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Cryoburn (Miles Vorsokigan Book 14) Kindle Edition
Kibou-daini is a planet obsessed with cheating death. Barrayaran Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan can hardly disapprove—he’s been cheating death his whole life, on the theory that turnabout is fair play. But when a Kibou-daini cryocorp—an immortal company whose job it is to shepherd its all-too-mortal frozen patrons into an unknown future—attempts to expand its franchise into the Barrayaran Empire, Emperor Gregor dispatches his top troubleshooter Miles to check it out.
On Kibou-daini, Miles discovers generational conflict over money and resources is heating up, even as refugees displaced in time skew the meaning of generation past repair. Here he finds a young boy with a passion for pets and a dangerous secret, a Snow White trapped in an icy coffin who burns to re-write her own tale, and a mysterious crone who is the very embodiment of the warning Don’t mess with the secretary. Bribery, corruption, conspiracy, kidnapping—something is rotten on Kibou-daini, and it isn’t due to power outages in the Cryocombs. And Miles is in the middle—of trouble!
At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).
“Fresh, intriguing, and, as always with Lois McMaster Bujold, superb.” —Robert Jordan
“It is such a delight to read something by such a good writer, who now seems to be writing at the height of her powers. . . . I really have seldom enjoyed a book so much . . . I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.” —Diana Wynne Jones
“Living breathing characters who inhabit unusual yet believable worlds.” —Jean Auel
“Bujold successfully mixes quirky humor with just enough action, a dab of feminist social commentary and her usual superb character development . . . enormously satisfying.” —Publishers Weekly
“One of sf’s outstanding talents . . . an outstanding series.” —Booklist
“Excellently done . . . Bujold has always excelled at creating forceful characters and she does it here again.” —Denver Post
“. . . an intelligent, well-crafted and thoroughly satisfying blend of adventure, sociopolitical commentary, scientific experiments, and occasional perils . . . with that extra spicing of romance. . . .” —Locus
Lois McMaster Bujold burst upon the science fiction world in 1986 with the first of the Vorkosigan Saga novels, Shards of Honor, closely followed by The Warrior's Apprentice, which introduced Miles Vorkosigan, the hyperkinetic military genius with bones of glass. She has won an unprecedented four Hugo Awards for works in the Vorkosigan Saga. Bujold has published sixteen novels to date, all but one with Baen Books. The mother of two, Bujold lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateDecember 12, 2013
- File size732 KB
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
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Review
"Excellently done...Bujold has always excelled at creating forceful characters and she does it here again."
-- "Denver Post""An intelligent, well-crafted and thoroughly satisfying blend of adventure, sociopolitical commentary, scientific experiments, and occasional perils...with that extra spicing of romance."
-- "Locus""Fans have been clamoring for Hugo winner Bujold to pen a new Vorkosigan Saga novel since 2002's Diplomatic Immunity, and they will not be disappointed by this thoughtful tale...Bujold introduces appealing characters to join familiar ones in exploring the ramifications of a planet-wide culture of postponing death, and her deft and absorbing writing easily corrals the complex plot and softens the blow of a tear-jerking conclusion."
-- "Publishers Weekly""One of sf's outstanding talents...an outstanding series."
-- "Booklist"From the Author
The Vorkosigan Saga Reading Order Debate: The Chef Recommends
Many pixels have been expended debating the 'best' order in which to read what have come to be known as the Vorkosigan Books, the Vorkosiverse, the Miles books, and other names, since I neglected to supply the series with a label myself. The debate now wrestles with some fourteen or so volumes and counting, and mainly revolves around publication order versus internal-chronological order. I favor internal chronological, with a few caveats.
I have always resisted numbering my volumes; partly because, in the early days, I thought the books were distinct enough; latterly because if I ever decided to drop in a prequel somewhere (which in fact I did most lately with Captain Vorpatril's Alliance) it would upwhack the numbering system. Nevertheless, the books and stories do have a chronological order, if not a strict one.
It was always my intention to write each book as a stand-alone so that the reader could theoretically jump in anywhere, yes, with that book that's in your hand right now, don't put it back on the shelf! While still somewhat true, as the series developed it acquired a number of sub-arcs, closely related tales that were richer for each other. I will list the sub-arcs, and then the books, and then the caveats.
Shards of Honor and Barrayar. The first two books in the series proper, they detail the adventures of Cordelia Naismith of Beta Colony and Aral Vorkosigan of Barrayar. Shards was my very first novel ever; Barrayar was actually my eighth, but continues the tale the next day after the end of Shards. For readers who want to be sure of beginning at the beginning, or who are very spoiler-sensitive, start with these two.
