Customer Reviews

Warrior's Apprentice

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I'm getting tired of writing reviews about how absolutely perfectly wonderful these books are; there's like, twelve of them, and then there are books where they compiled two into one and gave it a different name... So just read the list below and go get the first book or books, and then go buy all the rest of them because you won't want to stop reading them, and annoy your friends because you miss what they were saying because you were too busy reading and didn't really want to go out Friday night anyways because you've still got another 3 books in the series to read.

Ok? Ok.

Shards of Honor
Barayar
(these two books are also combined into "Cordelia's Honor")
The Warrior's Apprentice
Short Story: The Mountains of Mourning
(all short stories are contained in "Borders of Infinity")
The Vor Game
Cetaganda
Ethan of Athos
Short Story: Labyrinth
Short Story: The Borders of Infinity
Brothers in Arms
The Borders of Infinity
Mirror Dance
Memory
Komarr
A Civil Campaign
Diplomatic Immunity

Now click on the bit where it says I was very helpful with this review, only it's a lie because I just got you hooked on something that's gonna take up a whole bunch of your time reading and make people think you're a complete geek when you want to do nothing but talk about how wonderful these books are.

The Warrior's Apprentice is the third book in Vorkosigan series - if you're going by internal chronology - and the first book with Miles as the main character. Although Shards of Honor is excellent, and Barrayar is quite good, Warrior's Apprentice is where this series really takes flight.

Miles is one of the classic characters of modern SF - Bujold has created someone who is exceptional in many ways (brilliant strategist, painfully intelligent, lucky as hell) and who is still likeable, because she allows him to have flaws and weaknesses - quite a few of them, in fact. Unlike, for example, Honor Harrington in David Weber's series, Miles is fully three-dimensional, and such a fascinating guy that it would be interesting to read *anything* about him.

In Warrior's, Miles' character is still developing. He's on a trip to his mother's homeworld after failing the entrance exam for the Imperial Military Academy when he decides to intervene in a Betan police problem. This leads, inevitably, to his involvement in another system's civil war. Will Miles be able to hold together his fictious group of mercenaries, keep track of his prisoners, earn enough money to redeem his mortgaged land, win the girl, and get back to Beta Colony before his parents find out what he's doing? (He gets himself into situations like this all the time - that's Miles for you.)

In my opinion, the best Vorkosigan books are those that focus on character development rather than plot - ones like Shards of Honor, Warrior's Apprentice, and Memory. In these, the plot is still strong, but it is interwoven with the building of a new character or a new aspect of a familiar one, and that is where Bujold really shines.

If you're just starting out with Lois Bujold, Warrior's Apprentice is a good place to start, despite its chronological position. And if you haven't read this book yet, I envy you - you've got quite a treat in store.

This was the first of Lois M. Bujold's "Miles Vorkosigan" books. This series has won two Hugos for Bujold, and with good reason. They are very solid, well-written adventure stories with excellent characters and fascinating plots. This book is a bit pulpier than the others -- Bujold was still finding her voice -- but still quite good, and the proper place to start if you want to read Miles' adventures in chronological order

The question which naturally arises in introducing new readers to an author who has produced a substantial body of work is, "Where to begin?" My own preference is to start off with Falling Free, which is the earliest book according to internal chronology, and also the first of Bujold's work which I encountered. However, for many fans, the best part of Bujold's writing is the character of Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, and so they prefer to begin with this one, which is where Miles gets his start. (He does appear, briefly, at the end of Cordelia's Honor, although it can be argued that he is a central figure in the entire book.) I can't say that I disapprove of such a choice, either. The Warrior's Apprentice is a thoroughly entertaining romp across the galaxy, and introduces us to Miles as a brilliant, charismatic, natural leader who gets into the most amazing scrapes in the process of attempting to extricate himself from previous scrapes.

I should take this opportunity to point out that the original cover gave an entirely false impression of the story. (The helpless, almost-clad heroine type clinging to the bared chest of the jut-jawed hero type are particularly hilarious if you know the real characters.) The cover of the reissue is much closer to capturing the tale.

One of the many things which appeal to me about Bujold's work is the way she can evoke such a wide variety of emotions without being sentimental or melodramatic. Sometimes, the line between sorrow and hilarity is almost too fine to see:

Mile exhaled carefully, faint with rage and reminded grief.
He does not know, he told himself. He cannot know...
"Ivan, one of these days somebody is going to pull out a
weapon and plug you, and you're going to die in bewilderment,
crying, 'What did I say? What did I say?'"

"What did I say?" asked Ivan indignantly. (p. 250.)

This science fiction novel deals with the start of the military and mercenary career of Miles Vorkosigan, son of Cordelia and Aral Vorkosigan of the planet Barrayar. The assassination attempt made at the end of the novel "Barrayar" (1991) has given Miles a stunted growth and very brittle bones. He is now seventeen years old and tries to qualify for Barrayar's military school but fails. Then, during a vacation on another planet, he finds himself involved in an interplanetary war in which he improvises a mercenary force. Later, upon returning to Barrayar, he finds himself the focus of a plot to destroy the political power of his father. The book, as are most of the books in the Vorkosigan series, are very quickly read and most fans of space operas or of science/military fiction really enjoy them.

