Threerings Reads The Vorkosigan Saga: "Cetaganda"
So I have more Vorkosigan liveblogs! Ok, one. I'll soon have more thanks to ashfae who sent me some books because she is amazing!
Cetaganda
Chapters 1-2
-You'll have to forgive me, but I read the first chapters at like 3AM, so it's a bit difficult to remember.
-Miles and Ivan are on a diplomatic mission to Cetaganda, nothing complicated
-But when they arrive a mysterious man jumps into their shuttle and maybe tries to kill them, leaving a mysterious tube thingy behind
-And then at a dinner party Miles is burned by stepping inside some digital sculpture thingy, which he decides is a deliberate attack on him
-So, yeah, mystery. I'm a bit confused about the timeline. I thought that this came after The Vor Game, at the end of which Miles was assigned to be in charge of the Dendarii mercenaries instead of doing normal Impsec things like this. But maybe this will be answered.
Chapters 3-4
-So at a formal funeral procession, Miles is summoned aside by a haut-lady in a force bubble (Cetagandian society is weird, yo) and she basically wants back the thing that he has. He finds out that the person who came into their ship was a non-gendered servant of the dowager empress.
-Who later turns up with his throat slit as an apparent suicide right in the middle of the ceremony
-Miles then learns that the object he has is the key to the creche that holds all the genetic information of the haut-lords and ladies. So a very important thing that is going to cause a lot of trouble.
-Naturally Miles says he has a plan and won't tell anyone about it yet
Chapter 5
-Miles attends a party given by the man who may have intentionally caused his legs to be burnt by the sculpture.
-He is called aside by the haut-lady and they discuss how the key came into Miles' possession. He suspects someone is setting him up for a fall.
-He agrees to give the key back to the lady if he can see her first so he could testify who he gave it to
-And she's basically supernaturally beautiful and he falls to his knees, and yeah, I don't think I like how this is going. Apparently haut-ladies basically rule the planet by force of their beauty? Or if not rule, since they are cloistered, then exert control and power. Whatever. This is weird.
Chapter 6-7
-So the haut-lady tests the key and finds out it doesn't work, so Miles figures it's a fake. A complicated plan is revealed and Miles is apparently being set up to take the blame for the disappearance of the only key to the genetic library.
-Also he's apparently somewhat in love with the lady.
-In the meantime Ivan's been poisoned with something to affect his sexual performance, which naturally pisses him off righteously. He apparently covers by giving really, really good foreplay which seems to get him lots of invitations from other Cetagandian women.
-And then Miles is interviewed by the security officer in charge of the servant's murder, and Miles essentially takes over the interview to find out what he knows and also point the investigation in the direction he wants. Seriously, I'm still in awe of Miles' force of personality.
Chapters 8-10
-Sometimes I don't notice when chapters end. Really.
-Chapter 8 deals with Miles attending a long, boring poetry reading and reception. He's trying to figure out which of the 8 governors is the one with the key. He's not particularly subtle, basically walking up to them and saying "I know what you're up to", essentially.
-Chapter 9 has him meeting with Rian (the lady) again and she tells him Prince Slyke is the governor they want and they form a plan for Miles to infiltrate his ship in disguise and look for the key.
-Chapter 10 has Miles and Ivan visiting a bioesthetics competition, in which there are disturbing things like kittens growing out of plants. And Ivan kills one of the kittens by trying to free it!!! KITTEN DEATH, WTF. Half a kitten at that! What is with these books and disturbing cat things. Like that moving, purring cat fur in the other book. Urgh.
-And the stupid lord from before tries to set off another prank, but this one would have killed everyone there if Miles hadn't stopped him. So he finds out it's not the Prince but one of the other governors behind at least this part of the plot.
-Basically, PLOT. I'm very amused that all the Cetagandian women are falling all over Ivan, and even consider taking Miles for a spin. I'm guessing Cetagandian men aren't very attentive lovers. But as messed up as gender relations are on this planet, who knows.
Chapter 11
-Miles has an interview with Voreedi, the Impsec officer and...heavily implies that he is a secret agent on a mission directly from Illyan.
-He then meets with the local security officer and has to admit to the original attack by the Ba. He basically tells his Impsec superior that he doesn't have the clearance to know what's going on.
-It's total wish fulfillment of how we all wish we could handle our bosses
Chapter 12
-So Miles meets with the full council of haut-ladies in charge of the genome. Which is really surreal.
-So apparently these women have been controlling the genome and breeding everyone in their empire for a really, really long time? They discuss how they made the various social classes, and what attributes they intentionally give to them in order to influence history how they want. So although the emperor and the men and the warriors appear to be the ones in charge, it's actually the women, who are controlling everything through genetics? It doesn't entirely make sense to me, because how can you control things if your control method takes place on a generational scale? But it certainly seems to be implying that they are the real power behind things. Or maybe they just think they are?
