Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen

My god, it's full of fan service. I don't even think it has a plot, but you aren't reading this for plot. Go read one of the earlier arcs of Vorkosigan for plot. This, my friends, is all about putting die hard Vorkosigan fans and die hard Cordelia people 100% into their feels and as such, it succeeds. I have been reducing to giggling "faaaaan service" so hey, thanks. :) Note: this is based on an eARC. ( )

It's three years after the death of Aral Vorkosigan, and Cordelia, having spent those years grieving and serving solo as the Vicereine of Sergyar is starting to work out plans for the next stage in her life. Those plans include eggs and sperm she and Aral had frozen many years ago, when they did not yet know that Miles would be damaged in utero in ways that would make the existence of any other sons a threat to him.

But Cordelia always wanted a large family, the many children she could never have had on Beta Colony. Now, Miles is in his forties, the unquestioned Count Vorkosigan, and if she has only daughters, by Barrayaran law they will be only hers. And Aral's will made it unambiguously clear and certain that disposal of both sets of gametes, his sperm and her eggs, was entirely hers.

While she's juggling her duties in her last year as Vicereine and her preparations for being a mother again, something else is going on. Admiral Oliver Jole, the commanding officer on the military side at Sergyar, is interested. And she, Jole, and Aral have a history that few people know about.

In past novels, we've often not seen enough of Cordelia. This story is all hers, and everyone else, including Miles, just has to try to keep up.

Miles himself is now in his forties, a father of six, and increasingly having to deal with the combined effects of the in utero damage and his extremely active ImpSec career.

Cordelia, Jole, Miles, and others (including an aide of Jole's and a cultural attache from the Cetagandan consulate) all grow and develop in interesting and enjoyable ways, while facing challenges that I will leave readers to discover for themselves. This book doesn't have the breakneck speed and juggling of multiple life--or-death crises of one of Miles' adventures, but it's exciting, engaging, and absorbing in its own, quieter way.

Recommended. ( )

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen is from the point of view of Admiral Oliver Jole, who was Aral Vorkosigan's aide-de-camp, and one-time lover (yes, Aral and Cordelia's marriage had room for others). Following Aral's death, Cordelia has retrieved the gametes she and Aral deposited many years ago, and has created 6 daughters (to avoid complications for Miles who is now Count Vorkosigan). She is left with some enucleated eggs, and offers them to Oliver Jole along with some of Aral's sperm with a view that Oliver can create Aral's sons with himself. (With galactic technology, this is perfectly feasible.)

The book details this and Oliver's and Cordelia's developing relationship. Although they were happy enough in their menage-à-trois, following Aral's death, Cordelia retreated from the relationship, missing Aral badly. Now time has blunted the immediacy of her grief, she is opening up again, and the daughters are a way of marking this along with her intention to retire as vicereine of Sergyar.

It's difficult for me to review this book because there are a lot of things I wanted it to do that it didn't do. I wanted to see Vorinnis's relationship developing, I wanted to see something a little more threatening than soccer hooligans and dangerous insects, I wanted to see Cordelia learning to parent a child who wasn't fragile, I wanted to see Jole adjusting to a private life. I enjoyed what was there! I love Cordelia, and all the character scenes were wonderfully written! I just couldn't help feel like this book was more of a reward to Cordelia, who more than deserves the opportunity to quietly pursue her happiness, than a complete novel of the level I expect from Bujold.

The story takes place on Sergyar, featuring Cordelia and Oliver Jole.

I misread the blurb on the fly-leaf of the cover and was expecting much more action and intrigue. That is one reason I didn't love this story. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it never did. The other, is that while I do like small doses of Cordelia's practical nature, this felt more like a lecture on alternate lifestyles. While I don't mind a subject in a book having an alternate life style, it hasn't bothered me in any of the other books, somehow this felt pushy.

That being said, I enjoyed the setting of Sergyar, the view into Miles' family, the development of Jole. It didn't hurt my enjoyment any that I envisioned Peter O'Toole in the role of Jole, and Katherine Hepburn as Cordelia. I realize my images are all out of date, but then, so am I, and so I had eye candy going on if nothing else.

I missed the crazy, breathless action of the earlier books. It may be time for this series to end, at least for me. I can always start again from the beginning. ( )