More Vorkosigan: "The Shards of Honor" and "Barrayar"
Yeah, I've built up a backlog of these. I suck.
I went back for the Cordelia books.
The Shards of Honor
Chapters 1 and 2
-So obviously I'm reading this book with hindsight since I read the Miles books first. So going in, I know that Cordelia Naismith and Aral Vorkosigan are going to end up falling in love and getting married and generally being awesome. But I kinda like having that insight, because I don't have to worry so much about the "will they or won't they" romance plot and can just have fun. And by the end of the second chapter, the "will they or won't they" is already pretty clear. She's all NOTICING HIS MUSCLES AND SHIT.
-Anyway, so I thought Cordelia was in the actual Betan military. (They HAVE a military, right? There was a war, surely there was a military.) Instead she's a captain of a science expedition which is attacked. And Lord Vorkosigan is also stranded on this planet because his troops turned against him. Or something mysterious.
-And I feel really bad about the ensign who is brain damaged but still alive that Cordelia made Aral bring along with them. I hope that their tech means he might get better? Because otherwise, this is pretty damn depressing.
-Also, the alien life forms on this planet are freaking rad and also terrifying. Hydrogen filled floating jellyfish with stinging tentacles that bore into your skin and suck your blood. NO THANKS. Giant evil carnivorous crab things? I'll be....elsewhere. (Although since I freaking love eating crabs, every time I see that picture of those huge coconut crabs that freak people out so much, I just wonder how they taste and what you have to use to crack them open.)
Chapter 3
-Wow the romantic innuendo is super subtle: "You have the competence one would look for in a mother of warriors." -Seriously, I think I would punch any man who said that to me, but instead Cordelia is just all, I wouldn't want my sons to go die in a war.
-So Vorkosigan (ok, look I'm going to call him Aral because it's much shorter to type, but I don't like it because I keep reading it as Anal.) has a wound from a killer mutant crab and it's infected and he's feverish and on pain meds so he keeps talking about personal stuff. Like that his mother was murdered by the mad emperor, on on the emperor's orders, right in front of Aral. Which lead to his determination to be a great soldier.
-And then they talk about relationships, and they tell thinly veiled "I had a friend who" stories about their past romantic tragedies. Seems Cordelia was with someone just because she was so anxious to be with anyone, and he and she were up for the same command and he convinced her that she needed to step aside and let him have it so they could have children. Except he took the promotion and then broke up with her.
-But then Aral tells how he was married young, in an arranged marriage and his wife started having affairs while he was away and he found out and challenged her two lovers to duels and killed them both, after which his wife shot herself in the head.... DUDE.
Chapter 4
-And they meet back up with the Barrayarans (?) and arrest most of the mutineers and Cordelia is more obviously infatuated with Aral all the time, all concerned for his well-being and shit.
-I can't think of anything else to say about this chapter. It's mostly about who mutinied and who didn't and getting cleaned up and injuries treated.
Trigger Warning: Discussion of rape below.
Chapter 5
-Ok, I'm going to say this is more than a little weird, because Aral just asked Cordelia to marry him. Like, "So, you'll be my prisoner for several months, but after that you could stay and be my wife." And apparently he's been trying to find a moment to do this for DAYS, because he knew from the first time he saw her. I don't know, I don't really go in for love at first site as a rule. On the other hand, he's very sweet and adorable throughout this conversation.
-And then he tells her that his planet is planning to attack Escobar, a Betan ally, which means they will be at war. (And due to my reading ahead, I know how badly that turns out.) Naturally Cordelias all, "I've got to think about this."
-If there's a flaw in Bujold's writing that I've noticed so far, it's this sort of thing, where something happens so quickly that it loses some of the impact it could have had if there was more build up to it.
Chapter 6
-And then everything is bad because Cordelia's men return to capture her, and they've found and brought the mutiny leaders with them.
-And then Cordelia proves she is massively badass, because she talks her way into where the mutineers are, stuns one, uses him as a human sheild, and ends up stunning all of them and talking one into coming back on her side. She then sabotages the ship's weapons and escapes with her crew
-But she's pining for Vorkosigan and wants to be with him, but she has to get home and warn them about the coming invasion and LOVE ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF WAR, WOES.
Chapter 7
-I'm not usually into battle scenes, but this is really cool. Cordelia is in command of another ship, they go through the wormhole into the middle of the Barrayaran fleet, project the image of a huge warship, which the enemy focuses on, while real freighters slip through and get a head start. Then she and her crew get into a shuttle and blow their ship up. The shuttle looks like a rock, but they are discovered anyway and surrender. It's just some really neat tactics and I wish all space battles were that clever.
-And then, umm, the book becomes UTTERLY HORRIFYING. Because Cordelia is held prisoner by the Admiral of the fleet, who is an insane sadist. She's tied to his bed and he calls for Bothari to rape her. Bothari refuses, because she is Vorkosigan's. Completely horrifying threats continue for a while.
