last books published. One thing this causes is that there is a lot of info dumping here. It needs to explain Ivan's family tree. It needs to retell the story of Vordarian's pretendership. It needs to explain titles of counts and and their heirs. These are all important to the story, but I think none of these things are delivered gently and are also all things previous readers know very well. This also suffers from some Marvel Cinematic Universe effect, where every character in an increasingly large roster needs to have some screen time. I think on the unnecessary end, there's a luncheon with Miles and Ekaterin and their kids, and their parents. Duv and Delia have to show up to. I think all of these folks could have been off planet (to Ivan's relief) without making the books worse. At least the book sends Miles and Ekaterin off to Sergyar pretty quickly so they can't steal the spotlight.

This book is officially available on November 6th, 2012. Go ahead and pre-order at your friendly local bookstore. I bought the e-book Advance Reader Copy back in July, and loved it. If you haven't already read the rest of the Vorkosigan Saga, go do that now. Don't worry — I'll wait. I didn't discover them until June 2010. I read the 8 books then available in two weeks. Oh, this series is so good! I love the way she'll make one of the books fundamentally a mystery, another space opera, and the next a romance. They are all incredibly fast-paced, suspenseful, and laugh-out-loud funny.

Because I did start at the beginning, I'm a poor judge, but I believe they can be read as stand-alones. Especially this one. Part of the charm is that Bujold does not try to pack every character into every book. (We've all seen the sad bloat that this can create as a series staggers onward.) Bujold's world has multiple planets. While interstellar travel and communication exist, they are slow enough that when Captain Ivan Vorpatril finds himself serving on a planet away from home, he doesn't have family and friends nearby to pull him out of trouble.

Ivan gets himself into deep water, fast. Wait, does it count as "get yourself' if you're ambushed and kidnapped? Whatever. He agrees to do a favor, and the universe punishes him for that foolishness. It's fast-paced, funny as hell, and intelligent.

Ivan is a wonderful character. He's played a minor role in the previous books, as a sidekick to Miles. He's smart, good looking and athletic, but has chosen to keep as low a profile as he could, given his family connections. He certainly would have been nuts to compete with his cousin Miles. I find him a bit of a Wodehouse drone, if Bertie Wooster was smarter. He's been underestimated by those around him, who are lulled by his casual quality into not realizing just how hard it is not to make waves when you grow up with Miles. He's avoided getting passionate about anything, including the aristocratic young women interested in his family connections, but now he finally takes the plunge and most unsuitably.

It's always a treat when a new Vor book arrives. This book focuses on one of the series' supporting characters rather than Miles Vorkosigan himself, but the book was no less satisfying because of it.

Like Cryoburn, plot took a bit of a back seat in this book, with the characters first and foremost. The story itself was interesting, but it progressed in a much quieter direction than the first quarter of the book suggested. There was also less action than I expected. I'm used to the diplomatic direction the recent Miles stories have taken, but cousin Ivan has always been a man of action. This series' books are gradually turning from science fiction novels into romance novels with science fiction trappings. And you know? Strangely enough, I'm OK with that. Bujold's well-rendered characters have always been her strong point, and they feel so real and familiar to me that listening to their conversations and spending time with them is enough. The mortal danger so common in previous volumes isn't necessary to keep my interest. Ivan and his family are like old friends, and new character Tej is a worthy addition to the cast of characters.

I look forward to the next installment in the series, and I hope it lasts forever.

I didn't mean to read the entire book in one sitting, but I end up saying that about most of the books in this series: as always, the characters grab you and next thing you knows it's past midnight. I love this book and I love this series and the only reason I gave this 4 stars instead of 5 is that, unlike most of the series so far, this book really does require you to have read the others. Too many references and in-jokes, which fans will love, but it would be confusing if you don't already know Ivan's family and world. Anyway, assuming you do, this book does not disappoint as By Vorrutyer helps get Ivan into one scrape after another all of which escalate to a degree that requires Emperor Gregor's intervention. Both Ivan and By manage to extricate themselves (more or less) without in any way becoming Miles-like, and it's always delightful to see more of Lady Alys and Illyan. Miles and Ekaterina (now highly distracted by offspring) make a brief but not overwhelming appearance early on then retire to Sergyar to let Ivan have his own story. As always, I regret reaching the end and will probably reread it again soon.