Cetaganda (Vorkosigan Adventure.)

3.5 stars

Cetaganda is the ninth novel that Lois McMaster Bujold published in her popular VORKOSIGAN SAGA but, chronologically, the story takes place earlier in the sequence, between The Vor Game and Ethan of Athos. If you???re new to this series, I (and the author) recommend reading these novels in order of internal chronology which is how we have them listed here at Fantasy Literature. I read some of them out of order because of how they were presented in the Baen Omnibus editions and I regret that. The story flows much better if you read them chronologically. (Still, though, any order is better than not reading them at all ??? this is a great series!)

In Cetaganda Miles Vorkosigan, the ???mutant,??? and his tall handsome cousin Ivan are off on a diplomatic mission for their... Read More http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/cetaganda/

Miles Vorkosigan's adventures continue in this the sixth book* in the series. Miles and Ivan have been dispatched to the capital of Cetaganda to represent Barrayar at the funeral of the Cetagandan empress. Things start to go very strange as soon as they arrive. A priceless relic goes missing, and there is something odd about an apparent suicide. The young envoys are soon caught up in a Cetanandan internal power struggle. A series of puzzling and dangerous incidents cause Miles to suspect that he is being set up as a scapegoat. Plunged into a strange and intricate society and with nobody to trust, he must rely on his wits and find new allies. There are crimes to be solved and a mystery to unravel, but any misstep could be his last.

This book doesn't have quite the pace of the previous *The Vor Game*, but I think it is better plotted. I quite enjoyed it. 5 stars (4+ stars updated to 5 stars by Grover Gardner's narration).

* In internal chronological order.

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.