Rating: 
Summary: awsome
Review: I enjoyed the spectacular growth Lord Mark(yes, he IS a real person) made in just twelve weeks and 300 odd pages. I also liked the fact that that idiot ivan started to be more of an actual character and less of a prepackaged village idiot for comic relief. Cordelia's little psych dissections were entertaining too.
Rating:
Summary: A completely mesmerizing book
Review: I knew this was a great book when I got to the end and found myself turning back to the front of the book to reread it immediately. It's hard to talk about specific things I liked without giving the plot away, but the general, I loved the quality of the writing. It was fluent, graceful and filled with moments of aching beauty. The characters are all well-drawn and completely believable. (For example, in a community of clones, the author manages to make individual stand out without letting the reader forget that this is a community of clones -- and without being obtrusive about either point.) And then there is the plot. In many ways, this is the critical book in Miles' story, as it sets him up for the struggles and epiphanies of _Memory_. Here, Mark moves from being a foil for Miles, and becomes a character in his own right. In writing from Mark's point of view through much of the book, Bujold humanizes him. As his horrific experiences alter his way of being in the world, he becomes steadily more sympathetic. While all this is going on, the action never lets up: battles and mysteries and escapes; amnesia and botched missions and mothers reuniting with sons they didn't know they had. The action is exceedingly well-paced, and is never heavy-handed. Bujold foreshadows beautifully, and all the surprises work on two levels: they surprise and yet once they occur, you know that it could not have been any other way. I can't say whether the book would have had as great an effect on me had I not read the previous books in the Vorkosigan saga. Reading when I did, I was fascinated by Mark, by Miles, by the actual, painful changes that they each went through. In sum: beautiful writing, deep characterizatons, astonishing mental interiors, and an action-filled plot. This is not mind candy: this is literature.
Rating:
Summary: Speaks to Right to Choose and Right to Life
Review: I must admitthat I have always been a right to choose supporter, however this book gave me an appreciation, although not a conversion, to the concepts put forward by the Right to Life movement. Clones are grown for brain transplants, and creepy as it sounds, the entire idea seems to within the realm of possibily. Not only was I enraptured by the theme, but also by the characters.
Rating:
Summary: All hail the Queen of Space Opera!
Review: I put off writing this review for two years because Mirror Dance is just that caliber of excellence that I was afraid to even try to do it justice. I wish I could get away with simply gushing and raving. This masterpiece, however, deserves much more than a "This book rocks! Run, don't walk!" and the other usual cliche's. Once again, instead of a play-by-play plot synopsis I will direct the reader's attention to the true merits of Mirror Dance (not that the plot is lacking in any way, trust me!). First, this is a poignant look into the minds and souls of two men who happen to be genetically identitical, but whose lives have taken jarringly disparate paths. Many have wondered before if Bujold has a degree in Psychology or some other such head-shrinking, she does such a superb and realistic job of getting inside characters' heads. But far from a tour of Psych and Neuroses 101, Mirror Dance participates; we are speared with their hopes and heartaches, dragged into their whirlwind view of the action around them. The moment of truth came for me when I realized that I could actually empathize with a man who was raised by terrorists to become a sociopath, and his painful struggle to rise above his upbringing to be psychologically reborn as a human. Next, Bujold accomplishes here a rare coup: this is a carefully thought out universe, with laws, advanced technologies, cultures, wars, and moral dilemmas aplenty -- but without overwhelming attention to the logistics and alienness of this future. We can exist with the characters here on their comfortable level of existence and marvel and puzzle just as reaslistically as they without distraction from things that would not appear out of ordinary to them; after all, do we spend time describing mundane things in our minds such as the microwave (which for instance would have seemed fantastic in a novel written 100 years ago, about us here and now)? As Bujold put it in a commentary somewhere else, the technology is always present, just not intrusive. But best of all, this is space opera at it's pinnacle. Good v. Evil, action, moral dilemmas, all that and Bujold's signature intelligence and wit. Here come the cliche's I just couldn't avoid: roller coaster ride of emotions, makes you laugh and cry, new paradigm for excellence, something for everyone, etc. What can I say, my words really are inadequate!
Rating:
Summary: All hail the Queen of Space Opera!
