Quatermass' Book Reading Blog 3: Revenge of the Sequel

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Book 39...

REVIEW: Devil May Cry 3, Code 2: Vergil by Suguro Chayamachi


I enjoyed the Devil May Cry games, despite the shallow excuse of a storyline. The gameplay was unforgiving, but fun, it had a dark sense of humour, and revived the hack 'n' slash genre. My favourite in the series was the prequel, Devil May Cry 3, partly because of the excellent gameplay, and partly because it had one of the more sophisticated stories in the series (which isn't saying much). But there was a prequel to the prequel. A manga series set before Devil May Cry 3. Years ago, I read the original volume, but now, finally, I come to the second and, thanks to the artist leaving the title, last volume of the Devil May Cry 3 prequel manga...

After the disturbing encounter with supposed kidnap victim Alice and the demons she sold her soul to to grow to womanhood, the half-demon Dante is still going demon-hunting. But his brother Vergil and Vergil's human ally Arkham have other plans. They intend to unleash the demonic tower of Temen-ni-gru, and to do that, not only will they need to release the seals on the tower, but they also need the amulet Dante wears...

I'm not really fond of horror manga. Hellsing is one of the few exceptions, and even then, it is very shallow. The first volume of the Devil May Cry 3 manga, while interesting, shed little light on the story to follow, and was also rather grotesque at times. The second volume is a little better, in that it introduces, properly, the character of Mary, who would become the character Lady in the Devil May Cry 3 game. We also learn more about the motivations of Vergil and Arkham, the latter of whom is given an interesting backstory, as well as a glimpse into a family life only alluded to in Devil May Cry 3.

The action is also a little less grotesque than last time, mostly focusing on the killing of demons rather than Vergil killing humans (one lot were admittedly criminals, but he also cut in half a harmless librarian for no apparent reason), and the humour is still there, with a darkly comic line about choir boys crossing the line and yet still remaining funny.

Unfortunately, the Devil May Cry 3 manga is only barely less shallow than its video game counterpart, and while it looks into the pathos of its characters and is moderately entertaining, don't expect much out of it.


7/10

First words: Born from dust...

Last words: Despite my thirst for blue skies, I shall now sleep for a while...

Book 40...

REVIEW: The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross


Although I enjoy British science fiction television, my acquaintance with British science fiction novels not immediately related to said television is far less. By accident, I stumbled across the works of Charles Stross, and decided to read the first of his Laundry books, The Atrocity Archives, itself a compilation of the novel The Atrocity Archives, and the novella The Concrete Jungle.

Bob Howard is a hacker and a spy, drafted into working for a top-secret organisation called the Laundry, a British agency that works to stop nameless horrors from beyond time. Between crazed Nazis, an information-devouring entity from another universe, and bureaucratic madness within the Laundry, Bob Howard has got his work cut out for him. Spying is never glamorous, and fighting Lovecraftian horrors even less so...

Having only a mild acquaintance with the Cthulhu mythos of HP Lovecraft fame, I still knew enough perhaps to make The Atrocity Archives more interesting. The same goes for the physics involved in magic, and what the real life consequences of, say, a basilisk existing might be.

I also have only something of a mild acquaintance with espionage fiction, mostly confined to Ian Fleming's works and what spies turn up in my favourite fiction. Here, espionage is portrayed as more of a dirty chore than gunplay, martinis and sex, although there is a bit of the latter, and enough gunplay.

The characters are for the most part interesting, from the main character Bob Howard, through to the enigmatic boss of the Laundry, Angleton. They feel right for the setting, feeling less like heroes and superhumans, and more like real people doing very dirty and nasty work.

The stories, however, are a different matter. The Atrocity Archives story itself is really just a rehash of 'Nazis trying to destroy the world by supernatural means', and while the revelation of what actually happened is more interesting, it is still old ground that has been, in Yahtzee's words, 'trodden, bulldozed, and purged with fire and salt.' It also could have been a little clearer with its exposition. The Concrete Jungle has a more interesting plot, but also suffers from a little lack of clear exposition, although in both cases, this may be due to my reading style. But then again, Stross sometimes also tends to skip ahead, and explain what happened later, adding to the narrative jumble.

