Cryoburn (Vorkosigan Saga Book 15)

Whilst I am a huge fan of the more militaristic adventures that Miles has been through, this was a well rounded tale mixing politic, intrigue, romance, morality and adventure. A great continuation of the Vorkosigan saga.

These 3 stars are measuring Cryoburn against the rest of the Vorkosigan series; by any other standards it is well-written and presents a technology and an end-of-life issue truly worth pondering. But I pondered instead why I was disappointed.

Cryoburn does not have the weave of story arcs and characters pursuing different agendas whose convergence makes the rest of the series so entertaining. More tellingly (and perhaps spoilers for those who would otherwise read in anticipation) some villains are just names on a page, and the henchman who do appear in person aren't really ever successful enough to warrant the action scenes to stop them. A more competent villainy is also largely "off-stage". The "worst case scenarios" that this author is known for, and for which I would happily trade out any number of villains, are not allowed to play out. I personally love how usually in this series a personal worst-case meets a society-wide or even an intergalactic worst-case; it is so worth reading other books in the series for that alone.

Lois Bujold is a great author, and she and her publisher will make money, but I regret that there wasn't a friend to say, Lois, you have to step it up. You're giving us The Sharing Knife simplicity of plotline, in a universe where characters are literate and have scientific knowledge, and where there are political entities of every scale. What worked in the "flat-earth" context just seems lazy here.

Cryoburn does not stand by itself -- who's Mark, all of a sudden? I only know from the rest of the series. But, knowing of Mark from the rest of the series, I think if this had been his story, and Miles stayed home -- where he could have a story arc, to be sure -- I think there would have been more of the texture I associate with the series. Mark is a complex of story-arcs all by himself, although I can't see him dispatched on Gregor's official business, it would have to be something under-the-table for Laisa -- I can see Mark and Laisa forming some connection based on their economic acumen -- If Mark, headed to Kibou-Daini anyway on behalf of his life-extension business, were to undertake a clandestine mission on the side to look at -- or better, to scuttle -- a deal in which Gregor would not want his foreign born empress to seem to interfere, yes: Add some sort of Barayaran politics there, and subtract the automatic backup that Miles commands from the Barayaran embassy on Kibou-Daini there; figure in bribes that could really tempt the main character, the stretch that Mark would have to make to deal with children and botched rescues and cryo-revivals (memories of Jackson's Whole), and perhaps even involve him in the physical fights -- Mark would be a lot more interesting than Roic in those situations, the possibilities of underestimating him more satisfying. And if Mark's seemingly shady doings placed his standing on Barayar or with Kareen, or even with the Duronas', in jeopardy -- Well, I think Mark could have made a real addition to the series, here, in place of Miles. I can even see Mark giving revolutionary pointers to the fanatics -- a sort of "Galen-as he-should-have-done-it" moment for him and a less fade-to-nothing ending for them. So many possibilities. . . which I have enjoyed coming up with in place of reviewing the actual book!

Speaking as someone who loves, loves, loves (and re-reads) all the Miles books --(I was sooo excited to recieve this book) I am sorry to say how dissapointed I was. I just finished it *sigh* - I found more drama in the last few pages than the rest of the book.
My attention kept drifting...I wasn't dazzled by the kids, or Roic, or the plot (which for me just limped along) I was just a bit bored by it all..
But, even after saying that - I was so happy to return to "Miles' world" and I'd love it if Bujold wrote another one..I'd buy it again - even if it was called "Miles goes to Walmart" or "Miles picks belly-button lint" or...
So for anyone new to this series, start at the beggining - you'll fall in love with them
and eventually you'll buy Cryoburn, too

Like many other reviewers/long-time fans of Bujold here, I was thrilled to learn that she had finally added another installment to her much beloved Vorkosigan series, so I pre-ordered a hard-copy. Not unlike other reviewers here, I found the book immensely disappointing, sorely lacking in the wonderful qualities and masterful writing found in other books throughout the series. To add insult to injury, Bujold/her editors saved her best for the very last, no doubt losing a majority of her readers before the big reveal. Bujold struts her stuff in the final chapter, and a series of beautifully written vignettes. It's as if she/her editors are taunting her die-hard readers saying, "I've still got it, but I'm gonna make you work for it." Everyone's entitled to a flop or three, but if this is "the new normal" Ms. Bujold, please put the Vorkosigan pen to rest and preserve the unparallelled quality of the series. Thank you for the gift of Miles and family and their fabulous adventures....

I looked forward to Cryoburn with a lot of anticipation, having followed Miles joyfully through all of his previous adventures. I was anxious to see how he would mature, and wondering what kind of father he would turn out to be. I was looking forward to hearing the patter of little feet in Vorkosigan House, as well.

Cryoburn gives next to nothing in that regard. Instead, we find Miles alone on a completely unfamiliar world, in an extremely slow starting story that keeps the reader confused and guessing in an uncharacteristic manner for chapter after chapter. Once it finally becomes clear just what is going on, the novel becomes much more fun, and has Miles surprising everyone in true Vorkosigan fashion for a fast paced and upbeat ending.

Cryoburn explores a world where the dead seem to matter more than the living. Life on a planet where people's hope of eternal youth (once science has defeated the aging process, and they are revived from cryostasis) holds some ghastly prospects for the living. Huge corporations control everything for their own profit, while the unemployed struggle simply to survive. Sound familiar?

Miles uncovers some sinister dealings that would have threatened the Barrayaran Empire, and saves the day again. There is a great deal of rollicking adventure here, a wonderful friendship with a young boy, with the social commentary deftly delivered in its midst. However, Ekaterin is completely absent, we learn that Miles' four (yes, four) children are growing up without meeting any of them, and word of the death of Miles' father is tagged on almost as an afterthought. I sincerely hope that Bujold will go back to fill in some of those gaps if the Vorkosigan saga is to continue. For the first time in this series, Cryoburn makes me wonder if Bujold is running out of steam with this character and this world. I hope not.

This is the latest Miles Vorkosigan book, and while not the best in the series (That was won hands down by "A Civil Campaign") it is a good place to start from to read the series. Miles is not just a character, but a whirlwind, that blows through all the planets and societies he deals with, and to start with how that whirlwind began, you need to go back to the beginning... And by the end, you will be different, too. Enjoy!

This was an interesting continuation of a long and excellent series. Miles, the hero, was incredibly lucky on so many occasions, the story lacked any realism, but perhaps that was the point? It was a fun read.

I've been a big fan of the Vorkosigan series, though not of Mrs Bujold's other works. Which may explain why I didn't find Cryoburn to be particularly interesting. In fact, I found it to be the least interesting Vorkosigan novel to date.

Miles seemed a very muted character here, with little of the lightening-fast thinking and trickery which has been his trademark. And little of the physical action which has also been common in this series (and in the genre of space opera in general). Nor was the planet of Kibou-Dani and its society of particular interest either.

For readers new to the series I would recommend reading one of the earlier books...like The Vor Game or Mirror Dance...before passing judgement on the series. This particular volume is not typical.

Unfortunately, the ending suggests that this may be the last of the Vorkosigan novels.

Lois McMaster Bujold is one of the best story teller in the world and the Vorkosigan series is some of the best Science Fiction ever written. "Cryoburn" is either a great ending to the series or it is the end of the second act for our intrepid hero. the store as always delivered expediently and made ordering it painless.

Well it's not Mirror Dance.

Cryoburn feels like it was written with the head, not the heart. All that careful idea selecting and deselecting gets you...a plot that was generally interesting, coherent, and connected back to earlier novels, but without real tension. As to the kids and critters...Remember the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi? Like, why are we suddenly all cute and fuzzy here? It's not as though you're worried about scaring your audience, after Empire. I had the Ewok-reaction of "I just don't get this" towards the new (diminutive) supporting cast in Cryoburn. We see a lot of the story from a child's uncomplicated point of view, which is amusing and relaxing but dilutes the force of the plot. After a couple of chapters I predicted that no one important would die or even get hurt and I was (almost) right.

This was also a tell-not-show novel with almost no internal dialog beyond the typical Miles-mania. I never got a good visual image of the new planet. Roic was reduced to basic-overworked-flunky status with standard grumblings, whereas he shone in the much shorter novella about The Wedding (forget the title).

Finally, I have always admired Ms. Bujold's remarkable ability to turn an evocative and memorable phrase. One- or two-liners that resonate as Just Great Writing. Not only were these absent in Cryoburn but there were a number (grant you not many) of sentences here and there that were simply clunky.

The best writing in the book was in the Epilogue - limiting yourself to precisely 100 words will really sharpen you up (I have had similar experiences limited to 500 words for scientific publishing). Here the story regained the crystalline prose and emotional density of Ms. Bujold's best work.

I hope that Cryoburn is intended as a mid-weight transition novel and that the author has more and better work in progress. Ms. Bujold has maintained an almost unprecedented originality and quality in her writing as evidenced by the continuing rain of Hugo and Nebula awards over decades. I suppose every author poops out at some point. I just hope she can produce the grand whopper Vorkosigan finale before then. And please oh please no "little Vorkosigan kidnapping" standard plot schtick...if I may be so bold as to make this request.

As usual Bujold has written another excellent novel. I've been awaiting another Vorkosigan novel for a long time. She has not disappointed me with this one. If you enjoy reading this author's work, buy this book!

I was a little underwhelmed by this release. Let me explain why: Books in the series have been about over-the-top space adventure, or about growing up and personal relationships, or both. Cryoburn has some of the former, isn't well executed in the latter. It feels like Miles is too burdened by his responsibilities to allow for care-free adventures, but nearly all of the interesting characters from the universe aren't on-planet for this book and have no chance to act. They seem to live on the sidelines, viewed through vague references.

Bujold shows her usual skill of making characters real and dialog life-like. A solid read, but not as sparkling fun as some other books in the series. It almost seems as if the book serves as a filler and delivery vehicle for the cliffhanger.

Well it's not Mirror Dance.

Cryoburn feels like it was written with the head, not the heart. All that careful idea selecting and deselecting gets you...a plot that was generally interesting, coherent, and connected back to earlier novels, but without real tension. As to the kids and critters...Remember the Ewoks in Return of the Jedi? Like, why are we suddenly all cute and fuzzy here? It's not as though you're worried about scaring your audience, after Empire. I had the Ewok-reaction of "I just don't get this" towards the new (diminutive) supporting cast in Cryoburn. We see a lot of the story from a child's uncomplicated point of view, which is amusing and relaxing but dilutes the force of the plot. After a couple of chapters I predicted that no one important would die or even get hurt and I was (almost) right.

This was also a tell-not-show novel with almost no internal dialog beyond the typical Miles-mania. I never got a good visual image of the new planet. Roic was reduced to basic-overworked-flunky status with standard grumblings, whereas he shone in the much shorter novella about The Wedding (forget the title).

Finally, I have always admired Ms. Bujold's remarkable ability to turn an evocative and memorable phrase. One- or two-liners that resonate as Just Great Writing. Not only were these absent in Cryoburn but there were a number (grant you not many) of sentences here and there that were simply clunky.

The best writing in the book was in the Epilogue - limiting yourself to precisely 100 words will really sharpen you up (I have had similar experiences limited to 500 words for scientific publishing). Here the story regained the crystalline prose and emotional density of Ms. Bujold's best work.

I hope that Cryoburn is intended as a mid-weight transition novel and that the author has more and better work in progress. Ms. Bujold has maintained an almost unprecedented originality and quality in her writing as evidenced by the continuing rain of Hugo and Nebula awards over decades. I suppose every author poops out at some point. I just hope she can produce the grand whopper Vorkosigan finale before then. And please oh please no "little Vorkosigan kidnapping" standard plot schtick...if I may be so bold as to make this request.

As usual Bujold has written another excellent novel. I've been awaiting another Vorkosigan novel for a long time. She has not disappointed me with this one. If you enjoy reading this author's work, buy this book!

I was a little underwhelmed by this release. Let me explain why: Books in the series have been about over-the-top space adventure, or about growing up and personal relationships, or both. Cryoburn has some of the former, isn't well executed in the latter. It feels like Miles is too burdened by his responsibilities to allow for care-free adventures, but nearly all of the interesting characters from the universe aren't on-planet for this book and have no chance to act. They seem to live on the sidelines, viewed through vague references.

Bujold shows her usual skill of making characters real and dialog life-like. A solid read, but not as sparkling fun as some other books in the series. It almost seems as if the book serves as a filler and delivery vehicle for the cliffhanger.

My first book by Bujold.. actuallt my first fiction book in a year, due to exams ect.
I could hardly put it down. My tv was pitch black during my reading of this book :-P
Most recommended for both techies and the average detective litterature fan.

While I would still love to read a novel about Miles' grandfather and the invasion, any book in the Vorkosigan series is a treat. This definitely did not disappoint. Well written as always and very difficult to put down; Bujold is an author who does not let her fans down.

I have no choice but to go back and read the entire series again (for the umpteenth time).

Ms. Bujold continues her Vokasigan Saga in her incredible style and uses her magic vocabulary to wrap the reader into the world of Miles. As always,she pulls you deep into the story and transports you to the scene. She makes it compelling to continue and in the end she earns your applause. Amazing is only the start.

Once again, Lois McMaster Bujold has written a fast-paced, funny thriller featuring Miles Vorkosigan. As she has demonstrated throughout the series, Miles proves to be not only witty and quick, overcoming his physical difficulties with his gifted perspective on problems, but he also grows as he moves through life. We are no longer watching the madcap adventures of a lunatic youth, but now viewing the no-less-exciting times of Miles, the parent.

This book would be all that you would expect from a Vorkosigan story, except for the fact that, as usual, what you expect to happen doesn't. It makes for another excellent read.

Lois Bujold's strengths are, as usual, on display with this book. Her strong characterization is on prominent display, with the two characters we know a bit older and more mature, but still the comfortable characters fans of the series have grown to love. The new characters, primarily Jin, are well fleshed out and believable, and we quickly come to care for him. The returning minor character(Raven Durona) gets a good fleshing out.

Ms. Bujold's fascination with medical/life technology and it's effect on society is once again on display, and once again she creates an interesting society based on those changes. How would easy, convenient cryogenics affect society? This is something that could happen before long, and it could have a large impact on society. While the scenario she paints in this book is far fetched, it does a good job of illustrating the kinds of things society will face at some point.

The story is fun, the action exciting, the humor laugh out loud. Pacing is perfect. So why does it fall short? Well, to be honest it really doesn't, except in comparison to her own earlier work in the series. The first thing to note is that except for Miles and Roic, the rest of the large cast of characters we love to read about simply are not there, or only there briefly. No Cordelia, no Aral, no Ivan, no Simon, no Alys, no Gregor, no Ekatrin, no Pym. Mark and Kareen show up, but briefly. This is very frustrating to longtime fans, as [art of the pleasure of the Vorkosigan books is seeing how all those characters grow and interrelate.

More importantly, while the story is fine, it's not up to the standards of most of Bujold's books. The plot feels disjointed at times, and it felt as if she had a great idea's on the themes to tackle, but just was going through the motions on the story itself. It's not a bad story, but I expected better as she has shown herself quite capable of writing much better stories. And I think that is the biggest problem with this book, that Ms. Bujold has spoiled us, and we almost expect too much.

I sincerely hope that she does revisit the Vorkosigan universe again, and in much less time that it took her to do this book. I just hope that we see some of the old characters(especially Ivan, who does deserve his own book), and she returns to the form she is capable of. I do recommend this book to her fans, and to those who have not yet discovered the joys of the Vorkosigan books. It's not bad, it just could be better.

How many writers have the courage to stand up to their publishers and NOT write just one more novel? I WANT more Bujold, but not at the expense of her expertise and story telling. 'Cryoburn' was one too many Vorkosigans. It was good to finally know how to pronounce his name. It was good to know what happens to everyone we've loved for so long. Hamilton and Harris (Anita Blake and Sookie Stackhouse) have written their characters to sad street-walker ends, so please Ms Bujold enough! Let them all have the happy and sad, short or long lives that come to all of us. Enough, put down your pen. We love you all, but enough...

Cryoburn is a comfortable read, and it was certainly nice to catch up with Miles again, but I somewhat missed the wry humor in the face of constant impending disaster of prior Miles Vorkosigan novels.

I totally enjoyed this sci-fi masterpiece. The humanity was there like in the Best of Madame Bujold's literary successes. This story was people oriented, but the science supported the story, it was not THE story...the best kind of sci-fi.

I refuse to give the story away....but the ending made me do something I have not done since I was a toddler...

A hardy and rousing 5 out of 5, without hesitation.
The only book better in the series was 'The Warriors Apprentice".

Bujold is a treasure. As always she uses adept plotting, interesting and engaging characters, and an understated wit to examine issues and personalities. All of her books are so much fun to read that we sometime overlook her strong ethical and moral base. How lucky we are that she writes for us.

A really nice visit with old friends. A metaphor for the mortgage crisis, sort of. Probably not one of the books I'll reach for in the middle of the night, but a really good book. Interesting plot, interesting issues. Appearances by characters I care about. Funny as hell in bits. Sad, too.

I have read all the main books in this series. This was the most poorly written. Don't know if she just got tired or just lost her interest in providing a quality product. She left out chapters in places, going from one subject to a totally different one in the next sentence.
I finished the book but was disappointed. I could not even tell if the series has come to an end or not.

Kindle readers, worry not! Included with my hardcover copy of Cryoburn was a cd with ALL the Vorkosigan books, including this one. What a deal, i get the book the day it comes out, i can still read it on my kindle AND i get the rest for free! yay!

Just got the book and anxiously pulled out the CD I'd heard mentioned in other reviews. YES!!! E-book versions of ALL the Miles books. I've been doing the the store "request a kindle version" for all of them, only now I'm delighted to get them all for a mere $13.99 (but I have already bought paper copies of every one, yes). Plus I get the new book in both paper and e-book. I'm saving Cryoburn for a special treat when I've got more time to savor it. Okay, I did sneak a peak at the very exciting beginning. Not sure how long I can hold out.
Thank you Ms. Bujold and Baen publishing! Not exactly sure what they are thinking giving it all away, but I wish some of my other favorite series would do this. If you haven't read a Miles Vorkosigan book before, I have no idea if Cryoburn itself is a good place to start, but since you get the whole series on CD, you can find out which one would be, if you have a computer or any e-reader. And if you love them as much as I (and many others) do, go and buy the paper copies for yourself or as gifts so they stay in business and get Ms. Bujold to write more! My copies are well-worn from being passed around and re-read.

