Thursday, August 17, 2017

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Ethan of Athos (Vorkosigan Saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold



Ethan of Athos is technically the 3rd published book in the Vorkosigan Saga, although it was really one of three books written simultaenously (Shards of Honor and The Warrior's Apprentice being the other two).  As such, it is a stand alone novel - the only connections to the rest of the series in this book are the setting and one minor character from The Warrior's Apprentice plays a major role, but she was Such a minor character there that past knowledge is not necessary.  The book chronologically takes place 6th in the timeline (not counting Falling Free) and as such, if you were reading chronologically, some of the books published later make references to things that are explained here.

But again, you can jump right in here without any prior Vorkosigan experience, and if you do you'll get a pretty fun romp.  It's not a great book, but it's certainly fun.

More after the Jump:




-----------------------------------Short Plot Summary---------------------
The Planet Athos is a small planet on the far side of the colonized galaxy, with one notable feature - it is populated entirely by men, with the founding colonists having established a religion that women are evil.  As such, reproduction is achieved by using pre-acquired ovaries that the men can fertilize in gene centers.  But a crisis is approaching Athos - the 200 year old ovarian cultures are deteriorating and Athos will soon be unable to reproduce.

Enter Doctor Ethan Urquhart, a Doctor and Geneticist who loves his planet's rules and procedures, and never wanted to leave it....but who finds himself drafted into a mission to go out into the Galaxy and to acquire new ovaries, after a pre-ordered set of new cultures turns out to go horribly wrong.  Ethan finds himself on a space station, surrounded by both men AND women for the first time, and way out of his depth.  And unfortunately for him, he finds himself the subject of intergalactic intrique as his mission collides with spies of the deadly Cetagandan Empire.

Fortunately for him....or maybe unfortunately...Ethan meets and allies reluctantly with Commander Eli Quinn of the Dendarii Mercenaries, who is trying to figure out what the Cetagadans are up to.  Together they will attempt to try and discover the secret the Cetagandans are trying to discover and obtain the ovaries for Athos....or they'll wind up dead in a really embarrassing way.  One of the two, really.
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This book shares a bit in common with the other two first-novels in the series - like The Warrior's Apprentice it can get quite silly and like Shards of Honor, it features a protagonist who mostly is REACTING to what others are doing instead of driving the plot forward themselves.  As a result, it's not quite as great as some of the other books (Barrayar and The Vor Game being prime examples) in the series.

But Bujold even in this early published book remains a master of dialogue, with witty dialogue and inner monologues being a joy to read (or listen to, as usual I read this as an audiobook).  The story might be silly, but it's still incredibly fun, so it does actually work overall.  And the characters are likable, even if Ethan is a bit more one-note than the other two major protagonists in the series (Miles and Cordelia) so far.

I wouldn't start the series with this book, not because you'd have any problem doing so, but because it's simply not one of the better ones so far - again, I'd start with Shards of Honor.  But if you must, there's a lot worse out there, and you'll have a lot of fun.
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