Mirror Dance

Rating:
Summary: An Outstanding Work of Fiction Regardless of Genre
Review: "Mirror Dance" is a novel that works well on its on merits, can be seen as the second half of a story first started in "Brothers in Arms", or as the first half of yet another story, to be concluded in "Memory".

But however you slice it, "Mirror Dance" is a terrific read. "Brothers in Arms" first introduced us to Miles Vorkosigan's clone brother, Mark. But it is "Mirror Dance" which finally has Mark come into his own as a character and as a member of the Vorkosigan universe.

For the uninitiated, Lois McMaster Bujold has created the Vorkosigan Saga, one of the best written science fiction series yet created. It is more space opera than hardcore science fiction, but Ms. Bujold has a keen awareness of any number of ethical questions which will no doubt face humanity in the coming centuries. Besides, she's one hell of a writer, a true master of wordcraftsmanship.

The Vorkosigan Saga follows the adventures of Miles Vorkosigan, starting with the early stories of how Miles' mother and father met. Miles is only 4'9" tall, and was born with brittle bones, the reult of a poison gas attack on his parents while his mother was pregnant with him. Miles is the heir to one of the 60 Counts on his home planet of Barrayar, a planet which places great pride on military (and therefore physical) skill. Circumstances resulted in a 17 year-old Miles creating a mercenary unit, the Dendarii Mercenaries, of which Miles assumed command, in the persona of Admiral Naismith.

In the world of Barrayar, Miles is Lieutenant Vorkosigan, heir to Count Vorkosigan, future ruler of one of 60 Districts on Barrayar, foster brother to the Emperor himself; but also a mere galactic courier for Imperial Security (ImpSec). Out in the galaxy, Miles has the persona of Admiral Naismith, commander of over 5,000 people and a fleet of warships.

Mark, introduced in "Brothers in Arms" is a clone, who doesn't quite know who he is, save for a burning hatred of the clone breeders on Jackson's Whole, a planet where everything has its price. Mark had been created by terrorists to replace Miles and assassinate Miles' father, the Prime Minister of Barrayar. Now Mark is stuck with trying to find his way in a universe where his purpose for existence no longer exists. Clones are breed to be replacements for the aging wealthy; when the clone is "ripe", just undergo the risks of a brain transfer, and a rich and powerful person starts over in a young, perfect body. Too bad if you're the clone though, as your brain gets tossed out with the trash.

Mark undertakes a daring scheme to rescue some of these victims, and disaster strikes. Recovering from a sudden loss, Mark is faced with finding out who he truly is, and finding his own way in life, not merely as a duplicate of Miles.

This book is highly reccomended. Ms. Bujold is a terrific writer and she is at the top of her game in this novel.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite Bujold book . . .
Review: . . . and I've read 'em all. :)

"Mirror Dance" is a great book. It's intensely psychological, a fast moving space opera drama that gets everything right -- everything.

The story is as follows. Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, galactic mercenery and reluctant Vor lord, had tried in "Brothers in Arms" to give his clone brother Mark a start in life. But Mark couldn't get free of Miles, no matter how he tried; this was because of psychological damage and because of intense psychosocial programming by renegade terrorists (who had ordered Mark cloned to make him substitute for Miles). Before Miles showed up, Mark had no identity -- his whole purpose was to take over Miles' life. But Miles changed that. Somewhat.

The start of "Mirror Dance" has Mark back; he has found out about some clones about to be killed in clone brain transplants. He's extremely sensitive to this, and wants to stop it. However, because of his damage, he doesn't believe that anyone will help him -- not Miles, not his family (who he doesn't realize would care), not anyone.

So, he steals one of Miles' mercenary ships, and goes hunting. He frees most of the clones, but ends up killing Miles (who goes down to rescue Mark -- again).

The first time I read this (all in the first hundred pages, so this isn't a spoiler), I threw the book across the room. I didn't care for Mark, and I wanted Miles to live.

However, in the next three hundred pages, I came to care desperately for Mark. He meets Cordelia, his mother -- a formidable ex-ship's captain. And he meets Aral, his father -- a formidable Prime Minister, ex-ship's captain, and Admiral of Barrayar.

His father has a health crisis, while everyone tries to find Miles. Death is not irrevocable in the far future; Miles might be able to be brought back. And Mark feels extremely responsible for Miles' death; if Miles hadn't gone after him, he'd be alive (even if Mark himself would be dead).