I've waited for this book for eight years, and just finished reading it, and... For readers of the entire series, it feels like the lightest book of the Vorkosigan universe. Funny, enjoyable, lots of chicanery and a heap of trouble with a squiggly-minded little man on top. But then you hit the end, and you realize that reading it lightly was a serious mistake. It was never light. Not once, though it may seem that way. Jin does not get his fairytale, though he is is given his life anew. And Miles isn't given his fairytale. Just his life, anew. I'm not sure whether to start reading this book over, or start reading the entire series over. It's one or the other, though, because one reading was not enough. I took it too lightly the first round.

I've read all the Miles Vorkosigan series, and eagerly devoured this one within two hours of receipt. That two hours is no exaggeration- this book is 352 pages of widely spaced, largish fonted type. Multiple plot points that could have been expanded weren't, and there was one bona-fide misuse of Chekhov's Gun.

I'm giving this book 4 stars because the writing is good and the plot enjoyable, but I admit that I was very tempted to give it a three. I'll be disappointed if this book isn't just filler to hold off fans while Bujold crafts something with a bit more heft.

Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan stories are among my favorites.

I received my copy of "Cryoburn" yesterday afternoon and immediately sat down to read it.

While the characters were interesting, the complexity of the story and the motivations are (in my opinion) sub-par.

This book seemed to be written more of an effort to fill a perceived need than as a real creation.

I almost never post a negative review (see my reviews of "Shards of Honor" and "Barrayar)," but this was a waste of my time and money. It is not a bad read, but it is way below Lois Bujold's standard.

Suggest you wait for the paperback.

This is the umpteenth Vorkosigan Saga novel, long salivated after by all right and proper fans (whose ranks do include me, as fair warning), and like all books in the series it functions as a stand-alone and even would serve as a decent introduction to the series. It's not the best introduction, but anyone who comes to the series through this novel will have no trouble keeping up with the plot here and will also not be spoiled on any major events from earlier on, except for Mirror Dance (Miles Vorkosigan Adventures) -- but to be fair, just knowing that the series continues is a spoiler for Mirror Dance.

What makes the Vorkosigan Saga unique in my experience (and if there are any other series that share this quality, please, let me know!) is that it is a very long-running series where each book does stand-alone yet which carries the same set of characters throughout (with the occasional addition or subtraction) and in which the characters undergo fundamental change throughout, significant, life-altering experiences that can't be brushed off or reset in the next volume. The best volumes in the series are, in fact, those that deal with those life-altering experiences.

Cryoburn does not fall into that category. Instead, it falls into the slightly-less-satisfying but still exceptional category of Vorkosigan Saga novels that use the science fiction setting to explore the effect of technological innovation on human society. Unlike many science fiction writers, Bujold has little interest in the physics of her universe; she hand-waved some wormhole-aided space travel technology and then never gave it another thought. The technology Bujold is interested in exploring is the technology of life and death. Many of her novels explore what strange subcultures we might create given a workable uterine replicator (Falling Free (Miles Vorkosigan Adventures),Ethan of Athos, and Cetaganda (Vorkosigan Adventure) leap to mind, and the technology is important in nearly all of the others); this novel explores in depth what strange distortions the cryochamber (a technology that allows freezing and reliable reviving of humans near -- or recently -- dead) might work through society.

I don't think Bujold gets enough credit for how science fiction -y her novels are. Not hard SF -- we get no lovingly technical infodumps of any of these technologies -- but true soft SF of the sort Ursula LeGuin writes, extrapolating futures frightening for how very human they are. I believe, in every Bujold novel, in the way her societies have been distorted. But unlike much thoughtful soft SF, Bujold always bears in mind that she is writing an entertaining story first. I suspect this is why it's easy for people to brush her off. There is nothing didactic about her writing, and the social extrapolation is always either essential to the plot (in which case you can look at it as purely plot-related) or done in small little asides that, if you are racing to get to the end, are very easy to overlook. She also takes time to make the reader laugh, often -- something I wish far more science fiction authors would do.

So Cryoburn works in both those ways. Like many a Miles novel before it, it's a fast-paced adventure wherein Miles happens to people, and their lives (and worlds) are skewed in his wake. Like recent Miles novels, Cryoburn very much benefits from having two POV characters besides Miles; these POVs let us see more of the human cost of his manic forward momentum. One of the alternate POVs, a young boy named Jin, is very well-done and makes this the first Vorkosigan novel since The Warrior's Apprentice that is fundamentally YA-friendly. (The other POV is Armsman Roic, who though wonderful in the novella "Winterfair Gifts [With Earbuds] (Playaway Adult Fiction)" is used mainly for plot-advancement here.) And like all Vorkosigan Saga novels, everything comes together in a hectic (but never confusing) climax with Miles the victor.

But after that satisfying (though not world-shattering) climax comes the denouement, which was telegraphed from page one (and which Bujold has repeatedly told readers was next for the series) and which I had been dreading from the moment I heard this book was going to be published. And it feels. . . strange. It left me off-balance, and while I'm sure it was supposed to leave me off-balance I can't help but wonder if Bujold just chickened out. The Aftermaths section (a perfectly pitched call-back to the first Vorkosigan novel, Shards of Honor) was delicate, and so very right (it's a set of five drabbles), but. . . it will likely leave any new readers confused and cold, and to longtime fans it feels like the only "To be continued" of the series, because it screams for elaboration.

On the other hand, it does work, intellectually, as a cap for a series that has produced three Hugo-winning novels, one Nebula-winning novel, and a number of Hugo- and Nebula-winning short stories and novellas. So it is entirely possible that I am left unsatisfied simply because it's over. Again.

I was somewhat disappointed that in the latest Miles saga, Bujold, like so many of my favorite authors, ran out of creative ideas. The snappy dialog was missing....I think it's time to retire (or kill off) this character.

I had waited with great anticipation for this latest installment in a series that has had some true masterpieces. What a disappointment! It reads like an early draft, or maybe a version that was ruthlessly cut to fit some publisher's stricture on length. Worse, it lacks the wonderful depths of characterization, dialogue, and ambiance that so delighted me in the other Vorkosigan books. The plot is confusing from the very first page and never quite grips the reader with the edge-of-the-seat concern for the characters that Bujold's other works do.

For those not already familiar with the series, the book is full of cryptic, unexplained references to earlier installments. Rather than provoking interest, they merely leave the reader distracted and annoyed.

Perhaps in some awareness of the book's shortcomings, the publisher includes in this edition a CD-ROM with all the books in the series, in several formats. I would have greatly preferred a better book without the CD-ROM.

Bujold is a superb writer. I am sorry that she and Baen decided to go ahead with this inferior book. It is a sad commentary that only the sketches serving as an epilogue bear any relation to the depth and quality of her earlier work.

If you are a fan of LMB, this review may be of some use; if you are unaquainted with her and the Vorkosigan saga, it may not (perhaps the last full paragraph is useful).

As I wrote in my review of John Varley's Mammoth, John Varley is a brilliant writer, and you should read almost everything he has written (Mammoth excepted), and count yourself lucky for having read his work. You should consider Lois McMaster Bujold in the same (world) class, and read almost everything she has written (Cryoburn excepted), and count yourself, again, lucky.

Cryoburn is weak soup, devoid of the thought, plot, charcterization and dialogue that Bujold (extra)ordinarily delivers by the boatload. I speculate she wrote it to either fulfill a contract obligation or as a bridge to a relaunch of the saga. You have no idea how much I hope it is the latter.

If you are an LMB fan, you can buy this book in support and solidarity. What's a few bucks for all the pleasure she has delivered over the past 25 years (she must have started writing when she was 14). If you are not familiar with LMB and the Vorkosigan saga, don't buy Cryoburn; you don't want to risk being put off from a body of work which is in all respects wonderful.

LMB: highest recommendation.

Cryoburn: pass.

Kibou-daini is an obscure planet in a remote corner of the wormhole nexus, but one with a specialisation in cryogenic freezing and revival as a means of cheating death. With the planet planning to expand to Komarr, the Barrayaran Empire decides to take a closer look. This means sending in Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan. Unfortunately things go wrong almost as soon as Miles arrives. Left lost and injured in a maze of cryo-tombs that extends for kilometres, Miles needs to call upon every ounce of his resourcefulness to survive.

Cryoburn is the most recent Vorkosigan Saga novel to focus on the series' erstwhile central figure of Miles Vorkosigan. The two more recent books (Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, published later although set earlier than Cryoburn, and Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen) have focused on other characters with Miles playing a much-reduced role. So this is the last ride, maybe for a while, we get to have with Miles encountering a problem and sorting it out in his own, inimitable style.

Cryoburn is satisfying on that level, but it also sees Bujold flexing her writing skills. A lot of the book is told from the point-of-view of an 11-year-old boy, Jin, whom Miles encounters on his travels. Given the labyrinth plotting, conspiracies and feints of the average Vorkosigan book, having it filtered through the understanding of a child is challenging but Bujold pulls it off to deliver something fresh, giving us a new perspective on Miles and his world (and makes me think that a YA-focused Vorkosigan novel could actually be a very interesting read). However, the book also give us something more evolutionary and adult as well. This book is set seven years after Miles's previous adventure in Diplomatic Immunity and he is now approaching forty. He has matured a lot in that time, becoming a father several times over and is now less manic, less prone to blundering straight into situations and is more thoughtful and analytical. This is all relative to his former self, of course, and he remains the same character, but an older, more seasoned and more wary one.

Indeed, Cryoburn feels like a musing on the passing of generations, with Jin representing a new generation of children growing up in a more peaceful period of nexus history and Miles spending chunks of the book analysing his father's and grandfather's lives and what they went through. The book's musings on death, mortality and legacy also feed into this, but Bujold expertly avoids making this a maudlin or depressing book. Quite the reverse, the notion of mortality and the precious commodities of life and time are joyously celebrated...right up to the final, startling moments of the novel, which may rank among Bujold's finest-ever pieces of writing.

Cryoburn, an upbeat and uplifting book about death, is one of the stranger but stronger books in the series (****½).

I first read Ms. Bujold's Vorkosigan series when I was in high school in the 1990's. I have reread those books and was eagerly awaiting this next saga. I was not disappointed. This is a book about death, how we deal with it and growing old.

Once again we are again pulled along Miles' wake as he first tries to figure out what is so fishy about the cryonics deal Kommar has with New Hope II otherwise known as Kibou-daini. Kibou is a planet obsessed with death and with trying to beat it and old age. Miles, in the course of resolving his assignment from Gregor and helping 11 year old Jin (two birds one stone kind of thing) must think of his own views on death and aging. In the end these things are easily skimmed over the first time you read this novel. Easily skimmed that is, until the end when Bujold hit you with a train you didn't even see coming. Now those issues Miles and the reader skimmed over are even more profound and I felt a compulsive need to reread the book.

I know this sound like a cryptic review, but you can read a plot summary above before you purchase and any spoilers will truly spoil the book. I can tell you we see a different side Miles who can seem cold even unattached in this book due to the perspective of new characters, who truly have no clue who Miles is. Readers are reassured that the Miles we have come to know is still the same (older & wiser) when the story switches to his perspective. We also see how Miles has grown into his job as Imperial Auditor and Bujold's prose is as witty as ever. I can only give you my best recommendation for a story; it was engrossing, it made me laugh, think and cry. All the things a great story is supposed to do.

It's impossible to write about this book without using loads of superlatives, which are tedious to read. This book is that good, though.

LMB is known for creating engaging plots, fully-fleshed characters, fun stories, and velvety prose. On closer reading, especially in the Vorkosigan universe, she shows up as a lot more, and all of it is in full flower here: she never beats an idea to death (unlike Miles), her rendering of individual character's voices is so precise it gives me a little shiver to step from one POV to another (which happens a lot in this book), and the story has sooooo many levels that it has not come near seeming obvious even after nearly a dozen readings since it came out. (I like re-reading juicy, dense books -- the better the book, the more it holds up to rereading.) This universe is so vividly realized that it seems as if one could truly step into it and find it complete.

Cryoburn steps onto a planet and restrains its apparent problems, largely, to that planet. It's not the full-on space opera that the past few Miles stories have been. That's not a spoiler, it's expectation-setting; it's still plenty of SF, because the thematic exploration here is about the implications to finances and the future which are created by the games these future peoples play with mortality. Fascinating insights into the ways everyone at every level in social hierarchy works to game the system to get what they think is due to them.

The opening sequence is wonderfully new, dizzyingly convincing, deliciously different. It also opens into the rest of the story in typically logical and effortless-seeming LMB fashion. (How does she DO that??)

The first time I read it, like many, the last line nearly killed me. It was perfect, it was pitch-perfect and absolutely the only way to bring so many of the subtle and obvious themes which careened through the prior Miles novels to their proper destination. It just killed me, that's all. But artistically, it was... gods, perfect, so perfect it was inevitable. The closing drabbles stanched the wounds and gave me enough resuscitation to go on, but I may never be quite the same.

LMB started extremely good and keeps getting better. She has a transcendent gift for combining intellectual elegance and authorial sophistication with simplicity and great fun. You can read it and never notice or care how much there is to think about. Or, you can read it all the way down and allow her generous and elegant mind to give you new ways of looking at fundamental things in life. This book, for me, is the apotheosis of the Vorkosiverse: her skills have gotten better with every novel, her ideas becoming more complex and textured, her characters growing deeper and lighter at the same time, and everything is here, every character and theme and thread that ever pulled me into that cosmos is here, matured, polished, and sublime... and yet, still evolving.

Highly recommended.

As Vorkosigan books go, this one is just okay. Really, it feels like more of a setup book than a novel in its own right. It seems like every few pages, we get an update on some character from elsewhere in the series, who doesn't actually show up, but who Bujold just wants to check in on. In some cases, it's fine. But after a while, it gets monotonous.

The plot itself is intriguing, at least, though the story doesn't feel quite so raucous as Miles's other adventures. He is sent to investigate a cryogenic freezing corporation on a planet where pretty much everyone is frozen before they die. And, not being legally dead, all of their assets and their political power is held in trust by the cryo-corps. It's a world where the dead outnumber the living and, even worse, the dead pretty much become living corporate entities, putting the American system to shame, in regards to level of corruption.

Of course, nothing goes easy, and the book begins with Miles wandering about with gaps in his memory and only his auditor's seal and his words to protect him. And, being Miles, that is more than enough.

It's really the ending of this book that saved it from a 3-star review, for me. The very ending. Because, in a book all about people frozen in time, interspersed with all these updates on the changing people in Miles's life. Bujold saves the biggest reveals for last.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this novel because it was a series book about a character named Miles Vorkosigan . I never picked up any of the previous books and know nothing about the character. Usually when one reads a series novel you might feel lost not reading the previous books. It's about the cryonics industry and how a corrupt government lost control of it's major industry. It's most tragic characters the young children in this story; Jin and Mina. They lost their mother who was preserved and are aimlessly looking for her. They befriend Miles, who was investigating, and he uncovers a very hopeless situation. I found the characters realistic and I didn't feel like it was just another story in a large tapestry of mindless action. It's such a departure for what usually passes for science fiction that I intend to read all the novels in this series. I have to give this one a must buy because it sets itself apart from the usual science fiction and fantasy sameness out there.

What is this, like book thirteen? At some point Miles is going to start running out of life events for us to witness. Though it seems that Bujold is aware that for new readers, realizing they're stepping way into a saga can be a daunting prospect. Especially in this case, where a good eight years separated this novel from "Diplomatic Immunity". A lot of curious new readers were possibly going to be stepping but for the old fans there needs to be some sense of forward progression. This series has always maintained the feel of life, in its ebbs and flows, in its breakneck rush and hideous stasis.

But life isn't the same as life-changing and her tactic here is to show us a Miles that seems settled into his new maturity and his job as Auditor, enjoying the work for its variety and not relishing the times when it takes him far from home, but also rather looking forward to the change of pace. This time the job takes him to the planet of Kibou-daini, a world where everyone tries to cheat death via large corporations dealing in cryotechnology, freezing people before or just after they die in the hopes of reviving them years later when their illnesses can be cured, or a way to reverse aging has been perfected. One of the corporations is attempting to expand into the Barrayaran world of Komarr and as this seems rather fishy, Miles is dispatched to check out what the heck is going on. As always, it gets complicated.

And yet, not as complicated as it has in the past. Sending Miles to yet another new world gives Bujold a chance to refresh and surround him with a new cast, and other than his armsman (who has appeared in at least one previous story) for the most part everyone here is new, giving the reader new perspectives on Miles (especially as this is the oldest we've seen him yet, married and with several children who are quickly getting bigger) along with the change of pace. We get one notable guest-star (or a pair of them) later in the piece, and what impresses about their use is how Bujold has such a refined cast that they can act as a sort of repertoire, good enough to act on their own and carry the tale but also capable of being dropped in when the story calls for it to liven up the affair. This ability to mix and match only proves how deep her bench has become, when the appearance here would have once been a big deal and now is just a routine development in the story. Everyone's getting older.

And yet, thanks to her use of young boy Jin as a point of view character, the average age of everyone involved is a bit younger. Jin's mom is missing, perhaps frozen, and as she was an activist of sorts chances are it has something to do with the shadiness that's about to go down. Having a good chunk of the story seen through his eyes helps the new reader get a sense of what this Miles guy is all about, without bogging them down in the now rather extensive backstory of the series, all of which seems relevant at any given point in time. Between him and his sister, Bujold writes convincing young children, capable enough to not be totally helpless or come across as tiny adults but never childish enough to be annoying. Having armsman Roic also lending his perspective isn't as effective, as armsmen never seem to have rich inner lives, but it does vary the approach somewhat.

In the midst of all this we have the plot, and for once there is a plot, although in typical loose late-period Bujold fashion it winds up being a series of circumstances that Miles gradually unravels to reveal the deeper plot. The effect is of a spoiler stepping in to mess everything up and with the book starting essentially in media res, it gives the impression of attacking things from one angle when the end result winds up being completely different. Miles isn't without resources anymore and while he does more flying by the seat of his pants than is sometimes necessary, he also has a deeper pool of assistance to draw upon as well.

Still, any return after an eight year gap is going to have the feel of rust being shaken off and that's no exception here. While Miles and the various members of the cast are capable, the world here never comes as alive as Komarr or Barrayar has in the past and half the fun in a Bujold novel is reveling in the setting. She seems to be shooting for a commentary on the practices of big banks and financial houses, with the frozen citizens still getting a vote that belongs to the big corporations (and a revelation that they may not have as many votes as they thought) but after having been immersed so deeply in both Barrayar and Miles' various life changes, dialing things back to a business as usual degree winds up making the proceedings pale a bit to what has come before. Keep in mind that I'm comparing this book to novels that would be considered a high point for any writer, so it's not totally fair, especially as Bujold hasn't lost any of her touch for pacing or humor, keeping the plot galloping along with its various twists and turns. The stakes are much lower here, Miles needs to save the day because that's what he does but there's very little doubt that he'll pull it off. That invincible sense coupled with the feel of a well-oiled machine minus the slightly anarchic spirit that characterized the early novels saps a little bit of the excitement out of it, but on one level it means that the series is growing up. Become surer of itself, yes, but also a little bit safer.

