Synopsis
Injured in his mother's womb, Lord Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, born a dwarf with brittle bones, faces off against his brother, a cloned stranger created to murder Miles and replace him. 35,000 first printing.
Reviews
Honor and his sense of self place the fetally damaged, dwarf-like and brilliant Miles Vorkosigan in grave danger as he attempts to save his disturbed, younger clone Mark from the consequences of folly in this intricate and rousing new installment of the Vorkosigan adventures (after Barrayar ), the series' first appearance in trade hardcover. Passing himself off as Admiral Miles Naismith, Miles's secret identity, Mark commandeers one of the Dendarii Free Mercenary vessels to liberate clones being raised as brain-transplant hosts on the outlaw planet Jackson's Whole. When the plan goes awry, Miles is killed. He is preserved for resuscitation, however, in a cryo-chamber, which disappears in the confusion of evacuation. As the Dendarii search feverishly for their leader, the terrified Mark is sent to Barrayar to Miles's parents, Count Aral and Countess Cordelia Vorkosigan. The couple welcome him as a son and begin his training as their heir in case Miles is never found. The competitive and confused Mark, who had been created as a tool to assassinate his father and was brutalized by a madman in his youth, begins to find himself. His (and Miles's) penetrating intelligence flowers, and he plans a return to Jackson's Whole to find Miles and redeem himself. Hugo award-winner Bujold creates a tapestry of variegated human societies dispersed throughout a colorful galaxy. She peoples it with introspective but genuine heroes who seize the reader's imagination and intellect.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
The first hardcover appearance of Bujold's well-known series about the Vorkosigan clan, hereditary rulers of planet Barrayar (Borders of Infinity, Brothers in Arms, etc.). Dwarfish, multitalented Miles Vorkosigan has a secret identity as Admiral Naismith, leader of the fearless Dendarii mercenaries; his clone-brother Mark was grown from stolen cells and trained by a ruthless dissident to assassinate Miles and replace him, an ambition Mark no longer holds. In this adventure, Mark masquerades as Admiral Naismith in order to lead a raid on the evil cloning facilities of planet Jackson's Whole. Miles discovers the deception and comes in pursuit, just in time to get himself killed; his body, hopefully preserved in cryonic suspension, vanishes. Mark returns to Barrayar to become acquainted with his biological parents, then figures out where Miles's body has vanished to, and rushes off to recover it. By this time Miles has been revivified, though his memories remain scattered and incomplete (he doesn't know whether he's Miles or Mark). Mark arrives, only to be captured by the sadistic monster and longtime Vorkosigan foe, Baron Ryoval. A well-conceived series, solidly plotted and organized, though heavy going in places and, finally, lacking that spark of genuine originality that would blazon it as truly special. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Bujold, winner of five major sf awards, may well garner a sixth with this, her first hardcover original. It features the deformed and undersized heir to the strongman of Barrayar, Miles Vorkosigan, who doubles as Admiral Naismith, leader of the Dendarii Mercenaries--and is secretly on the payroll of Barrayaran Imperial Intelligence. The tale begins with Miles' cloned sibling Mark masquerading as Miles in order to take a Dendarii ship to that free enterprise plague spot, Jackson's Whole, on an unauthorized mission to clean out the clone creches where he was raised. The mission goes awry, Miles comes to Mark's rescue, the rescue goes even more wrong, and by page 100, Miles' body, in cryogenic suspension after receiving mortal wounds, has been shoved into the equivalent of a Federal Express drop and completely lost! The remaining pages complete as good a story as ever was offered as science fiction, with Bujold's carefully crafted prose, logical working out of even minor plot points, and inimitable wit all very much in evidence. Deserves the highest recommendation and a hoard of eager readers. Roland Green
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