Brothers in Arms (Vorkosigan Saga, #5) in Beyond Reality

Dec 01, 2013 mark monday rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi-60s-70s-80s, x-vorkosigan-saga

so how tall is Tyrion the Imp anyway? I think Miles Vorkosigan is well under 5 foot. both characters are brilliant, idiosyncratic, lovelorn, and really full of themselves. I always thought that Tyrion was a complete original but there's a lot of Miles in him and Miles came first, right? I suppose it doesn't matter who came first, what matters to me is that these are two of my favorite creations in all of genre fiction. well I've always had a fondness for short guys with big brains. Miles actuall so how tall is Tyrion the Imp anyway? I think Miles Vorkosigan is well under 5 foot. both characters are brilliant, idiosyncratic, lovelorn, and really full of themselves. I always thought that Tyrion was a complete original but there's a lot of Miles in him and Miles came first, right? I suppose it doesn't matter who came first, what matters to me is that these are two of my favorite creations in all of genre fiction. well I've always had a fondness for short guys with big brains. Miles actually calls himself a genius again, second time I've seen this. oh, Miles. Bujold you are awesome for making sure your wonderful creation has his own flaws that are completely separate from his physical flaws, that crooked spine, those brittle bones, those little legs, poor adorable Miles. well at least he finally gets laid. Bujold you are also awesome for spinning another fun yarn that moves fast and still manages to think deep at times too, dropping things like The man who assumes everything is a lie is at least as mistaken as the one who assumes everything is true. If no guarantee can suit you, perhaps the flaw is not in the guarantee, but in you." and "well, people do get hypnotized by the hard choices. And stop looking for alternatives." Bujold, I love those comments. they may not be the most mind-blowing things to read, but they do pop out at a person who is basically reading a bit of light, escapist space opera. that last quote in particular struck me, I deal with that on the council a lot, people I would otherwise respect talking about "making hard choices" when what they mean is that change is coming and we better start looking at which services we should slash or eliminate, as if that is actually hard when the actual hard work would be in figuring out how not to do unnecessary crap like that. ugh! I hate bullshit. unfortunately Miles spends some time thinking that bullshit too but there's a few other people around to set him straight. I have a fairly strong crush on Miles but I think that crush has expanded to the loyal and lovely Eli and her post-facial reconstruction take on the nature of beauty and of course walking boner Ivan and his amiable bickering. great supporting characters. and they live in a thoroughly enjoyable novel. this one has Miles traveling to Old Earth and getting caught up in various terrorist plots, oh Miles, you are always getting into trouble but fortunately you are a genius and so you always get yourself out of it. maybe a bit too easily at times, which is probably why this is 3 stars and not 4. and at long last, Miles' two identities and his schizophrenic lifestyle are fully explored and made central to the narrative. we have him splitting himself into two via a surprising tall tale that - spoilers beyond this point - turns out to be true, we have various characters finally addressing all of the issues that Miles faces in his two personas, and we have a great little hallucinogenic scene when he confusingly glimpses a very stressed-out version of himself across the way. best of all, we have a clone. yay for clones!

Miles and his clone don't really see eye to eye that way, and certainly not mind to mind. I guess I just love that gif. well, obviously, since it is the second time you've used it mark. for chrissakes find some new gifs already.

okay, Miles-style stream of consciousness review DONE. ...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: sf

More Vorkosigan fun. Funny, action-packed summer reading. Not really too suspenseful since I know he must survive for books eight through eighty (I don't know how many there are, but I know they're still going), but Bujold established early on in the series that she wasn't afraid to kill some pretty important characters. ...more

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Oct 20, 2013 Banner rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi

Miles Vorkosigan continues to get in trouble and the series continues to be fun to read. There is nothing extraordinary about the plot, but the characters are just so good that even an average plot is engaging. Seriously if not for previous character development within the series this would just be an average read.

The introduction of the clone played well with Mile's developing worldview of family and individual value. Living in a culture that abhors disabilities, Miles has taken a unique (with ...more

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Aug 20, 2009 Megan rated it really liked it

Shelves: re-read, science-fiction

Another great entry in a great series. In this book, the dual identity of Miles Vorkosigan and Admiral Naismith becomes complicated by the introduction of Miles' cloned "brother" Mark. ...more

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Sep 02, 2008 Stephen rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook, sf-space-opera, need-to-buy

4.0 to 4.5 stars. Miles Vorkosigan is on my list of the top 10 best SF characters ever. This is another great novel, though IMHO not the best.

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Jul 27, 2007 Wealhtheow rated it really liked it

Shelves: queer-characters, sci-fi

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Jan 12, 2008 Jeffrey rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

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Jun 15, 2008 Matt rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

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Jul 06, 2008 JuliAnna rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

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Jan 01, 2009 Sandi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror-althistory, read-1990-1999

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Jan 02, 2009 Kimberly rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, iownit

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Jan 28, 2009 Shanshad Whelan rated it really liked it

Shelves: series, wish-list-books, science-fiction

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Oct 08, 2009 Scott rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, 2009

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Oct 20, 2009 Shellie (Layers of Thought) marked it as to-read

Shelves: spec-fic-science-fiction

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Oct 25, 2009 Angela Randall marked it as to-read

Shelves: 20th-century, we-own, sci-fi, fiction, bruce-recommends, friends-recommend, 1980-1989, lois-mcmaster-bujold, we-love-this-author, we-own-ebook

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