Cetaganda

Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold continues the Vorkosigan saga. This book follows the adventures of Miles and his cousin, Ivan as they travel as diplomatic representatives to the Empire of Cetaganda for the funeral of the Empress. Upon their arrival it quickly becomes apparent that their 10 day trip of social observation and parties is giving way to a murder mystery. Miles quickly decides he must investigate, and as he does so he uncovers a treason plot that threatens to implicate Barrayar.

I like the fact that Miles is far from perfect, at times his motives are selfish and driven by his own desire to be recognized and he appears to think no one but himself is capable of doing the job. He has been criticised previously for his wish to show more go his own way and not follow orders and once again he is up to his old tricks of striking out on his own. The addition of his cousin Ivan was a nice touch, he makes a good foil for Miles, being less serious, less introspective but always there for Miles when he needs him. Humor plays a large part and the practical joke played on Ivan during his pursuit of a couple of extremely attractive women was quite hilarious.

I loved the world building in this book. The Empire of Cetaganda is a mysterious, multi-layered and very planned society. Their philosophy and culture is interesting, their strict rules and limited social hierarchy of Ba, Ghem and Haut along with their preoccupation with genetic perfection was used flawlessly to enhance the plot.

As the mystery is revealed, it involves the highest echelons of the Empires’ society and although Miles has saved Barrayar’s honor and managed to unravel the political intrigue at the very heart of the empire, it is decided that although he has the gratitude of Cetaganda, this episode should remain a secret. Once again Miles is the hero of the hour but, also once again, his deeds will not be recognized publicly. show less

I am a big fan of Bujold's writing in general and just about everything in the Vorkosigan series in particular, and I recently picked up a few of the books I had previously missed in this series at one of our local used book stores. Before reading the new-to-me books, I thought it would be helpful to go back and revisit several of the earlier novels in the series.

Upon a reread, this one strikes me as perhaps the weakest novel in the series. The Cetagandan society didn't felt plausible to me, the actions of key Cetagandan characters didn't feel convincing to me, the amorous adventures and aspirations of Miles and Ivan felt ridiculous to me, and the climax and denouement felt contrived to me.

Given the many positive ratings and reviews, I show more seem to be in the minority in this response. show less

Miles is off to a state funeral on Cetaganda, the generational enemy of Barrayar, but this being a Bujold book, nothing can be easy. He and his cousin Ivan arrive only to find themselves patsies in an epic Cetaganda treason; one which if it succeeds, will see war spill across the galaxy. As usual, it's up to Miles to discover the truth and set things right in the midst of murders, conspiracy, and war.

Bujold knows how to tell a story and keep the plot tense, but by far the most interesting character in this story is Cetagandan society itself. Though it has the trappings of Imperial China, it is actually an immense post-human genetic experiment, with power delicately balanced between genomic breeder matriarchs, the political-cultural show more contests of the Emperor, and the ghem-Lords who hold the guns. It's a unique and imaginative culture, and while I have no idea how it could evolve, it's plausible enough.

That said, these books are starting to fall into a pattern. Not that patterns are bad, and there are only a handful of major plots, but I'm looking for Bujold to mix it up in the next one. Maybe Miles will get credit for saving the day, maybe he'll be on the attack instead of the defensive, maybe he'll totally fuck it up. Still fun, still reading. show less

Summary: The Cetagandan Empire may be Barrayar's main military rival, but when the Cetagandan Empress dies, political niceties must still be maintained. In this case, the young officer Miles Vorkosigan, son of the Barrayaran Prime Minister, and his cousin Ivan are sent to Cetaganda to attend the galactic funeral proceedings. However, they've barely made it off their spaceship -- and haven't, to their knowledge, offended anyone yet -- when they're attacked by a servant of the late empress… The same servant who is later found in the middle of the mourning procession with his throat cut.

Miles and Ivan are torn about how to report this incident, and to whom, and puzzled as to how they've acquired such obviously powerful enemies so show more quickly. Also puzzling is the mysterious object left behind: a seemingly inert rod bearing the seal of the Star Crèche -- the elite genetic repository for the Cetagandan upper class. The Cetagandan aristocracy is rigidly stratified, with the Ghem Lords in charge of the military, and the Haut Lords ruling the Ghem. The Haut exist in such luxury and seclusion that Haut Ladies travel everywhere inside opaque force-field bubbles, seen in the flesh by no one outside the Haut.

With that social system in mind, Miles is shocked when a Haut Lady corners him to demand the return of the missing object. But given that he still doesn't know why he and Ivan were attacked in the first place, Miles is unsure whom to trust, even as he uncovers a plot that could shatter the very foundations of the Cetagandan Empire.