What really makes this more attention grabbing than any other potential contestant in the area is the sardonic humour. The stories are told from the point of view of Bob Howard, whose first person cynical and quipping narration can make one laugh, even when there is a situation of pure peril. It is strangely appropriate to have such sardonic humour in a series which takes its cue from HP Lovecraft, and really makes it enjoyable, even when the narrative is getting tangled.

The Atrocity Archives is a good take on what espionage in a Lovecraftian world is like, and what the consequences of having to live in a world with cosmic horrors and bizarre beings is like. Despite its entangled narrative, it's got good characters, nicely dark and sardonic humour, and interesting intersections between magic and real physics. And its entertaining, which is, in the end, what matters.


8.5/10

First words: Green sky at night; hacker's delight.

Last words: 'As I believe the youth of today say, don't have a cow...'

The next book will be, in all likelihood, Memory, by Lois McMaster Bujold. After that, the next book might be Saturn's Children by Charles Stross, or Dean Koontz's Frankenstein: Prodigal Son, by Dean Koontz and Kevin J Anderson.

Book 41...

REVIEW: Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold


If you had asked me about a year ago, would there be any American equivalent to the Doctor from Doctor Who, I would have told you, unequivocally, to piss off. Now, having read through the Vorkosigan saga book by book, I have to be honest: if the Doctor and Miles Vorkosigan ever had to match wits, the result would be spectacular. The Doctor would probably win, but then again, the two of them would be more likely to team up than fight. In fact, one description of the Doctor could easily be applied to Miles, especially in this book, Memory: "(He) is never more so dangerous than when the odds are against him..."

Having died once didn't stop Miles Vorkosigan, thanks to a cryogenic freezer and an unconventional medical team, but his cryogenic freezing has had the nasty side-effect of making him suffer seizures whenever he is under too much stress, and when a mission goes sour, Miles decides to cover it up. Concealing this from his boss, Barrayan Imperial Security chief Simon Illyan, turns out to be a bad idea, and Miles is booted out of ImpSec. Depressed, out of the service, and tempted to flee Barrayar to rejoin the Dendarii Mercenaries under his alias of Admiral Naismith, Miles must readjust to life on Barrayar. While his foster brother Emperor Gregor Vorbarra prepares to be engaged with Komarran heiress Laisa Toscane, Miles is drawn into something more dangerous than his dismissal: Simon Illyan is suffering attacks of some sort of delirium, his immediate successor is being obstructive towards everyone, and Miles is struggling to find his own identity.

Memory, unlike the previous four Vorkosigan Saga books I read and reviewed (Cordelia's Honour, Young Miles, Miles, Mystery and Mayhem, and Miles Errant) is actually a stand-alone book, specifically on the orders of author Lois McMaster Bujold, while all previous and successive stories have been compiled into omnibus editions. And I can tell why. This marks a major transition in Miles' life, greater than that which ended up with him in charge of his own mercenary fleet.

Memory is rather reminiscent of Mirror Dance, the novel compiled in the last Vorkosigan Saga book that I reviewed, Miles Errant. They are similar in that the story is about identity and madness. But Mirror Dance was more about Miles' clone brother Mark, whereas Memory explores the identity of Miles, as well as that of his boss, Simon Illyan.

While Memory takes its time getting to the meat and potatoes of the story, it is very well paced, and the revelation of who is behind the plot, while not completely surprising, is well thought-out and refreshingly mundane compared to the grandiose plots of assassination done previously.

Mixed amongst the drama are some very funny moments. One sequence in particular that made me laugh out loud was shortly after Miles' dismissal. Despondent and contemplating suicide, he remains in his house until his cousin Ivan breaks in with some friends and throws him into a pool of ice water. Another funny sequence is when Emperor Gregor's social secretary, Miles' aunt the Lady Alys Vorpatril, remarks that she could have saved time by not parading girls who were effectively models past Gregor to marry, when he settles for the fuller-figured and more maternal Laisa Toscane. And then, there is Miles' and Illyan's fishing expedition.