-I don't want to talk about this scene much, since it took me by surprise and was really horrifying to me. But it's important in terms of Borthari's character. One of my friends told me that all the groundwork for the Bothari stuff in Warrior's Apprentice was laid here, and I see what she meant. Cordelia recognizes that Bothari is seriously mentally ill and that the depraved Admiral has tormented him and twisted him into his tool. She tells herself that there are two victims in the room, and forgives Bothari for his part, which frankly, is way more sympathy than I could summon up for anyone about to rape me. (Having worked with the severely mentally ill, I do believe that even the most serious mental illness doesn't excuse responsibility for criminal behavior, since the vast majority of mentally ill individuals manage to get by without being criminal. Obviously this is simplified and I'm talking about major crimes, not trespassing or disturbing the peace or any of the charges that are routinely dropped for mentally ill individuals who seek treatment....ok tangent....)
-Umm, yeah, anyway, Bothari ends by slicing the Admiral's throat as he's about to rape Cordelia. Thankfully, because this scene was already disturbing enough. And then Vorkosigan shows up. End of chapter. And I have to stop here and go do stuff.
Chapter8-10
So I read Chapter 8 and part of 9 in my doctor's office, so I don't have any notes for it. Essentially Cordelia is taken to Aral's room to hide. There is a war about to start. Eventually Aral gets word that things are going poorly for his side, the commanders are killed and he is in charge. He orders full retreat because he knows about the new tech the other side got from Cordelia's people. He says its because he gave her an interrogation drug in her sleep, but Cordelia figures its actually because he knew all along and this was a planned way to get rid of all the depraved, evil, and dangerous commanders by setting them up to fail and be killed. Apparently the emperor's plan, but Aral knew about it. Before she sees him again she's put in the brig and then transferred to a POW camp.
Where apparently the Barrayarans have been trolling for rape victims until two days before, when other people came in and took over and executed the commander of the camp. You know, seriously, if I was her, I would definitely be thinking that no matter how much I liked him and his personal behavior, I wouldn't ever marry into a society with this much horror built in.
Chapter 11
-Which immediately becomes relevant as Aral visits Cordelia at the POW camp and they talk and she tells him she loves him but can't take Barrayar with him. And he wouldn't be welcome on Beta. And they kiss and it's very bittersweet and yeah.
-Then there's the delivery of the uterine replicators with all the bastard children gotten on rape victims. Which totally makes that thing in Warrior's Apprentice make sense, because I never understood why there were rape babies in fake wombs in the first place. The other side delivered the fetus's to the Barrayarans to put the blood guilt of aborting them on the heads of the people responsible for their existence. You know, I really didn't expect this book to be so heavy.
Chapter 12 and 13
-You know this really isn't good. Chapter 12 and 13 deal with the aftermath of the war for Cordelia. First she is on a ship traveling back home and the ship is filled with Escobaran psych officers trying to get her to talk about her trauma, convinced that the Barrayarans altered her memory because her account differs from the rumors. So she spends all that time not sleeping and avoiding everyone.
-Then she gets back to Beta where they try to prop her up as propaganda for their politicians, except she freaks out because they want her to tell lies and kicks the president in the crotch.
-And then things get really bad because they force her to accept psych treatment in order to get her job back, and the shrink is convinced of the same things because she read the report of the shrink on the ship and so she drugs her without her consent and starts trying to get at all the political secrets that she knows.
-And then when Cordelia realized she's been drugged against her will and revolts, the shrink says they prefer to get consent after the fact, and when Cordelia tries to excercise her legal right to refuse to see this woman anymore, the woman just continues to see it all as symptoms of her illness.
And I find this all massively upsetting and actually triggering to me. Which is weird because there's nothing to actually trigger? I mean, it's not like anything like this has happened to me. In fact, I was the one who worked on the other side. I committed people to psychiatric care against their will. I dealt with people screaming at me at the tops of their lungs and becoming violent when I told them they had to be hospitalized. (The same people usually thanked me for committing them later. Often at great length.) So I guess I just find it really upsetting because I know how wrong this lady is going about it. I know how unjustified this behavior is? But I don't know why, it's upset me to the point of tears.
So I'm not going to talk about the rest of this, when they come to force her into a hospital with or without her consent, because they believe she's been programmed to be an enemy agent. I'm just going to hope this part of the book is over quickly...
Chapter 14, 15, Aftermath
-So thankfully Cordelia makes it to Barrayar and marries Aral, and they are happy, and then Aral is offered/forced into becoming the regent for the 4 year old new Emperor.
- I really have no idea what the purpose was of the Aftermath in which a couple of people find all the dead bodies in space. I guess it's supposed to give some kind of closure to the violence of war or something. Mostly I was waiting for some kind of REVEAL that tied back to the plot or characters of the book and I didn't get one.
