Customer Reviews (1)

From Back Cover
FREE LANCERS - ALIEN STARS VOLUME IV

THREE TOP AUTHORS
THREE SHORT NOVELS
NEVER BEFORE IN PRINT


ORSON SCOTT CARD : A one man army leads the survivors of an anti-Mormon pogrom cross-country to Utah.By the author of Ender's Game.

DAVID DRAKE: A new "Hammer's Slammers" adventure! Paradise Port advertised everything for the soldier on leave - but some who went hunting for pleasure found death instead.


LOIS McMASTER BUJOLD: Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, hero of The Warrior's Apprentice, trapped in a prison camp? The situation looks hopeless... but never underestimate Miles.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

backstory
I'm an early fan of LMB, and enjoyed this collection as a fleshing out of the Vorkosigan saga.What was more interesting to me was the essay on how LMB became a writer, and what were the influences on her writing.I have gone on from this to find that the writers that LMB admires are almost as readable as she is!This is not a book for the general public looking to read something on the beach, but it is a must-have for the serious fan's collection to be complete.

A must for all Vorkosigan fans.
Although I would not recommend this collection to those who have yet to read most of the Miles novels, I highly recomend this book to those who are fans.From the pronunciation guide to the extended family tree, this bookcompletes the Miles collection.

For hard-core LMB fans only
I found this collection interesting because it gave a glimpse of the birth of a wonderful writer - and showed how much hard work goes into learningthe trade well enough to produce a masterpiece like the Vorkosigan series. The best of the stories is a Sherlockian tribute that features the literaryforemother of Cordelia Naismith.I am glad I bought it, but wouldrecommend it to hard-core Lois McMaster Bujold fans only!

Don't bother
The wonderful LMcMB here presents, as collected by a fan, some juvenilia and Yet Another Copy of the Mountains of Mourning. Also some autobiographical stuff. Generally interesting I suppose, but not worth itunless you are a manic collecter of all things Bujoldian. ... Read more

Product Description
Edited by John Joseph Adams, editor of Wastelands and The Living Dead. From Star Trek to Star Wars, from Dune to Foundation, science fiction has a rich history of exploring the idea of vast intergalactic societies, and the challenges facing those living in or trying to manage such societies. The stories in Federations will continue that tradition, and herein you will find a mix of all-new, original fiction, alongside selected reprints from authors whose work exemplifies what interstellar SF is capable of, including Lois McMaster Bujold, Orson Scott Card, Anne McCaffrey, George R.R. Martin, L.E. Modesitt, Jr., Alastair Reynolds, Robert J. Sawyer, Robert Silverberg and Harry Turtledove. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Mixed bag but worth the read
This book has quite a diverse array of stories and, yes, most of them fall into the category of space opera. Some of these stories will be passed by without so much as a second glance but the rest of the stories are thought-provoking on many levels. While many of the authors are well known (most contributed excellent examples of their craft) some authors (of whom I had never heard) produced such outstanding stories that I have added more of their work to my reading list.

A few stories are quite disturbing because they make you think rather seriously about how human society might endure the next few thousand years. Others fill you with hope, providing a hopeful peek at what a bright and positive future might be like. Though some of the stories are bland, this is an anthology produced by a group of experienced storytellers and is well worth the read.

Most boring anthology I (sadly) own!
This was one of the very first items I bought for my new Kindle - and boy, do I regret it! Moreover I had to spend more than $13,- for it, being located in Europe, and quite frankly, I feel ripped off.

There was hardly any story I liked or found even slightly interesting, apart from the known dignitaries, like Card, McCaffrey, Bujold etc. who delivered okay, but not outstanding work.

I was totally baffled that a writer like Bradford was considered good enough to contribute to this volume. Her story reads like it was written by a ten year old. The things (cannot even call them stories) with the hamster and the throne rooms - you've got to be kidding me, hu?!?

All in all, I can only recommend to not buy this thing in any way, shape or form - but especially not as an eBook, because first you cannot resell it and second you cannot even use it as a doorstop.

good space operatic anthology
In many ways, I've started to come to believe that you can't go wrong with a John Joseph Adams' collection.Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse was incredible, The Living Dead was great, and Federations...?Also very very good.

