...and a traitor!
Yeah, I couldn't think of a better title. I fail. Epically. I got Captain Vorpatril's Alliance for Christmas, read it that night. Now I'm writing about it. I really enjoyed it. I think people have been requesting an Ivan book since Memory, and Bujold doens't disappoint. The novel is fun, interesting, and Ivan finally meets a woman who combines charming and lazy in equal measures, just like himself. As a couple, I can actually see them working better than many of Bujold's pairings, for the simple fact that neither one of them makes much any real demands on the other. Instead, they just enjoy the other's company.
But as much as I enjoyed Vorpatril's Alliance while I was reading it, upon reflection the book comes off as something of a disappointment. I know, I know, I'm far too negative. The book was good...but it could have been great. It's so frustrating sometimes, to see a work's potential and then realize how far it fell short.
One of the reasons for my discontent was the simple fact that Ivan doesn't save his lady love. The Barrayaran Empire does, shielding her from attack. Maybe Ivan is brave to involve himself in the affair in the first place, but basically anyone willing to make a false oath of marriage for the Vor Green Card could have done almost as much. It's not Ivan's courage or wit that ultimately helps him prevail, it's his connections. Not the most satisfying of victories, in my opinion.
My other problem is a pattern I've noticed with Bujold's later works. Her bad guys kind of suck. I mean, they didn't use to. But these days, the antagonists of the heroic Vor scions of Barrayar tend to be very desperate amateurs, only made dangerous by their inexperience and blind luck. The desperate Ba of Diplomatic Immunity, the bumbling conspirators of Cryoburn both kind of sucked. You'd think a ruthless Jacksonian House would be a little more deadly, but you hardly see them at all. They manage to send a few fifth rate thugs after their prey, but those guys can't even aspire to incompetence. You'd figure that Jackson's Whole would have some first class assassins available for hire, even if Bujold doesn't want to show the figures of the House itself.
Bujold's heroes deserve better villains.
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