So, seriously, I don't know what to say about this book. I went in expecting adventures more in tune with the Miles books I've read and instead got this dark book about the horrors of war, specifically the rape of prisoners. With bonus forced psych treatment. I'm not going to say that it wasn't a good book or that I'm disappointed in it, but for the last half I didn't really find it a very pleasant read. I think I'm going to take a break and read something else before startingBarrayar.
Barrayar
Chapters 1-2
-So I'm hoping for a little less darkness than the last one, though knowing the at some point Cordelia is going to be poisoned and her unborn child hurt limits how light it could be.
-It seems that this book will probably be mostly politics, since that's what Aral is doing right now.
-The scene with the Princess and her bodyguard was neat. So far I like the Princess.
-And naturally the bodyguard is now Cordelia's bodyguard. I should probably learn her name. Droushnakovi. Yeah, I'm going to keep typing that...sure.
- Cordelia is amazing when she's buying the swordcane. Way to make the salesman pay for offering her cheap crap because she is a woman and won't know any better.
-Also, OMINOUS POLITICIAN GUY who I know later will poison Cordelia while trying to assassinate Aral. So...yeah.
Chapters 3-4
-So this is pretty interesting, seeing Barrayar society from an outsider's POV. But as was briefly mentioned in the discussion for the previous book, it's not only Barrayar that comes out looking bad. Betan society also disturbs me, with the government determining who can have children and how many. And we saw the dark side of their psychiatric treatment last book.
-I adore the part where Cordelia breaks down the rules of sex in Barrayar society and what you can say depending on who's listening. I really wish her list of rules was spelled out. I want to know what Rule Thirteen is now.
-And then, there's an assassination attempt on Aral by a bomb that barely misses and the fun is over.
Chapters 5-6
I read these chapters right before bed and didn't blog anything. So I'll have to remind myself what happened.
-They go to a swanky party for the Emperor's birthday and Cordelia has a nasty encounter with Ominous Politician guy who tries to drop the bombshell that Aral is bisexual, except Cordelia is just like, yeah, I know, and now he's monogamous. It takes her several paragraphs to realize that this man just tried to ruin his marriage. Except now he's pissed because she didn't care.
-So she decides it's likely that Ominous Politician guy was probably behind the bomb attack.
-Then the next chapter is amount visiting baby Elena who is being cared for by a foster mother. And she and Bothari have an intense conversation where Bothari works up the courage to ask if he raped Cordelia and she assures him he didn't.
-So yeah.
Chapter 7
-What a high emotion filled chapter.
-Koudelka and Bothari are beaten while visiting prostitutes, and Koudelka nearly commits suicide in front of Cordelia, who is meanwhile miserable because Aral is never home and never talks to her about work and she's in a totally foreign society that she doesn't undertand.
-The part where she is horrified to find out that some people live in total poverty and don't have basic amenities or education is interesting. And then she tells the Count that probably most of the planet has Vor blood based on how much adultery there is. Cause she's awesome.
-But anyway she ends up crying on Koudelka's shoulder and Aral finds her and insinuates there is something going on between them and everybody is mad and Cordelia and Aral have a big conversation about what's going on with him.
-Basically he's got the weight of an entire government on his shoulders and he doesn't know what to do with it. I would say "Talk to your wife" would be high on the list, Aral.
Chapter 8
-So Aral has to order someone's execution and attend it. And THAT NIGHT is the gas attack. It was the executed man's brother. So I guess I was wrong about Ominous Politician guy. Look, everyone's name starts with Vor, I can't keep them straight.
-So it's actually not the gas that caused Miles' deformities, but the antidote to the gas.
-Cordelia manages to make the attacker sob when she confronts him about what he's done to her baby.
-And then they're in hospital and want to go ahead with the abortion, except there's one mad scientist guy who is eager to try experimental techniques and get a paper out of it. And Cordelia fires everyone but him and tells him to find someone to transfer her baby to one of the in vitro pods from the previous book.
-She's really awesome, but it's made pretty clear that she's acting irrationally, even if it ends up working out sort of ok. I mean, yes, she's taking any chance for the survival of her child, but the likelihood of his survival seems really low, not to mention the doctors are pretty horrific in describing what state the baby might end up in.
Chapter 9
-Urgh I knew the Count was going to be horrible about this, and I knew he tried to kill Miles, but still this is upsetting. I can't believe Cordelia hasn't done anything violent to him yet, talking about how Count Vorkosigan could never be deformed.
-It's interesting reading Cordelia's thoughts on in vitro gestation because it DOES make so much more sense than gestating a baby the natural way, if you can closely monitor and regulate everything in an artificial womb to prevent complications. There would be a huge backlash against it on psychological grounds, and maybe it would decease the connected feeling of mother for child, but then again natural childbearing is no guarantee of parental love. Maybe if mothers weren't in recovery themselves from a very chaotic and upsetting physical trauma to their bodies, there would be less postpartum depression.
