The Flowers of Vashnoi: Vorkosigan Saga

It was nice to get Ekatarin's voice again, and in something that was local for the Vorkosigans. No high drama, gotta-save-a-world, a smaller challenge met, wrestling with the best outcome possible.
The lack of deep politics was restful

Once we got to hear more of Ekaterin's voice, it was a calm and constructive one. I liked seeing more of Enrique as well, obviously more settled with a good partner, good work, and the responsibility for financial affairs off his plate.

All in all, a nice story about trying to make a garden out of radioactive land, how long it can take to make social change stick, and what the Vorkosigans have been beavering away with over the years with their people.

One slight issue I found with the story was that the necessary infodump to introduce the characters in this short story seemed a lot clunkier than LMB's usual style. And it took a long time to feel like I was hearing Ekaterin's "voice".

I did like the riff on the Baba Yaga tale, the way this story complements Mountains of Mourning a generation later, that Ekaterin apparently has the same capacity for carrying out rescues as Miles, and Miles himself is not so hypocritical to berate Ekaterin for taking the kind of risks that he routinely does.

All the characters in the Vorkosigan Saga are great. Having supporting characters become the main protagonist in their own stories is genius. The recent novels with Ivan and Cordelia as the focus is most satisfying, and Ekatarin's in The Flowers of Vashnoi is too. Thank you Ms Bujold

I love the Vorkosigan stories. No one can bring to life a character quite like Lois McMaster Bujold. We see their inspirations and the demons; their heroic triumphs and triumphant failures and we love them through it all. My only complaint about this book is the same as my complaint for them all...too short!

Literally anything Lois McMaster Bujold writes will be awesome and you will never ever regret spending any money or time on anything she's done....and that holds true for ANY of her books (p.s. Grover Gardner's audiobook performances are top 10% as well).

Lois McMaster Bujold has been my favorite author for over 20 years and her latest is as great as the first. So fun to see Miles and his young family again. I hope she writes many many more from these years. I never imagined I could become so attached to any characters. Every few years I read the entire series again.

A delightful return to the Vorkosigans, as Miles' aura is felt on Ekaterin's adventure. Plenty of moments of good humor as she reflects on Barrayaran life with the fond familiarity of an outsider - - a feeling shared by those of us who have previously and eagerly devoured the series.

Great to read Bujold again, interesting follow on to "In the Mountains of Mourning". Kindle what is your major malfunction, numbneck requiring a min number of words? Seriously, wouldn't pay for an account with you, period.

Finnaly back in the Vorkosiuniverse... As much as I love Penric, and as much as I want a new novel about Cazaril, this od what I needed more than anything else. I know its hard but please Mrs. Bujold, give us more Vorkosiuniverse novels. This one is great!

Reminds me of the much earlier Mountains of Mourning but Bujold has gotten better and the characters have more depth. Ekaterina is a great viewpoint character - I actually enjoyed her more than Miles.

As always Lois McMaster Bujold has written an excellent story, BUT! this is just a short story adding some new directions for Miles Vorcosigan's wife Katatrina. It expands the efforts to grow new bugs, (butter bugs early story) new species which eat radiation debris vegetation and excreats radioactive pure metals and deficates fertilizer. The area of radioactive waste which was poisoned by the Cetagandans 80 years prior includes 140 square miles of the Vorcosigan family estates is the area where a test of the new "bugs"is being monitored by Katatrina and her employee who designs the new bugs. The test plot started with 200 "bugs" and they work very well but only about 90 bugs are left. Cameras placed around the plot leads to the descovery of a small non nuclear family living in the proscribed radioactive area for up to 30 years. I gave this only OK rating since I feel it should have been at least a novella for the price and a full novel with an ending or sequels.

Placed some time (two years?) after Captain Vorpatril's Alliance (originally known as "Ivan - The Book"), this story clears up a few of the questions about the area of Vorkosigan Vashnoi and it's surrounding area, ravaged by Cetagandan nuclear weapons near the end of the occupation.

Unlike most of the Vorkosigan stories, this is not a very standalone story. You really need to be acquainted with background. And I highly recommend that acquaintance.

