Paperback, 346 pages
English language
Published September 1990 by Baen Books.
Together, they can get into a lot of trouble. Trouble only the combined forces of the Free Dendarii Mercenaries can get them out of. At least, that's what they're hoping...
In this latest adventure with the galaxy's craftiest mercenary leader Miles starts out by so shaking up the High Command on his home planet of Barrayar that he is sent to the other side of the galaxy—where who should he run into but his old pals the Free Dendarii Mercenaries. And a good thing too, because it turns out that Miles' childhood chum, that's Emperor Gregor to you, has been the victim of foul play, and only Miles—with a little Dendarii muscle—can save him. This is very important to Miles; because if Gregor dies, the only person who could become the new emperor is Miles himself—and that he regards as a fate worse than death.
Good engaging writing, farcically confused ad-hoc plotting. You soon lose track of who is currently imprisoning the hero, and where. He finds a mysterious dead man in a sewer and it proves completely irrelevant to the story.
This novel won a Hugo, and I liked it more than Warrior's Apprentice, but it still jumps around quite a bit. It certainly leans a bit more "military sf" where we learn a bit more about space tactics and wormhole politics. The book feels like it has a couple of distinct sections: first, Miles on his first assignment in Camp Permafrost (until he joins a mutiny and washes out of the Imperial Military, again). Then, Miles kicking his feet "in disgrace" until he joins Imperial Security and is sent back out to potentially active the Admiral Naismith identity again. Finally, a bit where he is separated from his ImpSec minders and simultaneously tries to re-form the Dendarii Mercenaries, stop an invasion, and rescue the Barrayaran emperor all at the same time.
On this reread, I felt like that the Camp Permafrost section, even if it was interesting, didn't quite tie …
This novel won a Hugo, and I liked it more than Warrior's Apprentice, but it still jumps around quite a bit. It certainly leans a bit more "military sf" where we learn a bit more about space tactics and wormhole politics. The book feels like it has a couple of distinct sections: first, Miles on his first assignment in Camp Permafrost (until he joins a mutiny and washes out of the Imperial Military, again). Then, Miles kicking his feet "in disgrace" until he joins Imperial Security and is sent back out to potentially active the Admiral Naismith identity again. Finally, a bit where he is separated from his ImpSec minders and simultaneously tries to re-form the Dendarii Mercenaries, stop an invasion, and rescue the Barrayaran emperor all at the same time.
On this reread, I felt like that the Camp Permafrost section, even if it was interesting, didn't quite tie into the rest of the novel strongly enough for its length. My opinion while reading is that it would be better as a standalone story. I felt pretty justified learning that it was a separately published novella that then got edited into this book.
Camp Permafrost certainly firmly establishes that Miles has a problem with subordination (although we already knew that). The commanding officer Metzov comes back later (and is ironically undone by his parochial attitudes). And there's a joke later about drain expertise (although I'll ask how can you have a surprise corpse in a novel that goes nowhere). The only plot function this section has is that Metzov can know Gregor and Miles and reveal their identities to Cavilo. None of this feels like enough for its length, and it would have made the rest of the book stronger to have it edited out.
This book definitely continues with Miles lusting forever after every woman on page. He's still in love with Elena, and lusts after Cavilo. Buddy, Elena is (still) married to your oath-sworn armsman, get it together. Maybe I'm biased because I roll my eyes through these bits, but it feels like missed opportunity for character growth, either in seeing him change here or paying for these feelings by having to deal with their consequences more explicitly.
One thing I do really like in this novel is being able to see Gregor out in the field. We get to see how Miles feels bound by his Vor responsibilities but Gregor feels trapped. Having Gregor in play (and their identities partially revealed) adds a different flavor; it's not just foiling a plan, but it's doing it in a way that also involves rescuing Gregor. We also get to see Gregor's competence at his job; he's not just a figurehead emperor, he's a master of politics and manipulation.
I think most importantly, we also get to see the implicit trust between Miles and Gregor, culminating in the climax of the book where Gregor walks directly up to a plasma cannon while Miles pretends like he's going to kill him. This book's theme, if I tried to put a finger on it, is Miles' insubordination in service to what he believes is right. (See also: the moment where he has locked several superior officers in the brig simultaneously.) So, it feels useful to establish the level of trust and devotion between Miles and his emperor directly on page. Sure, Miles continues to deliver results, but why else would anybody put up with this ensign.
