a colleague asked me a series of questions while we were out drinking the other night, questions like So what's next for you? and Is this all you are planning on doing with your career? and Is your current job how you want to be defined and does that actually give you satisfaction? I found myself annoyed then defensive then offended. what gave her the right to question me, I've accomplished a lot in my job and in my life, yes I am content with my career and why the hell shouldn't I be, blah blah blah. in the end I realized that I shouldn't have been offended because I think she was asking me those questions because she was asking herself the same. and so I calmed down and we continued to get drunk while philosophizing on the choices we've made and the nature of our existence blah blah blah.I think some people like to live in boxes. I am such a person. I love my box, it's a safe and comfortable one and I've spent a lifetime constructing it. my box is one that gives me genuine satisfaction and the feeling that I am doing only what I want to be doing with my life. but I think other people resent and reject the idea of a box; they prefer to live in what can be called a "liminal space" - that space between, that place of ambiguity and movement and looking towards what comes next. you can look at your goals in life and try to come up with a plan or timeline to achieve those goals. or you can look at your goals and see them as constantly in flux, in movement depending on where you are, liminal. or you can look at yourself and realize that you are actually not a goal-oriented person. I think all of those are different kinds of boxes. I think my colleague may disagree.so this book, Memory, is about those sorts of things. despite opening with a character getting his legs shot off and ending with a high-stakes trap for a devious villain, this is far from an action novel. it is a thoughtful story about who we are, why we are, the boxes we construct, the identities we create for ourselves and the separate boxes those identities live in, how our identity/identities can become dominos or houses of cards falling if something or someone takes those boxes away. Miles Vorkosigan's dual identities of mercenary fleet commander and aristocratic peer of the realm have always been bubbling in the background throughout his stories; in this novel they finally come to a head. Bujold does a superb and moving job in delineating who Miles is, and was, and can be; she gives the mundane, all-too-common situations of making errors & trying to cover up your tracks, losing a job & so losing a part of your identity, a palpably emotional resonance. she does all of that and then she doubles down and gives us another ongoing character, Simon Illyan, going through a similar thing but in an entirely different manner. Miles is the sort of character who assertively rejects the idea of a box and who insists he lives in a liminal space - but who has actually been constructing two boxes to live in, and has actively not been living in the space between, in that liminal space. Simon is the sort of character who has constructed his own perfect box - one that makes his career equal his actual self - only to find that box dismantled and his sureness of purpose and self destroyed as he moves into a purely liminal space. it is fascinating comparing the two journeys.in sum, this is a wonderful novel about figuring out that who you are does not equal your job or your birth name or any specific, singular role or title; rather, it is the sum of all such things, and your experiences, and your internal workings, your actions and your potential, your ability to change or not change, and so much else. you = not easily summed up in one word.I love that this space opera is all about these 'mysteries' that every human experiences. I know when I pick up a Vorkosigan Saga novel that I will be enjoying some action and some intrigue and some political maneuvering and maybe even some romance. standard space opera pleasures. but I also know that I will be enjoying a human tale about actual human beings and the things that happen in life, to everyone. it is that last sentence, that particular quality, that makes this series so special.
Following the resounding success of my Locus Quest, I faced a dilemma: which reading list to follow it up with? Variety is the spice of life, so I’ve decided to diversify and pursue six different lists simultaneously. This book falls into my GIFTS AND GUILTY list.Regardless of how many books are already queued patiently on my reading list, unexpected gifts and guilt-trips will always see unplanned additions muscling their way in at the front.A few weeks ago I came down quite suddenly with the Norovirus which has swept across the UK this winter. One minute I was in bed complaining of a slight stomach ache, the next I was passing out on the bathroom floor after hurling into the sink, bath and finally toilet. My wife had some big exams coming up, so rather than nurse me she threw a bag and the baby into a taxi and went to stay with friends.Because I couldn’t even keep water down, I quickly became dehydrated and my fever spiked. Have you ever had fever dreams? Weird aren’t they? I work for a finance company and had recently finished Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold. I was having very vivid dreams, trying to explain to Tyrion Lannister that I couldn’t approve his loan because he’d recently left his position as the King’s Hand, and we couldn’t lend to unemployed customers. I also had to turn down Daenerys Targaryen because she didn’t have three years residency in Westeros. Once reality had reasserted itself (and my body would accept water again), I still needed a couple of days of quiet recovery. This book was a way down my reading list, but it was the one that found its way into my shaking hand and kept me company between my many naps. If you’ve never read any of the Vorkosigan Saga:1) You lucky person, you have such a treat waiting for you – they’re great!2) Don’t start with Memory .This is very much a transition story. Up to this point Miles has been a quirky (but brilliant) space adventurer; a pintsize aristocrat officer working as an undercover intelligence agent, posing as a mercenary admiral. In this book – that all stops.So if Miles is no longer Admiral Naismith, who is he? That’s the central question of this book. Everybody is moving on with their lives – Elena and Baz set the tone at the start when they tell Miles they’re retiring from the mercenary fleet to start a family, and then Emperor Gregor is falling in love too! Miles has been through so much, and what (aside from his wits) has he got to show for it?The pace and intensity is lower here than some of the previous adventures. This is a lot more of a reflective, contemplative Miles that we’re used to. But he still needs an adventure, he can’t just brood – and the story here is predominantly a detective case, investigating who sabotaged the memory-chip in Simon Ilyan’s head (Miles ex-boss). But this slower pace is no bad thing – Bujold is a character-centric writer, and taking her foot off the gas with the plot twists allows her time to dig deeper into the cast’s psyche – something she does very well indeed. I often find that my state of mind plays a huge part in how much I enjoy a book. Recovering from the Norovirus could have been a very tiring and lonely time – but Miles Vorkosigan has joined that elite group of fictional characters who feel like old friends in my head. He was going through a tough time in Memory , and I was doing likewise in Cardiff – it felt like we helped each other through it.My admiration for Bujold grows with each and every book I read. I've got Komarr lined up a few books down my reading list and I'm certainly looking forward to it!After this I read: Thomas
What do You think about Memory (2015)?
