Rating: 
Summary: Space Opera at its Best
Review: The Vor Game is a cliff-hanging adventure in the world of Miles Vorkosigan, one of the most intriguing scifi characters I have ever encountered. This is the first of Bujold's books I've read, but I still found the story easy to follow, with no prior knowlege of the plot. Expertly written, the impressive cast of characters' dialogue is witty, even hilairious at times. However, the Vor Game has a few setbacks. The politics of the story become confusing at times, and I found myself having to backtrack. The book also switches moods, going from light-hearted to serious in a matter of paragraphs, making the overall flow of the book a little choppy. But for any fan of non-serious science fiction, I highly recommend this action-packed adventure.
Rating:
Summary: Strength of characters carries through a coincidental plot
Review: The Vor Game is the second book in the "Young Miles" collection, and it is the weaker of the two. It did manage to win the Hugo though, so it must have something going for it.That something is the characters. Miles and the rest of them shine off the page. Miles gets into bad situation after bad situation, but his intelligence and quick thinking manage to get him out of it all the time. He starts out being assigned to a weather station in the arctic north of Barrayar. There, his independent streak rears its head again and moves him on to something else. More misadventures happen until Miles is going all over the sector of space dealing with crisis after crisis, each one usually being caused by his solution to the previous crisis. What makes this the weaker book of the two is the huge number of coincidences that are required to move the plot forward. Miles gets lucky more than anything else, and some of the people he runs into he only does because the plot requires it. It's too bad, too, because I think the story would have been very strong even without all of them. When Miles meets one of the main villains, it strains credulity to the maximum. The person is somebody from Miles' past who happens to pop up again. It would have been different if this person would have been directly after Miles, because at least then the person would have a reason to show up. Unfortunately, that's not the case. That being said, though, there is more great humour, more drama, and more space action to cover all of it the coincidences. It is a fun book to read, and it is a page-turner. You'll never be bored, and you'll never want to put it down. It's certainly worth a read, especially if you're going to be reading the whole series. It's not necessarily important to, though, as most of the books seem to be pretty self-contained (at least that's the idea I get). If you can deal with the coincidences, then this is a great book to read. I heartily recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Strength of characters carries through a coincidental plot
Review: The Vor Game is the second book in the "Young Miles" collection, and it is the weaker of the two. It did manage to win the Hugo though, so it must have something going for it. That something is the characters. Miles and the rest of them shine off the page. Miles gets into bad situation after bad situation, but his intelligence and quick thinking manage to get him out of it all the time. He starts out being assigned to a weather station in the arctic north of Barrayar. There, his independent streak rears its head again and moves him on to something else. More misadventures happen until Miles is going all over the sector of space dealing with crisis after crisis, each one usually being caused by his solution to the previous crisis. What makes this the weaker book of the two is the huge number of coincidences that are required to move the plot forward. Miles gets lucky more than anything else, and some of the people he runs into he only does because the plot requires it. It's too bad, too, because I think the story would have been very strong even without all of them. When Miles meets one of the main villains, it strains credulity to the maximum. The person is somebody from Miles' past who happens to pop up again. It would have been different if this person would have been directly after Miles, because at least then the person would have a reason to show up. Unfortunately, that's not the case. That being said, though, there is more great humour, more drama, and more space action to cover all of it the coincidences. It is a fun book to read, and it is a page-turner. You'll never be bored, and you'll never want to put it down. It's certainly worth a read, especially if you're going to be reading the whole series. It's not necessarily important to, though, as most of the books seem to be pretty self-contained (at least that's the idea I get). If you can deal with the coincidences, then this is a great book to read. I heartily recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: HUGO Winner, beat out David Brin's "Earth"
Review: The year that this book was nominated, I attended my first WorldCon, in Chicago. As I would be voting for the Hugo Awards, I actually read all of the nominated novels. This was my favorite. Later, I spoke with another nominated author(who was sitting near David Brin at the Hugo Award Ceremony), told me that David Brin had already written his acceptance speech, and was quite surprised when someone elso won...
Rating:
Summary: Miles is at it again
Review: This book won Bujold yet another Hugo award (She has the second most in history but yet few people have heard of her). As always Miles seems to be able to do the work of five people, but it takes him the work of ten to get into the military, his dream career on army mad Barrayar. His amazing wit, insight into the mind of his comrades and enemies (supplied by Bujold of course), and amazing intellect are as always seemingly eclipsed by his father's and grandfather's achievements. The characters may seem young and whiney to some but it actually shows them rather believably in my opinion. Gregor's world image was just subtly but still utterly shattered and forcibly rearranged. Miles has just had his resolve and self confidence weakened by problems on Kryil Island and with his superior officers throughout the service, his idea of his dream career in the military not quite working our right; but by the end he became the pushy self-confident force he becomes in the persona of Admiral Naismith. An all around great read, how can it be out of stock all ready?
Rating:
Summary: Read Me!
Review: This isn't the first book. Have you read the first book? If not, you should immediately drop everything and order it. Now. Immediately. Right away. Read the whole series.
Ok, ok. Here's the series: Shards of Honor
Barayar
(these two books are also combined into "Cordelia's Honor")
The Warrior's Apprentice
Short Story: The Mountains of Mourning
(all short stories are contained in "Borders of Infinity")
The Vor Game
Cetaganda
Ethan of Athos
Short Story: Labyrinth
Short Story: The Borders of Infinity
Brothers in Arms
The Borders of Infinity
Mirror Dance
Memory
Komarr
A Civil Campaign
Diplomatic Immunity Now, go start this series at the begining and read it through to the end. No Excuses!
Rating:
Summary: Can Miles survive being a weather officer?
Review: This story in the Miles Vorkosigan series takes place about three years after the events described in "The Warrior's Apprentice" (1986). The book won the 1991 Hugo Award for best science fiction novel of the year. {It has been only eight years since this novel won the Hugo Award. How could the publisher be out of stock??} Miles has just graduated from military college and gets his first assignment: as a meteorology officer stationed on an isolated weather station on Barrayar! After a few adventures, he has to regain control of his mercenary troops, save his emperor, and avert an invasion. This series is very popular with fans of space opera, with novels of space battles, and with tales of palace intrigues.
Rating:
Summary: Bujold back in top form
Review: While it may not quite deserve that obnoxious Hugo, "The Vor Game" delivers most everything that readers expect from the Vorkosigan Saga. Action, adventure, humor, unforseen plot twists, and tough-as-nails characters all compete relentlessly for their share of the book, and will leave your head spinning as you race through the pages. It all beging when Miles, recently graduated from the Academy, is sent to a temporary position as a weatherman on a dismal island base in the polar regions. His boss is an alcoholic who predicts storms by smell and his commanding officer is the definition of the word crotchety. Soon Miles finds himself on an interplanetary mission while juggling three different identities, and then the trouble really starts with an unexpected encounter in a jail in the Hegen Hub.
The action is actually hot and the humor is actually funny. The characters stay true to their established personalities, and grow in realistic ways. The only real disappointment is a couple scenes where Bujold tries to build up romantic tension between Miles and a female adversary; those come across as rather weak. But beyond that, "The Vor Game" is a classic romp through space that should leave everyone happy.
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