That of course is before Bujold pulls the rug out from under the reader on the very last page. One of the things that was surprising about reading the novel is how much it wasn't a meditation on aging and mortality, while the characters acknowledge that they, and the people they know, are getting older, there never seems to be a deep discussion on what that all means. Which is to say that Bujold rarely writes "issue" books.

However, all the deep emotion that might have been missing from the preceding pages comes back in full force, smuggled inside an otherwise innocuous sentence. She reminds you that bad news never decides to wait until you're ready for it and sharpens the blow by having the conversation that precedes it be so blissfully, startlingly normal. It's a nod to the longtime readers, for whom the impact of the scene will have its greatest effect, rewarding those who have been following from the beginning, although the award may be bittersweet at best. Her decision to wrap the novel up with a series of short hundred word vignettes, each one from a different perspective, may be the best way to split the difference. Having an entire novel to deal with the aftermath would have been almost unbearable sentimental and sad, but skipping over it entirely would lessen the weight. This way concentrates the emotions into five bursts, all of which sting acutely and capture the feeling as a quick sketch of a bird would, the eye completes what the hand cannot fully relate. Its a masterful feat, bringing the longtime readers in to share in the now substantial history of this series, while also taking the opportunity amidst the sadness to invite the new readers as well, saying to them in effect: see how these people are? See what you missed? Doesn't that make you want to go back and see how it all started?

It's a shame we won't get to see the events followed up for a while (the next book takes place earlier and seems to star mostly Ivan) but it continues to show how remarkable this series is, how it can work on more than one level and yet remain accessible to people for whom all the Vorness might otherwise run all together.

I've been reading Lois McMaster Bujold practically since she began, when a trusted friend shoved a copy of The Warrior's Apprentice in my hands. I spent a good chunk of the 1990s eagerly awaiting the next installment, and in the months leading up to publication of A Civil Campaign, practically haunted the Baen website on an hourly basis hoping that just one more sample chapter had been posted when I wasn't looking. Any new tale in the Vorkosigan universe is a big deal to me, especially since its now been eight years since the last.

So what's the verdict?

I wouldn't say Cryoburn was "worth the wait" of the last eight years, but it is a fun read. Its rather light and strangely devoid of action, certainly the least intricately-plotted of the Vorkosigan novels to date. But it is also full of the kind of wonderful character moments and societal extrapolation that Bujold loves, and for her fans I suppose that more than makes up for it. It probably will not satisfy those who are not already fans of this series, and I don't think its the kind of book to hand to someone unfamiliar with the characters and universe, but for those of us who are fans of Bujold it will at least be a welcome new addition.

The story basically has Miles investigating what appears to be a slightly fishy business deal by a cryogenics corporation on the planet Kibou-daini, and then stumbling over a much larger conspiracy involving possibly defective cryogrenic procedures, kidnapping, murder, and even a slight side of political intrigue. Miles handles it all with his usual aplomb, and the joy of the story is in simply watching him not only unravel the mystery but the steps he takes in order to get there. Still, there is a theme to this book, namely the idea and concept of natural death as a necessary function of society -- a concept which is brought unexpectedly home at the books very end, in a poignant scene that will bring any long time reader of this series to pause and maybe even shed a tear.

I sincerely hope that Bujold plans on following up Cryoburn in the near future. This book has certainly wet the appetite of her fans who have been waiting for years, and while I don't think its a perfect new addition to the series, I do think it succeeds in reminding us how much we love these characters and are always wishing for more. Miles new status-quo at novel's end begs to be explored, and it would be a shame if we had to wait another eight years before Bujold decides to follow up on it.

Love the Vorkosigan Saga! I haven't enjoyed a book series this much since Heinlein's "Future Histories" stories. While do I enjoy some of Bujold's other work (like the Sharing Knife series), it pales in comparison to the escapades of the Vorkosigan family (specifically one Miles Naismith Vorkosigan). The stories in this series read like an action/adventure blockbuster movie (a la "Top Gun", and this story is no exception.

I highly recommend this book, as well as all the rest of the books in this series. Almost as entertaining as Miles' antics is watching the desperate attempts of his friends and family to save him from himself, while simultaneously trying to stay outside his blast radius.

I've never read Lois McMaster Bujold before. So logic follows, I've never read a Vorkosigan Saga novel either. It's hard to believe given how long I've been reading speculative fiction, but Bujold never jumped out at me. When the 2011 Hugo Nominees were announced and Bujold was once again among the nominations, I decided it was time to give her a shot. I'm glad I did.

Some negative reviews have been written about Cryoburn. Most of them seem to be from long standing Vorkosigan Saga (or Bujold) fans complaining that Cyroburn doesn't measure up to the previous novels. After reading it, I can strongly say that is patently unfair. To judge this novel, against her others does a disservice to a great writer. Is this Bujold's worst Vorkosigan Saga novel? I have no idea. If so, I'm immediately purchasing all 13 previous ones.

Cryoburn takes place on Kibou-daini, a planet where nearly everyone is voluntarily placed in cryogenic storage prior to death in hopes that technology will be developed to extend life. This in itself is not unusual. The wrinkle is that while individuals are frozen, they are not dead, and thus still have the right to vote which is now tacitly controlled by the corporation responsible for their storage. One of these corporations is in the process of expanding their business model off-planet to Komarr, a planet of significant strategic advantage to the Barrayarran Imperium. Our main character, Miles Vorkosigan, is tasked by the Barrayarran Empire to visit Kibou and investigate the corporation. Shenanigans ensue.

At its heart, Cryoburn is a caper book. Miles, the mastermind, plots the downfall of a corrupt corporation who has exploited the little people. It's also a family story centered on two young children separated from their mother. The pace of the novel is slow as Miles and his bodyguard Roic sort through local politics and family squabbles. There is almost no action, but it is warm, suspenseful, and funny.

Many of the undercurrents throughout the novel center around life, death, and rebirth. Freezing someone before they die prompts a lot of questions about how we view life. It becomes clear that many of those who opted to freeze themselves did so without the true expectation of ever waking up. It's a fearsome concept particularly enhanced, I think, by the opening scene of Miles walking blind through endless corridors of frozen corpses(?). As in any great novel, the ending ties into these themes of life and death perfectly. But be warned, the ending - along with some of the other Miles centric moments - fell short for me as a Vorkosigan newbie.

Is Cryoburn a worthy addition to the Hugo nominees? Yes and no. Bujold is a master. Cryoburn certainly exhibits that fact. It's beautifully put together and has all the elements of a brilliant novel. From that stand point, it deserves all the recognition it gets. It is difficult, however, to call something the best novel of 2010 when so much of the emotional content is in many ways predicated on knowing what has come before.

In any case, I very much enjoyed Cryoburn even as a newcomer to the Vorkosigan Saga. I'm sure it's not the best entry point, but I would recommend it to anyone - including those new to Bujold.

It's hard for me to believe that there are eight years between "Diplomatic Immunity" and "Cryoburn", the last two full novels in the beloved Vorkosigan Saga. However, having read "Cryoburn", that gap feels more like a gulf. The Miles Vorkosigan that stars in this novel is a much different Miles than even the one fans saw in "Diplomatic Immunity", and even more different than the Miles we've seen in his previous adventures.

This Miles is now a full-fledged family man, with his lovely wife, Ekaterin, taking care of their four kids back home on Barrayar. Miles wants to be home, but he's on the planet Kibou-diani untangling a case of corporate chicanery and greed involving cryogenics patients who will never be revived, thanks to a bad batch of preserving fluid. Along the way, Miles meets Jin Sato, a young runaway who is fascinated by animals, his sister Nina, and their mother Lisa, who holds the key to the mystery involving the cryogenic corporations vying for their own slice of immortality.

It's no surprise that Miles must use his cunning, his diplomatic skills, and his status as Imperial Auditor to get down to the bottom of the scam and reunite Jin and Mina with their mother, to whom Vorlynkin, the Barrayaran counsel to Kibou-diani, takes a bit of a shine. But it's clear that fatherhood and middle age have tempered Miles, so much so that he fears that he'll be called upon to solve another problem before he makes it back home. But instead of running point as the Emperor's Voice, Miles - and the reader - take a serious punch to the gut. That punch is told from five points of view - Miles, Mark, their mother Cordelia (the Vicerine of the planet Sergyar), cousin Ivan Vorpatril, and Emperor Gregor himself, who delivers the last line of the novel.

Although "Cryoburn" is a good novel, it doesn't really give Miles any of the strong familiar characters to play off of. Roic, the Lord Auditor's muscle and batman, does not provide the kind of byplay that characters like Ivan or Gregor would. Raven Durona, who was involved in Miles's revival earlier in the series, is there mainly for medical relief. Counsel Vorlynkin turns out to be the strongest supporting character here - showing the appropriate levels of disbelief, umbrage, and ultimately warmth as he helps the Empire.

"Cryoburn" suffers, too, from the distance it has from the rest of the series. No doubt, Miles has matured. But that gut punch I spoke of earlier changes his trajectory. If it is, indeed, the final novel in the series, it makes a good spot in which to wrap up. If, however, it is not the end, I hope that Lois McMaster Bujold will not wait another eight years to satisfy the appetites of her fans - of which I am one.

I don't know how she does it. Lois McMaster Bujold weaves engaging characters, twisted plot lines, and fascinating social ideas together like few other authors can. By the end of one of her novels, you realize that every seemingly trivial piece of information was essential. While at the same time, you can never quite guess the ending. Her newest Vorkosigan adventure, Cryoburn, is no exception.

Miles Vorkosigan - former mercenary commander, former Imperial Security agent and physically handicapped son of Count Errol Vorkosigan - becomes entangled in another investigation as Imperial Auditor for the Barrayaran Empire. On the planet of Kibou-daini, citizens are obsessed with forestalling death and consign themselves to cryostorage. Their bodies are preserved until a cure is found for illness, injury, or just old age. Assigned to attend a scientific conference on cryonics, Miles is on the lookout for suspicious business dealings that may impact Barrayar. Those who have read previous Vorkosigan novels will remember that Miles is intimately familiar with cryostorage techniques, having undergone the life-preserving procedure himself after taking a needle grenade to the chest.

In the course of his meandering investigation, Miles befriends a runaway boy, Jin Sato, and his menagerie of creatures. After Miles is not-quite kidnapped by a faction of domestic terrorists, Jin inadvertently leads him to an underground cryostorage facility that exists to benefit those who cannot afford the services of the large corporations. The situation is complicated by politics - for each preserved cryo-corpse still retains voting interests on Kibou and these shares are bought and sold by various groups. Once Miles spots an anomaly he cannot let it go. When he discovers that Jin's activist mother may have been illegally frozen to get her out of the way of a cryo-corp's ambitions - he feels obligated to help, even though it may have no direct bearing on Barrayaran interests. The plot spirals into more convoluted scheming from there, with Miles always at the heart of it.

The story is told through the point-of-view of Miles, Jin, and also Armsman Roic, who has featured in previous Vorkosigan stories. The book is narrated by Grover Gardner, and I have enjoyed his performances of the other Vorkosigan audiobooks put out by Blackstone Audio. To me, he is the voice of Miles, and I appreciate it when a publisher is consistent with their narrator for an ongoing cast of characters. There were a few sections of dialogue where I had minor difficulty in following each character's speech, but this did not distract me much.

While this may not be the strongest Vorkosigan novel that I've read, nor my favorite, it is pulled together by an ending that is part punch-in-the-gut, part tear-jerker. Suddenly the subject matter of the relatively light-hearted investigation becomes critically relevant to Miles' future. The clues were all there, but Bujold never hits you over the head with them. If you've never read any of the Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold, then Cryoburn is not the one to start with. But if you have read them, it's a must read and sets the stage for a new chapter in Miles' life.

Love the Vorkosigan Saga! I haven't enjoyed a book series this much since Heinlein's "Future Histories" stories. While do I enjoy some of Bujold's other work (like the Sharing Knife series), it pales in comparison to the escapades of the Vorkosigan family (specifically one Miles Naismith Vorkosigan). The stories in this series read like an action/adventure blockbuster movie (a la "Top Gun", and this story is no exception.

I highly recommend this book, as well as all the rest of the books in this series. Almost as entertaining as Miles' antics is watching the desperate attempts of his friends and family to save him from himself, while simultaneously trying to stay outside his blast radius.

I've never read Lois McMaster Bujold before. So logic follows, I've never read a Vorkosigan Saga novel either. It's hard to believe given how long I've been reading speculative fiction, but Bujold never jumped out at me. When the 2011 Hugo Nominees were announced and Bujold was once again among the nominations, I decided it was time to give her a shot. I'm glad I did.

Some negative reviews have been written about Cryoburn. Most of them seem to be from long standing Vorkosigan Saga (or Bujold) fans complaining that Cyroburn doesn't measure up to the previous novels. After reading it, I can strongly say that is patently unfair. To judge this novel, against her others does a disservice to a great writer. Is this Bujold's worst Vorkosigan Saga novel? I have no idea. If so, I'm immediately purchasing all 13 previous ones.

Cryoburn takes place on Kibou-daini, a planet where nearly everyone is voluntarily placed in cryogenic storage prior to death in hopes that technology will be developed to extend life. This in itself is not unusual. The wrinkle is that while individuals are frozen, they are not dead, and thus still have the right to vote which is now tacitly controlled by the corporation responsible for their storage. One of these corporations is in the process of expanding their business model off-planet to Komarr, a planet of significant strategic advantage to the Barrayarran Imperium. Our main character, Miles Vorkosigan, is tasked by the Barrayarran Empire to visit Kibou and investigate the corporation. Shenanigans ensue.

At its heart, Cryoburn is a caper book. Miles, the mastermind, plots the downfall of a corrupt corporation who has exploited the little people. It's also a family story centered on two young children separated from their mother. The pace of the novel is slow as Miles and his bodyguard Roic sort through local politics and family squabbles. There is almost no action, but it is warm, suspenseful, and funny.

Many of the undercurrents throughout the novel center around life, death, and rebirth. Freezing someone before they die prompts a lot of questions about how we view life. It becomes clear that many of those who opted to freeze themselves did so without the true expectation of ever waking up. It's a fearsome concept particularly enhanced, I think, by the opening scene of Miles walking blind through endless corridors of frozen corpses(?). As in any great novel, the ending ties into these themes of life and death perfectly. But be warned, the ending - along with some of the other Miles centric moments - fell short for me as a Vorkosigan newbie.

Is Cryoburn a worthy addition to the Hugo nominees? Yes and no. Bujold is a master. Cryoburn certainly exhibits that fact. It's beautifully put together and has all the elements of a brilliant novel. From that stand point, it deserves all the recognition it gets. It is difficult, however, to call something the best novel of 2010 when so much of the emotional content is in many ways predicated on knowing what has come before.

In any case, I very much enjoyed Cryoburn even as a newcomer to the Vorkosigan Saga. I'm sure it's not the best entry point, but I would recommend it to anyone - including those new to Bujold.

It's hard for me to believe that there are eight years between "Diplomatic Immunity" and "Cryoburn", the last two full novels in the beloved Vorkosigan Saga. However, having read "Cryoburn", that gap feels more like a gulf. The Miles Vorkosigan that stars in this novel is a much different Miles than even the one fans saw in "Diplomatic Immunity", and even more different than the Miles we've seen in his previous adventures.

This Miles is now a full-fledged family man, with his lovely wife, Ekaterin, taking care of their four kids back home on Barrayar. Miles wants to be home, but he's on the planet Kibou-diani untangling a case of corporate chicanery and greed involving cryogenics patients who will never be revived, thanks to a bad batch of preserving fluid. Along the way, Miles meets Jin Sato, a young runaway who is fascinated by animals, his sister Nina, and their mother Lisa, who holds the key to the mystery involving the cryogenic corporations vying for their own slice of immortality.

It's no surprise that Miles must use his cunning, his diplomatic skills, and his status as Imperial Auditor to get down to the bottom of the scam and reunite Jin and Mina with their mother, to whom Vorlynkin, the Barrayaran counsel to Kibou-diani, takes a bit of a shine. But it's clear that fatherhood and middle age have tempered Miles, so much so that he fears that he'll be called upon to solve another problem before he makes it back home. But instead of running point as the Emperor's Voice, Miles - and the reader - take a serious punch to the gut. That punch is told from five points of view - Miles, Mark, their mother Cordelia (the Vicerine of the planet Sergyar), cousin Ivan Vorpatril, and Emperor Gregor himself, who delivers the last line of the novel.

Although "Cryoburn" is a good novel, it doesn't really give Miles any of the strong familiar characters to play off of. Roic, the Lord Auditor's muscle and batman, does not provide the kind of byplay that characters like Ivan or Gregor would. Raven Durona, who was involved in Miles's revival earlier in the series, is there mainly for medical relief. Counsel Vorlynkin turns out to be the strongest supporting character here - showing the appropriate levels of disbelief, umbrage, and ultimately warmth as he helps the Empire.

"Cryoburn" suffers, too, from the distance it has from the rest of the series. No doubt, Miles has matured. But that gut punch I spoke of earlier changes his trajectory. If it is, indeed, the final novel in the series, it makes a good spot in which to wrap up. If, however, it is not the end, I hope that Lois McMaster Bujold will not wait another eight years to satisfy the appetites of her fans - of which I am one.

I don't know how she does it. Lois McMaster Bujold weaves engaging characters, twisted plot lines, and fascinating social ideas together like few other authors can. By the end of one of her novels, you realize that every seemingly trivial piece of information was essential. While at the same time, you can never quite guess the ending. Her newest Vorkosigan adventure, Cryoburn, is no exception.

Miles Vorkosigan - former mercenary commander, former Imperial Security agent and physically handicapped son of Count Errol Vorkosigan - becomes entangled in another investigation as Imperial Auditor for the Barrayaran Empire. On the planet of Kibou-daini, citizens are obsessed with forestalling death and consign themselves to cryostorage. Their bodies are preserved until a cure is found for illness, injury, or just old age. Assigned to attend a scientific conference on cryonics, Miles is on the lookout for suspicious business dealings that may impact Barrayar. Those who have read previous Vorkosigan novels will remember that Miles is intimately familiar with cryostorage techniques, having undergone the life-preserving procedure himself after taking a needle grenade to the chest.