The "dust jacket description" of this anthology pretty much sums it up...It collects a few different modern takes on the classic science fiction trope:What does it take; what does it mean for a civilization to be interstellar and/or pan-galactic?

My take of Federations, it gets a composite rating of 3.9130 (individual stories below)

* "Mazer in Prison" (Orson Scott Card): 3/5
» About what you'd expect from Card.So it doesn't disappoint but it doesn't exactly thrill, either.
* "Carthago Delenda Est" (Genevieve Valentine): 4/5
* "Life Suspension" (L. E. Modesitt, Jr.): 2.5/5
* "Terra-Exulta" (S.L. Gilbow): 3/5
» Reminds me a bit of that Stephen King piece that opens Wastelands.The letter-writing format is a tough one to write in and I appreciate the effort here.And I don't dislike this piece but it seems... too short? or just that its hand is tipped too early and that kind of blows the ending a bit?
* "Aftermaths" (Lois McMaster Bujold): 4/5
* "Someone is Stealing the Great Throne Rooms of the Galaxy" (Harry Turtledove): 2/5
» Not terribly intriguing, and a little puerile/juvenile.To me... I can see why it was included (for the variety and for the perspective it brings) but it just doesn't do it.Not for me.
* "Prisons" (Kevin J. Anderson & Doug Beason): 2.5/5
» So much potential, and almost good; but why did I wind up feeling like it needed to be more subversive? (E.g., so many heteronormative relationships!--if the prison revolt leader had been lovers with another man, well now maybe that might have been a little more intriguing.)
* "Different Day" (K. Tempest Bradford): 5/5
* "Twilight of the Gods" (John C. Wright): 4/5
» The Tolkien-esque language can be a little off-putting at first but it really starts to make sense after you get about a third of the way in.
* "Warship" (George R. R. Martin and George Guthridge): 5/5
» I can't imagine why it took so long for Martin to shop this piece--unless Guthridge really brought that much to it.The execution is very spot-on.
* "Swanwatch" (Yoon Ha Lee): 4/5
» I want to like this more.It's beautiful but a bit oblique--and that's fine but somehow it doesn't jump to where it needs to be.
* "Spirey and the Queen" (Alastair Reynolds): 5/5
» Awesome.Did you like Watts' Blindsight?Did you like Sterling's "Swarm"?A little bit like that.(Only robots.)
* "Pardon Our Conquest" (Alan Dean Foster): 3.5/5
* "Symbiont" (Robert Silverberg): 4.5/5
» Highly disurbing; more so than I thought it would be.(Just read this one; skip the introduction.)
* "The Ship Who Returned" (Anne McCaffrey): 4/5
* "My She" (Mary Rosenblum): 4.5/5
» Brilliant.Nicely subversive and almost perfect.
* "The Shoulders of Giants" (Robert J. Sawyer): 2.5/5
* "The Culture Archivist" (Jeremiah Tolbert): 5/5
» This one is funny in the way that "Someone is Stealing..." (vida supra) could/should have been.
* "The Other Side of Jordan" (Allen Steele): 4.5/5
» Serves a little bit as a reminder that one of the things you're going for (when you're going for sci-fi) is the "deep milieu".This has got it.And I love it for it.
* "Like They Always Been Free" (Georgina Li): 4/5
» Very dense; worthwhile.
* "Eskhara" (Trent Hergenrader): 5/5
» The allegory bits are obvious but rather than detract, they make it all very worth while.
* "The One with the Interstellar Group Consciousnesses" (James Alan Gardner): 4/5
» Cute, and a bit novel, but kind of like an artisan soda:not really bad for you but not really necessary but damn tasty but kind of a cloying aftertaste?
* "Golubash, or Wine-War-Blood-Elegy" (Catherynne M. Valente): 4.5/5
» A little on the oblique side but the framing for the story is absolutely killer. ... Read more

