Brothers in Arms (Bujold novel)

Last updated
Brothers in Arms
Brothersinarmscover.gif
The first edition of Brothers in Arms
Author Lois McMaster Bujold
Audio read byGrover Gardner
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Series Vorkosigan Saga
Genre Science fiction
Publisher Baen Books
Publication date
1989
Preceded by Falling Free  
Followed by Mirror Dance  

Brothers in Arms is a science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, part of the Vorkosigan Saga. It was the fifth book published in the series, and is the twelfth story, including novellas, in the internal chronology of the series. Brothers in Arms was first published by Baen Books in January 1989, [1] and is included in the 2002 omnibus Miles Errant.

Contents

Plot summary

Shortly after rescuing thousands of prisoners of war from the Cetagandans, as detailed in the novella "Borders of Infinity", Admiral Miles Naismith and his Dendarii mercenaries arrive on Earth, fleeing Cetagandan retribution and needing to repair the resultant damage to their ships.

Miles visits the Barrayaran Embassy in London to obtain desperately needed payment for their last mission. He reports to Captain Duv Galeni, his Imperial Security superior and a Komarran whose aunt was one of the victims of an infamous massacre of civilians allegedly committed by Miles' father. As the funds will have to come from the nearest sector headquarters in another star system, Miles resumes his real identity as Lieutenant Vorkosigan and is assigned to the embassy as third assistant military attaché, under Galeni's command. He finds his cousin Ivan Vorpatril is the second assistant attaché. Galeni later mysteriously disappears.

During his wait, Miles has to frantically fend off financial disaster due to the Dendarii not being paid promptly. Then he is abducted, and his place taken by a clone created and trained as an assassin by Komarran diehards determined to free their planet. The Komarrans are led by Ser Galen, Galeni's own father, who had been presumed killed while fighting against the Barrayaran occupiers. Miles is locked up with Galeni, who has been interrogated using drugs, but has resisted attempts by his father to get him to join the Komarran resistance. Miles himself is given a dose of fast-penta, a truth drug, but his reaction to it is idiosyncratic. Instead of docilely answering all questions, he becomes manic; he finds that he can beat the drug by flying off on wild tangents, such as reciting military manuals, poems and plays from memory. Meeting his clone, Miles tells him that he could claim his rights as Miles' brother under Betan law. Just before Miles and Galeni are to be executed, they are inadvertently rescued by his Dendarii subordinate (and lover) Elli Quinn.

Galen captures Vorpatril and uses him to force a tense meeting in the bowels of the Thames Barrier with Miles, who unexpectedly brings along Galeni. Galen disarms them, then orders the clone to kill Miles. However, the talks Miles has had with his clone bear fruit. The clone shoots and kills Galen instead, then flees. Complicating matters are Cetagandan and Barrayaran assassination squads (targeting Naismith and the clone, respectively), a Dendarii contingent and the local police, all converging on their location. Miles, with his usual tactical wizardry, is able to get himself, his clone, Vorpatril and Galeni safely away. As an added bonus, Miles arranges for the Cetagandans to see him and his clone together, "proving" that Naismith and Vorkosigan are not the same person. (It is revealed that Galen intercepted all messages to sector headquarters, explaining both the lack of payment and Miles' assignment on Earth.)

Miles is well aware his Betan mother would be greatly displeased if he did not help what she would consider his sibling. According to Barrayaran tradition, his brother would be named Mark Pierre Vorkosigan. Miles gives the psychologically scarred "Mark" a considerable sum of money and an invitation to claim his Barrayaran heritage, if he wants to—or dares—then lets him go.

As Miles prepares to depart Earth, his Dendarii mentor, Ky Tung, announces his retirement to get married and live in Brazil.

Reception

Jo Walton, writing at Tor.com, praised Bujold's depiction of "the way politics and technology move and change and interact and things go on outside of the stories"; however, she also stated that it was a poor place to begin reading the Vorkosigan series, because much of its emotional power depended on a pre-existing familiarity with the characters and setting, such that although she "liked it enough to finish (reading) it, and to pick up another book by the same author", she "came to (the) book without already caring, and it didn’t make (her) care." [2] The SF Site, reviewing the audiobook edition, similarly felt that it didn't "really work as an entry point (into the series)", but lauded the inclusion of "ethical issues about identity and personhood and individual rights", and observed parallels to The Comedy of Errors . [3]

James Nicoll commended Bujold's choice not to depict future Earth as a dystopia, and noted that Ser Galen's plan failed because it "require(d) many complicated events to happen in the right order at the right time." [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lois McMaster Bujold</span> American speculative fiction author (born 1949)

Lois McMaster Bujold is an American speculative fiction writer. She is an acclaimed writer, having won the Hugo Award for best novel four times, matching Robert A. Heinlein's record. Her novella The Mountains of Mourning won both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award. In the fantasy genre, The Curse of Chalion won the Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature and was nominated for the 2002 World Fantasy Award for best novel, and both her fourth Hugo Award and second Nebula Award were for Paladin of Souls. In 2011 she was awarded the Skylark Award. She has won two Hugo Awards for Best Series, in 2017 for the Vorkosigan Saga and in 2018 for the World of the Five Gods. The Science Fiction Writers of America named her its 36th SFWA Grand Master in 2019.

