There are also an absurd amount of 21st century literary references. Nuh uh, too many.

[eldabe]

NOT finished with Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen, but I'm going to have to finish it next week as I've run out of time.


I'm at the scene where Miles is interrogating poor Jole in the stacks of concrete. And Jole is like "WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE A DAD?!?!?!?!" and Miles totally misses his only clue. Good job, Miles.

Reactions so far!

1. In the first chapter, when it was confirmed that Jole was Aral's...lover? Boyfriend? Whatever. I literally yelled "FAN MYTH FREAKING CONFIRMED!" and started laughing hysterically for an hour.

And then I got to the scene where it's discussed that Aral always suspected his father might have killed his first wife and now I'm officially dubbing this book "I Read That in a Fic That One Time."

(Also Alex. Waiting for him to be like "I'M NOT GOING TO BE COUNT. GIVE IT TO HELEN!" and then running off to live his life with fewer politics. Not none, his dad is Miles.)

2. Man, LMB is a really interesting writer. She tends to let her storytelling update with real-world politics, which is fascinating as it doesn't always click perfectly in the universe. Like, this book is the one where polyamory becomes normalized and accepted, but despite all the comments about Beta Colony, we only ever had one hint towards normalized polyamory before. And frankly, Beta still has a traditional marriage system for child-rearing, as far as we can tell. Also, where did the Women's Auxiliary come from? There was NO HINT of it before!

Plus! She is clearly writing from a very different place than she used to be. Miles's (and Cordelia's!) early days were all about war and politics and intrigue and DEATH and adventures! Now, it's a lot more domestic, with a splash of mostly-lower-stakes politics and tidying up of character's love lives. Which isn't bad, just different.

Considering this is another life ending/life beginning book, it does lack the gravitas of Memory. That book was painful and wonderful and dug into stuff that this and Captain Vorpatril's Alliance mostly brushed past. Which is probably why my copy of Memory is basically falling apart while CVA is pretty pristine. (Note to self: Buy a new copy of Memory. My dog-eared one is signed.)

3. This isn't one of my top books, but I am enjoying it! It's making me smile, and I'm actually SUPER ANNOYED at the concrete company and I actually would enjoy 300% more political intrigue family crap (GREGOR. WHAT ARE YOUR CHILDREN LIKE).

But...I would also like a bit of, IDK, danger? I know that Barrayar+empire is pretty settled down these days, but Falling Free was terrifying and it was mostly about space mining politics, so I know you can do it LMB. I honestly think this is more about LMB being less interested in those sorts of stories these days, which is fine, she can have my money. (see #2)

Then again, a book of Cordelia and Jole (OLIVER! HIS NAME IS OLIVER! ♥) bemoaning how idiotic they are because babies are HARD YO would be hilarious.

tl;dr Not done, careful with spoilers.

ETA: Definitely forgot things from earlier books. Time for a full re-read? :D

Comments

[the_rck]

The Women's Auxiliary was mentioned in The Vor Game. The guards over Cavilo at the end of the book are from the Women's Auxiliary.

And Aral discusses the possibility that his father killed his first wife with Miles in A Civil Campaign. Aral says he never asked his father about it because what would he have done if his father said yes, he had done it.

[eldabe]

Wait, but what was the Women's Auxiliary capacity? Here they seem like they are getting pretty folded into the chain of command, vs. just being called in to handle women stuff. (Definitely don't remember that part, though, because I normally stop just read The Good Parts Version of the Vor Game. Thanks!)

Aaaaah, ok, Aral mentioned it. I definitely read a fic from Piotr's perspective in which he did it, which is what I was flashing back to as I read book. And laughing.

[the_rck]

I got the impression that the Women's Auxiliary had to be fairly fully integrated. I don't think there was time to send for them after Cavilo was captured, so they must have come with the Barrayaran fleet because they're not too likely to have been hanging around the Hegan Hub just to be there.

[eldabe]

IDK, I just sort of keep assuming anything unusual in the Hegan Hub was because The Prince Serg wasn't actually supposed to be doing anything real. Like, there were people still building the thing, maybe woman are allowed to inspect things before they go do Real Battle. We certainly haven't seen them in any combat experience since.

[the_rck]

If I recall correctly (my books are in the basement, and it's too cold for me to be willing to go down there after them just now), the women were described as 'hard-faced' and 'in the uniform of the Barrayaran Women's Auxiliary.' I have the general impression that they were armed, but it's been a long time.

[eldabe]

Haha, you remember that even though it's been a long time? You're impressive! :)

I think I have my copy somewhere in my apartment, I'll go digging for it, when I have time.

[eldabe]

And also, where did the Ladies Auxiliary come from the last time? Did we learn how they came to be in The Vor Game? And if they were first mentioned in the Vor Game, they've been strangely absent for years.

Well, this is my new interest.

[the_rck]

As I recall, they were a throwaway thing that Miles didn't reflect on at all. They weren't a surprise to him. He barely noted them at all except that they were there and could be trusted to keep Cavilo from killing Miles.

My guess is that we simply haven't seen enough of the regular Barrayaran military at any point since The Vor Game. Brothers in Arms mainly had interaction with the diplomatic arm of the service. Although, I'd kind of expect them to be there because of it being a non-combat sort of thing. They probably could sensibly have come up somewhere in Captain Vorpatril's Alliance and, again, didn't.

[eldabe]

Weeeeiiiird. LMB tends to do this thing (I also noticed it in Harry Potter) where there's sort or patch world-building, throw-it-in-'cause-it-looks-cool, but not always exploration of background or reappearance when it makes sense.

Gaaah, I want to know more!

I'll probably poke around fandom once I finish GJ&TRQ.

[lannamichaels]

And then I got to the scene where it's discussed that Aral always suspected his father might have killed his first wife and now I'm officially dubbing this book "I Read That in a Fic That One Time."

That was also in ACC, that was the scene where Aral says "yeah, I always wondered if Piotr did it, but I never asked him, because then I would know." I love so much how LMB can have characters discuss deceased characters without ever saying their names! (also when Miles and Mark talk about Aral's dead brother in Cryoburn without saying his name).

(I have not yet read this book althoguh I am, um, thoroughly spoiled.)

[eldabe]

This book is ALL ABOUT ARAL. It's pretty fabulous. You must read it.

And, oh, I don't remember that part from Cryoburn! I like old character seem to be coming back. They mention Cordelia's brother in this book, and I'm like "what? I was pretty sure LMM has basically retconned him out of existence!"

(Like Aral's sister, but at least she's been dead.)