CIVIL CAMPAIGN (Hardcover)

For those unfamiliar with this series, "A Civil Campaign" is set on the planet Barrayar, a conservative, militaristic society with a turbulent past. It's slowly being transformed into a modern, liberal society, much of which is caused by Miles' mother, Cordelia Naismith, who comes from the highly liberal society of Beta Colony. The relationship that formed over thirty years ago between her and Miles' father, Aral Vorkosigan, the legendary war hero often referred to as "the Butcher of Komarr," resulted in an upheaval that over the years has opened Barrayar's once closed society, a transformation whose growing pains still show today.

Miles Vorkosigan is a member of the powerful Vorkosigan family. He's a living example of Barrayar's violent history, having been poisoned while still in his mother's womb. The attack resulted in Miles being being born with many handicaps, including dwarfism and extremely brittle bones. Driven by the desire to live up to his father and grandfather's military legacy, Miles managed to over-achieve, using a combination of strategic brilliance, indomitable spirit, and more than a little luck to carve out his own legacy as a member of the Barrayan secret service.

After an incredible galactic military career, Miles is discharged, having survived death itself, but resulting in crippling seizures, a result of being frozen and later revived. He then finds himself grounded on Barrayar, but still highly involved in the inner intrigues of the government, serving as a Lord Auditor, one of the legal justices of the Emperor.

After his first task as Lord Auditor in the book Komarr, where he meets Ekaterin. Miles later returns home, and in A Civil Campaign, launches his greatest strategic assault ever, to win the love of the recently widowed Ekaterin, who's currently struggling to find her own identity after years with a domineering husband. Of course, nothing ever comes easy for Miles. In the course of trying to win Ekaterin's heart, they both become embroiled in political intrigue and a wild business venture by Miles' clone brother Mark, who's also pursuing a lady love of his own.

This book has romance, politics, humor, and above all, characters that you'll fall in love with in just a few pages. The book stands well on it's own, but if you ever pick this one up, you'll find yourself in the bookstore looking for the rest of the series. I'm a long time reader of SF, and this is one of the most creative and fun series I've ever read.

Give A Civil Campaign a try!

Bujold has written a new Miles novella called Winterfair Gifts. It's in the anthology Irresistible Forces by Jennifer Roberson, et al., to be released February 3, 2004. The story reportedly covers . . . events presaged in A Civil Campaign.