Showing posts with label Lois McMaster Bujold. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lois McMaster Bujold. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Summer Reading #1: Oldies by Bujold, Heath, Marillier, Gellis

This summer I am indulging myself. The bulk of my reading has consisted of books that I've been wanting to get to for a long time. I caught up with some oldies but goodies. Today I am highlighting a few of the books that made an impact.

The Warrior's Apprentice and Ethan of Athos (Vorkosigan Saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold. I have so many different editions of The Warrior's Apprentice and yet they've all gone unread for years. Finally, I settled for the audio book. I'm loving this series. I keep asking myself, why did I wait so long? This is such a fantastic science fiction book. Miles is a brilliant young man who doesn't allow his disfigurement and/or disabilities to stop him from achieving what he wants and/or having fun on the way there. I love Miles, the humor, adventurous plot, political games, and fantastic secondary characters. Everything.  Overall, a fabulous creation by Bujold. A 5 star recommendation.

Ethan of Athos is a shorter story that doesn't include Miles, although it does include one of his mercenaries. It is however, a wonderful, adventurous little story with Athos, a planet inhabited exclusively by males, as the base for the story. Bujold's main character, Ethan, is a scientist attempting to resolve a scientific glitch in Athos's artificial reproductive system. To find a resolution, he must travel away from his planet to find it. In his adventures, Ethan faces bigotry as well as his own misconceptions about life away from his planet and women in particular. A 4.5 star recommendation.

I also went on a Lorraine Heath western historical romance kick and read four of her books, including the Texas Trilogy of which Texas Destiny (Book #1) was my favorite and a 5 star read. Amelia Carson, a mail-order bride, travels to Texas to marry the eldest, handsome, Leigh brother. Houston, the scarred middle brother, picks up Amelia at the train station and shares a three-week adventure-filled ride home and the two fall in love. This is a post American Civil war romance with a tortured hero, fantastic sexual tension and chemistry between the protagonists, and a brave, kind, admirable heroine. This is the type of western historical romance I love. A sigh-worthy read!

Parting Gifts is another western historical romance novel by Lorraine Heath, but this one is on the sweeter side. In this romance Maddie is rescued from a life of prostitution by Charles Lawson, a a dying widower in need of a mother for his children. It is a marriage of convenience without sexual intimacy. Charles' older brother Jesse, however, doesn't trust Maddie even as a strong mutual attraction blooms between them. This is a heartwarming, endearing romance with a few well-kept secrets, a couple of cute kids, two brothers, one woman, lovely sexual tension, and a sweet ending. It did not impact me as strongly as Texas Destiny, but still a 4.5 star recommended. I am loving Heath's western backlist! PS: The Fulfillment by Lavyrle Spencer also has the two brothers, one woman plot line. It is not necessarily the same, but I have it in my TBR and need to read it.

Daughter of the Forest (Sevenwaters #1) by Juliet Marillier was also a great read for me. I decided to read it because everywhere I look whenever readers write a review or leave a comment for a Marillier book the first disclaimer is: "This is not as great as the Sevenwaters trilogy, but…," and I wanted to find out what the hoopla was all about. Overall, I am loving Marillier's prose. As far as this first book of the Sevenwaters trilogy goes, I particularly enjoyed the unique way in which she based her fantasy on The Wild Swans fairy tale. I thoroughly disliked the manipulative Fair Folk in the story and the needless loss of innocence, beauty, and talent that came of it all. Having said that, Sorcha and Red as the main romantic couple are fabulous and I found myself reading the book compulsively until the very end. Highly recommended.

Roselynde (Roselynde Chronicles #1) by Roberta Gellis - I decided to reread the first two books of the Roselynde Chronicles by Roberta Gellis. I first read Roselynde back in the early 80's and in my opinion this reread stands the test of time. I still love young Alinor the Intrepid and Simon the Honorable. This book has the fantastic historical fiction details that Gellis is known for, excellent characters all around, and a plot that kept me engaged from beginning to end. I gave it 5 stars at Goodreads and recommend it for readers who love historical fiction set during the times of Richard the Lionhearted, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and the Crusades with a romance between fictional characters at its center to spice things up.

Alinor (Roselynde Chronicles #2) by Roberta Gellis - I love the historical details in this book, particularly as they pertain to women's rights to inherit, widows and their children, and King John's reign. Gellis' attempt to capture the medieval mindset is particularly notable in this second installment. Alinor is again the main character, as well as the romance heroine and I still love her. Simon's loss was just as sad during this reread as it was the first time I read the book. The romance between Alinor and her second husband Ian has its moments. Ian's enduring love for Alinor is sweet and passionate. I admired both Alinor's realistic outlook once she became aware of her precarious position, and her attraction to Ian despite the love she still felt for Simon. The romance, however, seems to be plagued by the lack of real communication which leads to one too many misunderstandings. There is a heavy contrast between second husband Ian's youth and first husband Simon's maturity. Regardless, this is my second favorite book of the Roselynde Chronicles. A 4.5 star recommendation.