The Warrior's Apprentice and The Vor Game (with, perhaps, the novella "The Mountains of Mourning" tucked in between.) The Warrior's Apprentice introduces the character who became the series' linchpin, Miles Vorkosigan; the first book tells how he created a space mercenary fleet by accident; the second how he fixed his mistakes from the first round. Space opera and military-esque adventure (and a number of other things one can best discover for oneself), The Warrior's Apprentice makes another good place to jump into the series for readers who prefer a young male protagonist.
After that: Brothers in Arms should be read before Mirror Dance, and both, ideally, before Memory.
Komarr makes another good alternate entry point for the series, picking up Miles's second career at its start. It should be read before A Civil Campaign.
Borders of Infinity, a collection of three of the five currently extant novellas, makes a good Miles Vorkosigan early-adventure sampler platter, I always thought, for readers who don't want to commit themselves to length. (But it may make more sense if read after The Warrior's Apprentice.) Take care not to confuse the collection-as-a-whole with its title story, "The Borders of Infinity".
Falling Free takes place 200 years earlier in the timeline and does not share settings or characters with the main body of the series. Most readers recommend picking up this story later. It should likely be read before Diplomatic Immunity, however, which revisits the "quaddies", a bioengineered race of free fall dwellers, in Miles's time.
The novels in the internal-chronological list below appear in italics; the novellas (officially defined as a story between 17,500 words and 40,000 words, though mine usually run 20k - 30k words) in quote marks.
Falling Free
Shards of Honor
Barrayar
The Warrior's Apprentice
"The Mountains of Mourning"
"Weatherman"
The Vor Game
Cetaganda
Ethan of Athos
Borders of Infinity
"Labyrinth"
"The Borders of Infinity"
Brothers in Arms
Mirror Dance
Memory
Komarr
A Civil Campaign
"Winterfair Gifts"
Diplomatic Immunity
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance
CryoBurn
Caveats:
The novella "Weatherman" is an out-take from the beginning of the novel The Vor Game. If you already have The Vor Game, you likely don't need this.
The original 'novel' Borders of Infinity was a fix-up collection containing the three novellas "The Mountains of Mourning", "Labyrinth", and "The Borders of Infinity", together with a frame story to tie the pieces together. Again, beware duplication. The frame story does not stand alone, and mainly is of interest to completists.
The Fantasy Novels
My fantasy novels are a bit easier to order. Easiest of all is The Spirit Ring, which is a stand-alone, or aquel, as some wag once dubbed books that for some obscure reason failed to spawn a subsequent series. Next easiest are the four volumes of The Sharing Knife--in order, Beguilement, Legacy, Passage, and Horizon--which I broke down and actually numbered, as this was one continuous tale divided into non-wrist-breaking chunks.
What have come to be called the Chalion books, after the setting of its first two volumes, were also written, like the Vorkosigan books, to be stand-alones as part of a larger whole, and can in theory be read in any order. (The third book actually takes place a few hundred years prior to the more closely connected first two.) Some readers think the world-building is easier to assimilate when the books are read in publication order, and the second volume certainly contains spoilers for the first (but not the third.) In any case, the publication order is:
The Curse of Chalion
Paladin of Souls
The Hallowed Hunt
The short story collection Proto Zoa was an e-book experiment; it contains five very early tales--three (1980s) contemporary fantasy, two science fiction--all previously published but not in this handy format. The novelette "Dreamweaver's Dilemma" may be of interest to Vorkosigan completists, as it is the first story in which that proto-universe began, mentioning Beta Colony but before Barrayar was even thought of.
Happy reading!
-- Lois McMaster Bujold.
About the Author
Grover Gardner is an award-winning narrator with over eight hundred titles to his credit. Named one of the Best Voices of the Century and a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, he has won three prestigious Audie Awards, was chosen Narrator of the Year for 2005 by Publishers Weekly, and has earned more than thirty Earphones Awards.
Lois McMaster Bujold is one of the most honored writers in the fields of science fiction and fantasy, having won six Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards. Her second novel, The Warrior's Apprentice, introduced young Miles Vorkosigan, one of the most popular characters in science fiction. In 2011 she was awarded the Skylark Award for her significant contribution to science fiction. And in 2017 the Vorkosigan Saga received the Hugo Award for Best Series.
