I want to be Cordelia Vorkosigan when I grow up...: I'm probably an aberration among Vorkosigan fans, but I very much prefer the books that focus on the characters as adults, rather than the hyperactive young Miles. Shards of Honor, Barrayar, Memory, Komarr, A Civil Campaign and now Diplomatic Immunity have characters that solve their problems with grace and intelligence, rather than relying on the sheer adrenaline of Miles on the road with the Dendarii mercenaries.

Diplomatic Immunity has the feel of an ending of sorts for the series. We see the Quaddies as a mature and developed culture, rich with the arts and sciences, Bel as settled and happy, rather than the hopeless crush it held for Miles for so long, and Miles himself as focused on solving the problem, without the desire to escape from himself. Even the Cetagandan Haut are more approachable and human.

I would dearly enjoy more Vorkosigan series, but this book leaves me satisfied to know that the characters I've followed for so long are in a good place for the moment.

And if another book is in the works, I'd like more Cordelia stories, please! There have been hints of the family's adventures during the Regency, and she was clearly instrumental in the transformation of Barrayan culture, so that I'd love to know what happened in the missing years.

Least interesting of Bujold's novels I've read yet. The Miles Vorkosigan series started going down after Mirror Dance - I only liked Civil Campaign because of Mark, and he wasn't in this one. No decent supporting characters at all, actually.It was just basically a science fiction space procedural mystery - not my favourite kind of mystery at all. I like her books for the characters, not the threats to the galaxy. No character development, just Miles being his superheroic ultracompentant self. I don't like characters who are that improbably skilled. ( )

A fun, sometimes funny, military science fiction. Good character development and, even though it's part of a long-ish series, the story presented in this book is resolved within this book - not always the case in some sci-fi series.

Although enjoyable - I liked seeing Miles as an adult married man - this book suffers from Miles not being as sharp as usual. I still can't believe that I worked out the key plot point long, long before Miles did... ( )

Miles and Ekaterina are returning from their honeymoon when the Imperial Auditor’s presence is required to figure out a mess on Graf Station in Quaddiespace. Miles’ adventures are turning into mystery/ space opera/ political intrigue as he has to figure out who did what and why and before everything blows up in his face. In this book he has Bel Thorne, a former Dendarii Mercenary, to back him up and Cetagandan replicators and a crazy Cetagandan holding everybody hostage and threatening everyone with a nasty poison that, oh by the way, Miles managed to get himself infected with. But Miles and Ekaterin have twin babies to take out of replicators back on Barrayar. How many more years before the next book? Miles’ new wife Ekaterin says this to him:
"If you die out here, I will not be grieved, I will be pissed. You’re the man who used to rescue hostages for a living. You are not allowed to not get out of this one. Are you listening to me, Miles Vorkosigan? Don’t you dare die! I won’t have it!" ( )

The first Miles Vorkosigan book that really showcases him as a proper grown-up, a responsible, married career man. And shocking, Bujold actually manages to sell me on it: Miles has truly changed over the course of the books.

Mind you, in some ways it's also a call back to the early books, with an emphasis on forward motion, madcap adventure and getting in over your head; Miles' adventure ends here with a tense spaceship stand-off and a quixotic pilot that parallels the start of his first adventure - while being entirely different in every way.

A lot of people aren't fond of this book, compared to the others in the series. It was the first I read, and sold me on it. But it is quite different from any of the others - a consequence, I think, of being grown-up. It also calls back to a lot of characters and plot points from previous books, but I came into it cold with no difficulty at all. ( )

Much appreciated after some of us thought we'd seen the last of Miles.

This is something of a natural ending for Miles, for the Vorkosigan Saga as a whole. Miles ends up where his parents started the saga, shifting from crazed space Merc to Imperial troubleshoter to doting father.

Another reviewer expressed a wish for an 'Ivan' book. Yes, I think I agree. We saw in 'Civil Campaign' how limited Ivan's luck-in-love was, but I figure there's only one Woman for Ivan. And he'll find her again when ImpSec wants a native Barryaran liasion wiht the Dendarri. ( )

http://www.amazon.com/review/R14DMQDM... ( )

Sample Chapters: http://webscriptions.net/chapters/074...

I like the new Miles. This book goes back to action after the politics/romance of her last full Vorkosigan book, but Miles is not quite as crazy as he used to be. Nice to see him more personally settled while continuing to kick ass. ( )

A solid Vorkosigan book, but not quite as good as others in the series. Miles wasn't in over his head nearly enough. ( )

http://www.leftfield.org/~rawdon/book... ( )

The authurs SF and Fantasy stories move at a cracking pace and the plots are people driven.I have read that she tries to imagines the situation that her hero would find the most difficult to cope with an puts him in it.
She has generally a fluid writing style with a nice line in bon mottes.
On the down side she has a tendency to continuity errors not that I noticed any in this book. It was not however all that good. To much background from other books in that universe was needed, the major characters did not seem to really suffer the way they used to.
not The one to start with.Try "Shards of Honor" or "A Civil Campaign"
two very diffent books set in the same universe ( )

The latest Miles book and from the look of it the last. Oh how we want an Ivan book!! ( )

Re-read, Miles is always enjoyable. Last book in this particular series so far. ( )

Bujold is good as always, but I'm left with the feeling that half the book is missing. A lot of action takes place that could have made this book better, but are instead retold in half a chapter. ( )

(Amy) The latest installment in the Miles books, this one is perhaps not entirely up to the standard of some of its forerunners. The lack of subsequent Miles books might mean Bujold is done telling this story (or at least is taking a good long break), or it might mean she agrees that it wasn't quite as good as the earlier ones and hasn't figured out what to do about that yet. It is, after all, rather more difficult to tell compelling stories about a happily married man living a contented life at home than about an angsty, bitter man roaming about the galaxy - however much more pleasant it would be to be the former, the latter is more fun to hear about.