Chapter 10-13
-ACTION! First the Count continues to be disgusting and disowns Aral because he won't kill his unborn child.
-But then, there is a plane landing with the Emporer in it, and a dying security chief and Ominous Political Guy has staged a coup and they are on the run!
-And Cordelia and Gregor are sent off with the Count into the wilderness, and Cordelia has her first encounter with riding a horse and I feel really sorry for her, because I have bad horse experiences as well, plus she just had freaking surgery.
-So basically there are a few chapters of running around in the mountains, hiding out, moving, tricking the guards who are search for them, etc. It's fairly exciting, but I have nothing to say about it.
-Then they come (the good they) to take Cordelia to Aral. Gregor is staying in the wilderness and going to live with a family under an assumed name.
-When Cordelia makes it to Aral's base, he basically has no time for her and sends her off to the base doctor, who is completely clueless. He asks for her current complaint, which she finally gives as "fatigue" for which he suggests exercise.... Again, I'm expecting violence in her reaction, although it is probably just hysterical laughter.
Chapters 14-15
-So there's more war planning stuff for a while, then the doctor overseeing Miles' treatment arrives. Ominous Politician Guy has taken the replicator with Miles in it hostage.
-Aral pretty much refuses to do anything about it because it could damage his entire plan and cost thousands of lives.
-The Count continues to be disgusting.
-So Cordelia decides to go rescue her baby herself, taking Drou, Bothari, and an unconscious Kou with her. I'm glad they ended up having to take Kou because I'm hoping for romantic shenanigans between him and Drou.
Chapters 16-17
-The band of rescuers has reached the capital and is hiding in an inn when they discover Lord and Lady Vorpatril are hiding right down the road. Then the Vorpatrils get found out by security and are about to be executed, so Cordelia et al go to the rescue.
-Lord Vorpatril is killed, his wife is way pregnant and everyone runs away, stopping to deliver a baby in an abandoned house.
-Bothari leads them to a whorehouse in the slums, cause where else are you going to go?
-Bothari reveals his mother was a whore and she used to give him to customers until he ran away when he was 12.
-Then Cordelia ends up playing matchmaker between Kou and Drou and basically sits them down and tells them what each other are thinking and then leaves them alone. Because she is made of awesome.
Chapter 18
-Holy Shit, what an amazing chapter!
-They get into the palace and find the replicator, but it's a fake and a trap and they are forced to surrender
-So when Vordarian (aka Ominous Political Guy) comes to gloat he brings the Princess with him and Cordelia tells her her son the emperor is alive and the Princess immediately tries to kill Vordarian, except she misses and she is killed.
-But our heroes overpower the guards and take Vordarian prisoner and get to the real replicator and their secret exit.
-Vordarian is pleading for his life and making promises and he reveals he was behind the gas attack
-AND CORDELIA ORDERS BOTHARI TO EXECUTE HIM
-AND BOTHARI DECAPITATES HIM WITH THE SWORD CANE
-And promptly loses his shit cause the man has serious issues. But Cordelia is all "let me find a waterproof bag to put the head in so I can take it with me."
-Have I mentioned she's a badass?
Chapter 19
-HAHAHAHAHAHA- they get back to Aral's base and when Cordelia enters the room with all the generals and such, the Count goes all "WOMAN WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" So Cordelia holds up her bag, showing him the shopping label and says, "Shopping. Want to see what I got?" And ROLLS THE LEADER OF THEIR ENEMIES' HEAD ONTO THE TABLE.
-Everyone is literally falling out of their chairs and shit, and Aral just widens his eyes and says that "all Vor women go to the capital to shop."
-They are literally perfect people.
-So Cordelia is now super respected, and I love her so much for getting ANGRY at this. She's furious that Kareen got no respect for suffering and surviving abuse for so many years and Lady Vorpatril gets no respect for giving birth in impossible circumstances, but she cuts someone's head off and is a hero. See? Perfect.
Chapter 20 and Epilogue
-So Drou and Kou get married, everything is happy
-Miles is born from the replicator and is tiny and twisted, and OMG the doctors BREAK HIS ARM and are all Oops. Seriously the idea of that just FREAKS me out. Everyone takes it so calmly
-Well except the Count, who storms off and says he won't ever see the mutant again.
-Except the Epilogue is five years later and Miles can finally walk and they are visiting the Count to attempt reconciliation. And Miles is already MILES and is constantly evading his guard and getting into trouble. He tries to ride a huge horse and of course falls and breaks his arm, but then basically talks the Count into teaching him to ride.
-I love that Cordelia connects how manipulatively charming Miles is with the time he spent in a spinal brace, unable to move. He had no way to get what he wanted but to convince people to do what he wanted and he learned how to charm.
-And basically the end makes me really want to get back to reading about Miles, except I can't because I only own one more book in the series and it's like three books ahead of where I need to be. So I'm waiting for cheap books, essentially.
