Thursday, June 14, 2018

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold





A Civil Campaign, subtitled in some editions as "A Comedy of Biology and Manners," is the Vorkosigan Saga's entry into the Romance genre.  And I don't mean that ACC simply has a romance side plot - this book is a full on Romantic Comedy, with two of its three major plots dealing entirely with romances between four of the five main characters, and the third major plot exists mainly to cause complications for the other two.  Following up from Komarr, the book again splits time between the points of view of Miles Vorkosigan and Ekaterin Vorsoisson, as Miles attempts (badly) to romance Ekaterin, but also features three other points of view - Miles' clone brother Mark and his girlfriend Kareen, as well as their cousin Ivan.

The result is a book that has some problems early, but is absolutely lovely in the second half, with a climax that made me cheer.  It might have some of the funniest moments in the entire series, as well, so it's definitely well recommended.  And as usual, the audiobook reader for this book is excellent, so that format is also great, if a good bit longer than the usual audiobook in the series (though not too long compared to some other audiobooks I've finished).

Note:  As hinted above, you really should not read ACC before reading Komarr.  And unlike in Komarr, prior knowledge of the events in the series will be of big help in getting full enjoyment of this book, as the secondary Romance is between characters essentially introduced in Mirror Dance, and you might be a little lost without that foreknowledge.  

--------------------------------------------------Plot Summary--------------------------------------------------
Returning from Komarr, Miles Vorkosigan turns his attention to what has been on his mind for months now on end: trying to win the love of Ekaterin Vorsoisson.  Knowing Ekaterin is a bit hesitant about marriage given her awful first marriage, Miles decides he's going to sneakily invent reasons to be alone with Ekaterin without telling her of his intentions to Court her- something that no one else can quite figure out but makes perfect sense to Miles' crazy mind.

Ekaterin meanwhile is trying to figure out where her life should go from here and in settling in her son Nikki, while beset by a number of men seeking her as an eligible potential wife.  Not that she has any interest in any of those men, and when Miles asks her if she'd be willing to plan and create a new garden for Vorkosigan House in the time before she can resume university classes, she of course jumps at the chance....after all, no one seems to amuse her like Miles.

Meanwhile, Kareen Koudelka has come back to Barrayar, finishing a year on Beta Colony where she has studied courses and spent the time in a relationship with Miles' brother, Mark.  But Kareen finds that she can't quite tell her parents about her sexual activity with Mark and feels a bit trapped uncomfortably with the situation.  Mark has also returned to Barrayar, along with a absent-minded mad scientist with a get rich scheme, and finds himself both manic to try and get the business running and more seriously depressed about Kareen's new ambivalence about their relationship.

And then there's the Imperial Wedding of Emperor Gregor coming up, and some crazy Barrayaran Politics that won't quite leave Miles alone, and things might just get messy around the Vorkosigan Household.....
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Whereas prior books in the Vorkosigan Saga spend their time being told from one or two characters' points of view, A Civil Campaign splits its time between five points of view:  Miles, Ekaterin, Mark, Kareen and Ivan Vorpatril's points of view.  And four of these points of view are utterly fantastic.  Ekaterin remains a wonderful addition to the cast as in Komarr, and Mark remains an interesting character, having developed quite a bit off screen since Mirror Dance.

Seeing Kareen's point of view is a particular joy, actually - in Mirror Dance, Kareen doesn't have much of a personality, except as a love interest for Mark to aspire to, whereas here she - and two of her sisters Martya and Olivia - has a full bright and charming personality which contrasts with several of the other characters quite well.  Her conflict here is very relate-able -  more so than that of Miles - trying to both strike out on her own to earn money to get her independence while also trying to figure out what she wants in terms of her relationship with Mark, especially in light of her more conservative parents.  The resolution of her plot with Mark is particularly a fantastic scene and well deserved.

Our final point of view, that of Ivan, somehow works really well despite Ivan being the one main character not being involved in a romance in this book.  Ivan has always been the comic relief character of the series (after a bad start that seems more and more out of character in his first appearance in The Warrior's Apprentice.) and his interactions here are often hilarious and really make me look forward to the one book set later in the series from his point of view.

And then there's some of the minor characters - Miles and Mark's parents, Cordelia and Aral, return and are fantastic (especially Cordelia, who steals every scene she's in) as usual.  Gregor is fantastic as the good wise and amusing Emperor and some of Miles' armsmen, particularly Armsman Pym, are amazing.  And then there's the rest of the Koudelka clan, who also are solid additions to the cast, and the amazing Lord Dono Vorrutyer, who I don't want to spoil anything about, but is an incredible addition to the cast never seen before.  At one point Ekaterin thinks of how many amazing people Miles surrounds himself with in-text, and man is she right even just about the cast itself from an outside perspective.

The biggest strike against A Civil Campaign is that it starts off very similarly to other Vorkosigan books, with Miles Vorkosigan making an ass out of himself due to his own hubris and finding himself in a screwed up situation as a result.  This works well in the space opera, mystery and other genres of the series, but results in a really really awkward situation here where I really didn't think Miles deserved to win Ekaterin's hand and felt she would be better off without him - our main hero!  The form of this is the problem - it's not just that Miles is awkward and obnoxious in courting Ekaterin, in his own head he's incredibly possessive about her as if she's an object to be won and not a person, and while several characters call him on it ("Leaving aside whether we are talking about a woman or a horse" - Miles' mother responds to him), his mentality doesn't seem to change too much by the ending (the book spends its second half putting the interactions between Miles and Ekaterin in Ekaterin's POV rather than from Miles' perspective which helps).  By contrast the romance between Kareen and Mark works so much better and I was rooting so hard for both of them.

Still, the ending sequence of this book is absolutely fantastic* and a worthy climax to Miles and Ekaterin's relationship, making it work out well enough.  I've listened to that passage a few times recently, because it simply makes me smile so damn hard.  And again, as the subtitle of the book is very true, this book contains some of the funniest passages in the series so far.

*One small exception: Mark and Kareen's plot basically is resolved 75% of the way through, so another conflict comes up in the climax for them which just seems too silly to be surrounded by everything else.

 Really really enjoyed this one, and recommend it for readers after reading Komarr, for sure.
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