The Vorkosigan saga has been praised by far more able (and thorough, and patient) keyboards than mine, for its quality of characterization, depth of thought, and consistent readability. It effectively utilizes the themes, techniques, and tropes of the science fiction, adventure, mystery, and romance genres. It's generally gotten better with each book I've read; the books layer themselves on top of each other like animation cels, gradually revealing a picture of more and more color and complexity.And while most of the characters are well-developed, it is Miles, the protagonist for most of the series, who must be the most fascinating of them all. Poisoned in the womb, he was born brittle-boned and stunted, subject to extreme prejudice on his mutation-abhorring home planet of Barrayar. Pressures societal, parental, and internal fused him into a singular presence: hyperactive, persistent, reckless, sometimes bitter, often brilliant, seesawing between unimpeachable confident mastery and hopeless flailing, with an amazing ability to make the latter seem like it had been the former the whole time.In Memory, that ability deserts him. And it sends the saga reeling into uncharted territory like a soldier spaced out the air lock.Well, that may be a bit melodramatic. Memory does not abandon Miles, or destroy the series structure, quite so completely as that. But it seems like it might, for a while - if you were unaware of market pressures, of the "rules" of narrative, of the fact that surely Bujold must love her character at least as much as any of her readers - you could imagine this being it for the "hyperactive little freak," as Miles' enemies (and exasperated friends) have occasionally referred to him. It isn't. But the book does call Miles to account for the past ten years of questionable behaviors thus far excused by his luck, connections, and oddball charm. It interrogates his life so far. It makes him answer for it.And it is not, not really, a spoiler to say that Miles' answers are ultimately satisfactory. More than satisfactory. His pressures finally threaten to crush him, but he emerges from the crucible stronger, more principled, more secure. Far from perfect, but more himself than ever, not defeating his demons, but coming to terms with them. He doesn't do it alone - he has friends in very high places - but he does do it. I'm glad to know this character through Bujold's fiction, to witness his struggles, and to see how indefatigably he wrestles with the insoluble questions of life, striving for honor, happiness, and meaning. The novel isn't going to resonate like this for everyone; we don't all vibrate at the same frequency. But I'm still ringing.----------------------------------------------------------------------(Read the earlier books first. I started with Shards of Honor in the Cordelia's Honor omnibus, but you could start with The Warrior's Apprentice in Young Miles if you just want the Miles books. Also, I wrote this review right after finishing the book, and I may have gotten carried away. But if a book can get me carried away, look, that says plenty right there.)
—J.
I've read several of the Vorkosigan series... but long enough ago that I can't recall which ones. Which means that I should probably just read all of them.I believe that this particular one has more mystery and less action than many of the others in this series, but that was perfectly OK - it's still tense, complex, consistently interesting and compellingly readable.A combination of a medical problem and some remarkably bad decisions causes Miles Vorkosigan to lose his status as a Imperial Security covert ops agent. Ashamed and embarrassed, he leaves his cover identity and his lovers behind and comes home to an empty manor house.However, before he knows it, he's assigned to the exalted post of Imperial Auditor (it's good to be buddies with the Emperor) and given a mystery to solve - his old boss (the one who just fired him) has been poisoned, and it looks like someone is trying to frame Miles himself for the crime.
—Althea Ann
I had a hard time getting into this book, partly because my life was interfering and partly because I couldn't believe Miles Vorkosigan was "letting" Admiral Naismith be so stupid!But after I got about a third into the book, I read the rest in almost one sitting. Miles may be short, but he really had to stretch in this book. He has grown and matured in every book in the series so far, but this book really took us inside Miles as he discovered how to find his balance, his true and integrated self
—Kathi
