Rating: Summary: You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll love Miles. Review:
Are you tired of tall, muscular science-fiction and
fantasy superheroes? Here is a welcome change.
He was born with great disabilities on the planet where
such children were killed right away by their own parents.
At the age of 17 in half a year he gives two desperate people a second chance in life, hands the victory to the side that was hopelessly losing the war and gets to be an admiral of a space fleet. Well, not exacty...
4-feet tall, hunchbacked, with fragile bones... Yet so many people love him and follow him. What is his secret?
Rating: Summary: Revelatory Review: After 3 years of working with science fiction I was starting to worry that I was becoming incapable of reading new authors. I picked up book after book but was never able to shake the feeling I was reading slush. However my brother gave me this book on his birthday so I felt obliged to give it a chance. Although, on later reflection, it has some of the classic signs of being the 'first' in a series--it's fairly straightforward--I will never forget looking up two thirds of the way through and being surprised that I was in New York--i.e. on Earth! It was an incredibly disorienting moment, and this was a very engrossing read! A book I expect to read over and over, and sorry about this rushed review, but I'm off to hit the bookstore on my way home from work--sorry also Amazon, I can't wait two days.
Rating: Summary: This book introduces Bujold's popular Miles Vorkosigan Review: Although not as deep as her later works, The Warrior's Apprentice break neck pace and wit results in a pleasant read. In many ways Bujolds novels feel like the science fiction equivalent of Brust's Vlad Taltos novels. Although this book was published after Shards of Honor, it still makes a great place to begin the Vorkosigan series.
Rating: Summary: A space opera reminiscent of star wars Review: An easy read that will make you feel good, but not very challenged. There is usually little doubt as to what will happen next, but the characters are interesting at times (even if they are somewhat cariacatured). The warlike Barryarans and peacenik Betans don't display much variety, but the character of Miles Vorkosigan is interesting to read in action. Lois Bujold gets better with her later novels about this strange universe set in a future where humans migrated to the stars as tribes and lost touch with each other for a time and then found each other again. The Barrayarans appear to be made to resemble the Soviets (warlike and totalitarian), while the Betans are Anglo-American democratic pacifists. All in all Bujold is a good writer (as she proves with some later adventures starring Miles), but here she appears to be experimenting and growing still. Not bad and not the best, but it's a better read than most other science fiction out there.
Rating: Summary: Disappointed Review: Apparently, quite a few people like the Vor series, so I picked this one up. I wasn't impressed. Yes, LMB's writing is good, but that doesn't automatically make a good science fiction. The plot simply isn't particularly exciting, the ideas are consistently stale. Worst of all, the story is driven by lucky coincidences and the fact that everybody believes/obeys the main character, mostly without question. Maybe he really is that charming ... but I for one wasn't charmed. YMMV, of course.
Rating: Summary: Superb Review: Book Review by C. Douglas Baker The Warrior's Apprentice is a typical Miles Vorkosigan adventure. To those who are not familiar with Miles that last sentence may look like a derogatory comment. That could not be further from the truth. The Warrior's Apprentice is typical because it is a fast paced, seat of your pants, romp through the universe adventure with the eccentric Miles Vorkosigan. Bujold's entire cannon set in this universe merits high praise. The Warrior's Apprentice finds Miles breaking his leg and being unable to complete his training in the Barrayan military academy. A deeply depressed Miles feels he has let his father and grandfather down and becomes inconsolable. His mother, Cordelia, sends him to Beta Colony hoping it will take his mind off his troubles at home. Once on Beta Colony the fun begins. Miles saves a deranged jumpship pilot from Betan security forces and in the process purchases a jumpship. He then offers to use his new found toy to deliver armaments to a warring planet in a dead-end worm hole nexus. The catch is he must break through an embargo being enforced by mercenaries on the other side of the worm hole. In the meantime Mile runs across a deserter from the Barrayan military who he decides to take along with him. Miles, accompanied by a mentally unstable jumpship pilot, a Barrayan deserter, Sergeant Bothari, Bothari's daughter Eleni, and the agent for whom Miles is working, Daum, breaks the blockade and become embroiled in a battle between mercenary fleets. Miles, using the ingenuity he is now well know for, finds himself the captain of the a rag-tag group of mercenaries who he eventually dubs the Dendarii Mercenaries. Unfortunately for Miles, the act of creating a standing army of one's own is a capital offense on Barrayar and he must go face the Council of Counts. In an emotionally wrenching scene Miles' father attempts to protect him from these charges. This short sketch of events masks both the humor and sadness that accompany Miles on his adventure. Bujold has the ability to elicit both laughter and sadness in her writing and she does both here. There are few writers of any genre who are as good at characterization as Bujold. Even peripheral characters take on a complicated psyche of their own. And the interaction between Miles and his father, Aral, are superbly written.