Well, if you are reading this review to decide whether to get WARRIOR'S APPRENTICE, you are the luckiest person I know. If you are familiar with Ms. Bujold's writing and you are reading to see whether you agree with what I say, here we may differ.

Lois McMaster Bujold is one of the great writers: her language pours down the page, enticing and encircling you, not letting you get away. In fact, it's alsmost impossible to put her books down for me, even after reading and re-reading them dozens of times.

Miles Naismith Vorkosigan is her finest creation. He is a fully-realized character in this book, and he continues to grow, and show us hidden little gems of himself in her further volumes.

Only a brave author would create a character that has such obvious flaws. Since it is clear just how brave some of her characters are, she may simply be writing about what she knows.

Miles is human, most of all; he isn't some ficticious perfect little hero. He knows both success and failure, pain and bliss, disaster and luck. In fact, he is more real in his first book than some characters who've been penned dozens of times. My personal belief is that this sureness and realness comes from his author.

Since this is the first (or second, or third, depending on how you count) book in the series, Ms. Bujold and Miles both have a lot to do not only to establish Miles as a person, but also to show off his abilities still half-trained: can he handle a blocade? Can he handle murderous half-bandit mercenaries? Can he handle a planetary war?

Piffle, you might say. Well, I'd like to see you do it at 4'10"-ish, with a crooked spine, at 17, with nothing more than your wits and a couple of loyal hearts. And, most importantly, do it all and make sure your parents (a de-facto ruler of an empire and his smarter, stronger wife!) don't find out. Then you can say "piffle" all you want.

As a way to get one hooked on Miles and Bujold, this is an exquisite trap. Bujold's mastery of language, nuance, and character definition will sweep you away. Her gentle humor, Miles's ironic and dry wit, and the sheer scope of the canvas will enthrall even the most casual SciFi reader. But in the end, Bujold's talent captures the hearts of most who delve into this wonderful book.

Will you be next?

Book Review by C. Douglas Baker

The Warrior's Apprentice is a typical Miles Vorkosigan adventure. To those who are not familiar with Miles that last sentence may look like a derogatory comment. That could not be further from the truth. The Warrior's Apprentice is typical because it is a fast paced, seat of your pants, romp through the universe adventure with the eccentric Miles Vorkosigan. Bujold's entire cannon set in this universe merits high praise.

The Warrior's Apprentice finds Miles breaking his leg and being unable to complete his training in the Barrayan military academy. A deeply depressed Miles feels he has let his father and grandfather down and becomes inconsolable. His mother, Cordelia, sends him to Beta Colony hoping it will take his mind off his troubles at home. Once on Beta Colony the fun begins. Miles saves a deranged jumpship pilot from Betan security forces and in the process purchases a jumpship. He then offers to use his new found toy to deliver armaments to a warring planet in a dead-end worm hole nexus. The catch is he must break through an embargo being enforced by mercenaries on the other side of the worm hole. In the meantime Mile runs across a deserter from the Barrayan military who he decides to take along with him. Miles, accompanied by a mentally unstable jumpship pilot, a Barrayan deserter, Sergeant Bothari, Bothari's daughter Eleni, and the agent for whom Miles is working, Daum, breaks the blockade and become embroiled in a battle between mercenary fleets. Miles, using the ingenuity he is now well know for, finds himself the captain of the a rag-tag group of mercenaries who he eventually dubs the Dendarii Mercenaries.

Unfortunately for Miles, the act of creating a standing army of one's own is a capital offense on Barrayar and he must go face the Council of Counts. In an emotionally wrenching scene Miles' father attempts to protect him from these charges.

This short sketch of events masks both the humor and sadness that accompany Miles on his adventure. Bujold has the ability to elicit both laughter and sadness in her writing and she does both here. There are few writers of any genre who are as good at characterization as Bujold. Even peripheral characters take on a complicated psyche of their own. And the interaction between Miles and his father, Aral, are superbly written.

This is just plain good fun. Our Hero washes out of the military academy for medical reasons beyond his control - nearly a disgrace to his near-royal family.

If he can't get into the Space Army, then he'll just make his own. In a series of improbable events, Miles starts by saving a drunken fellow countryman, washed up on an alien shore. After just a few months, he's worked his way up to command of a mercenary space fleet of his own, recruiting his former opponents (for a paycheck), and using the thousands of soldiers in his private army to ending a destructive civil war. It's an enjoyable, feel-good swashbuckler in a modern style.

I can't imagine why books in this series haven't been made into movies. I guess it's because Bujold's perfect balance of humor, heroism, and headlong adventure would be too hard to maintain. Too bad, I guess you'll just have to read the book!

//wiredweird

Reasonably entertaining, but fluffy to the extreme. Bujold is unabashed about making this pure space opera, but fortunately for her, she writes quite winningly, and Vorkosigan is a charming chap. Enjoyable for a quick read at the beach or at the poolside (which is exactly what I did), but I wouldn't say it's any great shakes. Don't look for any profound insights into life. This *is* Space Opera Lite

Although not as deep as her later works, The Warrior's Apprentice break neck pace and wit results in a pleasant read. In many ways Bujolds novels feel like the science fiction equivalent of Brust's Vlad Taltos novels. Although this book was published after Shards of Honor, it still makes a great place to begin the Vorkosigan series.