I went back for the Cordelia books.
The Shards of Honor
Chapters 1 and 2
-So obviously I'm reading this book with hindsight since I read the Miles books first. So going in, I know that Cordelia Naismith and Aral Vorkosigan are going to end up falling in love and getting married and generally being awesome. But I kinda like having that insight, because I don't have to worry so much about the "will they or won't they" romance plot and can just have fun. And by the end of the second chapter, the "will they or won't they" is already pretty clear. She's all NOTICING HIS MUSCLES AND SHIT.
-Anyway, so I thought Cordelia was in the actual Betan military. (They HAVE a military, right? There was a war, surely there was a military.) Instead she's a captain of a science expedition which is attacked. And Lord Vorkosigan is also stranded on this planet because his troops turned against him. Or something mysterious.
-And I feel really bad about the ensign who is brain damaged but still alive that Cordelia made Aral bring along with them. I hope that their tech means he might get better? Because otherwise, this is pretty damn depressing.
-Also, the alien life forms on this planet are freaking rad and also terrifying. Hydrogen filled floating jellyfish with stinging tentacles that bore into your skin and suck your blood. NO THANKS. Giant evil carnivorous crab things? I'll be....elsewhere. (Although since I freaking love eating crabs, every time I see that picture of those huge coconut crabs that freak people out so much, I just wonder how they taste and what you have to use to crack them open.)
Chapter 3
-Wow the romantic innuendo is super subtle: "You have the competence one would look for in a mother of warriors." -Seriously, I think I would punch any man who said that to me, but instead Cordelia is just all, I wouldn't want my sons to go die in a war.
-So Vorkosigan (ok, look I'm going to call him Aral because it's much shorter to type, but I don't like it because I keep reading it as Anal.) has a wound from a killer mutant crab and it's infected and he's feverish and on pain meds so he keeps talking about personal stuff. Like that his mother was murdered by the mad emperor, on on the emperor's orders, right in front of Aral. Which lead to his determination to be a great soldier.
-And then they talk about relationships, and they tell thinly veiled "I had a friend who" stories about their past romantic tragedies. Seems Cordelia was with someone just because she was so anxious to be with anyone, and he and she were up for the same command and he convinced her that she needed to step aside and let him have it so they could have children. Except he took the promotion and then broke up with her.
-But then Aral tells how he was married young, in an arranged marriage and his wife started having affairs while he was away and he found out and challenged her two lovers to duels and killed them both, after which his wife shot herself in the head.... DUDE.
Chapter 4
-And they meet back up with the Barrayarans (?) and arrest most of the mutineers and Cordelia is more obviously infatuated with Aral all the time, all concerned for his well-being and shit.
-I can't think of anything else to say about this chapter. It's mostly about who mutinied and who didn't and getting cleaned up and injuries treated.
Trigger Warning: Discussion of rape below.
Chapter 5
-Ok, I'm going to say this is more than a little weird, because Aral just asked Cordelia to marry him. Like, "So, you'll be my prisoner for several months, but after that you could stay and be my wife." And apparently he's been trying to find a moment to do this for DAYS, because he knew from the first time he saw her. I don't know, I don't really go in for love at first site as a rule. On the other hand, he's very sweet and adorable throughout this conversation.
-And then he tells her that his planet is planning to attack Escobar, a Betan ally, which means they will be at war. (And due to my reading ahead, I know how badly that turns out.) Naturally Cordelias all, "I've got to think about this."
-If there's a flaw in Bujold's writing that I've noticed so far, it's this sort of thing, where something happens so quickly that it loses some of the impact it could have had if there was more build up to it.
Chapter 6
-And then everything is bad because Cordelia's men return to capture her, and they've found and brought the mutiny leaders with them.
-And then Cordelia proves she is massively badass, because she talks her way into where the mutineers are, stuns one, uses him as a human sheild, and ends up stunning all of them and talking one into coming back on her side. She then sabotages the ship's weapons and escapes with her crew
-But she's pining for Vorkosigan and wants to be with him, but she has to get home and warn them about the coming invasion and LOVE ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF WAR, WOES.
Chapter 7
-I'm not usually into battle scenes, but this is really cool. Cordelia is in command of another ship, they go through the wormhole into the middle of the Barrayaran fleet, project the image of a huge warship, which the enemy focuses on, while real freighters slip through and get a head start. Then she and her crew get into a shuttle and blow their ship up. The shuttle looks like a rock, but they are discovered anyway and surrender. It's just some really neat tactics and I wish all space battles were that clever.
-And then, umm, the book becomes UTTERLY HORRIFYING. Because Cordelia is held prisoner by the Admiral of the fleet, who is an insane sadist. She's tied to his bed and he calls for Bothari to rape her. Bothari refuses, because she is Vorkosigan's. Completely horrifying threats continue for a while.