Rating: Summary: Superb Review: Book Review by C. Douglas Baker The Warrior's Apprentice is a typical Miles Vorkosigan adventure. To those who are not familiar with Miles that last sentence may look like a derogatory comment. That could not be further from the truth. The Warrior's Apprentice is typical because it is a fast paced, seat of your pants, romp through the universe adventure with the eccentric Miles Vorkosigan. Bujold's entire cannon set in this universe merits high praise. The Warrior's Apprentice finds Miles breaking his leg and being unable to complete his training in the Barrayan military academy. A deeply depressed Miles feels he has let his father and grandfather down and becomes inconsolable. His mother, Cordelia, sends him to Beta Colony hoping it will take his mind off his troubles at home. Once on Beta Colony the fun begins. Miles saves a deranged jumpship pilot from Betan security forces and in the process purchases a jumpship. He then offers to use his new found toy to deliver armaments to a warring planet in a dead-end worm hole nexus. The catch is he must break through an embargo being enforced by mercenaries on the other side of the worm hole. In the meantime Mile runs across a deserter from the Barrayan military who he decides to take along with him. Miles, accompanied by a mentally unstable jumpship pilot, a Barrayan deserter, Sergeant Bothari, Bothari's daughter Eleni, and the agent for whom Miles is working, Daum, breaks the blockade and become embroiled in a battle between mercenary fleets. Miles, using the ingenuity he is now well know for, finds himself the captain of the a rag-tag group of mercenaries who he eventually dubs the Dendarii Mercenaries. Unfortunately for Miles, the act of creating a standing army of one's own is a capital offense on Barrayar and he must go face the Council of Counts. In an emotionally wrenching scene Miles' father attempts to protect him from these charges. This short sketch of events masks both the humor and sadness that accompany Miles on his adventure. Bujold has the ability to elicit both laughter and sadness in her writing and she does both here. There are few writers of any genre who are as good at characterization as Bujold. Even peripheral characters take on a complicated psyche of their own. And the interaction between Miles and his father, Aral, are superbly written.
Rating: Summary: MILES FROM HOME Review: Books after books, Lois McMaster Bujold is creating a unique world involving different planets coping with the same problems than we have today on planet Earth : wars, dictatures and struggles for the power. The inhabitants of Barrayar or Beta are extra-terrestrials but their preoccupations are very earthly so we can identify very easily with the heroes of Mrs Bujold. Even with Miles Vorkosigan and his strange complexion. THE WARRIOR'S APPRENTICE , as in the other books of Mrs Bujold, is more a psychological study than a pure sci-fi book. That's not a critique, in fact I really appreciate this manner to translate in a far future our today problems. The author is obviously talented. Once in a while, it's really a pleasure to read such books as THE WARRIOR'S APPRENTICE. They are not of the serious kind but you never have the feeling to lose your time by reading them. That's a compliment. Recommended.
Rating: Summary: Perfect 10 Review: Every once in a while, you come across a book that reminds you why you read books in the first place, and how wonderful the medium can be when in the right hands. Fans of Sci-Fi and Fantasy in particular have to wade through endless knock-offs and over hyped dreck , all in search of the kind of stories that made us fans to begin with: Ender's Game, Dune, The Foundation Trilogy, and this book , The Warrior's Apprentice. It's just so incredibly GREAT, such a perfect example of storytelling art. An absolute must.
Rating: Summary: Excellent, Fast-Paced Book Review: Great book. This is the first of the series which focuses on Miles (essentially, as he comes of age). It's fast-paced and makes you want to read faster so you can see what's going to happen. Definitely read it.
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