Cryoburn
Until recently, this was the last book in the Vorkosigan Saga. As such, reading it is a lot like hanging out with a good friend. The novel opens with Miles escaping from a kidnapping, which is the first time since Borders of Infinity that the story starts mid-action and catches the reader up as it goes. It was nice to just be thrown in immediately, without any prologue or preamble before the excitement.
The mystery is pretty straightforward, and Miles does what he does best in cutting through to the center of it. The big idea in this book is cryo-freezing, and how that effects society. When people opt to be frozen instead of dying, in the hopes of extending their lifespan at some future time, then what becomes of their money? Their voting power? On this planet, it gets held in trust by corporations who are on the verge of taking over the entire world, causing an ever-widening gap between the richest and the poorest.
Miles does what he does and blows this whole scheme apart with the help of some locals. It's always fun to see him from a different point of view, and young Jin does not disappoint. On the other hand, I wish there had been more differentiation between Miles and Roic. Their sections ran together a little bit for me, and I wasn't always entirely sure whose point of view I was experiencing.
But that's a minor complaint. Hanging out with these characters, seeing where they are after so many years of adventures, is so much fun. This is a book about endings, in some ways, and about how life keeps going after those endings.
Currently there's only one book left, and I have half a mind to wait until it's available in paperback. I'm not ready to give up o my anticipation of the next book quite yet. I can only hope that it won't really be the last one ever. In the meantime, I might just have to circle back around to Barrayar. Or at least follow along with the re-read of the series on tor.com.
The mystery is pretty straightforward, and Miles does what he does best in cutting through to the center of it. The big idea in this book is cryo-freezing, and how that effects society. When people opt to be frozen instead of dying, in the hopes of extending their lifespan at some future time, then what becomes of their money? Their voting power? On this planet, it gets held in trust by corporations who are on the verge of taking over the entire world, causing an ever-widening gap between the richest and the poorest.
Miles does what he does and blows this whole scheme apart with the help of some locals. It's always fun to see him from a different point of view, and young Jin does not disappoint. On the other hand, I wish there had been more differentiation between Miles and Roic. Their sections ran together a little bit for me, and I wasn't always entirely sure whose point of view I was experiencing.
But that's a minor complaint. Hanging out with these characters, seeing where they are after so many years of adventures, is so much fun. This is a book about endings, in some ways, and about how life keeps going after those endings.
Currently there's only one book left, and I have half a mind to wait until it's available in paperback. I'm not ready to give up o my anticipation of the next book quite yet. I can only hope that it won't really be the last one ever. In the meantime, I might just have to circle back around to Barrayar. Or at least follow along with the re-read of the series on tor.com.
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