I don't want to go into the rest, but trust me, you'll want to read it. Because Mark's journey of identity is compelling, believable, honest, heart-wrenching, and sad. Tremendously sad.

After all is said and done, Mark not only became likable -- he became my favorite Bujold character. That's because he's so complex, and he wants to do the right thing -- even though he doesn't always know what it is, nor how to achieve it.

There's a bit of Mark in all of us.

In addition, Mark's struggles with his weight and with depression hit close to home as well. Despite crushing despair and a nearly overwhelming amount of self-hatred, Mark perseveres.

And eventually, Mark wins. He even gets the girl.

This is my favorite Bujold book for many reasons; the language is crisp, the characterizations are right on the money, the science is believable, the logic and the plot make sense, and the psychology of it all is understandable.

This book should give hope to anyone who's gifted but in a bad situation; in my opinion, it also should be required reading for people struggling with depression, multiple personalities, and schizophrenia, because Bujold did her homework and got the issues _right_.

This is one of my all time favorite books, and I believe it is destined to go down as a classic of the s/f genre.

Five stars plus, highly recommended.

Barb Caffrey

Rating:
Summary: My favorite Bujold book . . .
Review: . . . and I've read 'em all. :)

"Mirror Dance" is a great book. It's intensely psychological, a fast moving space opera drama that gets everything right -- everything.

The story is as follows. Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, galactic mercenery and reluctant Vor lord, had tried in "Brothers in Arms" to give his clone brother Mark a start in life. But Mark couldn't get free of Miles, no matter how he tried; this was because of psychological damage and because of intense psychosocial programming by renegade terrorists (who had ordered Mark cloned to make him substitute for Miles). Before Miles showed up, Mark had no identity -- his whole purpose was to take over Miles' life. But Miles changed that. Somewhat.

The start of "Mirror Dance" has Mark back; he has found out about some clones about to be killed in clone brain transplants. He's extremely sensitive to this, and wants to stop it. However, because of his damage, he doesn't believe that anyone will help him -- not Miles, not his family (who he doesn't realize would care), not anyone.

So, he steals one of Miles' mercenary ships, and goes hunting. He frees most of the clones, but ends up killing Miles (who goes down to rescue Mark -- again).

The first time I read this (all in the first hundred pages, so this isn't a spoiler), I threw the book across the room. I didn't care for Mark, and I wanted Miles to live.

However, in the next three hundred pages, I came to care desperately for Mark. He meets Cordelia, his mother -- a formidable ex-ship's captain. And he meets Aral, his father -- a formidable Prime Minister, ex-ship's captain, and Admiral of Barrayar.

His father has a health crisis, while everyone tries to find Miles. Death is not irrevocable in the far future; Miles might be able to be brought back. And Mark feels extremely responsible for Miles' death; if Miles hadn't gone after him, he'd be alive (even if Mark himself would be dead).

I don't want to go into the rest, but trust me, you'll want to read it. Because Mark's journey of identity is compelling, believable, honest, heart-wrenching, and sad. Tremendously sad.

After all is said and done, Mark not only became likable -- he became my favorite Bujold character. That's because he's so complex, and he wants to do the right thing -- even though he doesn't always know what it is, nor how to achieve it.

There's a bit of Mark in all of us.

In addition, Mark's struggles with his weight and with depression hit close to home as well. Despite crushing despair and a nearly overwhelming amount of self-hatred, Mark perseveres.

And eventually, Mark wins. He even gets the girl.

This is my favorite Bujold book for many reasons; the language is crisp, the characterizations are right on the money, the science is believable, the logic and the plot make sense, and the psychology of it all is understandable.

This book should give hope to anyone who's gifted but in a bad situation; in my opinion, it also should be required reading for people struggling with depression, multiple personalities, and schizophrenia, because Bujold did her homework and got the issues _right_.

This is one of my all time favorite books, and I believe it is destined to go down as a classic of the s/f genre.

Five stars plus, highly recommended.

Barb Caffrey

Rating:
Summary: My favorite Bujold book . . .
Review: . . . and I've read 'em all. :)

"Mirror Dance" is a great book. It's intensely psychological, a fast moving space opera drama that gets everything right -- everything.

The story is as follows. Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, galactic mercenery and reluctant Vor lord, had tried in "Brothers in Arms" to give his clone brother Mark a start in life. But Mark couldn't get free of Miles, no matter how he tried; this was because of psychological damage and because of intense psychosocial programming by renegade terrorists (who had ordered Mark cloned to make him substitute for Miles). Before Miles showed up, Mark had no identity -- his whole purpose was to take over Miles' life. But Miles changed that. Somewhat.