Product Description
Lois McMaster Bujold has won the Hugo award four times, and the Nebula award twice. This is her second epic fantasy and the sequel to Curse of Chalion.The Golden General's curse has been lifted from the royal family and Cazaril can now rest easy and enjoy his new life with his bride Betriz.However, life for Ista, the Dowager Royina has not improved. With the death of her mother, the Provincara, and with her surviving child Iselle now ruling Chalion from the Capital Cardegross, she is left without purpose. Her brother's family still think she's mad and aim to keep her locked up safely to avoid embarrasment, but she craves freedom and escape and begins to plan how this may become reality. ... Read more

Product Description
Cordelia Naismith is enjoying a baptism of fire.Her first mission is to captain a throwaway warship of the Betan Expeditionary Force on a mission to destroy an entire enemy armada.Discovering deception within deception, treachery within treachery, she is forced into an uneasy peace with her nemesis: Lord Aral Vorkosigan. Discovering that astrocartography is not the soundest training for a military leader, Cordelia rapidly finds herself the prisoner of the Barrayaran Captain Aral Vorkosigan, also known as 'The Butcher of Komarr'.But the notorious captain is not quite the beast Cordelia was expecting and a grudging respect develops between the two of them.As captor and prisoner on an abandoned outpost planet, the honourable captain and the resolute scientist must rely on each others' trust to survive a trek across dangerous terrain, thus sparking a relationship that shares the struggles of culture and politics between their worlds. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Fantastic story - BUT
The other reviews tell it all, but instead of buying this book get -Cordelia's Honor (Vorkosigan Saga Omnibus: Shards of Honor / Barrayar)
which is this story plus the sequel ( written much later after several other books ), which to my thinking is just as good.

I can quote this book
I got into Bujold's Vorkosigan series right after Barrayar. I think Shards of Honor was out of print at that time, but I had to have it and it was worth the search.

Bujold isn't just a writer, she's a poet and philosopher. Shards of Honor is my favorite of the Vorkosigan series because first and foremost--it's a love story. Two middle-aged people, caught in a war they never wanted, fighting for opposite sides, both with issues--acting true to themselves and their personal honor. This book has NO compromises, no fake notes. It was the first book she ever wrote, and in my opinion, the best.

There are no funny parts. Cordelia suffers a "breakdown" on stage during the welcome home ceremonies after returning from the war. Beta Colony misinterprets everything she says, and her mother sells her out for her own good. The war and contact with the "enemy" have changed her, and she can't go home. She has fallen in love with a man who all the civilized worlds consider an amoral killer--when Aral is simply a soldier doing the "right thing" for a government who knows his value as a strategist, but hates his scruples. It's not sci-fi. It's not romance. It transcends both genres to become "more". It's all about love and redemption, and doing the right thing when everything is colored in shades of gray.

Cordelia shines
This is one of the funniest "romance" novels ever written and one of the most serious science fiction novels ever penned.Cordelia charms partly because she is civilized, sympathetic and the very embodiment of feminine virtues, but she has a capacity for quick thought and faster action that confounds her enemies and keeps the reader breathless with laughter and excitement.

Cordelia and her "love interest" Aral Vorkosigan meet just as their different planets of origin go to war.Cordelia helps Aralfoil a mutiny and then, bound by duty, shoots out the weapons console on Aral's ship and gets her own unarmed survey vessel home. She plays a critical role in the war that follows and mets Aral again, this time as a prisoner of war aboard the flagship. In the fog of love and war, it is friendly fire that does the most damage.

The funniest scene is when Cordelia, suffering from post-tramatic stress syndrome caused by maladroit psychologists, kicks the President in the groin as he tries to present a medal to her. ... Read more

Product Description
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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Read her books
Mirror Dance is a touching, gripping, and hair-raising book on several levels. A major character is killed and then goes missing and the hunt is up. But the strengths of this book are in the relationships among the characters and how both the relationships and the characters themselves change. I was in such a sweat to know whther he lives or dies that I actually read the end about halfway through. Bujold makes you care for her characters as if they were your friends. I bought 2 of Bujold's books because they were Hugo winners. I have since read and reread everything she has written. If you have not read any of her work, I envy you, as you get to experience Miles' universe for the first time.