A note about the Roselynde Chronicles: If as a reader you do not enjoy detailed battle scenes, court intrigue, or political maneuvering with your romance, these historical fiction/romance books may not be for you.


Saturday, June 16, 2012

TBR Highlights: Speculative Fiction, Fantasy, Gay Fiction

On Wednesday of this upcoming week some of us will be reviewing one book from our TBR (to be read) piles. My stack of books to be read has been growing and growing for a while. Today, I would like to share with you some of the books that I've yet to mention in my blog, but that I've quietly added to that pile.

I know there are a lot of new releases that I want to read coming out at the end of June, but there are always other books out there that catch my eye, books that I hunt or flag until they release, or books that I finally purchase after placing the title on my list of "books to buy." I've added quite a few of those books to my TBR within the last month. Here are five of them:

The Croning by Laird Barron (Night Shade Books, May 2012) 
Strange things exist on the periphery of our existence, haunting us from the darkness looming beyond our firelight. Black magic, weird cults and worse things loom in the shadows. The Children of Old Leech have been with us from time immemorial. And they love us. Donald Miller, geologist and academic, has walked along the edge of a chasm for most of his nearly eighty years, leading a charmed life between endearing absent-mindedness and sanity-shattering realization. Now, all things must converge. Donald will discover the dark secrets along the edges, unearthing savage truths about his wife Michelle, their adult twins, and all he knows and trusts. For Donald is about to stumble on the secret...of The Croning.

From Laird Barron, Shirley Jackson Award-winning author of The Imago Sequence and Occultation, comes The Croning, a debut novel of cosmic horror.
Last year I "discovered" Laird Barron when I read one of his magnificent short stories. For a while now I have slowly been reading his awesome book of short stories, Occultation And Other Stories. Laird Barron certainly has a gift for writing speculative fiction/horror. The Croning is his debut novel and I was keeping my eye out for this title's release so I could scoop it up immediately!

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Scourge of the Betrayer by Jeff Salyards (Night Shade Books, May 2012)
Many tales are told of the Syldoon Empire and its fearsome soldiers, who are known throughout the world for their treachery and atrocities. Some say that the Syldoon eat virgins and babies-or perhaps their own mothers. Arkamondos, a bookish young scribe, suspects that the Syldoon's dire reputation may have grown in the retelling, but he's about to find out for himself.

Hired to chronicle the exploits of a band of rugged Syldoon warriors, Arki finds himself both frightened and fascinated by the men's enigmatic leader, Captain Braylar Killcoin. A secretive, mercurial figure haunted by the memories of those he's killed with his deadly flail, Braylar has already disposed of at least one impertinent scribe . . . and Arki might be next.

Archiving the mundane doings of millers and merchants was tedious, but at least it was safe. As Arki heads off on a mysterious mission into parts unknown, in the company of the coarse, bloody-minded Syldoon, he is promised a chance to finally record an historic adventure well worth the telling, but first he must survive the experience!
Okay, Scourge of the Betrayer is a fantasy book that came up in my list of recommendations at amazon in May when it released. I picked it up right there and then because from the blurb it just sounds like the type of book that I would love to read when I'm in the mood for fantasy. I'm hoping to get a break in my reading schedule soon so I can give it some time!

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Wonder by Dan Boyle (Lethe Press, January 2011)
Have a gay Caltech professor and his dying mother uncovered the secrets of the mind... and the universe?
Tom Flaherty's mother is suffering from a strange form of dementia that causes her to journey back in time; especially when she's housecleaning and finds personal items that trigger her memory. But Maude Flaherty's travels--from the Scopes Monkey trial in 1925 to the 1936 Berlin Olympics to the Civil Rights March on Washington in 1963--might be the evidence Tom needs as a Caltech physicist to develop a unified theory of space, time, and place and reconnect with a society he's lost touch with since the loss of his partner a decade ago.

As Tom attempts to determine just what is happening to his mother, the sense of wonder that disappeared with Ken's murder returns and his renewed quest for the meaning of life leads him to the national spotlight. Housecleaning is both a gay love story and a family drama, questioning science and faith and how scientists see the universe as God.
My friend Indigene reviewed Wonder by Dan Boyle back in September 2011, and her write up made this book sound so interesting that it went on my "list" of books to purchase and read. I finally purchased it and it's now in my TBR. It sounds like a fascinating read, right? My kind of read. *g*

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The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold (Harper Collins, 2006)
A man broken in body and spirit, Cazaril returns to the noble household he once served as page and is named secretary-tutor to the beautiful, strong-willed sister of the impetuous boy who is next in line to rule. It is an assignment Cazaril dreads, for it must ultimately lead him to the place he most fears: the royal court of Cardegoss, where the powerful enemies who once placed him in chains now occupy lofty positions.