Review: The more I listen, the more I realize that the Vorkosigan Saga books come in several distinct types, and Cetaganda has confirmed that I prefer the books that are centered around a mystery more than the books that focus heavily on military strategy. Sleuthing beats spacefights, at least on my own personal scale. Cetaganda takes place almost entirely planet-side, and it's got a good and delicious mystery at its core. It's well paced, with each fresh revelation only leading to a deeper mystery, so that you're left feeling satisfied yet intrigued throughout. Clues are sprinkled around, although some of the more important ones are subtle enough that they can zip right past and be gone if you're not listening closely.

While Lois McMaster Bujold's familiar themes of identity and what makes a person who they are continue to be developed throughout the book, what I found the most interesting thematically was the development of the Cetagandan caste system and the relative role of gender. Bujold has built a society that takes traditional gender roles and power structures and gives them a new twist, taking them to their extremes in a way I've not seen before. The world of the unapproachable Haut Ladies actually makes a very interesting counterpoint to the all-male society of Ethan of Athos, which is the next book in the series' internal chronology.

This book also had a very interesting play on the political boundaries of the Barrayaran Empire. Barrayar and Cetaganda, while not (currently) active enemies, are tense rivals at best, and Miles finds himself in a position where he can choose to save the Cetagandan power base from falling into disarray. The ending of the book hints at the broader political implications of his choices, but I thought they could have been expanded upon more than they were.

The audio production was seamlessly enjoyable; Gardner's slightly sarcastic voice is a great fit both for Miles's character and for Bujold's dry wit. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Miles's background is less important to Cetaganda than it is to some of the other mid-series Vorkosigan novels, so it could ostensibly be read on its own. However, it's a lot richer for knowing more about the rest of the Galactic worlds, to better bring Cetagandan society into contrast. show less

Cetaganda is another exciting installment of the Hugo-award winning adventures of Miles Vorkosigan. It deals with genetic cloning,stark political realities, and snarky characters (cough cough *Ivan*).

Miles Vorokosigan (as well as his cousin Ivan) are on a diplomatic mission to represent their home planet at the funeral of the dowager empress of the Cetaganda empire when an encounter with an assailant leaves him with a piece of computer software. This proves to be a bogus duplicate of a key to the Cetagandan genome, which each new empress manipulates to produce offspring. With the help of a member of Cetaganda's matriarchal ruling haut, Miles and his cousin Ivan dodge inventive assassination attempts to determine which of the empire's show more eight governors has tried to pin this "theft" on them in the hope of usurping control of the genome.

Bujold addresses, as always, timeless issues of human identity through the personal dramas of her characters and asks big questions about the nature of genetic destiny. Bujold does magical things with worldbuilding here - focusing solely on the world of Cetaganda (she truly made this world feel otherworldly). As usual, the characterization is sharp. Miles is forced to play detective in an alien culture and his own shortcomings both his personality and physical nature appear to be his foil. And Ivan, of course, is too busy with the noble females which is not only a diplomatic no-no but helps to blindside the investigation.

This might not be my favorite in the series but it is still quite enjoyable! show less

Miles has grown into his role in this entry in the Vorkosigan series. The Cetagandans are an intriguing society and their obsession with their genetics is something that I can easily imagine growing out of our current Earth culture. Bujold does an amazing job of presenting this possible future while leaving the question of whether it is a desirable one for the reader to decide. Of course, Cetaganda is an enemy of our hero's home world of Barrayar, so there's a nudge to dislike it, but it is also a powerful and complex Empire, which demonstrates its success.

As the first Miles book following on from the events of The Vor Game (in the largely chronological order I'm using), it is honestly a bit of a disappointment. Of the five books I've read so far, it's the first that doesn't feel like it moves the story forward in some kind of way, the first to not really tell me anything about its central character I don't already know. Miles and Ivan go to the planet Cetaganda, and of course find themselves embroiled in political subterfuge, plus also investigating a murder. It's fun enough, but I didn't feel like it had a strong thematic or character spine undergirding it, nothing was holding it together other than the political plot—and honestly I don't really care about the political disposition of show more Cetaganda, even if it does hypothetically mean war with Barryar.

So far, the Vorkosigan books are often at their best when considering cultural clashes, but I got little sense of that in this book even though it ought to be rife with it; in the rigid, ossified, stratified society of Cetaganda, one might think Miles could see a mirror to his own society. (And indeed, the cover implies such an image.) But I did not see such a thing really presented in the actual book.

Of course, it's a Vorkosigan book by Bujold, so it has good action, fun jokes, nice moments of characterization, and all comes together well. But it's the first book in the series that has felt disposable, that hasn't felt like a story that needed to be told. One knows she could do more. show less