-I don't want to talk about this scene much, since it took me by surprise and was really horrifying to me. But it's important in terms of Borthari's character. One of my friends told me that all the groundwork for the Bothari stuff in Warrior's Apprentice was laid here, and I see what she meant. Cordelia recognizes that Bothari is seriously mentally ill and that the depraved Admiral has tormented him and twisted him into his tool. She tells herself that there are two victims in the room, and forgives Bothari for his part, which frankly, is way more sympathy than I could summon up for anyone about to rape me. (Having worked with the severely mentally ill, I do believe that even the most serious mental illness doesn't excuse responsibility for criminal behavior, since the vast majority of mentally ill individuals manage to get by without being criminal. Obviously this is simplified and I'm talking about major crimes, not trespassing or disturbing the peace or any of the charges that are routinely dropped for mentally ill individuals who seek treatment....ok tangent....)
-Umm, yeah, anyway, Bothari ends by slicing the Admiral's throat as he's about to rape Cordelia. Thankfully, because this scene was already disturbing enough. And then Vorkosigan shows up. End of chapter. And I have to stop here and go do stuff.
Chapter8-10
So I read Chapter 8 and part of 9 in my doctor's office, so I don't have any notes for it. Essentially Cordelia is taken to Aral's room to hide. There is a war about to start. Eventually Aral gets word that things are going poorly for his side, the commanders are killed and he is in charge. He orders full retreat because he knows about the new tech the other side got from Cordelia's people. He says its because he gave her an interrogation drug in her sleep, but Cordelia figures its actually because he knew all along and this was a planned way to get rid of all the depraved, evil, and dangerous commanders by setting them up to fail and be killed. Apparently the emperor's plan, but Aral knew about it. Before she sees him again she's put in the brig and then transferred to a POW camp.
Where apparently the Barrayarans have been trolling for rape victims until two days before, when other people came in and took over and executed the commander of the camp. You know, seriously, if I was her, I would definitely be thinking that no matter how much I liked him and his personal behavior, I wouldn't ever marry into a society with this much horror built in.
Chapter 11
-Which immediately becomes relevant as Aral visits Cordelia at the POW camp and they talk and she tells him she loves him but can't take Barrayar with him. And he wouldn't be welcome on Beta. And they kiss and it's very bittersweet and yeah.
-Then there's the delivery of the uterine replicators with all the bastard children gotten on rape victims. Which totally makes that thing in Warrior's Apprentice make sense, because I never understood why there were rape babies in fake wombs in the first place. The other side delivered the fetus's to the Barrayarans to put the blood guilt of aborting them on the heads of the people responsible for their existence. You know, I really didn't expect this book to be so heavy.
Chapter 12 and 13
-You know this really isn't good. Chapter 12 and 13 deal with the aftermath of the war for Cordelia. First she is on a ship traveling back home and the ship is filled with Escobaran psych officers trying to get her to talk about her trauma, convinced that the Barrayarans altered her memory because her account differs from the rumors. So she spends all that time not sleeping and avoiding everyone.
-Then she gets back to Beta where they try to prop her up as propaganda for their politicians, except she freaks out because they want her to tell lies and kicks the president in the crotch.
-And then things get really bad because they force her to accept psych treatment in order to get her job back, and the shrink is convinced of the same things because she read the report of the shrink on the ship and so she drugs her without her consent and starts trying to get at all the political secrets that she knows.
-And then when Cordelia realized she's been drugged against her will and revolts, the shrink says they prefer to get consent after the fact, and when Cordelia tries to excercise her legal right to refuse to see this woman anymore, the woman just continues to see it all as symptoms of her illness.
And I find this all massively upsetting and actually triggering to me. Which is weird because there's nothing to actually trigger? I mean, it's not like anything like this has happened to me. In fact, I was the one who worked on the other side. I committed people to psychiatric care against their will. I dealt with people screaming at me at the tops of their lungs and becoming violent when I told them they had to be hospitalized. (The same people usually thanked me for committing them later. Often at great length.) So I guess I just find it really upsetting because I know how wrong this lady is going about it. I know how unjustified this behavior is? But I don't know why, it's upset me to the point of tears.
So I'm not going to talk about the rest of this, when they come to force her into a hospital with or without her consent, because they believe she's been programmed to be an enemy agent. I'm just going to hope this part of the book is over quickly...
Chapter 14, 15, Aftermath
-So thankfully Cordelia makes it to Barrayar and marries Aral, and they are happy, and then Aral is offered/forced into becoming the regent for the 4 year old new Emperor.
- I really have no idea what the purpose was of the Aftermath in which a couple of people find all the dead bodies in space. I guess it's supposed to give some kind of closure to the violence of war or something. Mostly I was waiting for some kind of REVEAL that tied back to the plot or characters of the book and I didn't get one.