In the course of his meandering investigation, Miles befriends a runaway boy, Jin Sato, and his menagerie of creatures. After Miles is not-quite kidnapped by a faction of domestic terrorists, Jin inadvertently leads him to an underground cryostorage facility that exists to benefit those who cannot afford the services of the large corporations. The situation is complicated by politics - for each preserved cryo-corpse still retains voting interests on Kibou and these shares are bought and sold by various groups. Once Miles spots an anomaly he cannot let it go. When he discovers that Jin's activist mother may have been illegally frozen to get her out of the way of a cryo-corp's ambitions - he feels obligated to help, even though it may have no direct bearing on Barrayaran interests. The plot spirals into more convoluted scheming from there, with Miles always at the heart of it.

The story is told through the point-of-view of Miles, Jin, and also Armsman Roic, who has featured in previous Vorkosigan stories. The book is narrated by Grover Gardner, and I have enjoyed his performances of the other Vorkosigan audiobooks put out by Blackstone Audio. To me, he is the voice of Miles, and I appreciate it when a publisher is consistent with their narrator for an ongoing cast of characters. There were a few sections of dialogue where I had minor difficulty in following each character's speech, but this did not distract me much.

While this may not be the strongest Vorkosigan novel that I've read, nor my favorite, it is pulled together by an ending that is part punch-in-the-gut, part tear-jerker. Suddenly the subject matter of the relatively light-hearted investigation becomes critically relevant to Miles' future. The clues were all there, but Bujold never hits you over the head with them. If you've never read any of the Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold, then Cryoburn is not the one to start with. But if you have read them, it's a must read and sets the stage for a new chapter in Miles' life.

Miles has killed people. Miles has seen people die. Miles has even died. And yet, Miles has not quite ever faced death as squarely as he does in Cryoburn.

There is a mystery/action thriller plot, but the whole time the plot seems like a distraction. This is because what is really being explored here is actually the cycle of life and death. Why do people cling to life? Why do we have all these complicated feelings and fears about death, when (as Bujold points out) we were just as non-alive before our lives began?

It's one thing to flash-freeze a trauma victim in order to hopefully surgically repair him sometime later, as once happened to Miles. It's something entirely different to freeze a very old person, in the hope that someday a "cure" will be found for aging. Aging and death are natural, but so what? Diseases are natural, and we fight them as hard as we can. But is being frozen really a better solution than just dying? And when people opt to get themselves frozen at younger and younger ages, so that there will be the best chance for them when (or if) they get revived, what sort of a trade is being made between the life we have now and the chance for some future life?

Of course this has religious overtones as well, but Bujold barely acknowledges them in passing, preferring to concentrate on the effects of these questions on society and science.

Bujold counters all these thoughts of death by also featuring some characters (even viewpoint characters) who are very young, and seeing a completely different side of life. I wonder what the book would have been like if the 11-year-old Jin had been the sole point of view character? But Miles is a greedy sort, and he would never allow a book he was in to be told entirely from someone else's point of view.

The book is very good, and very Bujold, but it doesn't quite have the "firing on all cylinders" feel that her very best novels exude. I think this is because a little too much of the book is taken up by the plot, even though the plot is probably the least interesting thing in the book.

The previous ten or so volumes in this series have advanced about one year each in the life of Miles Lord Vorkosigan, from the age of twenty to thirty-two. This time, though, the author jumps ahead seven years after the events of _Diplomatic Immunity_; Miles and Ekaterin now have four kids and Miles has been an Imperial Auditor for a decade, with more than a dozen cases under his belt. (Since Bujold has occasionally departed from strict internal chronology in the past, one hopes she intends to go back at some point and fill in the gap with a few more novels.)

This case takes Miles back into the world of cryogenics, of which he has traumatically first-hand experience. The Kibou-daini, the culture of which appears to be largely Old-Earth Japanese in origin, has developed a fixation on cheating death. Freezing the recently deceased or the medically compromised has become routine; many older people even choose to be frozen while they're still healthy. The goal is to be thawed out again at some point in the future when specific terminal diseases have been cured, or when a general rejuvenation treatment has become available. Competition used to be fierce among the world's hundreds of "cryocorps," but the industry has consolidated and the half-dozen surviving companies are much more interested in freezing new clients than in thawing the old ones, since they hold the voting proxies of those in the cryochambers. Now one of the largest of the corporations is about to establish a branch in the Barrayaran Empire and Miles has been sent to look into things and make sure all is on the up and up. (He already has reason to suspect it isn't, of course.)

Another change from the usual pattern is that much of the story is told from the P.O.V. of eleven-year-old Jin Sato, a runaway and semi-orphan with an intense interest in any form of animal life. At the moment, he's getting by on the roof of an abandoned cryogenic facility, where his menagerie of small animals can be kept corralled. Jin rescues Miles from a kidnapping gone wrong and Miles takes the opportunity to investigate the local society and political situation from the bottom up -- which, naturally, reveals a number of problems and crimes he would not otherwise have known about. Miles being Miles, he undertakes not only to see that the might are brought low, he also rescues Jin's mother, brings his clone-brother, Mark, into the action, and engages in covert ops himself for the first time in years. Miles always knows how to enjoy himself while getting things done.

This isn't one of the best in the Vorkosigan series, but it's not bad. Seems a little lightweight and rushed, though, as if Bujold simply had a contract to fulfill with her publisher. But it's still an enjoyable read. However, the narrative ends with a major change in Miles's life, so that subsequent episodes will have to be somewhat different from what went before. I'll be various curious to see how she -- and Miles -- handle things in his new life.

I do not know if this is the last, Miles Vorkosigan story Ms. Bujold will give us, but it provides a satisfying conclusion. What I like most about these books is that her characters are given admirable human traits. They are not comic book action heroes; they are good people.
In this book, there is, of course, Miles. He is noticeably more mature in this book than in previous ones in the series but no less willing to take on a seemingly quixotic task, pursue it with manic obsession, or bend rules to see that right is done. You still don't want to cross him.
Roic is Miles' bodyguard and his main function seems to be shaking his head in disbelief when his employer does something especially dangerous, risky, or inexplicable. He's a minor character, a sidekick, but a good one.
Then there is Jin, an almost Dickensian waif living on a rooftop with a menagerie of pets. He may be almost too stereotypical--poor, honest, and a bit suspicious about the intentions of grownups, but he's a good kid and you have to like him.
Books like music, food, and probably most other things, are a matter of taste. Personally, I like a character driven story. If I'm going to spend several hours with fictional characters, I want them to be people I would like to hang out with in real life. Ms. Bujold provides those.
The only gripe I really have about the book is the production. I have the first paperback edition published by Baen. It is not an attractive book. The gutter and margins are too narrow, almost to the point of being difficult to read, and the last twenty or so pages are previews of unrelated stories from the same publisher. It is as though they've tacked a commercial on the end.

"Cryoburn" adds an interesting note to Miles Vorkosigan's story. This takes place later than many, when Miles has settled into life as father and imperial trouble-shooter. Here the trouble takes the form of some suspicious-looking business proposals, the kind that hint at lots more going on than the simple words suggest. So, in his trouble-shooting role, Miles attends a conference (aka trade show aka face-to-face advertising opportunity) on services to freeze a body, planning to wake it up in some future. The question is, whose future?

Although the opening scene portends a lot of the physical action and engagement of earlier Miles stories, that never really comes about. Miles certainly spends plenty of time in the diplomatic halls, corporate deal-making offices, and post-industrial ghettos of the visited world. He creates allies everywhere, willing or not, and convinces them that his bold and daring (i.e. hare-brained) schemes are in their best interest. And, in the end, saves who deserves it and makes sure the bad guys get theirs.

It's a lot more intellectual than in previous stories though, more a matter of corporate scheming than derring-do. And, at that, the details of the corporate power-play never become convincing. I give this high marks for an exciting read that flows well, but it doesn't hold up as well in retrospect as others in the loosely-defined series.

-- wiredweird

Cryoburn (Vorkosigan Saga)I can't help but enjoy any book that starts out with a really good hallucination. Cryoburn does, and it just gets better as it goes along. The hallucination is a allergic drug reaction and the protagonist really isn't any kind of addict (I know you think this will be dull, but trust me). He's an interstellar diplomat named Miles Vorkosigan making an exploratory foray into a world his Emperor (and uncle, if I remember right) is interested in.

The whole world is nearly a giant frozen mausoleum. Seriously.

It's run by a cryonics corporation consortium who freeze the old or sick and keep them pretty much forever. You can imagine the susceptibility to abuse a frozen person may have...Miles starts looking into the place and the companies that run it and the people owned by it and, well, let's just say that Miles is lucky to have an armsman named Roic to help him with the rough spots.

There are quite a few rough spots.

This would be depressing if it wasn't so adventurous and so many great characters pop up in unexpected places, like the well-oiled machine of the shantytown where Mile's hallucination ends.

For once, the Audible version is cheaper than the CD, so get that and enjoy. It is a stand-alone read, but part of the huge Vorkosigan Saga which is over a dozen books (or is it two dozen?). This is the first one I have encountered, but it sure won't be the last.

I love the Vorkosigan saga, though I haven't read any of the novels in some years. Cryoburn didn't affect me the way that previous books have done, although I can't say my memory is very reliable for comparisons.

The planet of Kibou-Daini and their cryofreezing corporations are obviously a metaphor for the current state of the US and its relation to corporations. For anyone at all aware of the news, none of this is really revealing or penetrative--not that you would really expect anything so intellectually intense from a space opera novel.

The corruption plot that Miles unravels is plausible given what we know about corporations today and what we have been told about the planet and politics of Kibou-Daini, although the latter is not as well-developed as I recall from previous Vorkosigan books.

I didn't feel much affected by the "surprise" ending. There wasn't enough building up to it to give it the emotional punch that Bujold was clearly going for.

It's light, it's fluffy, it's mildly entertaining, and while it's a pleasant enough diversion, it never really takes you away. If you're a fan of Bujold and her Vorkosigan series, this won't be a complete waste of your time, but it won't leave you hungry for more.

This way likely lay spoilers, you are warned...

I'm conflicted on the stars to give this book. I was reading the e-version I purchased from Baen and made it to about 97%, when the plot seemed resolved, and put it away when my ride arrived. I was later awestruck by that last 3% and it changed my view of the book.

In the most general terms I can use...this reads like a series finale. It may or may not be (I haven't seen anything definitive) but it's different from the other Vorkosigan books. Namely, life has progressed since we last saw Miles. He and Ekaterin have more children. Gregor has children. All the Koudelkas, save Mark and Kareen, seem to have children. Yet, aside from Miles wanting to get home, none of this is addressed too heavily. We have another Miles adventure, far from home and cobbling together a team, aided by his genius ability to recognize genius,to battle the threat to the Imperium.

In a way, I was reminded of Lillian Jackson Braun's "Cat Who..." books. Eventually they stopped being murder mysteries in a quirky town and were instead dispatches from a quirky town, about what the locals were up to, with a murder thrown into the background. I never really saw the threat to the Imperium as major, although once that was resolved and it became personal, I could see a lot more of why Miles was involved. Overall, though...this was an update on where Miles was in life, leading up to the final chapter(s), hitting home how the boy from "Warrior's Apprentice" was now the grown man and adult.

As for the end...Bujold's strength has always been in the emotional resonance of her characters, and the short pieces from five POVs nailed it. I wish we'd heard more from some of those people in the book, of course, but That Idiot Ivan must have his own tasks now.

So...as a standalone? Maybe three stars. As a capstone and (potential) end to the series? Four-plus.

Has it been eight years since Lois McMaster Bujold has visited the Miles Vorkosigan universe? Looking at my review of the last book, Diplomatic Immunity, it seems that it has. Fans have patiently waited as Bujold pursued other, more fantastical interests, always hoping that one day she would come back to the pint-sized cyclone of chaos. Cryoburn is like streaming water from a garden hose onto somebody who's been on fire for years: a true relief. Has she lost her Miles touch? She hasn't. In fact, this one is much better than the last Miles book, which was a good, but not great, send-off.

Seven years after the events of Diplomatic Immunity, Miles has a growing family back home on Barrayar. However, his position as Lord Auditor for the Emperor Gregor, galactic problem-solver for Barrayar's interests, has brought him to Kibou-daini, a planet heavily invested in cryogenically freezing the dying. Ostensibly attending a convention on the planet, Miles hopes for a bribe attempt from one of Kibou-daini's massive cryonics companies which may be making a move on Komarr, one of Barrayar's planets. He gets more than he bargained for, however, as he stumbles upon another, far more sinister scheme. With the help of a young boy whose mother was taken away and frozen eighteen months ago, Miles must get to the bottom of what's going on. Corruption, kidnapping, illegal freezing - Miles has to learn quickly and try to stay one step ahead of the scheme, or it will roll right over him.

Bujold slips into her Miles glove with ease, this light-hearted (yet fairly serious) adventure showcasing just how flexible her writing style is. Her ability to highlight serious topics while keeping the reader engaged is right up there with Pratchett's, though their styles are much different. Bujold closely examines the details and controversies that might arise when cryonics are common, including things like the voting rights of the frozen and the logistics of when and how they are to be revived. It helps that Miles has been through the very same thing after taking a needle grenade blast to the chest, so he's able to understand some of the intricacies that other laymen might not be able to.

Cryoburn is a return to form for Bujold as far as Miles goes. The previous book didn't contain the gentle humor that the series has always been known for - it was pretty light, but it wasn't humorous. This book definitely has the humor touch. The wry observations of Miles' armsman, Roic, regarding the situations Miles is always getting himself into, or the dignified horror of Vorlynkin, the head of the Barrayaran embassy, when he gets his first taste of how Miles does things, add to the general tone of the book.

Bujold manages to wring a lot of drama out of the story, too, despite the fact that Miles is never really in any danger, other than of his plans perhaps falling to pieces around him as he desperately tries to improvise. The young boy, Jin, is in more danger; he ran away from his aunt and uncle's house after his mother was taken away and frozen. He's been living in a kind of commune of other unfortunates on Kibou-daini, along with his menagerie of animals.

Bujold's world-building is once again top-notch (she's had a lot of practice in that). The society on Kibou-daini is very interesting, with the extensive interest in cryonics and intricate political system of how those who have chosen to be frozen are still not disenfranchised. We see the underbelly of Kibou-daini, those who get by on their wits, but we also see how the cryonic conglomerates work. It's all very neat.

But it's the characters that make or break a Miles novel, and that's where Bujold excels. Cryoburn is littered with interesting characters. Miles is his normal, almost-manic self. Roic is picture-perfect as both Miles' servant and confidant. The Barrayaran embassy staff, the cryo-technician Raven who provides Miles with the cryonic expertise during his investigation - all are presented without a weak note. Bujold even throws in a couple of twists character-wise that will leave longtime fans giddy.

The only strike against Cryoburn is that a major event in the Miles universe is relegated to an aftermath section, literally begging for a follow-up that I hope Bujold will explore. And soon. It seems out of place in this novel, unless an immediate sequel is planned. Yes, one can make the case that it does follow the theme of the novel, but it still comes out of left field.

Long-thirsty Miles fans can finally take a much-needed drink. Miles is back. Can we clone Bujold to make sure that she never leaves him again?

Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book. © Dave Roy, 2011

Well, perhaps not *mugged*, but that's how it feels when the book starts out.

I should mention that Cryoburn is something like the 14th book in the Vorgkosigan saga. While self-contained, I believe it would be much more enjoyable to someone who has read the whole series. Shards of Honor (Vorkosigan Saga) is effectively the beginning of the series, and one of the best of its books, so start there.

Cryoburn opens with Miles disoriented and lost, much like the reader, at least for the first few pages. He's been an Imperial Auditor for many years now, and is on assignment on Kibou-daini, a world covered in cryo storage. As the story unfolds, he is helped out by a local urchin named Jin Sato, who winds up playing a central role in the rest of the book.

Like most of the books in this series, Cryoburn is a mix of social and political commentary and science fiction. If you're looking for hard sci-fi, this isn't for you. If you're looking for a good, character and plot driven story, and happen to like sci-fi, this is probably a perfect fit for your tastes.

Overall one of the better books in the series, though not the best.

Bujold has always had a deft hand mixing humor with dead-serious (and yes, I meant that to be punny) issues in her Vorkosigan series. Here, her unlikely yet quintessential hero Miles, in his role as Barrayaran Imperial Auditor, is investigating the hint of something not quite right with the major cryocorps on the planet Kibou-daini, who are seeking to expand their business to the Barrayaran Empire. Miles is attending a conference on the cryogenics business practiced on Kibou-daini, a planet obsessed with being frozen as a stepping block to a sort of immortality. Since the process is somewhat expensive for the common man, the corporations have fixed it so that they can get the voting rights of their clients in return... thus becoming major political powers depending on how successful they are at attracting clients. This and other quirks of a society trying to cheat death figure in the background of this adventure--and adventure it is when Miles is concerned. For instance, he barely lands before he's kidnapped by anti-cryocorps terrorists. So much for an uneventful trip to peek at possible irregularities in the corps' figures!

Only Miles can make something like being drugged and having a severe reaction to that... and somehow escaping terrorists, then wandering lost among the endless miles of Cryocombs holding dead bodies... and ending up among a building of squatters working on a not-so-legal operation at the edge of town seem like a light-hearted adventure. And yet for Miles, it is, somewhat. Sure, he's sick, sleep-deprived and having a totally bad trip, basically out of his mind... but he's not dead (just revived from the dead and subject to seizures... on a good day). He meets a young boy among the squatters, who is the only one interested in aiding the drug-addled Miles. So, sure, there are some cute scenes with kids... but the kids are motherless because the mother was agitating for more equal access to cryogenics... which gives Miles another thing to look at concerning the possible hanky-panky perpetrated by the corporations... And more adventure and danger and suspense ensue.

Those who enjoy the Miles books should definitely enjoy this one. It's not quite like having a planet about to blow up, but the ramifications of what Miles has to deal with are dire enough. This really is another brilliant and brilliantly different addition to an incredible series.

This book reads like it was not given the care and attention of Ms. Bujold's other books. It felt superficial. Also, I easily predicted every major plot turn, including the last one. I wouldn't have minded if her writing had been up to the standard she has set in her other Vor saga books. It makes me worry about her upcoming book, "Captain Vorpatril's Alliance", which I have been looking forward to reading.

For those of you looking for this book on Kindle, you can download it from Ms. Bujold's main publisher's web site, baen.com. I have been using this site for her books since I discovered it. If a Kindle book is available on both Baen and the store, it is cheaper on Baen. Baen also has Kindle versions of her compendium books, which the store does not. The compendiums generally contain 2 novels and a novella, so they are a bargain. If you're nervous about downloading, you can test it out by downloading one of the free books Baen offers. Check it out!