<i>Vorkosigan Saga</i> Science fiction book series by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Vorkosigan Saga is a series of science fiction novels and short stories set in a common fictional universe by American author Lois McMaster Bujold. The first of these was published in 1986 and the most recent in May 2018. Works in the series have received numerous awards and nominations, including five Hugo award wins including one for Best Series.

<i>Ethan of Athos</i> 1986 science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Ethan of Athos is a 1986 science fiction novel by American author Lois McMaster Bujold. The title character is Dr. Ethan Urquhart, Chief of Biology at the Sevarin District Reproduction Centre on the planet Athos, who is sent to find out what happened to a shipment of vital ovarian tissue cultures. Set in the fictional universe of Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga, the novel mentions but does not feature her usual protagonist Miles Vorkosigan. To date, Bujold has never revisited the settings of Athos or Kline Station in her many subsequent novels, but the events of Ethan of Athos are later referred to indirectly in the novels Borders of Infinity (1989) and Cetaganda (1995).

Miles Naismith Vorkosigan is a protagonist of a series of science fiction novels and short stories, known as the Vorkosigan Saga, written by American author Lois McMaster Bujold.

<i>Diplomatic Immunity</i> (novel) 2002 science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Diplomatic Immunity is a 2002 science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, part of the Vorkosigan Saga. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 2003.

<i>The Vor Game</i> 1990 science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Vor Game is a science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold, first published in September 1990. It won the 1991 Hugo Award for Best Novel. The Vor Game is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the sixth full-length novel in publication order, and is the sixth story, including novellas, in the internal chronology of the series. It was included in the 1997 omnibus Young Miles.

<i>Shards of Honor</i> 1986 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Shards of Honor is an English language science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold, first published in June 1986. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the first full-length novel in publication order. Shards of Honor is paired with Bujold's 1991 Barrayar in the omnibus Cordelia's Honor (1996).

<i>Cryoburn</i> 2010 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Cryoburn is a science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, first published in October 2010. Part of the Vorkosigan Saga, it was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2011, as Bujold's ninth Best Novel nomination. Also in 2011, it was one of the top five finishers in the poll for the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.

<i>The Warriors Apprentice</i> 1986 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Warrior's Apprentice is an English language science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold, part of the Vorkosigan Saga. It was the second book published in the series, and is the fifth story, including novellas, in the internal chronology of the series. The Warrior's Apprentice was first published by Baen Books in 1986, and was included in the 1997 omnibus Young Miles.

<i>Cetaganda</i> 1996 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Cetaganda is a science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold, first published in four parts from October to December 1995 in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, and published in book form by Baen Books in January 1996. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and was included in the 2001 omnibus Miles, Mystery and Mayhem.

<i>Barrayar</i> 1991 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Barrayar is a science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold. It was first published as four installments in Analog in July–October 1991, and then published in book form by Baen Books in October 1991. Barrayar won both the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 1992. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the seventh full-length novel of the series, in publication order. Barrayar is a direct sequel to Bujold's first novel, Shards of Honor (1986), and the two are paired in the 1996 omnibus Cordelia's Honor.

<i>Memory</i> (Bujold novel) 1996 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Memory is a science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, first published in October 1996. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the eleventh full-length novel in publication order.

<i>A Civil Campaign</i> 1999 science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

A Civil Campaign: A Comedy of Biology and Manners is a science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, first published in September 1999. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the thirteenth full-length novel in publication order. It is included in the 2008 omnibus Miles in Love. The title is an homage to the Georgette Heyer novel A Civil Contract and, like Heyer's historical romances, the novel focuses on romance, comedy, and courtship. It is dedicated to "Jane, Charlotte, Georgette, and Dorothy", novelists Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Georgette Heyer, and Dorothy L. Sayers.

<i>Mirror Dance</i> 1994 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Mirror Dance is a Hugo- and Locus-award-winning science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold. Part of the Vorkosigan Saga, it was first published by Baen Books in March 1994, and is included in the 2002 omnibus Miles Errant.

<i>Captain Vorpatrils Alliance</i> 2012 science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance is a science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, part of the Vorkosigan Saga. The action centers on Miles Vorkosigan's cousin Ivan Vorpatril, now a captain, and a Jackson's Whole refugee called Tej. By internal chronology, the book is set a year or so after Diplomatic Immunity (2002), about four years before Cryoburn (2010).

<i>Komarr</i> 1998 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Komarr is a 1998 science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the twelfth full-length novel in publication order. It was included in the 2008 omnibus Miles in Love. It won the Minnesota Book Award (1999).

<i>Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen</i> Novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen is a science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold. It is an installment in Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga. Bujold has described it as "not a war story. It is about grownups."

This is the complete list of works by American science fiction and fantasy author Lois McMaster Bujold.

World of the Five Gods is a fantasy series by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold. It was awarded the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2018. It consists of four novels and eleven novellas, with six of the novellas included in the award. Three novels and two of the novellas were nominees for or winners of major awards.

References

  1. ↑ Bujold, Lois McMaster (1989), Brothers in Arms, Riverdale, New York, Baen Books
  2. ↑ What have you done with your baby brother? Lois McMaster Bujold’s Brothers in Arms, by Jo Walton, at Tor.com; published April 5, 2009; retrieved April 11, 2019
  3. ↑ Brothers in Arms, reviewed by Nicki Gerlach, at the SF Site ; published 2011; retrieved April 11, 2019
  4. ↑ Fools To Make War, by James Nicoll, at JamesDavisNicoll.com; published June 15, 2018; retrieved April 11, 2019
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.