Chapter 13-14
-During another official function Ivan is kidnapped by a haut-lady in her bubble and Miles calls to haut Rian for help. The haut-lady council overpower the lady in the bubble and save Ivan. Turns out the evil governor guy has kidnapped the lady who was supposed to be in the bubble and replaced her with his wife, or his general's wife or whatever, who was a former haut-lady....look this society is complicated.
-anyway, Miles and haut Pel take their places and follow the Governor back onto his ship hidden inside the bubble. They find the kidnapped woman, who throws a hissy fit about cutting off a bit of her hair to free herself, because haut-ladies don't cut their hair. Seriously, lady, PERSPECTIVE.
-They go after the key but get trapped in a room with a treasonous security general, the governor, and a bunch of guys with guns.
-Miles has the brilliant idea to transmit the data on the key over the emergency signal network, so that the information won't be secret anymore and the governor can't use it to accomplish a coup.
-For his trouble he's hit with a shock-stick while the bad guys plan their deaths, but luckily the security guy from before comes charging to the rescue and arrests the governor and the general for treason.
-you know, I really have to appreciate that these books manage to be action packed and yet have all the important action be non-physical. Miles doesn't become a great warrior despite his disabilities, but uses his intelligence to overcome whatever is in his way. And occasionally gets lucky.
Chapter 15 and 16
-Miles faces the repercussions of his actions and meets with the Emperor of Cetaganda. The most interesting part of this is after everyone but the Emperor, the haut-ladies, and Miles leave and Miles gets to overhear their discussion about the future of the genome. Miles thinks maybe he was too quick to assume the women have all the power.
-Oh I forgot to mention that it's funny and a great detail that the bad guys assume Ivan was the one in charge of Miles the whole time. It totally makes sense on a planet where beauty=power that they would make the incorrrect assumptions that the good looking one is the one in charge
-And then Miles is summoned back to the Emperor, who gives him a medal. I totally expected him to give Miles a medal but hadn't really though through all the negative implications of that from Miles' POV. You don't really want your planet's greatest enemy giving you medals, especially when they arranged to talk to you alone.
-And if that wasn't enough, Miles is made to stand next to the Emperor at the final funeral ceremony for everyone to see.
-And Rian is made the new empress, to everyone's surprise, and this is apparently the Emperor firming up his own power structure.
-So another compelling and page-turning book.
Cetaganda
Chapters 1-2
-You'll have to forgive me, but I read the first chapters at like 3AM, so it's a bit difficult to remember.
-Miles and Ivan are on a diplomatic mission to Cetaganda, nothing complicated
-But when they arrive a mysterious man jumps into their shuttle and maybe tries to kill them, leaving a mysterious tube thingy behind
-And then at a dinner party Miles is burned by stepping inside some digital sculpture thingy, which he decides is a deliberate attack on him
-So, yeah, mystery. I'm a bit confused about the timeline. I thought that this came after The Vor Game, at the end of which Miles was assigned to be in charge of the Dendarii mercenaries instead of doing normal Impsec things like this. But maybe this will be answered.
Chapters 3-4
-So at a formal funeral procession, Miles is summoned aside by a haut-lady in a force bubble (Cetagandian society is weird, yo) and she basically wants back the thing that he has. He finds out that the person who came into their ship was a non-gendered servant of the dowager empress.
-Who later turns up with his throat slit as an apparent suicide right in the middle of the ceremony
-Miles then learns that the object he has is the key to the creche that holds all the genetic information of the haut-lords and ladies. So a very important thing that is going to cause a lot of trouble.
-Naturally Miles says he has a plan and won't tell anyone about it yet
Chapter 5
-Miles attends a party given by the man who may have intentionally caused his legs to be burnt by the sculpture.
-He is called aside by the haut-lady and they discuss how the key came into Miles' possession. He suspects someone is setting him up for a fall.
-He agrees to give the key back to the lady if he can see her first so he could testify who he gave it to
-And she's basically supernaturally beautiful and he falls to his knees, and yeah, I don't think I like how this is going. Apparently haut-ladies basically rule the planet by force of their beauty? Or if not rule, since they are cloistered, then exert control and power. Whatever. This is weird.
Chapter 6-7
-So the haut-lady tests the key and finds out it doesn't work, so Miles figures it's a fake. A complicated plan is revealed and Miles is apparently being set up to take the blame for the disappearance of the only key to the genetic library.
-Also he's apparently somewhat in love with the lady.
-In the meantime Ivan's been poisoned with something to affect his sexual performance, which naturally pisses him off righteously. He apparently covers by giving really, really good foreplay which seems to get him lots of invitations from other Cetagandian women.