This is a shiny new book, and that in itself makes me happy. PLUS: Yes, it is true. The hardcover edition comes with a CD that contains ALL Vorkosigan books up to and including this one, except for my favorite: Memory. On the CD are versions to read in html, epub, mobi, etc... Also speeches, interviews, cover art... this is amazing.

Premise: Lord Auditor Miles Vorkosigan and Armsman Roic are on Kibou-daini to investigate a sketchy business venture that one of the cryofreezing corporations based there has planned for Komarr. Complications ensue, as usual.

I liked this book, and was slightly sad that I did not love it. I do want to emphasize that I did enjoy it very much, and had it not been for sky-high hopes, I would probably have loved it without reservation. This is the double edge of having authors that you trust to be great: you can be disappointed if they're not amazing.

Many of the Vorkosigan books are About something, with a capital "A", but not in that annoying way that I remember from grade school. Memory is about life changes, and unexpected paths. A Civil Campaign is about love and romance, Barrayar is about motherhood. Cryoburn is about life and death; children and old age.

The planet Kibou-daini is obsessed with cryofreezing, and they put almost all of their populace in cold storage before they die in the hopes of future cures or longevity treatments. This, combined with some unorthodox voting policies, creates some interesting political problems and a nasty series of monopolies running most everything. It's a really neat setting.

Where this book shines brightest is in the character interactions. It's been 7 years in-world since the last book, and Miles is almost 40. You can feel him, not slowing down, but changing, settling a bit, with age. His interactions with other recurring characters speak to their shared history, almost to the extent of repeating old jokes. It doesn't always make for scintillating dialogue, but it feels real; people gently reference their past adventures with each other, and give into a bit of nostalgia now and then.

This runs the risk of feeling like old hat to those of us fans who are familiar with the entire series, but mostly I think Bujold rides the line well. The only place I think she goes too far is in the tangent about Taura, and I know she had to leave that scene for those same fans.

The other two main characters are (20-something) Armsman Roic, last explored in Winterfair Gifts, and a young orphan named Jin who befriends Miles, giving a spectrum of ages in the viewpoints. Miles' children (4 total, plus step-son Nikki!) are almost entirely off-screen, so to speak, but a presence nonetheless.

I absolutely loved the beginning chapters, but felt that the plot wandered a bit through the middle. I look forward to reading it again, now that I'm not racing ahead to find out what happens, just to enjoy the writing. It probably won't be one I re-read and re-read, though. In the scale of this series, I'd put it in the lower middle: above Ethan of Athos, Falling Free, The Vor Game and Brothers in Arms, right below the level of Cetaganda and Mirror Dance, maybe?

This is one where I waffled with the star rating, but ultimately I always like Ms. Bujold's books enough that I end up reading them again so I'm going with a five.

This one didn't hold my attention as well as some of her previous work, but part of that could be that I got a whiff of the ending and was dragging my feet. Too, the opening was a little awkward, with Miles wandering around lost, and it took me a couple tries to get into things. I think it might have worked better if the story had simply started a few days earlier so there was no need to go back and explain so much in summary. Things picked up after the first few chapters.

As far as plot goes, Cryoburn has Miles out and about, away from home, getting kidnapped and dealing with a new society on a planet we haven't seen before. It had a similar feel to Diplomatic Immunity, though I missed having Ekatarin as a main character. I also missed the rich cast of characters that was developed in Civil Campaign and earlier books. I have to admit I'm not crazy about Roic as a POV character since he's ordinary, arguably to the point of boring, which is rare in a Bujold character. He also doesn't really have any goals of his own (after he escapes his confinement in the early chapters) that would make his POV more engaging.

The overall adventure ended up being fun, though, and I did like the kids as new characters. Jin with his animal obsession felt realistically portrayed for a child of that age.

Though this wasn't my favorite Miles adventure, I will happily read more if Ms. Bujold returns to this universe to write another one.

The book is a very good read.

I always get worried when a author leaves a series for the better part of a decade and then returns, but everything was clean. Miles still feels like Miles, if a little older, and a little wiser, but still manic as ever. That said, Cryoburn leaves behind some of the old tropes of the series. There is no mention of Bothari for instance, however it felt very Milesian. There isn't as much soul searching in this book, like Memory or Mirror Dance. The quest for identity is largely solved... Until the very end. With that in mind, I can understand how people who were looking for more out of the book will be disappointed. However in and of itself it's an excellent book, the story is well crafted, is told well, and is true to the main characters. It stands beside the other books in the series well, but it's not my new favorite which is still A Civil Campaign.

The characterization is sometimes subtle, but done well. Even bland seeming characters like Raven come out as if they're playing their own game by going along with Miles, which makes them much more satisfying towards the end. Being away from Barrayar, we don't get back in touch with some of my favorite character's like Ivan, Gregor, Duv, or any of the rest of Barrayar's Rouge's Gallery, still there are mentions and an occasional cameo. There's too little of Mark to comment much, although his line about a Fire Sale had me laughing enough to wake my daughter. Kareen is still Kareen, although more grown up and compitent, and again there's not enough there sadly. All in all, was left wanting more, but I can see how including it all would have dwarfed the largest editorial failure by Weber or Robert Jordan.

That said, this story did confront the whole 'how technology would effect a society' pretty well, a lot like Cetaganda did. It was interesting seeing a society that I had no problems relating with, struggle with it's own fear and the false hope technology offered to solve it, which made everything worse. It rung very true, and oddly appropriate for this day and age.

Taken in that context it's very well told, focused, and well paced novel. It's also not a horrible stand alone book to enter the series on, which is good given how hard it can be to find the earlier books, even in omnibus form. Miles comes close, but doesn't quite steal the show from Jin, and I liked the way the story bounced between the two very different points of view, and how distinct each was from the other. It also gave some sense of Miles as a Father, which was otherwise lacking. Again, this is another theme I wish Cryoburn could have explored, but I'm kind of glad didn't.

I can't see ending this book the way it ended unless there's more to come, and I trust my favorite author to deliver more now that she apparently has some themes to explore. If there's one stumbling block, it's that I almost wish that the end were the start of a new novel, not the end of this one. The scenes at the end were almost too much. Gregor of course stole the show there. If there isn't another book, I'd say it's a strike against Cryoburn having it in there. As a teaser for more to come though, I can't complain. So time will tell there. If there isn't another book, I'd have to slot this down to a four. It was also really the only point where the book lost it's laser focus on the story it was telling, which is astonishing considering the breadth of scope Lois has to go off on at any moment in any novel.

Overall, I think the worst problem with the book is that I'm left wanting more, which is quite the opposite of a problem. It's definitely not a reason to down rank an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable read in my mind either.

I am a big fan of LMB. I have read everything she has written, and I love the Vorkosigan universe. That being said, I would give this book 3 1/2 stars. There were some interesting themes explored, but this was a very dark book. To me, the most interesting "character" was Nefertiti! I think the story was hurt by the fact that Miles was off on his own, and none of the wonderful supporting characters were in the book until the ending. I suppose that's why I felt so cheated. This book is the first since a long break in the series, and I just wanted...more. To reopen this world, and then abruptly end the book the way she did with no other character contact seemed cruel. Of course, that was somewhat in keeping with the books themes, but still...it was depressing. Sorry to sound obscure, but I can't really elaborate and stay spoiler free.

This book is a solid 3 stars...until the last 5 pages, which were a fitting ending for this series. So about the 3 star part (I have probably said this on every review in this series) I love this series, but I vastly prefer the books that are set on Barrayar. For me a big part of this series was about family. Aral and Cordelia are my favorite characters. I just don't enjoy the books as much when it's Miles on his own. Cyroburn was still a good, typical "Miles Story"... but then the last 5 pages broke my heart.

The last 5 pages get 5 stars from me just because I love the character it was about.

Yay - Miles is back - the hyperactive dwarf, imperial auditor from Barrayar.

For those who have read, and reread, the Vorkorsigan saga this is a welcome return. Bujold has spent the last few years on other (very worthwhile) projects and it is great to see her return to Miles.

But I didn't a sense in this book that he was really back. The plot is lacks the twists and turns of the previous series. While he is still impulsive and a general menace to ordered society, he doesn't quite get into as much trouble. Some aspects of the story seem underdeveloped and even under explained.

The book comes to an unexpected ending, which suggests that it is really a prologue for a whole new series. I really hope that is the case. It would be a shame to loose such a wonderful character.

PhoenixFalls was very correct with the analysis, but I think there's one more point to add. LMB's books are about people; people with well developed personalities, joy and grief, regrets for actions taken or not taken, pride in accomplishments, and pain in failure. People who are not perfect, who have love, but also have warts. Her characters are developed with sensitivity and humor... lots of humor. I read all of her books because of that sensitivity and humor. Other authors will give me the science and action/adventure, but very few will give me characters I can relate to, understand, and admire.

Yes, Cryoburn could be read as a stand-alone book, and be enjoyed as such. It's not the most adventurous book in Miles' series. In fact, in many ways it reminds me of an Agatha Christy novel. In it, you see Miles continued growth and maturity, even as the rest of us grow and mature over time.

Gregor's part in the Aftermath, however, makes the whole book worth reading and rereading to me, although you have to read all the books to truly understand the depth of the relationship between Gregor and Count Arel Vorkosigan in order to get the full impact. It leaves me in tears every time, not only because of the unstated but implied love between the two, but because it strikes a cord in me. I was denied the chance to honor my father by carrying him to his final rest, and I never realized how important it was until I read this drabble. How many authors can make you think and laugh and cry in the same book?

Cryoburn is a very boring book.

I've been a Bujold fan for as long as I can remember. I've read ever Vorkosigan book, all the Chalion books and the entire Sharing Knife series. I loved them all.

But this book was a mistake. I think it was time to turn the Miles legacy over to the next generation and let some new blood carry the Vorkosigan legacy. Miles has a wife now, Miles has children, Miles has political responsibilies. Miles can no longer engage in the madcap, zany, high-risk craziness that was his trademark. So he sits and talks, and talks and talks. And the all the talk is generally pretty dull.

The other problem with Cryoburn besides the endless, boring talking and the lack of action is the children and the animals. They add nothing to the story except fluff and filler. Personally I find that TV and movies are completely overloaded with Spielburg style precocious children. It's been done to death and it's no longer interesting.

On the basis purely of reading enjoyment I'd give Cryoburn one star. But I'll boost it to two just because it's Bujold. I sincerely hope her next book returns to form. And if it's set in the Vorkosigan universe I also hope the focus is on somebody else besides Miles.

I did not wait for this book to come out in libraries, I downloaded it from Baen to my Kindle. I also had been waiting for a long time to meet again one of my favorite fictional character.
Cryoburn did not have the rush and speed and the unexpected events that are the usual fare of any books with Miles, he is a bit too tame for my taste. I loved his craziness and the speed of his mental process in solving any situation, his fearless spontaneous acts which always brought Chaos in the life of anyone trying to follow him . Miles was always a few steps ahead of everyone around him, thus a lot of confused people who got caught in situation not of their own choice , but eventually Miles would save them. In all previous books you are waiting for disaster to happen. In this book most of the time he is not the master puppeteer.
This book seems to be a beginning of the New Wiser and sedate Miles? I Hope i am wrong.

I stumbled upon "The Warrior's Apprentice" less than 10 years ago, and so was able to read through the entire saga sequentially by good fortune. I then just had to try the author's fantasy book("The Spirit Ring") and was delighted that the mechanics of the magic was handled in a matter-of-fact, logical way(nothing spoils an otherwise good yarn than less-than-believeable explanations for what's happened). This approach also works with the technology of the far-future galactic society that's the back-ground of the Vorkosigan series, neatly avoiding windy explanations while satisfying the reader's inner science geek.
While eagerly awaiting the next "Miles" saga installment, I wasn't as bitterly disappointed as some with Bujold's "Sharing Knife" series as I felt some reviewers were - I feel it's a classic series every bit as good as the "Lord of the Rings" saga and will be recognised as such in time.
This story starts out in the middle of a scrambling chase scene, like a lot of grand adventures, and then, with flashbacks and extra characters-and points-of-view, mixes things up until swirling everything together to a satisfactory conclusion...then the coda smashes across everyone's complacent expectations with a bitter - if not un-expected - development. And so, here we are again, anxiously awaiting the next Miles story...
I don't feel let down at all that this story doesn't hit the home run in the same fashion as "A Civil Campaign", although I'm aware that I may be prejudiced in the author's favor. I realize that what we get as we read is the "tip-of-the-iceberg" that we see of a writer's personality, and so what we see of a really good writer is a lot of experience and knowledge - so respecting that knowledge, instead of simply absorbing the story(as consumers of entertainment) can be rewarding.

It's been a while since the last Miles Vorkosigan book (in fact I believe Bujold had indicated a few years ago she felt she was done with them), but at long last he's back. If you aren't familiar with the series, this probably isn't the place to start; I'd recommend the Warrior's Apprentice (or Cordelia's Honor, which is about his mother and pre-dates the series).

It's an older Miles in this book; there are still hints of his manic personality and recklessness, but tempered by experience and responsibility now. Very little of the action-adventure style from earlier books - though there is still some action - but instead more of a focus on Miles gathering information and solving problems. Overall I think this book is better than the last couple in the series, but doesn't quite reach the heights of the early books. The ending hints that there is more to come. Worth reading for fans of the series.

Bujold is in the set of authors whose books I can grab without looking at the flyleaf for a plot summary. Her books are guaranteed good reading; I've never had less than a 4-star experience. With Cryoburn, I had no "Hmm, how many stars shall I give this?" self-examination. Cryoburn has all the story elements that made me -- and probably you -- fall in love with the Miles Vorkosigan series.

It's sort of pointless to try to summarize a Bujold book because the initial setting often has little to do with where the characters end up, or at least telling you a lot of detail makes me wary of spoilers. In short, though: Miles is kidnapped while attending a conference about cryonics -- a topic near-and-dear to him since (as fans will remember) being deep-frozen and later revived is how he coped with being shot with a needle gun a decade ago. He escapes from his would-be captors (that isn't a spoiler; you find that out in the first 10 pages)... and naturally that's when the adventure begins. Unlikely allies, diplomatic compromises, clever repartee -- it's all here. ("Where there's smoke, there's fire," he says. "Or at least mirrors.")

If you were a previous Miles Vorkosigan fan but have lost some enthusiasm for the series, never fear: This is back to the just-plain-fun of the first novels. I liked the the last few Miles books and wanted to know what happened to him (at least while I was reading the book) but some of the relationships got a bit confusing. This one is back up to 5 stars -- it's clear who the good guys are, and the humor is ahead of the "Hmm, how WOULD that technological change impact business?" thoughts. Among the things I love about Bujold's writing is that the humor isn't all superficial; she DOES make you think about the sociological effect of a technology like cryo-statis, and addresses it far more intellectually than does Heinlein in The Door into Summer. But meanwhile you just want to find out what will happen next, and chortle occasionally.

I think you could read this novel out of order; you probably do need to have read one or another of the books to have a sense of the main characters (not the least of which is Miles' previous career) but if you haven't read all of the books you wouldn't be confused at all.

Highly recommended.

I love the whole Vorkosigan storyline. The characters are believable, the military and political histories brilliantly thought out, and who would not walk miles to meet the little hero who is so remarkably huge.This series is as complex as the Honor Harrington universe, with the delightful addition of sly humor. The mark of a master writer is if he or she can tweak the reader, keep them awake and enthralled. I got tweeeeeaked on every book I read. It is as close as I can get to a virtual reality trip into the future, and they are great.

This book takes place 9 years after the memorable events in A Civil Campaign and Miles is well and truly a married man. He is sent to Kibou-daini to investigate some possible cryo fraud that was being set up in Komarr by a Kibou-daini company. Once there Miles finds himself kidnapped and things finally start to get interesting for him. In this book Mile's story is told from multiple view points.....and suffers for it.

The zany craziness of the earlier books in the series that was one of the great attractions of Mile's stories mostly seems to be missing. Nearly all the other books in the series make me laugh at reasonably regular intervals throughout, something that seems to be lacking in this book much to my disappointment. That alone makes this book, for me, one of the lesser books in the series. It's real sting, and best writing, comes at the end of the story. There's no denying that this book is another turning point in the series, but as an auditorial outing, Bujold has done better with earlier books. It's hard to decide if it should get 3 or 4 stars, but it's certinaly not a 5 star outing, but is nevertheless recommended reading for established fans of the series.

I have just read the entire so-far published series of the Vorkosigan saga, and loved it all.
Thinking back on the whole series, I could recall only two critiscisms.
"Ethan of Athos" was a bit below the standard of the other books; it was bit lightweight and didn't advance the series.
And Ekaterina somehow, and inexplicably, morphed from the character she was when she first appeared in "Komarr", to something very like Miles' mother.
Apart from those two (minor) comments, I found the whole series enthralling. The characters are well-drawn, believable and develop from one book to the next. The world-building is superb, the action, suspense, adventure and touches of romance just great.
Cannot recommend highly enough!

I just bought and read the Bujold's newest, Cryoburn, and must confess to a longing for manic Miles Naismith or endearing Miles Vorkosigan. The plot has been discussed already. Suffice it to say that Roic is not a memorable character and there's nobody else we've ever seen before but Miles. Characters are made mostly of cardboard, freeze-dried. The concept of a planet where everyone tries to beat death by freezing themselves was gruesome, to say the least, and should have led to a deeper examination of what perpetual life is really worth in the long run: i.e. who wants to live forever and be OLD at the same time? Why would new generations want to revive old people who are hundred year old relics of a culture that no longer exists? Doesn't eternity get boring? Isn't death really a new beginning for the soul, rather than an end? And especially, how a planet ruled by the dead (in the form of proxy votes) lacks vitality and creativity because change is stifled. Imagine this kind of philosophy leaching into Barrayarian culture...Bujold, who is capable of this kind of depth, misses the mark.

The book was still engaging and a fun read, just not up to her earlier works. Two things I am grateful for, the humor is still there (although it feels like it's been tacked like a loose book page) and she finally provides the pronunciation for the name Vorkosigan!

SPOILER ALERT!!!
-----------------

As to the book's ending, can anyone say Reichenbach Falls?

Cryoburn is the long-awaited new novel in Lois McMaster Bujold's excellent VORKOSIGAN SAGA, following 2002's Diplomatic Immunity. If you're not familiar with this series yet and are in the mood for some intelligent, character-driven and consistently entertaining SF, drop everything now and go find the first few books. Almost all of them are conveniently available in affordable omnibus editions from Baen. You can start with the Cordelia's Honor omnibus if you want to read the series according to internal chronological order, or Young Miles if you want to start where Miles Vorkosigan, the series' unforgettable hero, really gets into gear.

