The Vor Game

It's a little hard to review this book as a whole, because it is quite cleanly divided into two parts. Sure, Miles' primary antagonist remains a constant, but since he's hidden off-stage for most of the middle of the book, I didn't really make that connection right away. Which led to the book feeling a bit disjointed.

Well, maybe not disjointed. It actually reminded me of the Star Wars movies, structure-wise. With the two distinct acts. And since this story is also about a war set in space, that comparison is pretty apt.

The two halves were each pretty interesting on their own, though I preferred the second half. Miles spends the first half of the book stuck as a meteorological officer in an arctic base camp trying to keep his nose clean. It really picks up in the second half when he gets a freer reign and reunites with the Dendarii Mercenaries. It's always a treat to see Miles taking command, but it's even cooler to see him finally learning to recognize superiors and follow their orders.

Miles ought to have a little more freedom from here on out, and I'm excited to see what he does with it - and how he messes up.

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