Product details
- ASIN : B00APACSJG
- Publisher : Baen Books; 1st edition (December 12, 2013)
- Publication date : December 12, 2013
- Language : English
- File size : 732 KB
- Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 287 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #96,596 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #5,709 in Science Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #9,195 in Science Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
A science fiction legend, Lois McMaster Bujold is one of the most highly regarded speculative fiction writers of all time. She has won three Nebula Awards and six Hugo Awards, four for best novel, which matches Robert A. Heinlein's record. Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan saga is a massively popular science fiction mainstay. The mother of two, Ms. Bujold lives in Minneapolis.
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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.
«Apologies! I wrote this about Captain Vorpatril's Alliance (also by Bujold); but I accidently wrote it in the wrong book's field. I don't know how to delete this review, so I guess it stays. -- js»
Now as an Imperial Auditor, Miles is forever and anon dispatched by Gregor to deal with the vexing, intricate, confounding matters that come up in the course of running a three planet empire. His latest assignment has taken him to Kibou-daini, a world which has made cryofreezing technology into a cultural obsession. Accidents, incurable disease, old age - the population of the world lives as best it can and when it can't, they get frozen until some kind of cure becomes available. As a survivor of cryofreezing himself, Miles is just the man for the job of checking out the technology and the corporations that control it as they seek to expand into the Barrayarran sphere of influence.
The story begins with Miles scrambling through the darkness of an underground maze after escaping a botched attempt by terrorists to kidnap visiting galactics who've all been invited to a conference about the cryofreezing services offered on Kibou-daini. Dazed, suffering aftereffects of what was meant to be a sedative, Miles finds himself seeking sanctuary in the underbelly of Kibou-daini - and that's when he begins to unravel the darker truths behind the smooth facades and the sales pitches. From there on the story takes off as Miles shows that neither marriage or high office has lessened his ability to generate chaos around him as he proceeds relentlessly towards his goal - even if he can't be sure quite what it is from moment to moment.
If "A Civil Campaign" was about sex, marriage, and manners and "Diplomatic Immunity" was about children, parenting, and the chain of life from generation to generation, "Cryoburn" is about death. What does it mean when the dead... aren't dead but frozen? Who speaks for them? What happens when people live their lives expecting to die... and then be revived again someday? What happens to a society when its members are strung out across time in disconnected fashion? What happens as other technologies come along to extend life?
Bujold weaves it all together in a tale that invents one of the more subtle forms of galactic conquest as a subplot, while devising a nastier main story about greed, scandal, and treachery. There are no exploding spaceships, no superweapons, no invading armies, but the tale is entertaining none the less. And then in Aftermaths, Bujold presents five drabbles - five stories of exactly one hundred words - of masterful craftsmanship and devastating impact. This is a must-read for any fan of the Vorkosigan saga.
Extra Bonus: A CD-ROM bundled with the book contains much bonus material, including other books from the Vorkosigan saga in electronic form, artwork, interviews, and more.
Top reviews from other countries
The universe that she has created for the Vorkosigan stories is fascinating and rich with detail.
Miles is thoroughly sympathetic protagonist who's life progression you can't help but to become invested in.
His surrounding cast are equally interesting and quite often the Author has given them novels of their own in the series arc to tell their own stories
Can't recommend this multi award nominated and winning series enough.
The book introduces a new planet and society to the Vor universe and I quite liked this idea. I probably wouldn’t have coped with another visit to Cetaganda. With the locals of the new planet being unaware of Miles’s status and wealth, it gave LMB the chance to include lots of comedy and it’s worth the read for that aspect alone. His batman-cum-bodyguard, Roic, makes a great straight man for all the jokes. I even wondered if LMB named Roic to deliberately rhyme with stoic (although, I guess I’m probably pronouncing Roic incorrectly).
There are a couple of new characters, my favourite being Consul Vorlynkin, who was usually the only one other than Roic understanding Miles’s clout and inside jokes. There’s also two children who, again, added some great comic relief, especially when their menagerie of animals came into it. The only established characters used, other than Roic, were Miles’s brother Mark and his partner, Kareen. I’m still not a huge fan of Mark and LMB doesn’t do too much to make him more sympathetic here either (although I appreciate she tries to explain his issues).
The plot surrounds the political, ethical and monetary dilemmas involved when a person seeks to extend their mortality. The planet’s peoples become so obsessed with the process of cryo freeze and revival that the cyro corporations become big business. The system, of course, is rife for corruption, which is why Miles starts investigating.
I thought the first few chapters of the book were brilliant. Miles was lost in what is basically a cavern of frozen bodies. Not only did I find this incredibly creepy, his subsequent need to survive alone on the streets of the unfamiliar made great reading.