In Cryoburn, Miles is on Kidou-daini (a brand new planet in the series, as far as I know) to investigate a possible scam involving cryogenically frozen people. As the novel starts off, he has just narrowly escaped becoming a hostage during an attack at a cryonics conference and is wandering around in a drugged haze, because he happens to be allergic to the drug used by his would-be kidnappers. By the time the (very amusing) hallucinations wear off, he finds himself in an underground cryonics clinic, taken under the wing of a young boy who has recently run away from home. Eventually, Miles finds his way back to the local Barrayaran consulate, and begins to unravel a mystery that leads much, much farther than anyone originally suspected...

Cryoburn shows Miles in his Imperial Auditor role, investigating a mystery in the name of Emperor Gregor, but as he isn't actually on Barrayar, his powers are more limited than they would be on his home planet. Still, in typical Miles fashion he quickly pulls the local consular staff along in his wake as he investigates and solves the mystery through legal, quasi-legal and, well, uniquely Milesian methods. As always, there's lots of action, a good amount of humor, and Bujold's consistently excellent dialogues. It's hard to be bored, reading a Miles Vorkosigan novel.

By now, a narrative infused with Miles' manic energy will be more or less expected by long-time readers, but as a special treat, Cryoburn alternates viewpoints from Miles to Jin, the boy he meets at the cryonics clinic, and (best of all) Miles' Armsman, Roic. Roic is a sturdy, calm fellow who sounds as if he is used to his master's antics by now. It really can't be a coincidence that his name rhymes with `stoic'. Seeing Miles through Roic's eyes is the best part of this novel.

In a nutshell, Cryoburn is a good installment in a great series. I doubt that many long-time fans of the VORKOSIGAN SAGA would consider this one of the best entries in the series, but expecting that would put the bar almost impossibly high. The plot also doesn't really advance the overall story arc of the series much, and instead reads as if it could be one of five or ten other missions Miles completed in the same year. However, the end of the novel, which is unconnected to the mission, suddenly and painfully yanks you back into the main continuity of the series, and will have you clamoring for the next book. Since it's been almost 10 years since the last Miles book, hopefully this will motivate some new readers to get into the VORKOSIGAN SAGA, which is easily one of the best SF series of the last few decades.

CryoBurn is a good solid espionage science fiction piece that relies a bit too much on coincidental meetings, but remains an interesting tale of corporate misdeed and heroic action. As one of the later installments of the very popular and award winning Vorkosigan series, it is best read after the others (as that it contains spoilers of the earlier episodes). Even so, it can be read enjoyably on its own, something that is very hard to do.

I would recommend this to any fan of Science Fiction, and to any Spy Thriller reader who doesn't mind a science fiction setting.

You can read my complete review at [...] or follow the direct link to this review at: [...]

I have eagerly read all of Bujold's Vorkosigan saga books and found them all engaging, exciting, and creative mysteries in a scifi milieu. This was the first one that disappointed me as an unrealistic plotline. The idea that an entire planet can be filled with dead people in cryostasis is entirely unrealistic without pre-modern fertility rates. Packing populations in like cryogenic cord wood would fit tens of billions into a space the size of New York City. Filling a planet goes from tens of billions to tens of quadrillions, which can only happen over tens of thousands of years, or more, especially with longevity treatments available, and the information technology of a galactic civilization would make the uploading of human minds entirely feasible (which we see as necessary technology in Jackson's Whole to transfer minds from old corpses to new clones), as well as loading them into humans built from nanotech cells, not grown biology, but technology, that would be nearly immortal (excepting of course accidental deaths that destroy the brain).
Despite this massive impact crater blown in the center of the plot, I was able to suspend my disbelief in order to enjoy the story, and it was itself quite engaging. So, despite these flaws, I'm giving it three stars. This is the lowest I've rated any Vorkosigan book, which I am very sorry about. I hope that Ms. Bujold seeks to consult some better informed experts on futuristic subjects like cryonics, longevity, etc when she deals with them in the future.

Lois McMaster Bujold's Cryoburn is a return to the Miles Vorkosigan series after a gap of some years, which is good news for the many, many fans of the earlier books. It is, admittedly, rather on the light side as Vorkosigan books go, but still an enjoyable read. Though it could stand alone as an individual novel, I would advise any readers unfamiliar with the series to start with the earlier books to get the full context of this new addition.

A few years have passed for Miles as well, mainly evident in the fact that he and Ekaterin now have four children, though wife and family are largely off-stage through most of the book. The main plot of the book deals with Miles, in his capacity as Imperial Auditor, investigating a cryogenics corporation on a world called Kibou-daini, assisted by his bemused but resourceful Barrayaran Armsman, Roic. And as always, things have gone horribly wrong and the book opens with Miles wandering lost through an unfamiliar landscape, drugged and hallucinating and wearing only a hospital gown:

"Turning the corner into another unlit street or access road, which was bounded on the opposite side by a delapidated chain-link fence, Miles hesitated. Lookming out of the gathering gloom and angel-rain were two figures walking side-by-side. Miles blinked rapidly, trying to resolve them, then wished he hadn't.
--The one on the right was a Tau Cetan beaded lizard, as tall, or short, as himself. Its skin rippled with variegated colored scales, maroon, yellow, black, ivory-white in the collar around its throat and down its belly, but rather than progressing in toadlike hops, it walked upright, which was a clue. A real Tau Cetan beaded lizard, squatting, might come up nearly to Miles' waist, so it wasn't _exceptionally_ large for its species. But it also carried sacks swinning from its hands, definitely not real beaded lizard behavior.
--Its taller companion... well. A six-foot-tall butterbug was definitely a creature out of his own nightmares, and not anyone else's. Looking rather like a giant cockroach, with a pale pulsing abdomen, folded brown wing carapaces, and bobbing head, it nonetheless strode along on two sticklike hind legs and also swung cloth sacks from its front claws. Its middle legs wavered in and out of existence uncertainly, as if Miles' brain could not decide exactly how to scale up the repulsive thing.
--As the pair approached him and slowed, staring, Miles took a firmer grip on the nearest supporting wall, and essayed cautiously, "Hello?"

One of Bujold's major strengths as a writer is her ability to populate her stories with characters that make the story matter, and Cryoburn has its share. In addition to Miles as the central point-of-view character, Armsman Roic has his time on the stage, providing dry counterpoint to Miles' more manic approach to things. And new characters are introduced, most particularly Jin, a streetwise young runaway with a passion for pets into whose hands Miles unexpectedly falls. And Miles' formidible clone-brother Mark puts in a welcome appearance later in the story, along with his other-half, the equally formidible Kareen. I have long hoped, and continue to hope, that at some point Bujold will give Mark his own novel. And after having finished Cryoburn, I also hope that Jin will pop up again in some future novel.

It should also be mentioned that while family is not at the center of the plot here, it is a theme that nonetheless runs through the book, as it does in so much of Bujold's work. I think that is one of the reasons why her books are so popular is that her characters all have family ties that tug at them wherever they are and whatever they're doing, which makes them all the more accessible and real to readers everywhere.

I can't say that this is the best of the series - I'd rate it three and a half stars if I could - but it is still an enjoyable read, and a necessary one if you're a fan of the series because it does lead up to a _major_ change in Miles' life that I cannot divulge. But everything that follows Cryoburn will be affected by what happens at the end. Recommended to anyone who is a fan of Bujold's work in general and of this series in particular.

Others have written about the basic plot of the book. I'm going in a different direction.

LMB always makes her Miles books as different from each other as possible and this book is no exception. This is perhaps the closest she's ever come to old-fashioned sci-fi. Miles runs rampant again but the stakes are tremendously lower than they have been in past books and he isn't facing an existential threat (at least to himself, others are in a different position). This is a good thing as Miles shouldn't have to save the world every single time. Let Ivan share some of the burden!

Mark makes an appearance at the end to help wrap up the story in a satisfactory way (although the bad guys couldn't have handled either Vorkosigan). Then the ending hits you like a ton of bricks and you realize how impossibly good this author is and the story catapults from fun but somewhat forgettable to outstanding in one astonishing step.

The best part, if I'm reading my author correctly, is that LMB likely has at least two more Miles stories waiting in the wings to take advantage of the developments in this story. I can hardly wait until they come out!

Cryoburn begins with Miles Vorkosigan roaming, lost, cold and hallucinating, in a necropolis maze beneath the city of Kitahashi. A necropolis full of the frozen dead. On the planet of Kibou-daini very few people die naturally: sick, injured or old, they are carefully preserved before the final moment; prepped and put into storage in the growing cryopolis, underground or in towers, pyramids even, in the hope of a technological resurrection. It's a big business, the business, and since they're not really dead, but need someone to look out for their interests, the assets and the votes of the cryogenically interred are held in trust - and used - by small number of increasingly powerful companies. It's a situation not everyone living on Kibou-daini is happy about.

Miles has been sent to the planet to look into the background of one of the big companies, which is proposing to open a subsidiary in the Barrayaran Empire. The conference he's attending is attacked by a local political group; some of the delegates are kidnapped; but Miles, of course, escapes ... Before he can make his way back to the Barrayaran Embassy he learns a lot about the Kitahashi underground - literal, political and economic. And before he can go home he has to find out what the Kibou-daini cryocorps are hiding, what they're planning, and the limits of what you can do when you're really, really out of your comfort zone ...

Cryoburn is the twelfth Vorkosigan novel - the sixteenth story, if you count novellas and other episodes - and it's far from the best. The ideas are interesting, certainly, but hardly worth the time Bujold spends on them. She retired Miles Vorkosigan from the mercenary life at the end of Brothers in Arms; found him a new job with plenty of dramatic and narrative potential in Memory and even, between A Civil Campaign and Diplomatic Immunity managed to get him married off and soon to be a father. Personally, I think the magic went missing somewhere in there. It's not that her stories need the space battles of the earlier Vorkosigan novels, or even the political intrigues of the later ones, but they do need Miles and his insecurities, his desperate need to prove himself, to be better than people think. Miles married and settled and soon to be Count Vorkosigan in his own right doesn't seem to burn quite as brightly.

The most interesting thing about Cryoburn is the way other characters react to Miles. His faithful Armsman, Roic, a former policeman, still hopes that this time things will be done by the book, even though he knows after all this time that m'lord Vorkosigan would rather write the book as he goes, or afterwards - 'tis better to seek forgiveness than permission, he says. The Barrayaran Ambassador is constantly appalled by Miles' crash through approach to everything, although he becomes resigned to it by the end. And the Kibou-daini locals just can't figure him out at all - a child-size man with too much energy, too much imagination and too much honour.

What you can see much more clearly in Cryoburn - making plain what was always there, but excused by charm and results - is the Miles Naismith Vorkosigan uses people. Mercenaries, underlings, allies, relatives, strangers are all swept up, employed as tools or weapons as required, and made to serve his ends. For the most part they are not casually thrown away afterwards ... but not everyone survives an encounter with Lord Miles, Admiral Naismith or whoever, and not everyone remembers him fondly.

I do ... but I like to remember the Miles of The Vor Game and Brothers in Arms and Memory. The Vorkosigan books are among my favourites, and include some of my absolute favourite scenes in any genre. I was looking forward to Cryoburn immensely, and while I won't say I was disappointed I will say it has not left me, as most of the other Vorkosigan books did, wanting more.

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Imperial Auditor, Miles Vorkosigan has been sent to Kibou to investigate a proposed corporate investment in one of the Barrayarian Empire's worlds. He thinks he's on the right track when one of the businessmen offers him a bribe, but his investigation is temporarily disturbed by a kidnapping attempt. A dissident group, dissatisfied with Kibou's proxy government (when near-death, citizens freeze themselves, turning their proxy-votes over to the corporations which keep their frozen corpses ready to be revived when cures for their illnesses are finally discovered and these votes now allow control of the government) manages to drug Miles, but he somehow escapes and wanders around drugged and incoherent, until he is discovered by a runaway boy (Jin Sato) whose mother, coincidentally, holds the secret that just might topple the Kibou corporations.

Once he is able to get the drugs out of his system, Miles goes into investigator mode, trying to uncover exactly what the Kibou hope to accomplish by their Barrayarian investments, and to find where the corporations have stashed Jin's mother.

Author Lois McMaster Bujold continues her Vorkosigan series with a story that simply doesn't live up to the best in this series. Bujold is a wonderful writer and the Vorkosigan series is a superior SF adventure. CRYOBURN gives us some thoughtful comments. What, exactly, will it be like when people can be frozen, still alive, yet not really animate? Will they have rights? Will the corporations responsible for keeping them alive be allowed the political power to represent their silent but un-dead residents? Surprisingly, it's in the execution that Bujold falls short. The coincidence of the drugged Miles being rescued by the one child who can lead him to the secret behind the corporations is extreme. Miles himself is never at risk and the danger to the Barrayarian Empire is remote, especially in light of the drastic way that Barrayar has in dealing with its enemies. The danger to Jin seems to be that he might have to leave his pet chickens and bugs behind when he's sent to live with his aunt.

Bujold is a powerful writer, and she was able to draw me into the story despite its flaws, making me care about Jin, his sister and mother, and about the mysterious amateur-death-cult that had been taking care of Jin since he ran away from his aunt. Ultimately, though, this story just isn't up to what I'd expect from Bujold in terms of character, plot or emotional depth.

This review is for people who never read any books in this series. You can easily start with this one if you choose. This review has one mild spoiler from early in the book.

We start by following a man lost underground in the dark, hungry, thirsty, cold, and injured. He is also hallucinating because his kidnappers drugged him before he escaped. It is easy to care for any worry about him, even as we learn he is a powerful and important man on his home planet. He is wildly clever, sometimes too much so, and being inside his head is a fascinating experience.

This book is more than just a wonderful adventure story, although there are plenty of fights and a commando raid or two. It is also more than a novel of political intrigue. If you read science fiction, perhaps even if you don't, you have probably heard of cryonics, the attempt to freeze people so they don't age or die of any diseases they have until the cure is discovered and they are awoken. Nobody I have ever read has done a more thorough job of exploring the non obvious consequences and dangers to society of cryonics, should it actually work.

If you read this you will learn more about Miles Vorkosigan, but you don't need to absorb much of it to enjoy this novel. You can understand and enjoy this novel just knowing that while he is an important man on his home world, he must be very careful where he is to avoid a diplomatic incident.

I have listened to this book a number of times, and each time I find something new that I had overlooked previously. There are so many hidden gems in it that one may miss if they just skim through it, and even more that would be missed if one hasn't read the other books in the series.

Usually I don't like books with sad endings, and this one did have a very sad ending. But it was an ending that would have come eventually, as death is inevitable for us all. I'm just thankful that it wasn't Miles who died, though a major era of his life did. I can't help but wonder what new stories could be drawn from this change in Miles status, because there are so many other potential things that could be written that would be absolutely fascinating.

As a Sci-fy fan, the Vorkosigan series are among some of my favorite books. I'd even equate Lois Mcmaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series as on par with the Next Generation Star Trek through Enterprise series of TV shows, with it's military and political disciplines, and its incorporation of modern problems into the plots, along with humour, suspense, and mysteries to be solved. This series has allayed my longings for more Star Trek somewhat. I'd love to see the Vorkosigan series made into a TV series.

A welcome return to the Miles Vorkosigan universe begins not with a bang but a whimper, as Miles stumbles in pitch blackness through a through a huge mazelike underground cryogenic storage facility, between rows of thousands of frozen people. To make matters worse, he has just narrowly escaped an attempted kidnapping and an allergic reaction to the knockout gas which his would-be abductors used has left him reeling and suffering from hallucinations ...

At its best, the Miles Vorkosigan SF saga is one of the most amusing comedy science fiction series ever written. This is the eleventh Miles Vorkosigan adventure, and if it isn't the funniest or the best book in the series - in my opinion both those places are claimed by the ninth book, "A Civil Campaign (Miles Vorkosigan Adventures)" - it is nevertheless both exciting and entertaining.

Be warned however that the theme of this book is a bit more somber than most of the rest of the series.

The first hardback edition of this book (ISBN 978-1-4391-3394-1) also comes with a Vorkosigan Universe CD which includes the full text of every novel in the series, and a host of supporting material including interviews with Lois McMaster Bujold and the index/concordance to the series, "The Vorkisigan Companion."

This book represents a welcome return to the series after a gap of several years, both between publication and in the internal chronology of the stories. It begins about seven years after the start of the previous book, "Diplomatic Immunity" and Miles's and Ekaterin's eldest children, who were born on the last page of that book, are now a precocious "five going on six."

Emperor Gregor has sent Miles to the extraordinary world of Kibou-Daini, where the main industry is cryogenic freezing. Almost everyone, when they contract a serious illness or approach death from old age, or sometimes even before that, has themselves frozen in the hope that when they are thawed out a hundred or more years later their medical problem, or that of aging, will have been solved.

Unfortunately, both for the individual "patrons" who have themselves frozen, and for the planet whose entire economy, politics and society has been warped by the over-dominance of the cryogenics industry, this particular dream of immortality carries a major sting in the tail.

WhiteChrys, one of the Cryogenics corporations which dominates Kibou-Daini, is trying to set up a branch on Komarr, one of the three worlds of the Barrayaran Empire. Unfortunately for them, one of the wealthy Komarrans who they sought to invest in this scheme, and who thought it was very fishy, is the great aunt of Gregor's Empress, Laisa. As Lord Auditor Miles Vorkosigan has personal experience of crogenic storage and revival (having been through it when he was hit by a needle grenade in Mirror Dance (A Vorkosigan Adventure)) he is the obvious choice to find out what WhiteChrys are up to. So Miles and his bodyguard, Armsman Roic, are sent to investigate under the guise of attending a conference.

By the time Miles has finished poking his nose into every dark corner on Kibou-Daini, either to defend Barrayaran interests or in pursuit of his own idealistic crusades, the planet will never be the same again ...

Be warned however that it isn't just crygenics in this book which packs a sting in the tail: there is also a huge shock at the very end which will be a bombshell not just for Miles but also for anyone who loves the characters in the series.

The Miles Vorkosigan stories, and four other books set in the the same future universe, can stand on their own. However, a number of them, of which this is one, will give you something extra if you have previously read some of Bujold's books set earlier on the same timeline.

For example, someone who has not read the earlier books in the series is unlikely to fully appreciate the enormity of the last three words of the main text of the book, in the way that regular Bujold readers will. (Sorry if that comes over a bit Dephic, I'm trying to refer to the shock ending of this volume without giving away what that ending is.) The epilogue consists of five drabbles - stories of exactly a hundred words - and I don't think you can appreciate any of them without having read the earlier books.