Heartwarming, too, is at the heart of Memory. Partway through the novel, Miles revisits the village seen in the story At the Mountains of Mourning where he investigated an infanticide, and the advances the village made since is quite heartening to see. So is the time when Miles and Illyan actually have some social time together, discussing their lives.

While the conclusion does lack a little satisfaction, this is the best Vorkosigan Saga book ever. It is clear why this was kept as a standalone novel rather than lumped in as an omnibus. Lois McMaster Bujold, I salute you.


9.5/10

First words: Miles returned to consciousness with his eyes still closed.

Last words: He was beginning to be very curious about his future.

Book 42...

REVIEW: Dean Koontz's Frankenstein, Book One: Prodigal Son by Dean Koontz and Kevin J Anderson

Having now read the original story, I now feel up to reading a sequel to the original Frankenstein story. I had stumbled across this sequel by accident, and had always intended to read it at some point. Now, I have, and while far from a bad book, left me dissatisfied.

A giant with a dark past by the name of Deucalion is lured from a Tibetan monastery to New Orleans. A serial killer called the Surgeon stalks the streets, murdering people and taking body parts. And the wealthy industrialist Victor Helios moves through New Orleans society while performing cruel experiments. All three are linked, for Helios is truly Victor Frankenstein, and Deucalion, his first creation. But now the roles have reversed. For the creator has become a monster, intent on populating the Earth with his own new race, supplanting humanity, while the monster has become a redeemer, teaming up with a pair of detectives in order to track down one of his own kind...

I have to admit, my only experience with Dean Koontz's work was reading, as a young child, his children's book Oddkins. But I have heard of him. So, after some time, I decided to finally bite the bullet and read his sequel to Frankenstein. The concept itself is a rather corny one, given the fact that the original story did not exactly lend itself open to any sequels.

That being said, the setup of the world this novel takes place in is fair. The characters, while somewhat flat, are engaging enough for my interest and varied. Of all the characters, however, the three most interesting include, obviously, Frankenstein himself, his creation, now calling himself Deucalion, and Randall Six, a form of artificial autistic person, whom we hear of his escape from his master's clutches.

Randall Six's world is terrifying, and while I myself am not as strongly autistic as he is, his narration does have a ring of familiarity about it. This is juxtaposed with a similar, but human, autistic who is the brother of protagonist Detective Carson O'Connor. Victor Helios is a study in decadence and being more of a monster than his creation, going so far as to grow his own wives in a way in which he can satisfy his sadistic tendencies. And Deucalion shows a man, and not a monster, tormented by his need to find redemption, knowing full well what he did in the past, but perhaps with an ability that might help.

The storyline is a rather basic, run-of-the-mill serial killer story that is a little tedious, even given the twists involved. It is still engaging enough to read all the way through, but one is left dissatisfied. Another problem with the story is that there are elements introduced (like the storyline of Randall Six) that seem like they are tangential to the current storyline, and only a small part of a larger, overarching story.

Unfortunately, while engaging enough to hold my interest for some time and interesting in the science fiction and horror concepts, Prodigal Son is above average at best. I might consider following the series, if only to see what happens when Carson O'Connor, Michael Maddison, and Deucalion finally confront Frankenstein. But this admittedly decent sequel to the Frankenstein story may not keep my interest for long enough.


8/10

First words: Deucalion seldom slept, but when he did, he dreamed.

Last words: This child of Mercy, in the spidery dark, smiles.

The next book might be Saturn's Children, if I can get the motivation. Hopefully, I can also get the motivation to read and finish the next Vorkosigan Saga omnibus book, Miles in Love.

Book 43...

