Katherine

I almost never read works in verse. Poetry is not something I typically find as impactful or enjoyable. Poetry in this form, as a story, though? This worked so well for the narrative. I found this fascinating and burned through it. There is a LOT to appreciate- the structure of the verse works beautifully to illustrate the mirrored nature of the characters. The characters themselves are polar opposites and yet so similar. They both want what they do not have. The ending gave me a chill. The story is packed with meaning. My main qualm with the story is that while it is striking, it’s straightforward. It’s a coming of age story in a way, and maybe if I was more like the characters in age and demographics I would have found even more meaning in it and a more emotional experience. As it was, I appreciate the amount of thought and craftsmanship displayed, and how captivating the story was, but the emotions didn’t land very strongly for me. Perhaps that would be different if *I* was in a different skin, seeing this from another point of view.

Another great entry! This one was really twisty and political which I liked a lot. The main downside is that while it’s hilarious and has lots of implications for future Miles, I wish there were more emotional moments. I really enjoyed the work Bujold did for absolute gut punches back in Barrayar and The Warrior’s Apprentice, and I honestly crave more of that.

I’m mixed on this one. On one hand, I loved how the book explored themes of family, grief, gender, accepting yourself, and overcoming trauma. The sections of the book that focused the most on these themes were written beautifully and impactfully. This book explained and explored gender dysphoria in an way that I, as a cis-het person, could put myself in Nhung’s place and understand it to a degree that hasn’t happened with other books that explore this topic.

The sections between these beautiful moments, though… I mostly found them clunky. Not bad, but it felt very much like moving from set piece to set piece. The characters were so well done, I wish the plot had been a bit more engaging. The first few chapters I struggled with- I wasn’t liking the book and felt confused. But once I got to the second third of the book, the more introspective aspects started to ramp up and the story felt more connected to those themes. Loved the characters and themes, felt mixed on the overall plot.

Rating: 2.5/5

Overall, I’m disappointed I didn’t like this more. It’s got good ideas that were dragged down by problems in the worldbuilding and writing.

Pros:

• Unique dragons and dragon academy set up
• Physical science based magic
• Mostly realistic portrayal of how indigenous peoples are treated by colonizers for land and resources (honestly, a bit too optimistic but it would be depressing if it was fully realistic)
• LGBTQ+ rep, disability rep, neurodivergence rep
• Enjoyable character dynamics
• Very slice of life
• Calling out the absolute colonial and societal BS with the main character’s willingness to speak for herself
• The chapter titles make a story too, which I liked

Cons:

• *Very* slice of life- don’t expect much of a plot beyond “Indigenous girl goes to dragon school and encounters obstacles”
• Headache inducing terminology because of the mixed Viking, Germanic, and English fictional culture. The world is essentially an alternate history + dragons version of Earth. Yes, some of the words we use for certain concepts in math and science would be different. However, the world is SO heavily based on the real world (it even uses the Julian calendar), that I cannot fathom why the author felt it was necessary to change the names of geometry (anglereckoning), alchemy/chemistry (skiltakraft), hypothesis/experiment (vermutun/versuch), and elements like carbon (kolfni), hydrogen (vetna), etc. Perhaps this was to make you feel lost like Anequs, but all it did for me was make it so I had to mentally translate everything as I was reading and it was more annoying than anything. You use the word coal, why not carbon? It’s like driving down a familiar road, but all of the sudden the road is full of potholes.
• Repetition. There were two times that I noticed a large passage that was repeated verbatim. And a lot of the book is repetitive, even if not verbatim.
• Random Norse mythology asides? It’s already long, I’m not sure why these are here.

Bujold continues the upwards trend through the series. This series has really great characters, some returning, some being introduced, and the situations they end up in involving a complicated web of loyalty, ambition, personal love, and what (or who) is worth breaking the rules and sacrificing something for. The prose continues to be excellent. It’s quick and snappy, but some of the sentences and passages remain incredible to me. I swear I find more great quotes per page in one of Bujold’s books than a lot of others. For example (no spoilers):

> "War is not its own end, except in some catastrophic slide into absolute damnation. It's peace that's wanted. Some better peace than the one you started with."

> “His thoughts were still running like a hyped-up rat on an exercise wheel, spinning to nowhere.”

> “A prairie bird thrumming out a mad mating dance could scarcely have put on a more conspicuous display.”

The Vor Game definitely ramps up the political machinations of everyone in the galaxy, expanding the world while the characters deal with increasingly complex situations. My main issue with the last book, that things were a bit too convenient at times, doesn’t happen on the same level in this one. There are still a few “okay this had to happen for the plot” moments, but they’re much less egregious.

I’m sold, Bujold is a new favorite author and I’ll be recommending her books now!

The Warrior’s Apprentice Author: Lois McMaster Bujold Rating: 4/5

First, I have to mention how absolutely crazy it is that this book, published 2nd, has references that work perfectly for both the 1st and *7th* published books (which are direct sequels)?? They’re really specific, too. Bujold, how??? I’d definitely recommend reading Shards of Honor and Barrayar first. You can start here, but there’s one character who is so much richer because of what happens in those books and it’s better for it.

Second, it’s really amazing to see a disabled main character in an 80s sci fi that doesn’t involve somehow magically curing his disability or making it moot through technology. Representation of disability is STILL rare, and I felt it was well done here. Seeing a character deal with the stigma and prejudice through deflecting with humor, sometimes anger, and often by showing he is capable was really good. I liked the portrayal of a teenager trying to desperately prove he was good enough for a heavily militaristic, ableist society, and how that leads into a massive snowball effect of consequences. Is it absolutely ludicrous how far it goes? Yep. But you see every step along the way through this gifted young maniac with… let’s say excessive initiative.

What I didn’t love about this book was the amount of “well isn’t that convenient” or highly improbable events that happened. There are three main examples of this, and that did detract from my reading experience. Imagine a character creates a problem one chapter, then the very next chapter they find a way too convenient way to help with the problem (not solve it, necessarily- in fact I’d argue that convenient solution made things worse…) but I digress. This happened a bit too much for my taste.

However, despite that downside, I continue to love Bujold’s writing and characters. Bujold comes up with the most *incredible* sentences and passages at times. They’re very quotable, whether profound or comedic. The plot may have been a bit convenient at times, but the character arcs were really, really good and the emotional scenes were very impactful.