If you have not previously met Lord Miles Vorkosigan, he is 1) a brilliant intriguer who at one stage was juggling at least three identities; 2) physically very small, having been injured in his mother's womb by poison gas; 3) a former spy for Imperial Barrayan security, former mercenary admiral and present "Imperial Auditor"; 4) finally married after spending most of the first nine books looking for a wife; and 5) hysterically funny to read about.

The full sequence of books in this Universe is as follows. The chronologically first tale of the bioengineered quaddies and how Leo Graf helped them free themselves from slavery, which happened about 239 years before this book, is given in

"Falling Free"

The story of the romance between Miles' parents is given in the two books:

"Shards of Honour"
"Barrayar"

also published together in one volume as "Cordelia's Honor."

The Miles Vorkosigan adventures are:

"The Warrior's Apprentice (Vorkosigan)"
"The Vor Game"
"Borders of Infinity"
"Cetaganda"
"Brothers in Arms"
"Mirror Dance"
"Memory"
"Komarr"
"A Civil Campaign"
"Diplomatic Immunity"
"Cryoburn"

The next one, featuring Mile's cousin Ivan, is due out in November 2012 and is called

"Captain Vorpatril's Alliance."

There is a separate adventure for Miles' friend Elli Quinn, called:

"Ethan of Athos"

Note that there are also a set of omnibus editions which between them contain all the books in the Vorkosigan Universe prior to "Cryoburn" - I have already mentioned the first of these, Cordelia's Honour, and the others are

Young Miles
Miles Errant
Miles in love
Miles, Mutants and Mayhem

There are also some Miles short stories, such as "Winterfair Gifts."

All these books are excellent and strongly recommended.

Well, knock me over, I've finally discovered a Bujold book that didn't totally enthrall me. In fact, it took me nearly 75 pages before I became at-all involved in the storyline.

The problem for me was that while the political and economic commentary was fun and funny, that the characters weren't all that engrossing. In fact, I continued reading more to enjoy LMB's writing than to discover what shenanigan's the corporations were up to, or how Miles and Roic and Raven made out.

By the way, this isn't a book that would stand alone well, in my opinion. Lots of back-story references. Still, if you're into Miles, how can you not read this one too.

Library find, unless you must possess them all.

Pam T~
mom/blogger of #kidlit

Like most Lois McMaster Bujold fans, I've been waiting for years for a new Miles Vorkosigan book. While her Chalion books are sublime and the Sharing Knife series is interesting, let's be honest: Miles is who got most of us hooked on her, and it's Miles we want to see more of.

First a caveat: I don't want to ruin the reading experience for anyone who hasn't gotten the book yet, so let me be clear: there are mild spoilers ahead. If you don't want to know anything about the book, stop right now and move on to the bold text that says 'pick back up here'.

MILD SPOILERS!

As most readers of the Vorkosigan universe might have expected, the major themes of the book are the relationship between parent and child and how children deal with the death of a parent. And in typical Bujold fashion we look at the issues from all sides, even those we might not have anticipated.

The plot centers around an Auditorial investigation on Kibou, where the sick, the old and the dying are cryogenically frozen instead of buried. The catch is, since they're not really dead, they still have a vote in the planetary democracy, which they sign over to the cryogenics corporation as a proxy representative in the interim. As there are 1.5-2 million frozen "dead" on Kibou, the result is a large amount of voting power concentrated in relatively few hands. As you would expect, Miles runs afoul of these powers in the most dramatic of ways, and it takes him a couple hundred pages to resolve matters to his satisfaction.

However, that's just the plot. Like Diplomatic Immunity, which this book closely resembles, the plot is really only a secondary device for Bujold to explore her themes of choice. In this instance, the duality of the child becoming a parent while at the same time dealing with the passing of their own parents. For Bujold, the treatment of these themes is almost heavy-handed. There is a young boy, Jin, who serves as a proxy for Miles' own 4 children (who remain off-screen for all but one brief scene). There are numerous instances where the Miles/Jin relationship shows us Miles' own growing familiarity and comfort with parenthood as well as the subsequent maturing effects of said familiarity on Miles himself. He is calmer. He's more patient. He thinks twice about some risks. In short, he is living for someone other than himself, and it shows.

Unfortunately, this entirely logical and necessary character development is also the book's downfall. We don't want a sane, rational patient Miles. We get lots of sane, rational and patient in our own lives. We want to live vicariously through the little git, dammit! But of course, he can't be that way anymore. He has a wife, and kids and responsibilities. Miles isn't running fly-by-night mercenary operations anymore, he's heading subcommittees on reproductive law. Which is nice for him, but makes for a less dynamic book for us.

MAJOR SPOILERS! STOP IF YOU DON'T WANT THE ENDING GIVEN AWAY!

And then, predictably, comes the death of Miles' father. It is foreshadowed throughout the book (and, in a nice touch, the series), but it is still shocking and saddening for all of that. In the last 500 words of the book, Bujold gives us a raw, real look into the utter destruction of Miles' childhood that is poignant, honest and clearly infused with lingering emotions from the passing of her own father some years ago.

What's most devastating about Aral's passing, however, isn't the death of a beloved father-figure. Rather, it's the simultaneous passing of Miles' freedom of movement, action and thought. He's not Lord Vorkosigan anymore, he's Count Vorkosigan, which means he has to spend most of his time on Barrayar being a Count, a father and a husband. Maybe Bujold will treat us to a reprise of A Civil Campaign's Barrayar-centric politics, social mores and intrigues, but I doubt it. Unless she summons up the energy to plunge Barrayar and Miles into a major war or catastrophe, this will almost certainly be the last Vorkosigan book, and we can see that. And it hurts.

PICK BACK UP HERE

All in all, the book is a pleasant read. It's not the best of the series, but it's not the worst either. We don't see much of many beloved characters including Ivan, Cordelia, Gregor, or Ekaterine, but we do learn a bit about most of them through various passing remarks. If, as I suspect, this will be the last book in the series (at least chronologically), it is a suitable farewell if not an entirely satisfactory one.

I'm a long-time fan of Bujold's Vorkosigan series, and was initially thrilled to see her return to those tautly-paced and cleverly written novels of my youth. Sadly, the current offering, Cryoburn, is less of a return to form and more of a curtain-call for characters who are well-past stale and in need of some cryonic revival themselves. Bujold has clearly exchanged her interest in space opera for romantic fiction. As in her recent fantasy novels (and the Vor novel "A Civil Campaign") the pace of the work is plodding, interrupted by reams of useless verbiage, with emphasis on interstellar domesticity instead of interstellar diplomacy; All the characters talk about now and pine for are loving relationships, pet peeves, family discussions and, oh yes, lots of children.

And that's great, for a romantic fantasy like "The Sharing Knife", but it's a complete waste of a character like Miles Vorkosigan and it shows in the almost desultory fashion in which plot twists are sprung and then resolved in the course of a chapter or two, with a shrug and a wink by all involved, so that they can get back to sharing maudlin dialogue (and far too much interior monologue) about absent friends, loved ones and how all we really need is a good hug from mommy to make it all right. That last bit might very well be a direct quote from a character, I can't really recall, because around 1/3 of the way through this novel I just started skipping pages of sappy dialogue and POV of a semi-autistic child just to get to the end of the book. That's the worst redefining of a "page-turner" I've ever seen, so at least Bujold accomplished that much.

To add insult to injury, there's a series of 100-word "stories" in lieu of an epilogue (Defined by Bujold as a "drabble") during which all sorts of potentially interesting back-stories and characters who were conspicuously absent here are visited and essentially discarded in what I hope will be written off as a bit of authorial indulgence hopefully never to be repeated in this genre or any other.

Drabble indeed.

The earlier books in the Miles Vorkosigan saga are literally jaw-dropping (except for the pre-Miles starting novel Barrayar, which is fairly good). You come away in awe. Poignant as hell and hysterically funny are adjectives that come to mind. Not so this book. The saga is now officially on cruise-control, and it pains me to say that. Robert Jordan (aka James Rigney, Jr., RIP) turned on cruise control for his Wheel Of Time saga (and it took another author to bring the saga back on track - 13 books???), and I'm afraid Ms. Bujold is engaging in this shady practice. Diplomatic Immunity began the decline, and Cryoburn fizzles out completely. Please, Ms. Bujold, enough of this pap. If you can't come up with truly heart-wrenching, funny storylines, end it here. I hope you can, because the Miles Vorkosigan I came to love went into a coma years ago...

It's been a long time since Lois McMaster Bujold gave us a Miles Vorkosigan novel - eight years, to be precise, since Diplomatic Immunity. I've missed Miles; his adventures have always been the science fictional equivalent of popcorn, fun to read, not too taxing, written breezily and well. Cryoburn takes a leap in time to show us a Miles who is now 39 years old, married with four children, and working as an Imperial Auditor - with his own peculiar, almost childlike, disregard for rules and complete creativity and curiosity. It's good to read about him again.

This adventure finds Miles on the planet Kibou-daini, which is built around the industry of cryonics, that is, freezing those who are fatally ill, injured, or just too old to live any longer. The idea is supposed to be that these individuals will be thawed and cured of their afflictions as cures are discovered by medical science, but oddly, few revivals ever take place. The reason for this seems to be not that medical science is making no advances, but because the cryocorps that run the cryonics businesses accumulate the votes of those who are frozen, and are allowed to exercise them. Who wants to give up even a single vote - a single bit of power - by reviving someone?

Miles goes to Kibou-daini under the pretense of attending a conference on cryonics, but when we first come across him on this planet, he is wandering about the deep, dark halls of a typical cryocorps installation, with rows upon rows of frozen corpsicals around him, hallucinating. Someone attempted to kidnap him and probably shot him with a sedative to keep him quiet. Unfortunately, because of Miles's strange body chemistry, most sedatives have precisely the opposite effect on him. The hyperactivity which resulted was probably what allowed him to escape his captors, but now he's lost and not exactly in his right mind.

Fortunately, Miles is rescued by a young boy, Jin, who takes him back to his homeless shelter and cares for Miles until Miles recovers from the drug. This particular homeless shelter, though, turns out to be quite fascinating to Miles. It is an illegal, underground cryocorps, freezing people who can't afford the procedure otherwise. This business and its owner show a whole new aspect to the cryonics business to Miles, and reveals a fissure in Kibou-daini's society between the wealthy and the poor - one that is even more a matter of life and death than is the same fissure in our own society. Miles becomes very interested in and involved with Jin, who turns out to have a mother who is a political activist working for justice in cryonics, a mother who was illegally frozen to shut her up when her protests started to catch fire.

Miles accomplishes his first mission - to prevent a Kibou-daini takeover of Barrayar - quickly and with finesse, but by then he is more interested in Kibou-daini's problems, and more specifically, with Jin's. His schemes to solve those problems consumes the bulk of the book in trademark Vorkosigan style, complete with conning the conmen, deceiving the liars, politicians and corporate bigwigs, and working some real justice for those for whom the word "justice" has been only a theory that never worked in their favor.

In other words, this is a typical Miles Vorkosigan story. It's fun. This is by no means the equal of Bujold's more challenging Vorkosigan novels like Mirror Dance; I'd be very surprised indeed if this book were nominated for any awards, no matter how often Bujold has been on the Hugo and Nebula shortlists. But that's not to say that it's not worth reading, because it is. I'd enjoy ten more like it. But the end of the book indicates that Miles is moving into a new phase of his life, and I suspect that the next Vorkosigan novel is going to be quite different from this one. I look forward to it.

This was the most eagerly anticipated item on my Christmas list this year. I discovered Miles Vorkosigan several years ago, plowed through all 13 books (if I'm counting right), and then stalked Bujold's myspace page as I salivated for more.

Sadly, this is the worst book in the series. It really hurts to say that because I love this universe so much and I tried so hard to like this book. I love how Bujold always tries to do something different with each novel, trying out different sub-genres (SF mystery, SF romance, etc.) and how she matures her characters.

But this just isn't well written. The opening sequence had no connection to the rest of the plot. Coincidences abounded. The plot dragged. We didn't really get to see any of the sociological effects of putting huge portions of the population in cryosleep. There were no complications - when Miles decided to do something crazy, it all happened according to plan.

I could forgive all of these things, but the nail in the coffin was the fact that there were no STAKES here. Miles is content. His family is safe. Basically this entire book is Miles deciding to dig around because he's kinda curious. But he's never really in danger. The "bad guy" is just an anonymous corporation that might possibly someday maybe do something bad. At any point in the book, he could have simply packed up and gone home. About a third of the way into the book Bujold tries to force an explanation on the reader, which just makes it worse - because it's basically going "HEY! Look! Nobody has any motivations here!"

I've always loved how Bujold pushes her characters to the edge - whether physically, mentally, or emotionally. She takes them to the brink of destruction, and sometimes pushes them over, before they find a way back. Cryoburn had none of that spark, that immediacy.

When I got to the "event" at the end of the book (trying not to give away spoilers here) it felt tacked on. Like maybe Bujold had spaced out writing Cryoburn because what she was really thinking about was setting things up for the next book. And the end really did belong with The Next Book.

If you're a Miles fan, I recommend you pick this up in the bookstore, flip to the last chapter, read it, and then put the book back down.

If you're Ms. Bujold... you really need to find some more critical beta readers.

This review contains SPOILERS! If you do not want the ending ruined, scroll on past!

I wish you could give half stars--I would say this is closer to a 3 and a half for me. Overall, I liked this book, but there were some serious flaws. First, it was distinctly less organized than Bujold's books usually are. The beginning was really confusing, with reason--Miles is drugged and running through underground catacombs of cryo-revival drawers. The story takes place on a world where people have become obsessed with avoiding death by freezing themselves in order to be revived in a time after a cure for various diseases or even a cure for old age is discovered. A mess of political drama ensues when Miles stumbles upon a conspiracy to keep a bad batch of cryo-fluid (resulting in several thousand unintentional deaths) under wraps, while also busting a ploy to buy out shares in the government of Komarr. Miles ends up foiling the bad guys, the day is saved, etc etc. For a very simple story, I felt like it took quite a while to get there. Maybe it was because of the wildly different perspectives, but the story overall felt a bit choppy at times.

Here is where the real spoilers begin. At the end, Miles' father dies. A mini-epilogue gives five perspectives on it, from Miles, Mark (his sons), Cordelia (his wife), Ivan (his nephew), and emperor Gregor (his adopted son, for all intents and purposes). This was about two pages. It was inevitable, and it was emotional, but I honestly think that given the topic of the book, it would have been more fitting to have written so that Aral passed away at the beginning. I think that the emotional tone of the entire case would have been different if Miles had been struggling with 'what if what if what if' through the whole thing. The readers may also have been able to come to more closure rather than just this hanging devastation of all who loved him. I guess there's always room for that in the next one, but the topic of trying to stymy death and its vast implications would have had more emotional impact that way, and I thought that Aral's death would have provided a more interesting, nuanced backdrop to the whole investigation. I felt like there were a lot of places where the story could have been expanded. The origins of Kibou-daini could have been explored, the Barrayarans' reaction to this strange world could have been explored, Miles and Roic's characters could have grown rather than showing more of the same. I found this a little disappointing.

One thing that really bugged me was that the story took place on a world that is basically like New Japan, more or less. Being a fanfic writer and somebody who has been around the block as far as Japanese culture is concerned, I was really annoyed by the liberal sprinkling of honorifics and random Japanese names (sort of stereotypical ones, at that--Jin, Ako, Seiichirou, etc). The Russian-basis of the Barrayaran names makes sense because they were completely isolated for several hundred years, developing their own culture. But what are the odds that an entire planet was settled only by one country (a small-ish one at that) and managed to maintain that same cultural unity for generations amidst all the interstellar travels? It just made it seem really fan-ficcy to me in places. The worst was when one of the characters popped in and exclaimed "Ohayo gozaimasu!" It was kind of like, yep, you can look in a Japanese dictionary. Good for you.

Overall, I give it a B-. Despite the flaws, it was still a compelling read. I always tell people that Bujold's bad is better than most writers' good. The story made some interesting points about life and death, but could have had a more powerful impact with some changes or additions. The fanfiction-y feel of the world detracted from the seriousness of the story, but I liked the attention that Roic got, and thought that the addition of Jin's perspective was interesting as well. I am sad that Aral is gone, since he was one of my favorite characters in the series, but am looking forward to seeing exploration of the responses in the next book, which I sincerely hope takes place with a more complete "classic" cast back on Barrayar.

Given the mixed reviews, I started this prepared to be disappointed, despite loving the series. Admittedly, the first 1/3 or so was a bit slow, and lacked the pageant of likeable characters typical of the best books in the series. But it picked up soon enough, and by mid book was the typical hard-to-put-down Vorkosigan tale. And the ending (no spoilers here) is thought provoking and implies yet another major transition in Miles' life. Looking forward to seeing where it leads in the next installment!

This latest book in the Vorkosigan Saga takes us to an entirely new world. If it was mentioned in any of the previous books, it was only in passing. The world of Kobou-daini is run by corporations that specialize in cryofreezing. The goal of everyone on planet is to have enough money on hand that when they become too ill, too old or too injured they can be frozen until a cure for what ails them is invented. The corporations wound up running everything because someone who is cryofrozen is still, technically, alive. Since Kobou-daini is nominally a "one-vote per person" democracy, the corporations that control the frozen body are permitted to cast their vote for them.

The culture of Kobou-daini is Asian with a little Egyptian thrown in.

The book begins very abruptly, which leaves the reader scrambling to figure out what's going on. A lot of that orientation is covered in characters musing on how they got to be where they were. It would have been much better to simply show us the action instead. Once oriented the book becomes the traditional Miles Vorkosigan adventure, with Miles charging out to do what he feels needs to be done. The book is co-narrated by Armsman Roic and Jin, a native boy. This adds some nice viewpoints to get other takes on the action.

While seeing a new culture in Bujold's world was nice, it was a bit disappointing to have Miles so far from the Empire, and his family and friends. A bit of something was missing.

Overall a decent book in the series, although not a great one.

I loved this book. I thought Miles was returned to form. It was fast-paced. It brought up realistic issues of problems that might occur in the future. I liked the new characters introduced. The ending, the aftermaths, was a little shocking. I hope those "drabbles" are not all we're going to get. I really hope she explores what happens in another book. When I finished, I went and reread the entire series again, starting with Shards of Honor. Can't wait for the next book.

Two charming children. A living sphinx who talks. An appropriate number of really bad and semi-bad guys. A covey of disparate good guys of all type, sexes and competencies. In short a typically spectacular new book from Ma Bujold. If you're already a fan, you will love it. Id you haven't yet the Vor saga, you owe it to yourself to start earlier than this--you'll miss too many of the jokes .

