Lighthearted space opera whose space cadet protagonist's primary skill is not shooting lasers or using psi powers, but talking people into things. This takes him from ignominiously cleaning storm drains through interstellar espionage/intrigue to space battle. Probably my favorite of the Miles stories. ( )

The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold serves as the six book in the wonderful Vorkosigan Saga, the space opera/military/political thriller sci-fi saga that Bujold is known for. As mentioned it is sixth full-length novel in publication order, and is the sixth story, including novellas, in the internal chronology of the series. It was included in the 1997 omnibus Young Miles. It won the Hugo Award for best Novel in 1991.

In The Vor Game, we see our favorite protagonist, Miles Vorkosigan graduate from the Academy, where he then joins a mutiny, is placed under house arrest, goes on a secret mission, reconnects with his loyal Dendarii Mercenaries, rescues his Emperor, and thwarts an interstellar war. You know - Miles being a typical badass.

The first several chapters of The Vor Game (chapter 1 through part of chapter 6) were originally published in a slightly different form as a novella entitled "The Weatherman" in the February 1990 issue of Analog magazine.The story covers Miles's assignment to Kyril Island through his arrest and the beginning of his detention at ImpSec. This part I found to be a bit slow. But, once Miles is placed under house arrest - things really pick up.Miles gets in way over his head, makes a bunch of seat-of-the-pants decisions, manages to be a little smarter than everyone else, and pulls out an elegant solution in the end to rescue Emperor Gregor and repel a surprise attack by a Cetagandan invasion fleet.

The Vor Game delivers a typical Miles Vorkosigian story. The story is good, fast-moving political intrigue and maneuvering, with satisfying complexity and lots of fun characters.

I’m excited to ready the next book in the series.
( )

Yay for Miles Vorkosigan quick-witting his way through one (self-created) disaster after another before saving the day! With a little help from his friends. I really love this series, more for the characters than the setting; there's the odd cartoon villain, but mostly everyone acts plausibly and consistently. Space opera, indeed. ( )

In my hybrid order for the Vorkosigan series, The Vor Game is the second book. There are many ways this series is like the Horatio Hornblower novels by C. S. Forester: the one I want to discuss today mostly focuses on the opening segment of this novel, which was originally published as a standalone novella, "The Weatherman." Following the events of the previous book, The Warrior's Apprentice, Miles Vorkosigan has graduated from the military academy and is sent off to his first posting... to monitor the weather at a forlorn ice-encrusted remote military base on his home planet. But, of course, he eventually ends up in the same kind of dilemma that Hornblower so often ended up in, one where the dictates of military service run up against his personal morality. Can he save the lives of innocent men without violating the chain of command? Like Hornblower, he distinguishes himself with clever, intellectual solutions to his problems. The way he thinks up to get out of this situation is brilliant. I love this kind of thing, a hero who is both principled and clever. That was the moment I texted my friend (who has been pushing the books on me for a decade): "This book is so totally my jam."

Then Miles is off on another adventure. This is also a very Hornblower move, the novel made up of multiple disparate stories, but the next adventure keeps twisting and turning. Soon Miles is hunting down the mercenary group he created in Warrior's Apprentice, and then he's uncovered a vast plot, and now he has a very important dignitary to protect, etc., etc. To be honest, it kind of threw me. I wanted more adventures of Miles in the service! How does he learn to fit himself into that hierarchy? It's a very Hornblower question...

...but you know, while it seems to me Bujold must have been inspired partially by Hornblower, this is not Hornblower. It has its own identity, and its own questions to ask. Once I adjusted to that, I came to enjoy the book much more; I think it's the kind of novel that even though it was good the first time, it will improve on a reread, once you can see how it all fits together. The question isn't how does Miles make himself fit, but it seems to be, where can Miles find that he can fit? At least, I think so! Bujold has wrong-footed me before, and I am sure she will do so again, but I look forward to finding out where Miles is when I next pick up his story, with Cetaganda.

2021 reread via audiobook borrowed from Audible's Plus catalog
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4.5* rounded up due to Grover Gardner's excellent narration. ( )