The start of "Mirror Dance" has Mark back; he has found out about some clones about to be killed in clone brain transplants. He's extremely sensitive to this, and wants to stop it. However, because of his damage, he doesn't believe that anyone will help him -- not Miles, not his family (who he doesn't realize would care), not anyone.

So, he steals one of Miles' mercenary ships, and goes hunting. He frees most of the clones, but ends up killing Miles (who goes down to rescue Mark -- again).

The first time I read this (all in the first hundred pages, so this isn't a spoiler), I threw the book across the room. I didn't care for Mark, and I wanted Miles to live.

However, in the next three hundred pages, I came to care desperately for Mark. He meets Cordelia, his mother -- a formidable ex-ship's captain. And he meets Aral, his father -- a formidable Prime Minister, ex-ship's captain, and Admiral of Barrayar.

His father has a health crisis, while everyone tries to find Miles. Death is not irrevocable in the far future; Miles might be able to be brought back. And Mark feels extremely responsible for Miles' death; if Miles hadn't gone after him, he'd be alive (even if Mark himself would be dead).

I don't want to go into the rest, but trust me, you'll want to read it. Because Mark's journey of identity is compelling, believable, honest, heart-wrenching, and sad. Tremendously sad.

After all is said and done, Mark not only became likable -- he became my favorite Bujold character. That's because he's so complex, and he wants to do the right thing -- even though he doesn't always know what it is, nor how to achieve it.

There's a bit of Mark in all of us.

In addition, Mark's struggles with his weight and with depression hit close to home as well. Despite crushing despair and a nearly overwhelming amount of self-hatred, Mark perseveres.

And eventually, Mark wins. He even gets the girl.

This is my favorite Bujold book for many reasons; the language is crisp, the characterizations are right on the money, the science is believable, the logic and the plot make sense, and the psychology of it all is understandable.

This book should give hope to anyone who's gifted but in a bad situation; in my opinion, it also should be required reading for people struggling with depression, multiple personalities, and schizophrenia, because Bujold did her homework and got the issues _right_.

This is one of my all time favorite books, and I believe it is destined to go down as a classic of the s/f genre.

Five stars plus, highly recommended.

Barb Caffrey

Rating:
Summary: Much more mature Miles book
Review: ...This book takes the previous books' quality, and blows them all away. It's a bit longer then the other ones, and uses that space for some deep psychological studies of two characters who are a lot alike, but different in so many ways. Other reviews have summarized the book, so I won't bother here.

First, I loved the double meaning of the title. Not only does it have the obvious meaning (both Miles and his identical clone are featured), but it also has some meaning to each character individually. Both of them have their past held up to them, and they have to figure out how to change with the times. There is enormous character growth for both of them in this book.

For the first time in the series, you get another character's point of view besides Miles. Mark makes for a very interesting character, and the book is more about him then it is about Miles (though Miles still plays a very prominent part and makes the most out of his time). The last we saw of Mark, he had gone off on his own, freed by Miles, but forever resenting Miles for what his keepers did to him to make him more like Miles.

Once Miles is removed from the picture after the aborted raid, the story takes Mark to Barrayar, where he meets his mother and father and learns how he will have to become immersed in Barrayaran politics if Miles is actually gone for good. He grows a lot on Barrayar, mainly from his mother's influence. Bujold really digs deep into Mark's character, making him do anything possible to avoid having to be Miles. He just wants to be accepted for himself.

Later in the book, Mark is put through the ringer, with scenes of torture that, while they aren't necessarily described in graphic detail, really can leave the reader feeling uncomfortable. It's not gratuitous, as the torture is very important for Mark's character arc, but it is unpleasant. This is one of the things that marks this book as more mature than just a general military space novel might be.

The other thing that marks this maturity is the depth of the character study. Mark's character arc is very thorough, but even Miles goes through hell at times. In his trials, he learns a lot about himself and about Mark. He goes over his feelings for Mark, showing his depth of feeling for him. He never blames Mark for what he has done, knowing it's his conditioning that caused most of it. He analyzes his life as it's happened so far, his loves and his personality.

This book is a lot slower going then the previous novels have been. However, that's not because it becomes a book to slog through, but because it is so deep that you have to take the time to absorb what is happening. It's the best book in the series so far by a long shot, and well worth the time it takes to read it.

