Jelle De Loecker

Depressingly lovely

The book was OK, but nowhere near as fun as the others in the series. While Athos was actually an interesting setting, I didn't get into the stories that took place on Kline station.

And since I already gave Cetaganda (the book before this one) only 3 stars, I'll have to lower this score even more.

I really loved Cordelia as a main character, and wasn't too sure if I could love Miles the same way. But yes, I could.

I'm kind of sad this is the last book with Cordelia as the main character. I love watching her find her way through Barrayaran society.

Reading the Vorkosigan saga in the chronological order, this was the first book completely set in a single, and totally new, location: Cetaganda. There was no Elena, Cordelia, Aral or even Dendarii. Just Miles and Ivan and a big mess they needed to clean up.

Miles was lovely as always, and I really enjoyed having Ivan around so much. While it was an interesting read, it felt a bit more like a procedural drama than the usual high jinx I've gotten used to.