Oh, we get to catch up on Enrique and the butterbugs too.

For those Miles addicts, he is here too, and Lois intelligently gets him out of the story before he takes over.

Sit back somewhere comfortable and enjoy - we're going back to Barrayar.

I love her books and I love the series. If this were the first chapters of a longer book, it would make for great reading. But as it is, there's no plot or character development. I was honestly astonished when I came to the end of the story. I assumed at first I somehow was missing the rest of it.

Yes this is a short story, but Lois Bujold writes beautiful short stories! This one had me grinning, snorting, and chuckling. Miles is back, full of wit and despite his age and physical problems, he's still involved. It was wonderful seeing his interaction with his wife beyond their shared job of raising kids. He didn't want her to risk her life but supported her anyway.

There were gruesome aspects in here of infant mortality. Radiation sickness. Betrayal of a loyal ranger but a nice about face when Miles took that ranger's service into his own hands. Miles the environmentalist. The visionary. Yes he owns valuable land but also wants it restored because it means so much to his people. . . . . And. . ..We can blame it all on butter bugs. Yup. Excellent story and highly recommended. - Dan's Wife
Post Note: This is NOT a stand alone book! Nope!

A compact story with everything you need; a bit of mystery, compelling characterization, and some interesting science fiction. I always love opportunities like these where the world of the Vorkosigan Saga is fleshed out a bit from a different perspective.

So wonderful to have another Vorkosigan book, however short. I loved that Ekaterin was the primary character in this one. Plus it fleshed out the mutant-children-abandoned theme of the early books when Barrayar was very violently anti-mutant. Very well-written, of course, as Bujold always does it.

A new Vorkosigan-verse novella! Yes, Miles is in this book but it is his wife Ekaterin's story.

Remember the Barrayar city atomic-bombed by the Cetagandans during one of the wars? Vashnoi is this world's Hiroshima. Turns out that Vashnoi was in the Vorkosigan District. So, it is up to Miles (as Count) to clean up the long-term radiation and restore the city, both for local residents and for the overall good of his District.

Remember Mark Vorkosigan's butterbugs? (How could you forget, after all!) Now after some genetic manipulation, the new bugs are called "radbugs" because they help remove radiation from the environment. (Yes, they literally "eat" it!)

Ekaterin, remember, is a gardener and hopes someday to design new flowers for the Vashnoi area. First, she worked with the scientist behind creating the original butterbugs to develop this radbug strain. (OK, the scientist did most of the work but she had some design input.)

So, a lot is riding on the first experimental plot in the contaminated area!

Really enjoyed Ekaterin as main protagonist and wouldn't mind seeing another story featuring her!

Highly recommended!

Expect Bujold's usual sparce, evocative language. The story seemed almost too short for the ideas, there were several players and some were only sketched in lightly. A look at human persistence, the realities of radiation damaged land and people, long borders and who watches the watchers.

An excellent and many layered story in the best tradition of the Vorkosigan Saga. Lady Ekaterin Vorkosigan’s adventure involves a number of old and new characters. Many types of flowers are nurtured and not just the botanical ones.

If you haven't been following the Barryar/Miles Vorkosigan stories, you should back up, at least, four books. Still, it kinda explains it'self as you go along but in a slightly Fast-forward manner. Dunno if it's because Ms Bujold is working on other things, or not... but, sadly, it was shorter than her others. It DOES open interesting possibilities for future stories... We'll see, eh?

The headline rather says it all. When I saw a new Vorkosidan title I was ecstatic. It is, sadly, very much a novella, not a full length novel, think one of the component shorts such as Mountains of Mourning or Borders of Infinity, rather than Mirror Dance or Memories. While I might wish for more,the author has done her usually superior craftsmanship in telling just this tale and not dragging it out.

I loved this novella featuring Lady Ekaterin Vorkosigan, with Dr Enrique Borgos as side-kick. I love strong, intelligent women characters, which Bujold excels at writing. She also excels in strong plots and logic. I have all the audios of her books and have been acquiring any missing ebooks she has written. I’m always amazed at how much I underline because she makes so many good points.
Yes, I feel they are worth the time and money and I can recommend all her books, wholeheartedly.