But it is more than the traitorous intrigues of villains that threaten Cazaril and the Royesse Iselle here, for a sinister curse hangs like a sword over the entire blighted House of Chalion. And only by employing the darkest, most forbidden of magics can Cazaril hope to protect his royal charge — an act that will mark him as a tool of the miraculous . . . and trap him in a lethal maze of demonic paradox.
Now, here I have a book that I've been wanting to read for a long time. I placed a hold on reading this book because I wanted to get through the Vorkosigan Saga first, but you know what? I'm just going to read it! I'll get through Miles and his adventures slowly anyway. I just want to read this book!

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Taxi Rojo by Erik Orrantia (Cheyenne Publishing, April 2012)
Tijuana-the melting pot of Mexico, the gateway to the U.S., the armpit of Baja California. Two million souls struggle for survival, each searching for a way to become...something, anything better. Fate brings a few strangers together one night in a crowded taxi rojo. When the red taxi crashes down a canyon, it creates a connection between the passengers that, like the international border within sight of the crash, draws a line between triumph and defeat, hopelessness and perseverance, life and death.

Boyfriends Rigo and Cristian confront their demons when a supposedly innocuous tryst gets out of control. Pancha looks for love in a complex world of ambiguous gender and sexual identity. Toni's biggest problem is self-acceptance in a culture that has ingrained in him the idea that real men are macho and self-sufficient. Julia's faith is challenged as she toils to make a living and support her disabled sister, while feeling paralyzed by her sense of responsibility and lingering guilt. Even in Tijuana, light can be found in the darkness. Facing fears and giving of oneself pave the road to strength and freedom, while stubbornness and denial lead only to demise.
Indigene has been recommending Mr. Orrantia's works to me for a few years now. I have Normal Miguel in my TBR and have yet to read it (shame on me), but I saw Taxi Rojo, and between the title, the setting and the blurb, it just drew me and I couldn't pass it up. So it seems as if this will be my first Orrantia read. Finally (Indie)!

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So these five books in my TBR pile are of the non-romance variety, and they're all Kindle editions. Next month, maybe I will have some print books on my list, as well as some romance. :)

Have you read any of these books? Are any of these books in your own TBR? I "discovered" Laird Barron last year and am really appreciating his writing, and a genre that I thought I would never read -- horror. Have you "discovered" a writer that grabbed your interest the way Barron grabbed mine? 



Monday, February 27, 2012

Impressions: Shards of Honour by Lois McMaster Bujold

Cordelia Naismith is enjoying a baptism of fire. Her first mission is to captain a throwaway warship of the Betan Expeditionary Force on a mission to destroy an entire enemy armada. Discovering deception within deception, treachery within treachery, she is forced into an uneasy peace with her nemesis: Lord Aral Vorkosigan. Discovering that astrocartography is not the soundest training for a military leader, Cordelia rapidly finds herself the prisoner of the Barrayaran Captain Aral Vorkosigan, also known as 'The Butcher of Komarr'. But the notorious captain is not quite the beast Cordelia was expecting and a grudging respect develops between the two of them. As captor and prisoner on an abandoned outpost planet, the honourable captain and the resolute scientist must rely on each others' trust to survive a trek across dangerous terrain, thus sparking a relationship that shares the struggles of culture and politics between their worlds.
I finally began reading the Vorkosigan science fiction saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. Although I understand that Miles, their son, is the main character throughout the rest of the series, I decided to begin at the beginning by reading Cordelia Naismith and Aral Vorkosigan's story. I figured the backstory would help me understand Miles' character better later on. I think it was a good move.

As the first full-length novel in the series Shards of Honour is key. It serves two purposes: one is to give the readers of this series Miles' family history from both sides, and the other is to introduce the complex political, military and cultural differences between the Barrayaran and the worlds they war against, the Betan included.

Bujold uses the slow developing and low-key romance between Cordelia and Aral to build her world through exchanges of information and conversations between the two main characters. They first meet as enemies, but slowly the need to fight for survival in an alien planet brings them together and Cordelia and Aral form a bond of trust through honor and finally affection.