REVIEW: Saturn's Children by Charles Stross

Nowadays, many of the things I choose to read or watch come from the internet, or more specifically, looking up things on Wikipedia and TV Tropes. These are excellent ways of finding things that might be of interest to me. I had been meaning, for some time, to read the Charles Stross novel Saturn's Children, a very different prospect from The Atrocity Archives, the first Charles Stross book I read and reviewed (both of which I wanted to read and review for an earlier book-reading blog), and now, finally, I have.

200 years ago, humanity went extinct. Robots and AIs have inherited the Solar System, and have created a semifeudal society filled with inequities. Busy trying to earn a wage and stay alive is sex gynoid Freya Nakamachi-47, and when she runs afoul of the aristocratic Dominaon a Venusian dirigible, she needs to get out of Dodge, fast. A job comes up, but it will take her into the illegal world of biological engineering. Worse, Freya will have to face up to troubles with her own identity as she tries to assimilate the experiences of a sister who may not be as dead as she thought...

I heard somewhere that this is meant to be a tribute to Robert Heinlein, but to be honest, I've never read anything of Heinlein's. Just as well, then. I have to be honest, the characters are not engaging. However, they are entertaining, and the sheer variety of robot types other than humanoid and human-sized is quite well-done, as is the attitude of robots and AIs towards us. The horrific things that Rhea, Freya's prototype, goes through to be made a sex gynoid also puts things into perspective.

The plot is an intriguing one, but is really little more than a science fiction-style caper plot, albeit one with serious consequences for the world. There's thrills, spills, and navel-gazing galore.

That being said, Charles Stross seems to have written this as an appeal to some rather strange sexual fantasies. I don't know whether that says more about the readership he was writing for, or Stross himself.

The book overall is entertaining, but there are a few plot points that to me seemed unclear. Whether that is due to my speed-reading or not, I dunno. What Petruchio was didn't quite seem to gel with me, and the switches between certain point-of-views also muddied the waters.

While interesting and entertaining in its own way, Saturn's Children was ultimately a disappointment. I was expecting something a little more high concept, and what I basically got was a caper plot with lots of kinky sex and some intriguing thought about what it is like to be a robot without a human. It's good, but only just above average.



8/10

First words: Today is the two hundredth anniversary of the final extinction of my One True Love, as close as I can date it.

Last words: And none of them need fear being eaten by Rhea.

Book 44...

REVIEW: Miles in Love by Lois McMaster Bujold


I was put onto the Vorkosigan Saga by a friend of mine whose interests coincide with mine, and she kept on telling me that one of the Miles Vorkosigan books, A Civil Campaign, was one of the funniest. Now that I have come to the Vorkosigan Saga omnibus that contains A Civil Campaign, along with the preceding novel Komarr and the subsequent story Winterfair Gifts, I have to agree, if not to the degree that she was implying.

An accident involving the solar mirror over the planet Komarr, which is undergoing a terraforming program, brings Miles Vorkosigan to the planet, where he encounters the paranoid Etienne 'Tien' Vorsoisson and his psychologically abuse wife, Ekaterin. Tien dies accidentally, as a result of his own idiocy, and Ekaterin, now a widow, heads back to Barrayar. However, Miles Vorkosigan has fallen in love with her, and intends to woo her. Problem is, his cousin Ivan Vorpatril has his own romantic plans, and Miles' clone brother Mark has plans for romance and business. Of course, not only does Miles have to deal with this, but a series of events that can shake the political foundation of Barrayar down to its core, not least of which involves his own marriage proposal...

Lois McMaster Bujold writes to a high standard, and yet, I found the plot of Komarr quite disappointing. While a good read, it was one of the lesser Vorkosigan Saga books, seemingly there only as a vehicle for Miles Vorkosigan to meet Ekaterin Vorsoisson, as well as to set up the ugly rumours that permeate the next story, A Civil Campaign. Tien Vorsoisson disturbingly reminds me of my own father, though, so kudos to Bujold for writing down a scarily realistic character.