Review: I put off writing this review for two years because Mirror Dance is just that caliber of excellence that I was afraid to even try to do it justice. I wish I could get away with simply gushing and raving. This masterpiece, however, deserves much more than a "This book rocks! Run, don't walk!" and the other usual cliche's. Once again, instead of a play-by-play plot synopsis I will direct the reader's attention to the true merits of Mirror Dance (not that the plot is lacking in any way, trust me!). First, this is a poignant look into the minds and souls of two men who happen to be genetically identitical, but whose lives have taken jarringly disparate paths. Many have wondered before if Bujold has a degree in Psychology or some other such head-shrinking, she does such a superb and realistic job of getting inside characters' heads. But far from a tour of Psych and Neuroses 101, Mirror Dance participates; we are speared with their hopes and heartaches, dragged into their whirlwind view of the action around them. The moment of truth came for me when I realized that I could actually empathize with a man who was raised by terrorists to become a sociopath, and his painful struggle to rise above his upbringing to be psychologically reborn as a human. Next, Bujold accomplishes here a rare coup: this is a carefully thought out universe, with laws, advanced technologies, cultures, wars, and moral dilemmas aplenty -- but without overwhelming attention to the logistics and alienness of this future. We can exist with the characters here on their comfortable level of existence and marvel and puzzle just as reaslistically as they without distraction from things that would not appear out of ordinary to them; after all, do we spend time describing mundane things in our minds such as the microwave (which for instance would have seemed fantastic in a novel written 100 years ago, about us here and now)? As Bujold put it in a commentary somewhere else, the technology is always present, just not intrusive. But best of all, this is space opera at it's pinnacle. Good v. Evil, action, moral dilemmas, all that and Bujold's signature intelligence and wit. Here come the cliche's I just couldn't avoid: roller coaster ride of emotions, makes you laugh and cry, new paradigm for excellence, something for everyone, etc. What can I say, my words really are inadequate!
Rating:
Summary: love her
Review: I started out with Sci/Fi fantasy when I was about 11 with Piers Anthony (please don't make any associations), and have grown up with tens of authors since. I only found out about Bujold a year ago, and have since read every book but this one. I would have been delighted to read them in order, but, I'm a little behind the times, and this is the last one I haven't read. The great thing about Mirror Dance is that even though I know Miles is going to live, through Mark, I begin fearing for his life. It is a great testimony to character and story telling that she can do this. I've never found a writer who creates such alive and interesting characters in this genre.
Rating:
Summary: The best of the best
Review: I won't repeat what has been said already by so many readers, except to say that I agree with them : Lois McMaster Bujold been giving us outstanding novels one after the other, an amazing fact, considering that most writers cannot sustain intensity or readers interest for what has become a simple usual trilogy. Of these wonderful books, Mirror Dance is the best of all, well written, well paced, solid, intelligent, profound, fascinating, funny, moving, and so much more.
I cannot say enough good about this one to do it justice. Lucky is the reader who will read it for the first time. What a treat!
Rating:
Summary: Simply my favorite book
Review: I'm not the type of person to go out and make absolute statements. This book deserves one. Not often am I completely taken in by a book for more than a few chapters, this one had me hooked from about page four and didn't let go. Very, very rarely do books get much of an overt reaction from, this one did. The appalling range of emotional reactions Lois is able to elicit from the reader are well represented in any of her books, in this one she makes you run the gauntlet, at least twice. If you have yet to read this book plan not to be doing anything for at least a few hours longer than it takes to read the book, it will leave you feeling spent.
Rating:
Summary: Love her
Review: I've read all the Vorkosigan novels but this one, and the funny thing is, even though I knew that Miles was going to live, I found myself wondering about it in the chapters after he was killed. That, to me, is real power of suggestion and story telling. At first I was disappointed that my antagonist was not going to be Miles, but I had the usual faith in Bujold's mastery, and I was not disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: One of her best
Review: Lois McMaster Bujold is a surprising writer. If you pay attention to her cover blurbs, you'd think she writes shoot-em-up space operas. She does, but that's not all. If you read a synopsis of her Vorkosigan series, you'd think she writes sf soap operas. She does, in a way, but that's not all. If you read a little of her work, picking paragraphs here and there, you'd think she writes neo-gothic sf. She does, in a way, but that's not all. It's not until you've read several of her books that you realize that beneath the nuts and bolts of the spaceships, beneath the neo-feudalism of the setting of Barrayar, beneath the intricate plotting that weaves politics, romance and adventure into a wonderful tapestry, beneath all that lies stories that are sometimes capable of helping the reader not only see new worlds, but can actually help them see their own world from a new angle. Take "Mirror Dance" for instance. On one level it is an adventure story of a frustrated second son who wants to outdo his older brother. On another, it is based on super-high tech political intrigues generated by cloning the son of an empire's most powerful leader. On yet another, it is an adventure story in which a knight errant becomes the object of a mighty quest, a quest even HE takes part in, literally, because he must find himself. And through it all Ms Bujold does a wonderful job at tackling hard topics that range from familial love to mental health to questions of identity. The best part of Ms Bujold's work is that you can approach it from just about any of the levels I've mentioned and come away feeling very satisfied. Satisfaction, in itself, is surprise enough coming from any writer.
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