#cryoburn

[beroebluejeans]

“Count Vorkosigan, sir.”

Listen never have I encountered three more devastating words in fiction

[uncultureddoubloon]

Loving that Miles is occasionally verbally reminding himself to Unpack His Thoughts when others around him are confused but also need to know what the hell he's going on about, especially after a number of instances of Ekaterin or Armsman Roic reminding him

[litcityblues]

'Cyroburn' --A Review

Look, I knew it was coming. I read the synopsis to the next book in the series (Gentlemen Jole and The Red Queen) and it's pretty damn obvious that was the synopsis indicated has happened in that book was going to happen in this book at some point. You read this with a mild sense of dread and curiosity, wondering just how Bujold will work it in, and then... god, it hits like a ton of bricks.

I will be honest, readers. I suffered through an extended depressive episode when I was in college and ever since then, I fucking cry, a lot. I cry at random commercials. I cry at random movies. I cry so much my wife gives me shit for it but you know what, I hardly ever cry over books and god damn it, this series has done it to me multiple times now.

But, Cryoburn:

The opening line is really excellent: "Angels were falling all over the place." Miles is being Miles and having been kidnapped and drugged, he's having some pretty gnarly hallucinations as he makes his way through the cryocombs of the planet Kibou-daini, where the frozen are stored in hopes of one day being revived. As he returns to his senses, he's found and helped by Jin Sato, a local Kibou-Daini boy, and we start to piece together what's going on.

One of Kibou's many cryocorps, WhiteChrys is opening a subsidiary on Komarr, which is arousing suspicions as Komarrans who tend to be very good at the business side of things start to figure out that there's something fishy about all of this and Miles, as Imperial Auditor was sent to see if there was anything to all of their suspicions. As he was kidnapped from a conference he was attending, separated from his armsmen Roic and dumped full of hallucinogens into the Cryocombs, his suspicions are very much confirmed.

Miles then proceeds to do what Miles does best, which is to unravel the entire mystery piece by piece. He links back up with Roic and soon Raven arrives (a cryo-specialist from the Durona Group on Escobar), and while he thought that his meeting with Jin Sato was just a coincidence, it turns out that their mother was frozen and more importantly, why she was frozen was far more important than Miles realized.

As tends to happen in these books, as the pace of events quicken, other people start to drop by: Mark and Kareen show up. They've got plans to try and start a business on Kibou aimed at promoting life-extension treatments to the populace so they don't have to get frozen. (It is revealed here that Mark is looking to make clone-brain transplants- so popular on Jackson's Whole- irrelevant.) But it is also revealed that Lilly Durona, founder of the Durona group, ran out of time to choose' and served as one of the subjects testing their newest treatment. (In a bit of foreshadowing, Mark and Miles wonder if their father, the aging Count Aral Vorkosigan, could be persuaded to try it-- neither of them felt up to the pitch, but they thought perhaps that their mother might be persuasive.)

In short, the truth is revealed: WhiteChrys was up to no good on Komarr, and had they been allowed to take root, they would have eventually been in a position to take de facto control of the whole planet. Another Cyrocorp used a bad cryoprep fluid a few decades back that eventually failed, so a significant number of frozen people are now dead. The scandal on Kibou is exploding. Jin, his sister, and their mother have been reunited and any financial shenanigans have been squashed on Komarr so Miles heads home. He wants to swing by to see his parents on Sergyar but at a transfer station, the news catches up with him: he is now Count Vorkosigan. His father, Aral, has died.

Y'all, it hits like a ton of bricks. Bujold ends the main story like this:

"Vorventa's steps slowed as he approached, and his eyes searched his quarry, though his face remained stiff. He halted at the table's side, cast Mark and Roic a grave nod, came to attention, and offered Miles a very formal salute, though Miles was in no kind of uniform at all except his gray trousers and jacket.

The messenger moistened his lips, and said, 'Count Vorkosigan, sir?"

UGGGGGGGGH. SO GOOD.

Bujold doesn't leave it there, though- she gives the reader an Aftermath-- five views of the events that follow from Mark, Miles, Cordelia, Ivan, and Gregor. I have plunged into this series, dear readers. I love all of these books. They're incredible. If they came out with fancy leather-bound versions of them, I would probably spend a ludicrous amount of money acquiring every one of them, but man, this hits so hard.

The only thing-- the minor, most teeny-tiny of things I might say is that you kind of have to read other books in the series at this point. You can't just jump in at random-- there will be references you don't get, allusions to events that, if you've read the series, you will know exactly what they are, but if not, it'll be tough to pick up on.

But Bujold continues playing with points of view here-- we get to see chapters from Jin and Roic's point of view and while I had my doubts with the last book and it's lack of Miles, I almost think this one could have used some Ivan-- though we do see him pop in ever so briefly at the very end.

Overall: I love these books. I love this series. I love these characters. I don't want this series to end. I want it to keep going forever and ever. I would also pay a ludicrous amount of money to see these get properly adapted for the screen. That would be amazing too. But in the meantime, My Grade: **** out of *****

[carys-the-ninth]

I think the problem with Cryoburn (per a conversation with @yuck-pfaugh) is that Miles doesn't want to be there. He's done his share of being kidnapped and fighting shadowy corporate forces and heists, he wants to be home with Ekaterin and the kids. Jin is the protagonist, Jin is the one living in this cryonic-obsessed, death-defying society with all it's consequences. But Jin is 11 and doesn't have enough agency or knowledge. It might work better if done Ethan of Athos-style, a one-off protagonist with an ensemble cast member supporting (Duv Galeni?), but as-is, it feels like Miles has to get shepherd's crook yoinked in from offscreen with some Komarran entanglement to make the plot go forward

[elfdragon12]

"He carried me since I was five."

Dangit, Lois McMaster Bujold!

[agardenandlibrary]

"Look at this! A letter from Lord Vorkosigan—he's free!"

The second man looked over his shoulder, and echoed, "Thank God! But why didn't he call in?" Then, after a moment more, "What? What?"

The lieutenant turned the letter over and they both read on. "Is he insane?"

Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold

I've read 15 of these books and I still laugh when new people are confronted with Miles' particular brand of shenanigans.

[nicnacsnonsense]

"Damn straight." Miles-san added, "My case budget allows for a lot of discretion, you know."

"Then I wish you'd buy some," snapped Vorlynkin.

I’m fucking cackling; love it when Miles gets called the fuck out.

[emperor-gregor]

I really like Roic in Cryoburn. He's had enough of Miles' shit and shenanigans. He has mastered the art of communicating his disapproval without words, and Miles actually pays attention.

Sometimes.

Ok, rarely. But this once at least.