While not as exciting as some Vorkosigan Saga books, A Civil Campaign is probably the funniest, with many sequences farcical to the extreme. My first laugh out loud sequence was when Ivan Vorpatril went to the spaceport to meet a former lover, Lady Donna Vorruyter, only to find that she had surgery on Beta Colony, and is now Lord Dono Vorruyter. The reason for this was a very serious one, but the sequence where Ivan meets Lord Dono is absolutely hilarious.

Funny, too, is a sequence which could be infamously called 'the dinner party', which turns into a farce of misunderstandings and escalates into a declaration of love and a proposal from Miles to Ekaterin, who turns him down because of various reasons, mostly Miles' concealing his affection and her own unstated desire not to remarry. And then, there is what could only be described as a 'bug-butter wrestling' sequence at the end, which is hilarious.

But the story does turn serious and, to a degree, heartwarming, and there are happy endings most of the way around. Bujold is able to mix the drama with the comedy well, and while not perfect, A Civil Campaign is still an excellent book.

The final story in the omnibus, Winterfair Gifts, is short but sweet. Told from the point of view of one of Miles' guards, Roic, it shows Miles' upcoming nuptials, an assassination attempt, and is also a window into the soul of one of my favourite characters, genetically engineered super soldier Taura. And when I say 'short but sweet', I mean short but sweet, as it is a very sweet story.

Overall, Miles in Love was a good omnibus, though I get the feeling that I would have enjoyed A Civil Campaign better in isolation. Bujold keeps up her high standards of writing throughout, if a little patchily, and I look forward to the next installment of the Vorkosigan Saga.


9/10

First words: The last gleaming sliver of Komarr's true-sun melted out of sight beyond the low hills on the western horizon.

Last words: Several minutes after that, they went upstairs, hand in hand.

Book 45...

REVIEW: Watchmen: The Film Companion by Peter Aperlo


Watchmen was perhaps the first Alan Moore graphic novel that I read before I saw the movie, and despite Moore's attitude to the film, I consider Zack Snyder's adaptation to probably be the best possible, at least until they decide to do a miniseries. Having watched it and now gone back to purchase a making-of book, I have to say that I am impressed with how much effort went into the making of the film.

This book, obviously, details many of the processes that went into making Watchmen, and how much Zack Snyder either tried to adhere to the book, or else did his own spin on things. There are a number of interviews with the actors, with those of Jackie Earle Haley (Rorschach) being perhaps the most interesting.

Unfortunately, this books seems to have gone for a style-over-substance regime, with pictures over more informative text. The pictures are excellent and colourful, but frankly, there is just too many of them, and not enough text. I came away from reading this book faintly dissatisfied.

This is still a pretty good book, above the average, informative and interesting. But it could have been more. Quite a bit more.


8/10

First words: Watchmen is the most critically acclaimed graphic novel of all time.

Last words: There's really no arguing with that statement.

Book 46...

REVIEW: Flash for Freedom! by George MacDonald Fraser

Having read the original Flashman novel earlier this year, I found myself somewhat intrigued with this historical comedy about liar, cad and bully Harry Paget Flashman, who manages to bluff his way out of (and, more frequently and much to his chagrin, into) dangerous situations. However, the second book, Royal Flash, while decent, left me somewhat wanting, and unfortunately, so does the third book Flash for Freedom!...

Thanks to the Chartist Demonstration, Flashman is inclined to enter politics, but his first true meeting ends with disaster when a confrontation with an old enemy with a grudge ends with Flashman nearly killing said enemy (after a rigged card game). Forced by his father-in-law to leave Britain on a ship owned by said father-in-law, Flashman is now under the command of a lunatic, Latin-expostulating slaver captain, on a voyage that will lead from Africa to America, where Flashman will experience the politics of the slave trade uncomfortably first-hand...

While the Flashman books could never be accused of being politically correct (quite the opposite, in fact), Flashman's attitudes to slavery are repulsive. While he is shocked to learn that he is on a slaver ship, this is less to do with humanitarian issues, unless you count his own welfare (given that at the time which this book was set, the slave trade, while lucrative, was now illegal, and the British policed this). People who get offended easily shouldn't read this book, and while a certain word beginning with 'n' was often used to describe Indians in the original Flashman book, this book is pretty much what they would call, on TV Tropes, a 'cluster "n" bomb'.