I finished "Cryoburn" yesterday. It's the latest installment in the Vorkosigan series. I enjoyed it very much but I've spent a lot of today thinking back over the ending of the book. It's one of those things where you know something is coming but when it does in fact come it hits you like a punch in the gut. You can't go out and read "Cryoburn" and get that impact without reading the 16 books that precede it. There's a part of me that wishes that I was just being introduced to the Vorkosigan series today. Starting with "Shard's of Honor" and coming to know Aral and Cordelia and then being introduced to Miles and following his adventures through the series. I find myself tearing up when I have moments of quite. I don't know if Lois will keep the series going or if this is it. I'm hoping there will be more. I've never had a series of books that have moved me the way the Vorkosigan series has.

Ms. Bujold is THE mistress of space opera! I absolutely love the Miles V saga, in fact WHY has this series not been made into a movie yet? Perhaps because the general public is totally clueless when it comes to fun, fast paced intelligent intrigue. No! We want sparkly vampires! Bah. Give me something I can sink my mental teeth into! Ms. Bujold, more, please!!!

I love LMB, and love this series, but I couldn't really follow the crime here, and so never quite understood the plot. I had just reread Cordelia's honor, and this may have just seemed too removed from Barrayar for me, but while I knew the baddies were bad, I still couldn't actually understand what evil they were planning on the other planet. I liked Miles, acting in his usual Milesish way, and I liked seeing some old characters drop by. I did like the boy Jin and menagerie and then the ending packs a huge wallop.

Okay, I admit, I am a big fan of Lois McMaster Bujold. I also find Miles Vorkosigan and his incredible adventures to be funny, entertaining, and yes, I'll say it, gripping. I simply cannot put these books down and Cryoburn is another. The short little man with a limp causes chaos everywhere he goes, simply by his presence his obvious hyperactivity disorder drives the action, usually in directions you never guess. This was a great read and I recommend it to anyone who likes Science Fiction or Mystery.

I adore all the Miles Vorkosigan books, including his romance with Ekaterin. But I was delighted to read another book of his exploits written in more of a pre-Ekaterin style. Cryoburn definitely ranks up there with his most infamous adventures. Very highly recommended.

As Cordelia said in _Shards of Honor_, the author has done this as well. Cordelia's last four words in her drabble broke my heart. This book is a quick read, seeming superficially to be just that - superficial. However, further reflection, upon reading the end of the book, leads to the appreciation that here is yet another Vorkosigan book not only recounting Mad Miles' adventures, but the themes of life and death and that both are a gift. As Cordelia would say, a great gift, and a great test.

I wish more of the book had been written from Miles' point of view. Also, the obstacles Miles faced were too easily overcome. As one character observed, he managed everything by ignoring the rules. Typical Miles, in as far as it goes. Yet the level of creativity in problem solving Miles has heretofore displayed was notably dimmed. Miles has one atypical reaction to a sedative which did not result in his usual hysterically funny babble but in rather uninteresting, plot/theme-irrelevant hallucinations, with little attention paid to the confusion or fear he would have felt while in this condition. I never once felt Our Hero was in any real peril. Bujold had missed an opportunity to showcase Miles' ingenuity, cunning, and bravery with the kidnapping, drugging, and subsequent escape, by starting the book just as Miles finishes his long escape and is rescued.

In Ivan's words, I wonder what the old Miles would have said?

Overall I would have rated this book at four stars, but for the end. It is impeccable, simple, elegant and painful as a scalpel, and worthy of 20 stars. I am curious as to whether it will receive a Hugo nomination.

I highly recommend this book for Miles fans but suggest, for newcomers, reading the rest of the series first, starting with Shards of Honor (or the omnibus, Cordelia's Honor (Vorkosigan Saga Omnibus: Shards of Honor / Barrayar)) to absorb the full impact of the ending drabbles. This is the most moving book I have read in years.

Like many people I've been eagerly awaiting my next exposure to the over-achieving, hero (and I don't use the term lightly) Miles. Bujold has written her usual tightly crafted story, and while I wish it were longer, I was drawn in and enjoyed it. Her ending reminded me that life never quite works out as we like and all to often, the relaxed highs are followed by desperate lows and we should cherish each moment and the people around us every day for everything ends. I am not usually affected on a emotional level by books, but this one got to me. Get it, read it and enjoy it. Hopefully Miles and company will be back to liven up our spare time soon and often.

This is a great book. I loved the fact the story was told from different points of view. A lot of funny moments. I sort of expected the event that happened at the end of the book. The author hinted to it during one of her interviews. The only down side is that now i have to wait for the next one.

There are sagas that go on and on and on, and nobody wants them to end. I never want the Vorkosigan saga to end, but if it has, it has ended beautifully and heart-wrenchingly here. All my respect and adulation to the author.

Miles Vorkosigan is back, and that's always a good thing. Here the interest is divided between Miles and a YA hero, which is not such a good thing--a responsible Miles is perhaps less interesting than Miles the dispossessed young terror, but the kid doesn't take his place.

However, CRYOBURN develops into an exciting read, with a fascinating premise and a touching ending that leaves the future of the series wide open. What will Bujold do with Miles next?

Get the hardcover with the included CD, which has ALL the previous Miles Vorkosigan novels in e-readable format and lots of extra goodies.

I titled this review EERIE because at every point of Miles' journey as chronicled by LMB I have found strange congruences to my own experiences.

I won't go into those congruences here, but if you have followed Miles then you know that this installment is inevitable. After all, consider the Warrior's Apprentice: what sets Miles on his initital journey is the death of this larger-than-life figure, Piotr Vorkosidan. LMB's descritpion of Piotr's passing has as much to do with his son as his grandson. From father to son, the Vorkosigan legacy continues. So is it any surprise really that this father -figure's deth will?

Residents of the planet Kibou-daini believe strongly in putting off death preferably forever. At the direction of Barrayaran Emperor Gregor to investigate the planet's cryo-corporations, Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan arrives on the planet to attend a cryonics conference. However, he is a few days on the orb when someone drugs the interplanetary diplomat. Miles escapes from his wannabe kidnappers, but his mind is hazy from whatever was given to him.

Jin Sato rescues a dazed Miles. Jin's mother led a cryo reform movement until she was declared incompetent and frozen. Living amidst the impoverish masses, Jin runs a cline for the poor. As Miles learns about the cryo war over heirs and inheritance, he begins to meet the natives inside and outside of frozen coffins.

This is a great addition to the Vorkosigan diplomatic science fiction thrillers. Following regal orders, the hero investigates a convoluted series of events that appear only loosely tied by a cryo theme. Vorkosigan finally connects the dots only leading to greater peril; by those who do not want to come in from the cold. Simply put, Cryoburn is a timely super entry as the Imperial Auditor uncovers the stunning truth and he also learns Diplomatic Immunity will not keep him alive.

Harriet Klausner

I read this book when it was first published. It would have been an OK read if it had been written by any other author. Given this author and the other books in the series, my expectations were high. The magic wasn't there. It was hard to even finish reading it.

This installment in the Vorkosigan universe was more along the lines of earlier entries. Less romance, not a great deal of danger, but a number of good involving mysteries to keep the story moving along nicely. Well written, as always. The opening is a textbook example of how to immediately hook your reader.

Good Stuff!

Let me start this review by saying that if you have already read the book, and you think it's great, then more power to you, and God bless.

If you haven't read the book yet, then let me suggest you get it from the library before you decide whether or not to buy a copy.

Like almost everyone who's familiar with Ms. Bujold's work, I am a fan. I love her Sharing Knife series, and the whole series of books on and about Barrayar. Her books are more than just entertaining; they are beautifully smart, stretching ideas you already have, and introducing ideas you never imagined. She almost always succeeds in giving her readers the things we hope for most from science fiction.

Unfortunately, this book falls well below her best. The plot - to me - is very dull. Miles is sent to investigate what amounts to a case of corporate greed. The corporations are all involved in cryogenics. Add it all together and what you get is big business, greed, and lots of dead people. Lots, and lots, and lots of dead people. Literally acres of dead people. Yes, there are the typical Milesian antics, but it's still dull, and dry. Ms Bujold brings in kids in an attempt to up the emotional ante, but it doesn't really help. None of the other characters seem real.

And worse of all, is the subtext, which is a sort of gray, and dismal despair. The author seems to be saying that no matter how hard we try, or how far science advances, death - true death - is inescapable, and inevitable. She does include a mention of a small group of the "superstitious" who allow themselves to just die rather than try to scrabble into cryogenics, but she doesn't even hint at what they hope for, or why they hope. The net result is a bleakness I've never seen in her work before.

Does this sound appealing to you? Corporate greed, inanimate corpses, hopelessness? Nope. Me neither.

Where's Ivan? Roic and the Consulate staff survive another bout of Milesian diplomacy(?) Mark and Kareen show up. Ties back to some of the other earlier adventures. Interesting ending on several levels. This could be the last of Mad Miles, and the beginning of a new more reasoned and seasoned Miles. Then again, several years of marriage and several children, haven't noticeably slowed him down.

Maybe we can get an Ingrey and Ijada team effort in the future.

This whole book functions as a method if getting us to read the last three words plus the "aftermath." Not being a skip-to-the-end type reader, I didn't know this and felt a little cheated.

As for the bulk of the story, the plot is overwrought, and doesn't hang together as well as Bujold's usually do. On top of that, the characters fall flat. Jin is the only exception to this, and I mean the only one. Even Miles feels a little two dimensional. We don't even get to meet any of his children. Nor do we see him working to balance his multiple roles as husband, father and imperial pain. Instead, he only does imperial pain, and weakly at that.

If you are a follower of the series, it is important to read those last three words. You can skip the rest though.

I thought I was the greatest Vorkosigan fan in the world until I read this one. I have to say that it lacks in many directions: wit, action, clear plot lines and believable characters to name just a few.
In order that I could be sure I hadn't missed something,I trudged through the whole book again. In particular, I found the author's ascription of adult-viewpoint thoughts and feelings to a child unsatisfying. If she really can't imagine/ remember what its like to be 11 and abandoned then maybe alternative characters could be developed. Suze was two dimensional and so was Raven. I think the two goons may have been the most believable from the point of view of: what will your characters do when they're stuck between a Roic and a hard place?
Miles had developed in the previous books to a person whose very being was embedded within his family/friends context and he's frankly not as interesting without his supporting cast (Ivan, Ekaterin, Illyan etc). Miles seems slightly smaller alone which is a sad contrast to the idea that he was always bigger than his body...
[SPOILER ALERT] Diehard fans all knew that Count Vorkosigan couldn't live forever but I'd have liked to see him again, too.....

I am a French fan of the Vorkosigan Saga, and I am addicted to reading them in English.

But right from the start, in Cryoburn, I could sense something utterly wrong. The magic had gone, left on Barrayar.

The author focuses her attention (and ours !) on the kids and their pets. Soooooooooooo boring. Miles solves the plot in a glimpse of an eye, the vilains are not even good at it...the other characters surrounding Miles have gone elsewhere (they must have known this was a poor book).

Let's make it straight.

Just read the last chapter and hope that Lois McMaster Bujold takes it seriously to write a better stuff than this dull story.

Eric

I have to say, as a long time Bujold fan and former LASFS librarian I am disappointed in her latest work Cryoburn. Not COMPLETELY disappointed, it does have its bright points which make it almost acceptable but falls far short of the quality that we've come to expect from Ms. Bujold. I won't place blame directly on her since we don't know the conditions she had to write this under, which could be time pressure from a publisher to life events going on that none know about. But to write something so `generic', which is the nicest word I can think of for this then end it the way she did has really lowered my respect for her work... And in a way, ripped my heart out... The only novel I can compare this to (IE- Not completely disappointing but close) would be Throne of Ringworld where the author himself Larry Niven could only say "I was under time pressure from the publisher..." without excusing himself at all.

Having read Ms. Bujold's works for over 20 years now, I've only ever had great to good things to say about her works. I won't spoil it for everyone by telling the story or the ending but I will say that she should've either left THAT ending out or gone farther with her "Aftermath's" and that her "drabbling" felt like a betrayal to some of us readers who have followed the Vorkosigan saga since before Miles' birth...

I will continue to read anything new she decides to put out in the series but A) this will probably be the last time I spend $25.00 for one of her books and B) she'd better follow it up a lot more quickly than normal with something stellar in the series or else she might find herself losing some of her followers...

Anybook, that upon completion I start over again is a well written story. Was it the best in the series? Who knows. The one thing I do know is that I did like revisting Raven Durona, I especially enjoyed that it was a nice long vist. :D

Bujold's greatest strength is her characters, and this book lacked the nuanced personalities that keep me coming back. Roic is about as layered as an episode of Dora the Explorer, so I'd like to less of him, not more. The embassy staff, the damsel du jour, and especially the villains... all of them sort of flat and totally forgettable.

Where are the Tauras, the Ellies, the Ivans, and for the love of cheese, the Gregors? I want more Gregor. I wish that the author would make more of an effort to include the tried-and-true characters, rather than sending Miles off on his own over and over again, to interact tepidly with disposable one-offs. The next book (assuming there is one-- I get the feeling she is quite bored with Miles) should take place at home. Maybe Illyan can be resurrected from scenery status.

I've been looking forward to this novel for months. I am very disappointed. The plot is weak and close to boring. The supporting characters, aside from one, are weak and uninteresting. I am very unhappy with the end of the novel. All the prior Vorkosigan novels are so alive, energetic, vibrant, I wonder what happened here.

Add another to Lois McMasters Bujold's lengthening list of entrancing works. The characters are as engaging as ever, the dry wit is just as keen, and the narrative is skillfully constructed.

No spoilers here, but I believe the ending of this volume portends yet another phase in Miles' saga. Will we see a new installment soon? I certainly hope so.

I've read nearly all of Bujold's books and enthusiastically recommend her as an author. This was interesting to a point but seemed to be kind of formulaic and rushed towards the end. If you skip this one, you won't miss much, but definitely read her other titles.

This book truly disappointed me. It semed like this book was hastily written with a mediocre plot line. While I was reading it I felt like Bujold was just in a hurry to get to the end of the book. If she's tired of writing this series, peraps she should just stop or kill Miles off. I read this book online for free. I am glad I didn't pay for it.

I love the Vorkosigan Saga, but this is the weakest book in the series and it is hard not to think that her publishers have not pushed her to meet the demands of her fans. The plot line is weak and not the suspenseful and clever reading that we have grown to love. Her main characters are drawn shallowly. The best writing is really the in the set of epilogues.

I feel that this has spoiled the series a little for me and am very disappointed.

This heavily padded, draggy novel might have passed muster as a novelet in the Vorkosigan series. The story finds Miles, visiting a foreign planet, discovering corporate dirty work (product failure, bribery, and political intrigue against Barrayan interests) and then - reporting it to the local authorities! Move on folks, no terrifying doomsday crisis here! The padding could have been lessened if the author had checked her impulse to bring out to the remote scene every character who ever played (and survived) a prominent part in any previous Miles story. First-time readers will not know who these people are, and are given little reason in this book to care.

Cryoburn (2010) is the fourteenth SF novel in the Vorkosigan series, following Diplomatic Immunity. The initial volume in this series is Shards of Honor.

In the previous novel, Miles and Ekaterin were returning to Barrayar from their honeymoon. Miles was enjoying the baby pictures when their ship captain interrupted with a message. A Barrayaran Imperial courier was overtaking them with a data disk for him.

The disk carried a message from the Emperor. A Komarran trade fleet and its escorts had been impounded at Graf Station. The quaddies were rather upset by a murder and an invasion of the station by Barrayaran ship security.

Miles was the nearest Imperial Auditor to the station. Miles, Ekaterin and Roic transferred to the courier while the rest of his party went to Barrayar. Ekaterin wondered why he was taking her and Miles said that she calmed him.

The situation at Graf Station was a real mess. Solian was missing and presumed dead due to the quantity of blood left behind. Corbeau was accused of desertion and kept in protective custody by Graf Station Security. Several security troopers were also in custody on the station for trying to arrest Corbeau.

Brun saw enemies behind all these events. Vorpatril tended to agree with Brun. Miles saw incompetence and prejudice in the Barrayarans involved in the incident.

In this novel, Miles Vorkosigan is an Imperial Auditor in the service of Emperor Gregor of Barrayar. He is married to Ekaterin and they have four children. Miles is also the heir of his father the Count.

Roic is an Armsman in Mile's service. As such, he is primarily a bodyguard, but also performs other duties.

Jin Sato is an eleven year old boy. He has run away from home with his pets.

In this story, Miles is visiting the planet of Kibou-daim for a conference on Cryonics. Roic is so bored that he is having trouble staying awake. He is starting to believe the rumor that Lady Ekaterin and the empress have cooked up this job to get his master off planet.

Then Miles disappears one day and won't talk about it until back in the hotel room. After setting up the previously unused bug jammer, Miles mentions that someone has tried to bribe him. Apparently this break is important to his master.

Then an anti-cryogenics organization takes several hostages in the hotel. Roic practically throws some conventioneers into the elevator and tells them to flee. But he is captured and taken away.

The group has also captured Miles, but they use a soporific spray to which he is allergic. He becomes manic and escapes his abductors. But now he is lost in the cryo-storage tunnels under the city.

After walking in the dark for hours and perceiving visions of falling angels, Miles finally wanders into the streets. He sees two creatures coming toward him, one a beaded lizard and the other a butterbug. The butterbug warns the lizard not to talk to him and they depart the area.

Although other living things seem transformed, inanimate objects remain the same. Miles sits on the ground and falls asleep. Later, the lizard comes back and offers him a place to stay.

After another long sleep, Miles finds himself on top of an abandoned cryogenic facility. Back into his human visage, Jin introduces Miles to the woman leading the community. Miles sends Jin to the Barrayaran consulate with a note.

This tale leads Miles into much more that he expected. He had come to the conference to learn more about a cryogenics company building a facility on Komarr. Now he finds another, much more complicated plot.

It has been eight years since the last Vorkosigan adventure and it may be just as long until the next. Meanwhile, the author has been writing other works, such as the Chalion and Sharing Knife series. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Bujold fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of interstellar adventure, political intrigue, and clever investigators.

-Arthur W. Jordin

I bought an early ARC from the publisher because I so badly wanted to read this book. And I love all of these books. I've reread them at least ten times. But this one was terrible. My real sense was that she had actually lost the characters.

Lightweight, and unable to carry the weight of the epilogue.

After reading Diplomatic Immunity, and Mirror Dance, as well as Paladin of Souls, it's clear that Bujold is struggling with her own sense of her own mortality--and not in a way that's to the advantage of the Vorkosigan series.

Two stars, instead of none, because Bujold is incapable of writing an uninvolving book.