It doesn't get any better than this!
Bujold's series of novels about Miles Naismith Vorkosigan (one of SF's all-time best characters) are some of the best space-operas ever written.And Mirror Dance may well be her best yet.If you haven't read the others, start with Shards of Honor and then Barrayar (which are about his parents, and both quite good), then the Warrior's Apprentice, The Borders of Infinity, The Vor Game, Cetaganda, and Brothers in Arms (all very good).Of course, if you just can't wait, can't find them, or can't afford them, Mirror Dance is still outstanding on its own, but it's even better if you've read all the pre-quels. (Cetaganda was written after Mirror Dance, but takes place earlier in Miles's life.)Another sequel, Memory, is in the works (a 3-chapter teaser is included in Cetaganda) and looks to take up pretty much where Mirror Dance Leaves off

Mirror dance: Am I you?

Miles is dead, lost, presumed...
Lost.

Mark is taken to Barrayar and discovers that he now is Lord Mark Vorkosigan. But he caused Miles' death, and now there's only one thing left to do: Mark has to return to Jackson's whole and find his brother, and maybe himself.

But they both are wanted by the Great Houses, for different reasons.

And of course nothing is as simple as it should be...

Vorkosigan adventure follows, much and often, and maybe, just maybe someone is found. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Great Book Well Read
Miles Vorkosigan (The Vor at the beginning of his name means something like the German von, i.e. Count or other member of the nobility) has been a staple character of Ms. Bujold's for several years. In the Vor Game, told here on nine CD's, he has finally been allowed to complete training at his planet's Military Academy and gets his first assignment.

As you would expect he gets involved in a nefarious plot, barely escapes but solves the situation. From there he goes on to investigate a suspicious military build up that might mean their enemies are up to something, then the emperor disappears. All kinds of sub-plots tell many conflicting stories, but good has to triumph in the end so that Miles can go on to the next book.

This sounds worse than I intend, but explaining the plot in only a few words is difficult. I think Ms Bujold's books are among the best sci fi written in recent years, and those about Miles are among the best of recent science fiction. As soon as I see one on the shelf at the local store, I pick it up, almost as a reflex action.

This particular version has been recorded by Grover Gardner, one of the 'Best Voices of the Century.' It is unabridged and lasts for about eleven hours on nine CD's. ... Read more

Product Description
Lord Cazaril has been, in turn, courtier, castle-warder, and captain; now he is but a crippled ex-galley slave seeking nothing more than a menial job in the kitchens of the Dowager Provincara, the noble patroness of his youth. But Cazaril finds himself promoted to the exalted and dangerous position of tutor to Iselle, the beautiful, fiery sister of the heir to Chalion’s throne.

Amidst the decaying splendor and poisonous intrigue of Chalion’s ancient capital, Cazaril is forced to confront not only powerful enemies but also the malignant curse that clings to the royal household, trapping him, flesh and soul, in a maze of demonic paradox, damnation, and death for as long as he dares walk the five-fold pathway of the gods. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Hit-and-miss, but mostly hit
The book, of course, is phenomenal, which is why I chose it to listen to on my long commute. Throughout listening to the audiobook, I had a love-hate relationship with the narrator. As far as the plain narrating he did just fine. For the characters' voices, he seemed to be either great or terrible. Cazaril's voice was just gruff enough to be very attractive, he gave Umegat the most appealing accent, and he also did very well with the the Provincara, Teidez, and Dondo (whose voice made my skin crawl). But I couldn't stand Chancellor dy Jironal's voice-- he made it very nasally and annoying, very inappropriate for the character, who, for all his many many flaws, was never the weasel he sounded like on these tapes. He made Ista sound more like Professor Trelawney than anything else, and as for Iselle and Betriz... the narrator is just not a man who was designed to talk like a 16-year-old girl.