Rating:
Summary: Could not put this one down!
Review: After having the unexpected pleasure of becoming aquainted with Miles Vorkosigan in "Memory", I couldn't wait to get my hands on another Miles adventure. "Mirror Dance" definitely did not disappoint. The story is gripping on several levels, from the obvious 'how do we get out of this one?' scenarios, to the struggle Mile's clone brother, Mark, has with trust to become part of a family he has never known. The plot is complex enough to keep you wanting to turn the pages, without being so convoluted that one needs a score card to keep up with it. The characters are well-drawn and interesting, with just enough about their thoughts and feelings to make them come alive. Because "Mirror Dance" is part of a series, there is always the concern that the reader who is new to the series will not know enough background to know what is going on. Fear not! Ms. Bujold sprinkles the text with lightly placed explanations, and the reader is easily immersed in Miles Vorkosigan's world. Now I can hardly wait to get my hands on a new adventure!

Rating:
Summary: The best of a great series
Review: All of Lois Bujold's books about Miles are exciting and enormous fun, but this one is the very best. If you want action and adventure, there's more in the first 100 pages than usually found in a whole 500-pager. If you want themes, there's death & life and the creation of personal identity. If you want real characters, then the exploration of love, honor, and psychosis is totally gripping and goes far beyond what one usually expects in SF. The series probably makes the most sense if read in the order written, but you could also just plunge in here for a wild ride. It's grittier and less laugh-out-loud amusing than some of her more recent ones, but no one should miss it.

Rating:
Summary: The best of a great series
Review: All of Lois Bujold's books about Miles are exciting and enormous fun, but this one is the very best. If you want action and adventure, there's more in the first 100 pages than usually found in a whole 500-pager. If you want themes, there's death & life and the creation of personal identity. If you want real characters, then the exploration of love, honor, and psychosis is totally gripping and goes far beyond what one usually expects in SF. The series probably makes the most sense if read in the order written, but you could also just plunge in here for a wild ride. It's grittier and less laugh-out-loud amusing than some of her more recent ones, but no one should miss it.

Rating:
Summary: Great character development! Also uncomfortable. But great!
Review: Another excellent installment in the Vorkosigan series! Bujold delivers, as always, an elegantly written, wonderfully characterized, intellectually and philosophically fascinating story that's lots of fun to read. I do have to admit, though -- when I re-read this series, I usually end up just skimming "Mirror Dance", or even skipping it entirely. Bujold does almost too good of a job to make this a comfortable book to read.

What do I mean? Well, "Mirror Dance" is written, not from Miles's point of view, but from Mark's -- and Mark is one screwed up human being. It's inevitable, given the fact that he was raised by an insane and abusive Komarran terrorist intent on using him as a pawn in an assassination attempt against his father. So Mark has some issues, to put it mildly. He works through (or begins the process of working through) a great many of them in this book, and it's a little uncomfortable-making seeing the world through the eyes of such a damaged character -- especially one we care so much about. There's one scene in particular that I just can't bring myself to reread, because it just makes me cringe so badly...but that's the mark of a good writer, that she is able to involve the reader's emotions on such a deep level.

The Miles storyline isn't much of a relief, either, given the fact that for much of the novel he is suffering from cryo-amnesia and is rather horribly unsure of himself -- an un-Miles-like trait if ever there was one.

This is not the novel to start the series with; try "Warrior's Apprentice" first. But any long-time fan of the series will enjoy this book, because of all the marvelous, if painful, character development. A very good job, Ms. Bujold!

Rating:
Summary: Eaten from the Inside Out
Review: I actually love all the books in this series, but this one and Memory war in my mind for favorite. I've re-read both so often that I'm probably going to have to buy new copies, in fact.

One of the best things about the Vorkosigan series is that the people in it are flawed. I don't mean their portrayal; I mean their characters. No one is perfect, no one is always happy, and most importantly, no one is shallow; there are things going on underneath the surface that are sometimes only hinted at and sometimes expanded on in a way that makes them real. This book in particular, although it's far darker than much of the rest of the series, gives you that depth.

Without giving too much away about the plot, I would also like to commend Lois McMaster Bujold for handling less-than-sane characters in a way that does not come off as stereotypical, overused, cliched, or otherwise insulting. As someone who has studied a great deal of psychology, I appreciate this in a way some people may never understand, but even those who have only passing familiarity with the things that can trouble the mind will probably find this detail a bonus in an all-around well-crafted story.