Yeah. And we found out just the way we knew we would
Enough inferences leak around the edges of the spoilers that I’m guessing that someone addresses Miles as “Count Vorkosigan”.
Meanwhile, I’m between duty-reading right now, so I went right ahead and picked up Miles in Love. I’ve just finished Komarr.
Man, Barrayar really needs an Imperial Astronomical Survey service. Just because there’s only one known link doesn’t mean there might not be some as-yet-undiscovered ones. And even the link to Komarr takes five jumps? I thought it was a direct line! That’s five wormholes that might yet collapse naturally (or unnaturally). Another Time of Isolation is too great a risk.
EDIT: Or at the very least, set up a lightspeed communications link between Barrayar and whatever spot on the Nexus is closest in 3-space. And galactic tech is clearly adequate to build slowships, too.
Oh, and this book calls back to the old freighter from Warrior’s Apprentice, and establishes the existence of a company that custom-makes small-batch Necklin rods. Why the heck is poor Arde still stuck in a single system? His ship was damaged in defending Miles as his liege-lord. Miles had a liege-obligation to fix it for him.
It was Miles’ ship - he paid for it. Miles gave the ship to Arde, and in the 20-some years between Warrior’s Apprentice and Komarr, Arde may have found a Necklin rod supplier for himself.
That means A Civil Campaign is next, yeah?
Oh man. I’m so excited for you.
(I loved Komarr.)
Yeah, I’m about a third of the way through A Civil Campaign, and I feel like I’m watching an extremely elaborate domino layout being constructed. Can’t wait to see it all fall in sequence spelling out the words, and it’s not even done yet.
And I would have thought, though, that Miles of all people would know the number of people capable of keeping a secret.
Legally, yes. But I still feel like he has a liege-duty to make restitution for Arde’s sacrifice.
This is a good example of how Bujold can move seamlessly from style to style, because I think Komarr and A Civil Campaign are two beautiful pieces of a puzzle that fit together perfectly, even though they are completely different kinds of stories. One made me cry and the other one made me laugh my ass off.
Even within A Civil Campaign there are different styles. It’s so good!
So many dominos!
Miles is in a different battlefield than he’s used to, and it shows.
(P.S. Komarr, as I recall, implies that Miles and Duv had an adventure by themselves sometime between Memory and Komarr. Would like to see that.
Fair enough.
Even so, like most people Miles knows, Arde has gained by the acquaintance. He was moments away from losing even the prospect of ever piloting a ship again; now he owns a ship, and can work on the project of making it jump-capable without needing Miles.
I don’t think those references were to a time between Memory and Komarr. I think that’s about the events in Brothers in Arms, when they first met.
Oh, and I’m also surprised at Kareen being so reluctant to declare her relationship with Mark to her family. She must not know her mother very well, or she’d know that she’d move Heaven and Barrayar to get any of her daughters whatever man she chose, and personally fight anyone who opposed such a union.
OK, finished A Civil Campaign. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book that hard to put down. I was foolishly expecting that, when the dominoes all fell, Miles would pull his characteristic move of forging order from utter chaos, and succeed. I should have known better: This is Bujold. Of course things ultimately got settled by mature adults having reasoned, sensible conversations.
I also particularly enjoyed seeing Cordelia winning a potentially-acrimonious argument before it even began through clever choice of seating arrangements.
And Miles, or someone, really ought to have asked the Council of Counts just how many of them had ever had a full genetic scan, and what outcomes they would like to see of such an event. Because you just know there have to be other bastards in that august body, and they must realize that, too.
This discussion led me to reread Penric’s Demon, the first in the series. Such a fun little book. 
If you do pick them up, definitely start with Penric’s Progress, the collection of what was the first three chronologically when the book was collected. You need to know what happened in Penric’s Demon for all of the others, and those other two have some stuff that’s referred to later.
I think all the others can probably be read in any old order. You may say, “huh, so Penric is married now?” But there shouldn’t be any real issues following the later stories.
Oh, and just how many times is Miles’ experience in forensic plumbing going to end up proving useful!?
I recently picked up Penric’s Intrigues, which has a short novel The Assassins of Thasalon and a novella Knot of Shadows. Took me about a day and a half to read it all.
Anyway, I was struck by a comment made by another character in Assassins. I can’t remember the exact words, but it was to the effect that Penric is really wordy. I then realized that that’s what Penric has in common with Miles. Otherwise, they’re very different.
“The Flowers of Vashnoi” and “Winterfair Gifts” are back in print. Sort of.
They have been re-released in a new book titled Two Tales. But this book isn’t getting a retail release. It’s a print on demand book you have to order.
The good news is it’s cheap ($9.99) and any bookstore can order you a copy (or you can buy it on Amazon).
One thing I noticed while re-reading “The Flowers of Vashnoi” is that it’s another story that’s out of chronological order. There’s a scene where Helen and Sasha appear as toddlers so it must be set before Cryoburn and Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen.
I had also missed that Ekaterin’s first daughter is apparently named after her aunt.
Thanks for the heads up.
“Winterfair Gifts” is also part of Miles in Love, the volume I currently have out from the library.
It is also included in the 2004 anthology Irresistible Forces, edited by Catherine Asaro. This is a collection of six science fiction romance stories.
I have that. The Bujold story was, as usual, excellent. I tried to read one of the others and couldn’t make it to the end.
I’m pretty sure that was my introduction to the Vorkosigan Saga.
I did read all the other stories. But liked “Winter fair Gifts” the best