The book itself, like previous Flashman novels, can be split into two parts, more or less. The first part deals with Flashman's debacle at a card game and subsequent exile onto a slaver ship, and the second part deals with Flashman getting entangled in the underground railroad, plantations, and a couple of run-ins with Abraham Lincoln, long before he became President of the USA and the Civil War.

I have to confess that the history in this novel is not interesting. When it is not being distressing (given the subject matter, that is, slavery, this is not surprising), it is extremely tedious, and even without consulting George MacDonald Fraser's annotations in the back, I still get the feeling of having it crammed down my gullet.

However, one of the most interesting characters in Flash for Freedom! is also one of the most repulsive, slaver captain and Latin-spewing nutjob Captain Spring. He is at least quite entertaining when he is not being horrific. Special mention, too, must go to a slave that Flashman helps escape, Cassy, who actually felt more than a cut-out character or a cipher.

Flash for Freedom!, while by no means a bad book, was disappointing. I still recommend it to anyone who can stand a substantial amount of political incorrectness and a main character who is a liar, cheat and bully, but still, it could have been so much more. The plot was too damn singular for my liking, and I have to wonder if this will be a failing of the other Flashman books...


8/10

First words: I believe it was that sight of that old fool Gladstone, standing in the pouring rain holding his special constable's truncheon as though it were a bunch of lilies, and looking even more like an unemployed undertaker's mute than usual, that made me think seriously about going into politics.

Last words: "Those who knew him, either as John Morrison of Paisley and this city, where he was formerly Deacon of Weavers in the Trade's House of Glasgow, or by the title to which he was raised by a gracious sovereign only in November last, will be united in mourning his sudden melancholy demise..."

Book 47 wasn't what I said it would be. Because I was ill, I didn't want to touch any library books if possible, and Miles, Mutants and Microbes was a library book. Instead of Miles, Mutants and Microbes, we have...

REVIEW: Doctor Who: The Also People by Ben Aaronovitch


While my acquaintance with the earlier New Adventures novels is fairly strong, by comparison, those later in the series (the New Adventures being a series of Doctor Who novels that continued after the series originally got cancelled in 1989) I have less of an acquaintance with. However, I have read the first New Adventures book by Ben Aaronovitch, Transit, a dark cyberpunk-style story, which forms a loose trilogy of novels that continued in Set Piece by Kate Orman, and now concludes in this, The Also People...

After a particularly harrowing adventure, the Doctor brings his current companions, archaeologist Bernice Summerfield, and Adjudicators Chris Cwej and Roz Forrestor, to the Dyson Sphere created by the People, a race so technologically advanced that they have a non-aggression treaty with the Time Lords. It is a very real utopia. Or so everyone thinks. What starts as the best holiday that the Doctor and his companions have ever had turns sour when there is a murder. But that is not all the secrets within the realm of the People: a young woman whom the Doctor and Bernice know of old is present, a dangerous being who has forced the Doctor into a deadly choice...

I didn't mind Transit, despite its almost juvenile usage of profanity, sex, and violence, because at the root of it, it actually had a remotely original concept. And Ben Aaronovitch wrote what is one of the best Doctor Who novelisations of all time, that of his own TV story, Remembrance of the Daleks.

But while a good novel, The Also People (the title of which derives from a quote from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe) is something of a let down. The imagination is there, and it is an excellent concept for the Doctor and his companions to be on holiday, for once, and have things happen to them while they're enjoying themselves, but the storyline is a little muddled (although again, this could be because of my reading style), and frankly falls flat. Indeed, it takes a long time into the book to even start getting to a strong level of dramatic conflict.

