So I'm finally reading "Captain Vorpatril's Alliance" (very minor spoilers)

[jeriendhal]

And I just hit two magic words.

Sonic mapping.

Oh, Ivan. You've never been as dumb as you desperately wanted to be, and Miles isn't the only one in the family capable of panic induced acts of brilliance.

I'm not finished yet, and I've managed to avoid the discussion spoilers on the Bujold listserve, but so far this book, while not in the rarified heights of Mirror Dance or A Civil Campaign, is a vast improvement over Diplomatic Immunity and Cryoburn.

Comments

[philomytha.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, definitely better than Diplomatic Immunity and Cryoburn! Also, reluctantly-competent Ivan is great fun to watch.

[mbernardi]

Yes, I'm currently listening to the audio book version, after reading the Ebook copy a while back.
Count Falco has just done his geezer judgement, to great effect.

I always thought DI should have had Ekaterine viewpoint at the end.

Of course "Ivan his Booke" has been eagerly awaited for years, so it had a lot to live up to. Fortunately it managed to do so.

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

I agree on Ekaterine's view being needed in DI. The last couple of chapters were just "Awesome stuff happened. Offscreen. Take our word for it."

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

There is no comparison of this book to DI or Cryoburn. Absolutely none. What Lois really really needed to put the jumpstart back in was a new main POV character who isn't Miles, IMHO. It's amazing that, for a book with such stratospheric reader expectations, it was such an absolute joy.

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

The logical stopping point for Miles' adventures should have been the end of ACC. Dragging him along for two more books just proved very awkward and painful to read.

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Yes. Winterfair Gifts (which I adore) doesn't count because it's not from Miles's viewpoint.

[siderea]

I am delighted to hear this. Cryoburn was the first and only Bujold book I managed to fail to finish (through disinterest.) I'll have to score a copy of CVA.