thegreekie's review against another edition
3.0
Plot (Story / Pacing / Ending): 3/5
Characters (Characters / Development): 3/5
Writing (Prose / Dialogue / Style): 4/5
Other (Enjoyment / Read Pace / Worldbuilding / Etc): 3/5
Characters (Characters / Development): 3/5
Writing (Prose / Dialogue / Style): 4/5
Other (Enjoyment / Read Pace / Worldbuilding / Etc): 3/5
lectriza's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars.
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, and much more than the previous Vorkosigan novella. Maybe I'm a sucker for prison escape plots...
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, and much more than the previous Vorkosigan novella. Maybe I'm a sucker for prison escape plots...
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
4.0
A re-read. A prison break Miles style. Madcap from the first. And it's just Miles almost to the end. It seems like he should remember Murka one of his soldiers. And I'm thinking his bones had already been fixed. And it includes that part in which if really cost was no object, perhaps you really could save everyone. Twists and turns to the end. Really there's not much here. The story is fairly spare. But it probably stands-alone as well.
ashleylm's review against another edition
4.0
Short, swift, and at one point unexpectedly moving (since I particular like it when a plan comes together, and one of Miles' plans was intentionally more effective than he was letting on to readers at first).
If it weren't for The Hallowed Hunt I'd say Bujold can do no wrong as an author. I'm assured of a good, possibly great time, when I put myself in her hands (with that one exception) and this novella was an almost unalloyed delight ... I'd have preferred it without so much violence—just not my thing—but other than that, it was great.
Plotwise (in case I forget) this is the one where Miles begins as a captured prisoner-of-war in a domed prison created by the Cetagandans—none of whom we meet—and tries to make life better for everyone, in more ways than one.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
If it weren't for The Hallowed Hunt I'd say Bujold can do no wrong as an author. I'm assured of a good, possibly great time, when I put myself in her hands (with that one exception) and this novella was an almost unalloyed delight ... I'd have preferred it without so much violence—just not my thing—but other than that, it was great.
Plotwise (in case I forget) this is the one where Miles begins as a captured prisoner-of-war in a domed prison created by the Cetagandans—none of whom we meet—and tries to make life better for everyone, in more ways than one.
(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
jojo_k654's review
4.0
Chronologically this novella comes before Brothers in Arms and normally I would skip novellas but I think it's beneficial to read this prior to Brothers in Arms for context.
pickett22's review against another edition
5.0
Apparently I didn't review this the first time around.
Mountains of Mourning is, of course, incredible.
Labyrinth is what it is.
Borders of Infinity is amazing and incredibly painful.
This time through I realized something. This set of shorts, or novellas, or whatever, is an ongoing treatise to the importance of life. Every life. Disabled, monstrous, one among 10,000; every one of them deserving of the chance to live and grow and be loved. I couldn't figure out for a while why I kept crying, until I made that connection. It's been a hard few years. Hard to remember, sometimes, how important every life is. How valuable. More valuable than five brand new fighter shuttles, to be sure.
Mountains of Mourning is, of course, incredible.
Labyrinth is what it is.
Borders of Infinity is amazing and incredibly painful.
This time through I realized something. This set of shorts, or novellas, or whatever, is an ongoing treatise to the importance of life. Every life. Disabled, monstrous, one among 10,000; every one of them deserving of the chance to live and grow and be loved. I couldn't figure out for a while why I kept crying, until I made that connection. It's been a hard few years. Hard to remember, sometimes, how important every life is. How valuable. More valuable than five brand new fighter shuttles, to be sure.