So, seriously, I don't know what to say about this book. I went in expecting adventures more in tune with the Miles books I've read and instead got this dark book about the horrors of war, specifically the rape of prisoners. With bonus forced psych treatment. I'm not going to say that it wasn't a good book or that I'm disappointed in it, but for the last half I didn't really find it a very pleasant read. I think I'm going to take a break and read something else before startingBarrayar.
Barrayar
Chapters 1-2
-So I'm hoping for a little less darkness than the last one, though knowing the at some point Cordelia is going to be poisoned and her unborn child hurt limits how light it could be.
-It seems that this book will probably be mostly politics, since that's what Aral is doing right now.
-The scene with the Princess and her bodyguard was neat. So far I like the Princess.
-And naturally the bodyguard is now Cordelia's bodyguard. I should probably learn her name. Droushnakovi. Yeah, I'm going to keep typing that...sure.
- Cordelia is amazing when she's buying the swordcane. Way to make the salesman pay for offering her cheap crap because she is a woman and won't know any better.
-Also, OMINOUS POLITICIAN GUY who I know later will poison Cordelia while trying to assassinate Aral. So...yeah.
Chapters 3-4
-So this is pretty interesting, seeing Barrayar society from an outsider's POV. But as was briefly mentioned in the discussion for the previous book, it's not only Barrayar that comes out looking bad. Betan society also disturbs me, with the government determining who can have children and how many. And we saw the dark side of their psychiatric treatment last book.
-I adore the part where Cordelia breaks down the rules of sex in Barrayar society and what you can say depending on who's listening. I really wish her list of rules was spelled out. I want to know what Rule Thirteen is now.
-And then, there's an assassination attempt on Aral by a bomb that barely misses and the fun is over.
Chapters 5-6
I read these chapters right before bed and didn't blog anything. So I'll have to remind myself what happened.
-They go to a swanky party for the Emperor's birthday and Cordelia has a nasty encounter with Ominous Politician guy who tries to drop the bombshell that Aral is bisexual, except Cordelia is just like, yeah, I know, and now he's monogamous. It takes her several paragraphs to realize that this man just tried to ruin his marriage. Except now he's pissed because she didn't care.
-So she decides it's likely that Ominous Politician guy was probably behind the bomb attack.
-Then the next chapter is amount visiting baby Elena who is being cared for by a foster mother. And she and Bothari have an intense conversation where Bothari works up the courage to ask if he raped Cordelia and she assures him he didn't.
-So yeah.
Chapter 7
-What a high emotion filled chapter.
-Koudelka and Bothari are beaten while visiting prostitutes, and Koudelka nearly commits suicide in front of Cordelia, who is meanwhile miserable because Aral is never home and never talks to her about work and she's in a totally foreign society that she doesn't undertand.
-The part where she is horrified to find out that some people live in total poverty and don't have basic amenities or education is interesting. And then she tells the Count that probably most of the planet has Vor blood based on how much adultery there is. Cause she's awesome.
-But anyway she ends up crying on Koudelka's shoulder and Aral finds her and insinuates there is something going on between them and everybody is mad and Cordelia and Aral have a big conversation about what's going on with him.
-Basically he's got the weight of an entire government on his shoulders and he doesn't know what to do with it. I would say "Talk to your wife" would be high on the list, Aral.
Chapter 8
-So Aral has to order someone's execution and attend it. And THAT NIGHT is the gas attack. It was the executed man's brother. So I guess I was wrong about Ominous Politician guy. Look, everyone's name starts with Vor, I can't keep them straight.
-So it's actually not the gas that caused Miles' deformities, but the antidote to the gas.
-Cordelia manages to make the attacker sob when she confronts him about what he's done to her baby.
-And then they're in hospital and want to go ahead with the abortion, except there's one mad scientist guy who is eager to try experimental techniques and get a paper out of it. And Cordelia fires everyone but him and tells him to find someone to transfer her baby to one of the in vitro pods from the previous book.
-She's really awesome, but it's made pretty clear that she's acting irrationally, even if it ends up working out sort of ok. I mean, yes, she's taking any chance for the survival of her child, but the likelihood of his survival seems really low, not to mention the doctors are pretty horrific in describing what state the baby might end up in.
Chapter 9
-Urgh I knew the Count was going to be horrible about this, and I knew he tried to kill Miles, but still this is upsetting. I can't believe Cordelia hasn't done anything violent to him yet, talking about how Count Vorkosigan could never be deformed.
-It's interesting reading Cordelia's thoughts on in vitro gestation because it DOES make so much more sense than gestating a baby the natural way, if you can closely monitor and regulate everything in an artificial womb to prevent complications. There would be a huge backlash against it on psychological grounds, and maybe it would decease the connected feeling of mother for child, but then again natural childbearing is no guarantee of parental love. Maybe if mothers weren't in recovery themselves from a very chaotic and upsetting physical trauma to their bodies, there would be less postpartum depression.
