Rating: 
Summary: Not Her Best Effort
Review: The Stories about Miles are just about my favorite, and this one is good too. But not up to the others in the series. I was expecting more involvement of Miles's new wife, but she appears as a very minor charachter out of the action in most of the book.
I think there could have been more development of the story also.
Not to say it is a bad read, it is better than 80% of fiction published every year. I was hoping for more of the Miles and Kat working together to "crack the case"
Summary: a good story, worth reading, weak on plot development.
Rating: 
Summary: Wow!
Review: I don't understand it at all. This woman writes what is for money the best fiction anywhere and yet I walk into bookstores or mention her to people and get blank stares. She should be a household name by now and this book proves it again, as if the Hugo's and Nebulas weren't enough proof of her Gift for the Craft of writing. This book is filled with the awe inspiring wit anyone who's a fan of hers (and her characters) have come to relish. Miles is back, and on his honeymoon when duty calls (actually Gregor sent a courier) and he has to make a stop at an out of the way place Lois fans have heard of but not seen before. Much to the surprise of Miles and the delight of me, we run into an old associate of Miles, and a few old enemies as well, or are they new ones.... I really loved this book and i was very tempted to give it five stars but as a posted on a message board it wasn't long enough (and they never are).... cheers
Rating: 
Summary: The Vorkoverse progresses wonderfully!
Review: This book contains everything anyone could expect of Miles Vorkosigan et al. It's got plenty of drama, it's got action, it's got thought, it's got everything! Miles, Ekaterine, quaddies, Cetagandans. Miles really needs the full power of his position in this book, and he uses it.
Ms. Bujold pulls quite a bit of What Has Gone Before into this book. If you're a veteran of the previous Vorkosigan books, this book is something you should get in your hot little hands right now. You won't be able to put it down, so I hope you can stay up late the day you get it. And you should get it.
If you've not read previous Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold, don't start with this one. Start with "Cordelia's Honor" or with "The Vor Game".
Rating:
Summary: Worried about what is next...
Review: This is one of the books that makes you wonder where the series is going and can Bujold keep it interesting and lively. While this book does nothing to kill the series, it does make me wonder what challenges are left for Miles? What "bad guys" are there left? I'm looking forward to being surprised in the next book. :-)
Rating: 
Summary: Rehashed plot, nothing new, disappointing
Review: While I've really enjoyed the first dozen books in this series, unfortunately the author is apparently starting to write new books just for the money. In this case, the plot is predictable and not different from all the other stories. It will be disappointing for anyone looking for the quality of the other Miles novels.
Rating:
Summary: Much More my Cup of Tea!
Review: I've never been a Miles-and-Ekaterin fan, and probably never will be. But despite the presence of a character I'd like to chuck out an airlock (Ekaterin), I enjoyed this series entry much more than the last two. An old friend is back. There's plenty of action and danger--some of it especially unsettling in light of the real-world threats we face today. And we're reminded that some of the same deepest urges drive friend and foe alike. One of the things I like most about Bujold's universe is that if we accept the convention of FTL travel, everything else is totally believable. There are no implausibly humanlike aliens. But genetic engineering has produced a wide variety of humans. And this story illustrates that the tailoring of humans--like most scientific advances--is in itself neither good nor bad.
Rating:
Summary: More of the same
Review: More of the same, that was the disappointing part in this book, after Civil Campaign, which was one of the funniest books, bar none, I have ever read, I expected some more development in Mile's story. While for someone who has never read any Miles Vorkosigian this would be great, I felt for Lois Bujold it was coasting. No Ivan, No Pym, No Mark, no Emperor Gregor, No explosive loving planet Barrayar, no Koudleka girls, nothing of the elements that made the last book one of my re-read treasures, she can do better, that was the sad part.
Rating:
Summary: Miles is at it again...
Review: Hurrah! Another Vorkosigan book makes its way into the world. Actually, the previous sentence reminds me to warn first-time Bujold readers: this is not the book you want to start with. For a long time, the Vorkosigan books were rather independant of each other; it was possible to just pick up any of the series and give it a go. But as time (and plot) go by, characters and motiviations have begun to build on each other. I recommend reading Bujold books in the order they were written. Lord Miles Vorkosigan and Madame Ekaterin Vorsoisson have not only gotten married, they've made it to the honeymoon, nearly one year later. But of course, in Miles's universe, nothing goes according to plan. Miles is an Imperial Auditor of Barrayar, a fancy sounding title that really means Emperor Gregor sends him in to clean up the nasty spills with discretion. Miles and Ekaterin are diverted off course to Graff Station, home of the quaddies. Upon arriving, Miles discovers that the Barrayaran military fleet stationed there has overreacted and created a diplomatic situation, which is of course mostly their own fault. It looks like all Miles will need to do is some fancy diplomatic shoe-stepping, while meeting up with some supporting characters we haven't seen for a while. (It's nice to know that Bel Thorne landed on its feet.) This cozy little schema quickly goes down the [tubes]. People begin to go missing, a young hothead decides to give everything up for love, and of course the classic Miles-you-should-pay-attention-to-this warning pops up: strange people do unexplainable things that don't seem to have anything to do with the current problem. In classic Miles/Bujold style all of the loose ends are securely tied up by the end. I do wish that there was more Ekaterin in the plot. It was nice to know that she finally became aggressive when necessary, but it would have been better to "see" her do it, instead of reading about it afterwards. She was a rather flat character in Komarr, but developed so nicely in A Civil Campaign that I hoped to see more of her. I think of this book as one of the "Vorkosigan Lite" novels, along with Cetaganda. They're funny and great to read, but they don't have the in-depth character development and life changing events like Mirror Dance and Barrayar. But that's fine with me. Sometimes it's nice to just read an interesting story about Vorkosigans, and be able to laugh at the end.
Rating:
Summary: Miles ages
Review: Not up to her usual quality level.
Missed the usual sparkling dialogue between Miles and the enemy, but am looking forward to Miles, the father of two, in her next effort.
Rating:
Summary: So where is Iwan?
Review: Another Miles mystery. Our hero changes from relaxed honeymooner to hyper-active lord auditor. The mystery he is about to solve involves diplomatic entanglement (hence the title), missing people, a collection of strange people from all over (f.e. hermaphrodites, "Quaddies") After some digging miles uncovers kidnapping and treason - but among his Cetagandan foes. But being a bystander when that happens is very uncomfortable: for Miles, Barrayar and the quaddies. To enjoy this novel one has to be familiar with the worlds and peoples of the nexus - having read especially "Falling Free" and "Cetaganda" helps a lot. In a subtitle on the jack's inside this book is called "A Comedy of Terrors". Well, those two don't mix so well in the first place and there isn't enough comedy to make the reader laugh. Miles (or Mark) as the underdog, the outsider against the system and/or old prejudices - there one finds bittersweet humor. In this book, with Miles as august lord auditor in an outsider's world, that doesn't work. The book also lacks the romance that so nicely balanced the mystery in "Komarr" or the self-search from "Mirror Dance" and "Memory". So while it may not be among the best Vorkossigan-novels it's just a very good one. PS: So where is Iwan? Being Miles' loyal sidekick (and suffering for it) through most Vorkossigan books has he got a vacation? Or a life of his own?
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