Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen
Jun. 7th, 2016 11:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meteordustThoughts.
Bujold is one of my favourite authors, but I knew going in that this book has divided readers.
So the biggest thing is the revelation that Jole, who we met in The Vor Game, has been in a relationship with Aral and Cordelia for two decades. Lots of readers are upset about an OTP becoming a surprise OT3.
My biggest problem is, this relationship is only told in retrospect. All the crucial events have happened off the page. The emotional weight of the story is largely in the past. It's a story about loving, grieving, and moving on - but we only see the moving on. And to be told these things instead of experiencing them, leaves me feeling shortchanged and dissatisfied.
The thing is, I could have bought it, if Bujold had sold it. I liked the hints of chemistry in The Vor Game. But something this seismic - we should live through it. There needs to be a book that tells that story. Otherwise, it feels like Barrayar without Shards of Honor, or A Civil Campaign without Komarr.
The book did have elements I enjoyed. I liked that it was a meditation on growing older, and changes in your life stage. Jole hits fifty, and reaches an unexpected fork in the road: career or children. Cordelia is rediscovering life after mourning, contemplating retirement and children.
I liked that the saga comes full circle to Sergyar. Some have said that this book should have been called Sergyar. I agree, to match Barrayar, Cetaganda, and Komarr. It's unfortunate who it was named after, but surely the planet has developed its own identity by now? The inhabitants are forgetting even the official version of him.
I liked Lieutenant Vorinnis, and seeing women join the Service, even if it's still the auxiliary branch. I liked seeing the next generation, and the new ways they see the world.
Bujold is one of my favourite authors, but I knew going in that this book has divided readers.
So the biggest thing is the revelation that Jole, who we met in The Vor Game, has been in a relationship with Aral and Cordelia for two decades. Lots of readers are upset about an OTP becoming a surprise OT3.
My biggest problem is, this relationship is only told in retrospect. All the crucial events have happened off the page. The emotional weight of the story is largely in the past. It's a story about loving, grieving, and moving on - but we only see the moving on. And to be told these things instead of experiencing them, leaves me feeling shortchanged and dissatisfied.
The thing is, I could have bought it, if Bujold had sold it. I liked the hints of chemistry in The Vor Game. But something this seismic - we should live through it. There needs to be a book that tells that story. Otherwise, it feels like Barrayar without Shards of Honor, or A Civil Campaign without Komarr.
The book did have elements I enjoyed. I liked that it was a meditation on growing older, and changes in your life stage. Jole hits fifty, and reaches an unexpected fork in the road: career or children. Cordelia is rediscovering life after mourning, contemplating retirement and children.
I liked that the saga comes full circle to Sergyar. Some have said that this book should have been called Sergyar. I agree, to match Barrayar, Cetaganda, and Komarr. It's unfortunate who it was named after, but surely the planet has developed its own identity by now? The inhabitants are forgetting even the official version of him.
I liked Lieutenant Vorinnis, and seeing women join the Service, even if it's still the auxiliary branch. I liked seeing the next generation, and the new ways they see the world.