Chapter 10-13
-ACTION! First the Count continues to be disgusting and disowns Aral because he won't kill his unborn child.
-But then, there is a plane landing with the Emporer in it, and a dying security chief and Ominous Political Guy has staged a coup and they are on the run!
-And Cordelia and Gregor are sent off with the Count into the wilderness, and Cordelia has her first encounter with riding a horse and I feel really sorry for her, because I have bad horse experiences as well, plus she just had freaking surgery.
-So basically there are a few chapters of running around in the mountains, hiding out, moving, tricking the guards who are search for them, etc. It's fairly exciting, but I have nothing to say about it.
-Then they come (the good they) to take Cordelia to Aral. Gregor is staying in the wilderness and going to live with a family under an assumed name.
-When Cordelia makes it to Aral's base, he basically has no time for her and sends her off to the base doctor, who is completely clueless. He asks for her current complaint, which she finally gives as "fatigue" for which he suggests exercise.... Again, I'm expecting violence in her reaction, although it is probably just hysterical laughter.
Chapters 14-15
-So there's more war planning stuff for a while, then the doctor overseeing Miles' treatment arrives. Ominous Politician Guy has taken the replicator with Miles in it hostage.
-Aral pretty much refuses to do anything about it because it could damage his entire plan and cost thousands of lives.
-The Count continues to be disgusting.
-So Cordelia decides to go rescue her baby herself, taking Drou, Bothari, and an unconscious Kou with her. I'm glad they ended up having to take Kou because I'm hoping for romantic shenanigans between him and Drou.
Chapters 16-17
-The band of rescuers has reached the capital and is hiding in an inn when they discover Lord and Lady Vorpatril are hiding right down the road. Then the Vorpatrils get found out by security and are about to be executed, so Cordelia et al go to the rescue.
-Lord Vorpatril is killed, his wife is way pregnant and everyone runs away, stopping to deliver a baby in an abandoned house.
-Bothari leads them to a whorehouse in the slums, cause where else are you going to go?
-Bothari reveals his mother was a whore and she used to give him to customers until he ran away when he was 12.
-Then Cordelia ends up playing matchmaker between Kou and Drou and basically sits them down and tells them what each other are thinking and then leaves them alone. Because she is made of awesome.
Chapter 18
-Holy Shit, what an amazing chapter!
-They get into the palace and find the replicator, but it's a fake and a trap and they are forced to surrender
-So when Vordarian (aka Ominous Political Guy) comes to gloat he brings the Princess with him and Cordelia tells her her son the emperor is alive and the Princess immediately tries to kill Vordarian, except she misses and she is killed.
-But our heroes overpower the guards and take Vordarian prisoner and get to the real replicator and their secret exit.
-Vordarian is pleading for his life and making promises and he reveals he was behind the gas attack
-AND CORDELIA ORDERS BOTHARI TO EXECUTE HIM
-AND BOTHARI DECAPITATES HIM WITH THE SWORD CANE
-And promptly loses his shit cause the man has serious issues. But Cordelia is all "let me find a waterproof bag to put the head in so I can take it with me."
-Have I mentioned she's a badass?
Chapter 19
-HAHAHAHAHAHA- they get back to Aral's base and when Cordelia enters the room with all the generals and such, the Count goes all "WOMAN WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" So Cordelia holds up her bag, showing him the shopping label and says, "Shopping. Want to see what I got?" And ROLLS THE LEADER OF THEIR ENEMIES' HEAD ONTO THE TABLE.
-Everyone is literally falling out of their chairs and shit, and Aral just widens his eyes and says that "all Vor women go to the capital to shop."
-They are literally perfect people.
-So Cordelia is now super respected, and I love her so much for getting ANGRY at this. She's furious that Kareen got no respect for suffering and surviving abuse for so many years and Lady Vorpatril gets no respect for giving birth in impossible circumstances, but she cuts someone's head off and is a hero. See? Perfect.
Chapter 20 and Epilogue
-So Drou and Kou get married, everything is happy
-Miles is born from the replicator and is tiny and twisted, and OMG the doctors BREAK HIS ARM and are all Oops. Seriously the idea of that just FREAKS me out. Everyone takes it so calmly
-Well except the Count, who storms off and says he won't ever see the mutant again.
-Except the Epilogue is five years later and Miles can finally walk and they are visiting the Count to attempt reconciliation. And Miles is already MILES and is constantly evading his guard and getting into trouble. He tries to ride a huge horse and of course falls and breaks his arm, but then basically talks the Count into teaching him to ride.
-I love that Cordelia connects how manipulatively charming Miles is with the time he spent in a spinal brace, unable to move. He had no way to get what he wanted but to convince people to do what he wanted and he learned how to charm.
-And basically the end makes me really want to get back to reading about Miles, except I can't because I only own one more book in the series and it's like three books ahead of where I need to be. So I'm waiting for cheap books, essentially.