Cryoburn (Vorkosigan Saga) [Hardcover]

This book takes place 9 years after the memorable events in A Civil Campaign: A Comedy of Biology and Manners (Miles Vorkosigan Adventures) and Miles is well and truly a married man. He is sent to Kibou-daini to investigate some possible cryo fraud that was being set up in Komarr by a Kibou-daini company. Once there Miles finds himself kidnapped and things finally start to get interesting for him. In this book Mile's story is told from multiple view points.....and suffers for it.

The zany craziness of the earlier books in the series that was one of the great attractions of Mile's stories mostly seems to be missing. Nearly all the other books in the series make me laugh at reasonably regular intervals throughout, something that seems to be lacking in this book much to my disappointment. That alone makes this book, for me, one of the lesser books in the series. It's real sting, and best writing, comes at the end of the story. There's no denying that this book is another turning point in the series, but as an auditorial outing, Bujold has done better with earlier books. It's hard to decide if it should get 3 or 4 stars, but it's certinaly not a 5 star outing, but is nevertheless recommended reading for established fans of the series.

Miles Vorkosigan is the character that made Lois McMaster Bujold's name as a writer of smart, readable, fun SF. Miles is a native of Barrayar, a traditionalist planet coming out of a period of isolation, and Miles is used to show Barrayar encountering the moden galaxy around it. The series, of which this is the 11th full novel, has taken a crippled, hyperactive, intelligent boy and, through a series of adventures and encounters, made him a man. When we last left him, he had found stability in both his professional life (working as a trouble-shooter for his Emperor) and personal life (married, with children on the way). Most major plot points, such as rival empires or Barrayan internal politics, have been resolved or drifted away.

The true brilliance of the series has always lain in McMaster Bujold's light touch in writing, and the sheer wonder of her central character. Her skills in world building are average and, as "Cryoburn" involves introducing us to a new world where countless dead lie in cryostasis awaiting resurrection, this brings the first problem. It's an interesting idea, taking an old theme of hers to an extreme conclusion, but it would be out of character for her to delve too deep into it - gritty social realism has never been her strong suit - and so it simply remains an intriguing but underdeveloped idea. Instead, we see Miles thrown into the middle of a convoluted plot about the cryostasis business that threatens Barrayar in a slightly unspecified way, which he attacks in his usual forthright and entertaining manner, producing a swift plot with some nice supporting characters, who tend to fall into familiar niches.

The usual elements of success for a Miles story are there, but never really gell. Most worrying is the decision of McMaster Bujold to use a side-character, Mile's bodyguard Roic, as a narrator. Roic is a solid, dependable character, who narrates in a solid, dependable voice, but he is simply not that interesting. The other narrator is a young native of the planet, who brings a refreshing viewpoint, but isn't given that much to do. In fact, at a pivotal point for his character, he gets almost sidelined to allow the main plot to proceed.

Ultimately, while it is very nice to read more of Miles, this adds very little to his story. The entire book has something of the feeling of an epilogue. Miles has thoroughly grown up, and it is hard to see where any further development will come from without shattering his world in a way that legions of fans will hate. It is only in the very final part that we see a hint of where McMaster Bujold may be able to send Miles next.

It is quite shocking to realise that, by my reckoning, this is Bujold's fourteenth Miles Vorkosigan novel, a series that since 1986 has gained Awards a-plenty (2 Nebulas and 4 Hugos). Miles' last appearance was in a novella, Winterfair Gifts, in 2004; the previous novel was Diplomatic Immunity in 2002.

Both of these were good, but, to my mind, mere shadows of earlier novels such as Mirror Dance, Cetaganda and Memory. In Wintergifts and Diplomatic Immunity I felt that Bujold's attention was clearly elsewhere, or just running out of things to say about Miles, and therefore I had prepared myself to say goodbye to the series.

But now we have this new novel, set six or seven years after Diplomatic Immunity. Miles is now nearly forty, still an Imperial Lord Auditor in the Barrayaran Empire, but when visiting the planet of Kibou-daini/New Hope, he has been kidnapped. In just five days Miles now finds himself trying to escape the clutches of people hoping to hold the Lord Auditor to ransom.

As events unfold we find that this is an attempt by terrorists, the New Hope Legacy Liberators, to bring attention to their cause. Disorientated by sedatives, Miles is found by twelve year old Jin, who lives in a seemingly disused cryogenic factory.

Miles escapes. Investigating further, he finds that the major cryogenic companies on Kibou are involved in conspiracy and subterfuge and that there is a major cover-up. One that Miles feels should be brought out to the open.

So here we have Miles `meddling' again, in events off-world from his home on Barrayar. There's lots of underhanded political machinations by the cryo-corporations with designs on setting up on Miles' homeworld, the recovery of Jin's mother, an activist frozen to keep her out of the way, and attempts to dispatch the off-worlders who interfere with the companies plans.

However for those expecting major Miles action, you may be disappointed. Though Miles is a central focus point, much of the narrative focuses upon the characters around him - his armsman Roic, the cryogenics specialist Raven Durona, the young Jin and his family. We have the tale told mainly through three points of view - Miles, his armsman, Roic, and the teenager Jin. My abiding impression at the end is that the tale seems to focus on Jin, his sister Minako and the diplomatic staff on Kibou, rather than Miles, who is surprisingly unobtrusive by comparison.

On the positive side, there's some nice mentions of earlier characters, which will be appreciated and perhaps saddened by those who have read the earlier novels. I'm not quite sure whether readers coming in cold to the series will get all the nuances, though the plot's easy enough to follow.

And that perhaps is my niggle. The tale's told deceptively well, the characters are well written and the plot's engaging. And yet, towards the end, I don't feel that we've really advanced things very far, for Miles at least. As much as I liked it, as much as I kept reading, I felt that there was nothing really new here. Though it pains me to say it, like the previous two books in some ways, this felt like a tale treading water.

Until the end. The last chapter is told in five `diggles' - views from different perspectives, of no more than one hundred words. There is a major event, which changes Miles' life and which is told through these five perspectives. And there's more changes that happens there than the rest of the book altogether.

If this was a TV episode, this would be the cliffhanger. It opens the story out, should Lois wish to take it further. Despite my reservations that Miles may have gone as far as we might wish to go, it does make the future look interesting.

In summary, this is a pleasant enough return to the world of Vorkosigan. The story is humorous, exciting and fun, and shows that Lois can still write about the world of Miles: even if Miles isn't as involved as I thought he would be.

Though I was a little disappointed, the ending in particular shows that there may be more to hear from this series in the future. Welcome back Miles.