Obviously this is all just my opinion. Other people may not be bothered at all by the things that drove me crazy. And except for the few voices I mentioned, this narrator was very competent, and I honestly appreciate the effort he put into developing a clearly separate voice for each character. But I thought it was worth noting that there were times I wanted to throttle him. :)

Fantasy world breathed to life
The Curse of Chalion (print version) is a favorite read but hearing it read aloud let me pick up nuances in the story I had missed.Well worth the price.

Excellent reading
Let me start by saying that Lois McMaster Bujold is one of my favorite authors. Her Vorkosigan series is head and shoulders above most SF being written today.

Curse of Chalion is the first book of a loosely connected fantasy series. I don't want to reinvent the wheel, so read the reviews of the book.

For the audiobook, Blackstone has done the usual fine production j0b. The reader, Lloyd James, does a superb job of deferentiating between the characters, and gives each their own voice and personality. I never had to think about who was speaking.

I love listening to a book I'm familiar with. I'd like to read reviews from someone who has not read the book.

If you like intelligent, thought provoking, beautifully written prose, well developed characters, and a cracking good fantasy story, BUY THIS BOOK ;-) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not Free SF Reader
Having been dead is bad, it can seriously crimp your stylin's.


Especially when the boss finds out. The head of Imperial Security finds out Miles is really not a well bloke, and gives him the boot from his current assignment.

This is seen as an opportunity for some that don't like the current boss to try and get rid of him.

The first bit backfires on those that have targeted the head of Security as Miles finds an old law that lets the Emperor appoint a troubleshooter who can basically order whoever th ehell he likes around. He gets a surprise when said Emperor makes it him. This sort of troublemakingcertainly suits him as he does the business.

Enjoyable banter but little substance
This is the first of these novels I've read. I was rather surprised that this is not actually sci-fi. I'm not quite sure how to classify this but there is not a single original sci-fi element I could identify in this book. It could be a romance but there was not really much of that either. The book is mostly about the internal anguish of the main character who just keeps whining and whining (and getting drunk) because he has to take a bit of a break from being a swashbuckling superhero.
In fairness I found this a tolerable read and turned the pages quickly. It was not until it was over that and I reflected on what I had just read that I realised that nothing of any importance at all had happened in this book. It is of course always possible that if I had read the other novels in the series I would have `got it'. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Finishes the Story Arc Begun in Shards of Honor
To start with, if you haven't yet read Shards of Honor, the first novel in the tales of Miles Vorkosigan (even though it doesn't actually feature Miles, it's about how his parents met), STOP, go back and read it before approaching Barrayar. You'll be glad you did. These two novels, written seven years apart, tell one complete story arc. How that came to be is an interesting story.

Shards of Honor and Barrayar form the beginning of the Miles Vorkosigan series. (Bujold's novel Falling Free takes place within the same fictional universe but, being set approximately 200 years before Miles' birth, features none of the series' familiar characters. Eventually you'll want to read Falling Free, but it doesn't matter when; you can insert it into your Bujold reading experience anytime.) Shards of Honor is Bujold's first novel (not merely the first novel she ever sold, but the first she ever wrote, thus disproving the axiom, "All first novels are unsaleable trash"). She begins writing it in December 1982. In mid-'83, having worked through the Shards material and about a third into what would eventually become Barrayar, Bujold realizes her manuscript is becoming too long to submit as one book (the "wisdom" at the time being a thin manuscript is more likely to be picked off the slush pile than a thick one). Bujold finds a logical breaking point for her tale (Cordelia's arrival on Barrayar), puts it in final draft form, and mothballs the partially finished "rest of the story."

Bujold submits Shards and begins working on another book, The Warrior's Apprentice. She's about halfway through that when Shards comes back rejected with an editorial suggestion she tighten it up. She finishes Warrior's, then cuts about 80 pages out of Shards, giving her two good unpublished novels. In 1985, around the time she finishes her third novel, Ethan of Athos, Warrior's makes it over the transom at Baen, and suddenly she goes from unpublished wannabe to successful novelist with three books (Shards, Warrior's, Ethan) SOLD. Shards is published in 1986.