-And then Miles is interviewed by the security officer in charge of the servant's murder, and Miles essentially takes over the interview to find out what he knows and also point the investigation in the direction he wants. Seriously, I'm still in awe of Miles' force of personality.
Chapters 8-10
-Sometimes I don't notice when chapters end. Really.
-Chapter 8 deals with Miles attending a long, boring poetry reading and reception. He's trying to figure out which of the 8 governors is the one with the key. He's not particularly subtle, basically walking up to them and saying "I know what you're up to", essentially.
-Chapter 9 has him meeting with Rian (the lady) again and she tells him Prince Slyke is the governor they want and they form a plan for Miles to infiltrate his ship in disguise and look for the key.
-Chapter 10 has Miles and Ivan visiting a bioesthetics competition, in which there are disturbing things like kittens growing out of plants. And Ivan kills one of the kittens by trying to free it!!! KITTEN DEATH, WTF. Half a kitten at that! What is with these books and disturbing cat things. Like that moving, purring cat fur in the other book. Urgh.
-And the stupid lord from before tries to set off another prank, but this one would have killed everyone there if Miles hadn't stopped him. So he finds out it's not the Prince but one of the other governors behind at least this part of the plot.
-Basically, PLOT. I'm very amused that all the Cetagandian women are falling all over Ivan, and even consider taking Miles for a spin. I'm guessing Cetagandian men aren't very attentive lovers. But as messed up as gender relations are on this planet, who knows.
Chapter 11
-Miles has an interview with Voreedi, the Impsec officer and...heavily implies that he is a secret agent on a mission directly from Illyan.
-He then meets with the local security officer and has to admit to the original attack by the Ba. He basically tells his Impsec superior that he doesn't have the clearance to know what's going on.
-It's total wish fulfillment of how we all wish we could handle our bosses
Chapter 12
-So Miles meets with the full council of haut-ladies in charge of the genome. Which is really surreal.
-So apparently these women have been controlling the genome and breeding everyone in their empire for a really, really long time? They discuss how they made the various social classes, and what attributes they intentionally give to them in order to influence history how they want. So although the emperor and the men and the warriors appear to be the ones in charge, it's actually the women, who are controlling everything through genetics? It doesn't entirely make sense to me, because how can you control things if your control method takes place on a generational scale? But it certainly seems to be implying that they are the real power behind things. Or maybe they just think they are?
Chapter 13-14
-During another official function Ivan is kidnapped by a haut-lady in her bubble and Miles calls to haut Rian for help. The haut-lady council overpower the lady in the bubble and save Ivan. Turns out the evil governor guy has kidnapped the lady who was supposed to be in the bubble and replaced her with his wife, or his general's wife or whatever, who was a former haut-lady....look this society is complicated.
-anyway, Miles and haut Pel take their places and follow the Governor back onto his ship hidden inside the bubble. They find the kidnapped woman, who throws a hissy fit about cutting off a bit of her hair to free herself, because haut-ladies don't cut their hair. Seriously, lady, PERSPECTIVE.
-They go after the key but get trapped in a room with a treasonous security general, the governor, and a bunch of guys with guns.
-Miles has the brilliant idea to transmit the data on the key over the emergency signal network, so that the information won't be secret anymore and the governor can't use it to accomplish a coup.
-For his trouble he's hit with a shock-stick while the bad guys plan their deaths, but luckily the security guy from before comes charging to the rescue and arrests the governor and the general for treason.
-you know, I really have to appreciate that these books manage to be action packed and yet have all the important action be non-physical. Miles doesn't become a great warrior despite his disabilities, but uses his intelligence to overcome whatever is in his way. And occasionally gets lucky.
Chapter 15 and 16
-Miles faces the repercussions of his actions and meets with the Emperor of Cetaganda. The most interesting part of this is after everyone but the Emperor, the haut-ladies, and Miles leave and Miles gets to overhear their discussion about the future of the genome. Miles thinks maybe he was too quick to assume the women have all the power.
-Oh I forgot to mention that it's funny and a great detail that the bad guys assume Ivan was the one in charge of Miles the whole time. It totally makes sense on a planet where beauty=power that they would make the incorrrect assumptions that the good looking one is the one in charge
-And then Miles is summoned back to the Emperor, who gives him a medal. I totally expected him to give Miles a medal but hadn't really though through all the negative implications of that from Miles' POV. You don't really want your planet's greatest enemy giving you medals, especially when they arranged to talk to you alone.
-And if that wasn't enough, Miles is made to stand next to the Emperor at the final funeral ceremony for everyone to see.
-And Rian is made the new empress, to everyone's surprise, and this is apparently the Emperor firming up his own power structure.
-So another compelling and page-turning book.