Honor and valor are also key to this story. It is what drives Aral and what he finds in Cordelia -- that, plus strength and will. Cordelia is not only Aral's ideal of a warrior's wife, but everything he himself would like to be as a warrior. Yet, she is not a warrior but a scientist. Aral is a man of honor through and through, but he is also a military strategist and in his heart, a politician. As such, he must make tough decisions that bruise his sense of self. Cordelia understands him and soothes his soul.

Barrayar's politics are quite complex in this story, and what begins as an attack on Cordelia's scientific party in an alien planet balloons into a disproportionate situation that places more than just a few people in danger. There are betrayals behind betrayals, secrets, and massive amounts of people die or are tortured, planets go to war and in the end Bujold leaves the reader with gray areas as to where responsibilities really lie for the loses and slaughter, and even Cordelia must make a tough choice between her own world and Aral's.

Shards of Honour is most definitely a science fiction novel though. Bujold incorporates the necessary details seamlessly into her worldbuilding. Beginning with the alien planet where Cordelia and Aral meet, and where they both use whatever futuristic science there is to survive, and ending with the space ships and developing edgy science used to win and lose wars.

However, I walked away from Shards of Honour thinking mostly about characterization and complex plotting. The romance that Bujold developed between two mature adults that grows from admiration to an almost quiet, deep love was rather enjoyable, and the complex political circumstances and militaristic Barrayaran culture fascinating. So I'm on my way and can't wait to continue by reading the second book in the series, Barrayar.


Category: Science Fiction
Series: Vorkosigan Series, Book 1
Publisher/Release Date: October 1, 1991/Baen Books
Grade: B

Visit Lois McMaster Bujold here.

Read as part of The 2012 Science Fiction Experience.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Review: The Mountains of Mourning by Lois McMaster Bujold


[A Miles Vorkosigan Story] Twenty year old Ensign Miles Vorkosigan plays detective in a murder case, and tests the balance of power as a member of the Barrayaran nobility.



The Mountains of Mourning was originally published as a stand-alone novella in the May 1989 issue of Analog. It was then included as the first of three novellas that make up the novel Borders of Infinity (October 1989). For the novel, Ms. Bujold added a short "framing story" that tied the three novellas together by setting up each one as a flashback that Miles experiences while recovering from bone-replacement surgery. The other two novellas are Labyrinth and The Borders of Infinity.
Here's a short story I highly recommend for those who have not yet read Ms. Bujold's work. It is science fiction, yet this short is written as more of a detective story. The setting is Barrayaran, Miles home planet, and sufficient details are provided to give the sci-fi feel to the story without it overwhelming the plot. The focus remains on Miles and the mystery he is attempting to solve.

Our story begins when a young woman from a mountain village comes to Prime Minister Count Vorkosigan's court to report a murder. This young woman, Harra, appears ragged, hungry and her anger has no limits. She reported the murder to the Village Speaker and he dismissed her accusation as nothing. She then went to lodge an appeal with the district magistrate, but he was absent from his office and not due to return for two weeks. Unwilling and unable to wait that period of time, she now stubbornly sits at the Count's doors and demands her right to be heard by her count's court. Harra wants justice!

Miles, son and heir to Count Vorkosigan, is home after graduating from the Academy and is on leave after receiving his new officer's commission in the Barrayaran Imperial Service. He is the one who comes upon Harra while she is being told by the guard to leave. He facilitates the audience she seeks with the Count.

They are in for a shock as they find Harra is not just reporting murder but a case of infanticide. The motives behind this horrible deed are clear to the Count, Miles, the Countess and Harra, who turns out to be the murdered infant's mother. Ignorance and old beliefs seem to be behind it all and the Count is determined to bring these incidents to an end -- for this is no isolated incident. Miles capabilities are about to be tested in more ways than one. He'll have to use his powers of deduction to solve the murder and he'll have to learn how to use his future overlord powers to impart justice.

I downloaded this short story on to my eReader from the Baen Free Library and it has been sitting on my TBR pile for a while, I'm sorry it took me so long to read it. This short is part of Bujold's novel "The Borders of Infinity" and the novel is part of a larger series about the Vorkosigans, but this short story stands alone very well on its own.

I want to clarify that The Mountains of Mourning is science fiction, not romance. Ms. Bujold manages to give enough detail about the Vorkosigans and their world to make this not only an interesting read, but to also hook the reader into wanting to know more about them, certainly more about Miles' "damaged" character, his trials, tribulations and triumphs. It is an excellent who-done-it with an arresting plot and unforgettable characters. I was definitely hooked.

I already have the other two short stories that make the "Borders of Infinity" novel, plus the book that introduces Miles, Book #1, "The Warrior's Apprentice." I can't wait to find out if the other books have the same quality when it comes to both plot and characterization, plus I really want to explore this world Bujold created.

Find out more about Lois McMaster Bujold here.