That being said, there are excellent concepts involved, and while I have heard that Aaronovitch based the People on the Culture of Iain M Banks (he remarks facetiously in the acknowledgements section of the book that 'while talent borrows and genius steals, New Adventure writers get it off the back of a lorry, no questions asked'), I probably would not have noticed this appropriation. And the return of a certain character introduced in Transit, and their character arc finishing here, is a pleasant surprise.

The Also People is disappointing overall, but when you compare it to many other books out there, it is still worth a look, and actually does have enough going for it as far as a stand-alone novel in the New Adventures series is concerned. It'll pass the time, it's rather sweet in the way it shows what the Doctor and his companions do on holiday, and it easily has one of the best demonstrations of the Doctor's rhetorical abilities ever to be written.


8/10

First words: According to the old women there had once been a Leopard that fell into a trap.

Last words: But if Tsuro heard the clearing he made no sign and soon he was gone from sight.

Book 48...

REVIEW: Miles, Mutants and Microbes by Lois McMaster Bujold

In the past year, I not only discovered the Vorkosigan Saga, but have also read through much of it. After a hiatus caused by illness, I have now finally finished the last omnibus book, to date, of the Vorkosigan Saga (not the last book overall, though, as I intend to read the latest book, CryoBurn, as soon as possible).

Centuries before Miles Vorkosigan was born, the genetically engineered humans known as the Quaddies were born. Designed to be efficient in free-fall, these four-armed beings were forced to flee the system of their creation, lest they be effectively murdered. Now, in the present day, and during their honeymoon, Miles Vorkosigan and his new wife, Ekaterin, are diverted into Quaddiespace, the region of space now colonised by the Quaddies. What initially seems to be a minor but annoying diplomatic spat between the Barrayans and Quaddies will soon turn into an investigation that will turn out to have severe ramifications for Barrayar and Cetaganda.

Miles, Mutants, and Microbes basically comprises of two novels, Falling Free and Diplomatic Immunity, with the short story, Labyrinth, sandwiched in the middle. Labyrinth was reviewed as part of my review for Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem, and so I do not need to go over the points here. The only thing I must point out was that Lois McMaster Bujold put it into this collection because it introduced a Quaddie character who, along with Miles' former compatriot Bel Thorne, is a main character in Diplomatic Immunity.

Falling Free is a rather simple, and disappointing story, in that it is rather too straightforward. This by no means a bad thing, and the story is a good stand-alone one. But having become used to the labyrinthean nature of events in the Vorkosigan Saga, I was a little disappointed. However, it is a heartwarming story, albeit one with horrific implications as far as how we would treat genetically engineered humans.

It is Diplomatic Immunity that is the standout in this collection. In fact, it would not have suffered without the inclusion of Falling Free into this omnibus book. Compared to the disappointing Komarr, we have Miles at his height as an Imperial Auditor, working around diplomatic issues. His wife, Ekaterin, also gets to shine, especially towards the end. So does Bel Thorne, a hermaphrodite who was one of Miles' closest comrades in the Dendarii Mercenaries, and even getting fired by Miles due to the events of Mirror Dance doesn't blunt its ability to help Miles.

Unfortunately, the humour in both novels is a little lacking. While there is a facetious reference to what 'shopping' means to the Vorkosigan family in Diplomatic Immunity, and the naivete of the Quaddies in Falling Free, not to mention an interesting definition of the term 'applied psychology' (hint: it involves a wrench), there is less humour in these two novels, which is a pity, because Diplomatic Immunity in particular could have done with it. The Quaddies, albeit understandably, change from being rather good-natured people to becoming somewhat xenophobic, albeit mildly so, and the change is a little jarring.

Still, Miles, Mutants and Microbes is still a fine example of the Vorkosigan Saga, if a little disappointing compared to the average run of the series. It has a repeat of a story already in the Vorkosigan Saga, a fairly average story, and a pretty good one. Get this by all means if you are a Vorkosigan Saga fan, but there are better books in the series.


8.5/10

First words: The shining rim of the planet Rodeo wheeled dizzily past the observation port of the orbital transfer station.

Last words: He squeezed back, and soared.