Fastforward to 1989. Bujold has written four more books, Falling Free, Brothers In Arms, Borders of Infinity (a short story collection), and The Vor Game. Then the program-book editor of Philcon, a long-established SF convention in Philadelphia, asks Bujold to do a short story or outtake to donate to their program book. Remembering the unfinished novel fragment of years before, she troops up into her attic, retrieves the pages, reads them and decides to complete it as a novel. After all, it's already a third finished, right? And in 1992, Barrayar won the Hugo Award for Best SF Novel of the Year.

Shards of Honor stars Captain Cordelia Naismith, commander of a survey team for the Betan Expeditionary Force, and Captain Aral Vorkosigan, victim of a mutiny on his Barrayaran warship. Both stranded on an unexplored alien planet, officers on opposite sides of the Betan-Barrayaran War, they reach an agreement of honor: they will trust and rely on each other for survival as they travel across a planet seemingly intent on throwing all its resources into killing them before they can reach Aral's ship. And then there's the little problem of overcoming the mutineers.... In the process of their adventures, Cordelia and Aral fall in love.

Barrayar deals with her first experiences on that planet, leading up to the birth of her and Aral's son Miles (though there is an epilogue showing Miles at age five). Both Shards and Barrayar are told from Cordelia's perspective. Thereafter in this series Miles, with very few exceptions, takes center stage. Never again will Cordelia be the main character. But for these two books she emerges as one of the most well-realized, loving and vulnerable but still tough-as-nails female SF protagonists ever.

The next book in the series you'll want to read is The Warrior's Apprentice, which picks up Miles' life at age 17. ... Read more

Product Description
Bujold again offers tales of Miles Vorkosigan, a clever and outlandish science fiction hero for the modern era. Reissue.Amazon.com Review
This collection of short stories includes tales that take placebefore The Vor Game and others extending past Brothers in Arms. The variation in tone across the tales is handled exceptionally well, as we see Miles mourn and get a better look at his relationship with Illyan. The stories include Miles's first outing as a detective, in which he's faced with a case of infanticide in the mutant-phobic hill country; his largest rescue mission ever; and the most distressed damsel for whom he ever played the knight. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

Fabulous book, Excellent Writer, Excellent Readers
The entire series is well worth reading and re-reading.The Readers Chair did a wonderful job of bringing them to life and the seller delivered what was ordered on a timely basis - all good.

Borders of Infinity by Lois McMaster Bujold
Borders of Infinity is a part of Bujold's wonderful Miles Vorkosigan series.It consists of a few short stories that are memories set around an overall plot.As is typical of Bujold, there are many twists and turns and you can never see how Miles is ever going to survive his experiences.The best thing to do is to read the Miles Vorkosigan books in chronological order, which is given at the end of many of them.I just reread the whole series, and couldn't find a few of them, so I had to fill in the gaps to my collection.If you like action-filled science fiction, with manic twists and turns, then this series is for you.Enjoy!

borders of infinity
I loved this book.I couldn't read it fast enough.I really enjoy all the Vorkosigan series.

Not Free SF Reader
A collection of three novellas, a couple of which came from Analog, and another from a book.This is taken none too seriously with a Miles under investigation for accounting irregularities linking sort-of-story.

Borders of Infinity : Borders of Infinity - Lois McMaster Bujold
Borders of Infinity : Labyrinth - Lois McMaster Bujold
Borders of Infinity : Mountains of Mourning - Lois McMaster Bujold


Undercover recover uprising bustout.

3.5 out of 5


Werewolf nookie rescue.

3 out of 5


Infanticide investigation experience.

3 out of 5

Three terrific novellas in the Vorkosigan series
These three Miles Vorkosigan novellas are very wonderful and different from her other novels. No space opera in any of them, their brevity is one of their strengths.

"Mountains of Mourning" is a terrific jumping off place to begin the Vorkosigan series. Miles is 20, has just graduated from the Academy and is sent by his father to be his Voice. We see in this novella how very backward rural Barrayar can be and how much some people can change. I like this one so much I teach it.

"Labyrinth" is about another woman in Miles life.

"The Borders of Infinity" is one mission Admiral Naismith failed-- or that's how he feels. It's a heart- breaking story. ... Read more