The ‘we all must die’ theme pretty much runs throughout the whole book. It’s an ironic argument a lot of the time as Miles has, of course, already gone through a cryofreeze and revival. I think it has probably been done better in scifi but LMB still gets the reader thinking. I imagine LMB was also taking aim at the big pharmaceutical and insurance companies and their monopoly in the US in particular.
I do get why other readers didn’t enjoy this book as much as the others. There’s not as much action as some would probably prefer and when there was some tension added, it was wrapped up pretty quickly. I’m one of the few who like ‘Lord Auditor’ Miles more than ‘Admiral Naismith’ though. I did, however, shave off half a star as the cryo corporations and their internal politics and machinations were a little confusing at times.
Despite its content, I loved the ending of the book. I thought it was really well done and loved that LMB wrote it in drabble form. Of course I did shed a tear but, ultimately, Gregor’s reaction especially made me feel uplifted in a way, instead of depressed.
4 1/2 out of 5
As usual his character is the star of the show as he deals with a society who regard cryonics as the norm.
The descriptions of how others see him is very entertaining and of course the book is superbly written.
Hopefully this means we will see more Miles in the future...
suit la mission de Miles en tant qu'Auditeur impérial sur une planète dont toute l'économie tourne autour de gigantesques groupes spécialisés dans la préservation de la vie humaine au delà de son temps naturel.
Une bonne aventure de Miles qui pose quelques questions sur la condition mortelle des humains et l'économie de marché. Ce n'est pas le meilleur de l'auteur (la nouvelle Mountains of Mourning tient ce rôle pour moi) mais l'intrigue est bien menée et on a plaisir à retrouver Miles et Roic (Ivan manque à l'appel par contre). La fin est également très émouvante dans sa sécheresse même et j'ai apprécié les relations fraternelles, empreintes de rivalité affectueuse et ironique, entre Miles et Mark. Une bonne lecture au final !
Ich weiß schon gar nicht mehr, wie lange ich auf dieses Buch gewartet habe, und zu meiner absoluten Begeisterung konnte mich CRYOBURN vollauf überzeugen. Lois McMaster Bujold hat wieder einmal voll ins Schwarze getroffen.
In CRYOBURN läuft Miles erneut zur Höchstform auf. Auf Kibou-daini präsentiert sich unserem Helden ein sehr undurchsichtiges und verstricktes Bild und Miles wäre nicht Miles, wenn er diese schwierige Lage mehr oder weniger aus Versehen nicht noch weiter verkomplizieren würde, bevor er eine Lösung findet. Die Spannung kommt in CRYOBURN auf gar keinen Fall zu kurz, obwohl sich der Actionanteil doch eher in Grenzen hält.
Besonders angetan war ich von den Beschreibungen Kibou-dainis und der Gesellschaft des Planeten. Lois McMaster Bujold hat hier wieder eine stimmige und vor allem interessante Welt erschaffen, die nahtlos in ihren Weltenentwurf passt.
Miles ist wie immer eine großartige Hauptfigur. Alles in allem gesehen ist er vielleicht etwas besonnener geworden, steckt er mitten in einem seiner Pläne ist er jedoch wie immer kaum aufzuhalten. In CRYOBURN wird auch aus der Perspektive von Roic und Jin erzählt, was mir gut gefallen hat. Ich fand es vor allem interessant, wie Miles aus ihrer Sicht erscheint und wie er auf sie wirkt. Dabei kommt es immer wieder zu einigen sehr amüsanten Momenten. Insgesamt konnten mich eigentlich die ganzen Figuren in CRYOBURN überzeugen und sie waren mir alle sympathisch.
In CRYOBURN erfahren wir nicht allzu viel über Miles' Freunde und Familie in Barrayar, da sich die Handlung in erster Linie auf die Ermittlungen auf Kibou-daini konzentriert, einige wichtige Infos bekommt man trotzdem. Das Ende von CRYOBURN bietet eine große Überraschung für Miles und ich muss sagen, dass es mich etwas traurig gemacht hat.
Mit dem Roman bekommt man außerdem eine Gratis-CD-Rom, die sämtliche Vorkosigan-Romane zum kostenlosen Download sowie zahlreiche Extras (Interviews mit Lois McMaster Bujold, Essays, weiterführende Links, etc.) enthält.
Lois McMaster Bujold hat mit CRYOBURN wieder ein fantastisches Buch geschrieben und ich hoffe, dass es noch viele Romane in der Vorkosigan-Saga geben wird. Einfach großartig!