Memory: A Miles Vorkosigan Novel

If there were a higher rating, I would have chosen it. Bujold is a brilliant writer, and is at her best with the Vorkosigan saga. Since I have just finished it, _Memory_ is my favorite. It seems at first to be about a most complex and surprising turning point in the life of Miles Vorkosigan. In addition to what would already have been a fascinating story, Bujold layers in complex and surprising turning points for at least three other favorite characters. She does a superlative job writing ends that are wrenching and beginnings that inspire.If you haven't started it yet, you might want to begin with _Shards of Honor_ , the very first of the Saga, or _Warrior's Apprentice_, which starts Miles' story. (Those are also my favorites.) Even if you choose to embark on your discovery of the Vorkosigan Universe at this point, you will encounter characters you will want to spend time with again and again. You will be absorbed by the history and culture of a world you can't wait to visit again. You will become involved in stories that are layered, intriguing, humorous and wistful.I cannot recommend this book and this series enough.

I love this series. All the characters are so vivid, so raw. Miles dilemmas, internal and external, are fascinating. So much forward momentum, and yet so much unraveling and recognition of his true self. What a ride.

After 'A Civil Campaign'.As usual, wrap-ups are a bit foreshortened, but the investigation flows wonderfully, and Miles growth as a character is terrific.

Came in great condition. One of the best sci-fi sagas ever written.

Book number twelve (in chronological order) of an eighteen book space opera series. However, some people call this a military science fiction series. There are several other books and short stories in the Vorkosigan Universe. This series won the Hugo and Nebula awards for best series in 2017. Also, several of the individual books in the series have either won awards or been nominated for awards. This book was nominated for the 1997 Hugo award for best novel. I have read this book at least twice. I reread the well printed and well bound new MMPB published by Baen in 1997 that I just rebought on Amazon (the sixth printing !). I have rebought the rest of the books in the series in MMPB.Admiral Miles Naismith (aka Miles Vorkosigan) took a needle grenade in the chest while rescuing his clone brother Mark a year earlier. Even though he was cryogenically preserved for three months, his brain suffered damage. Just enough so that he experiences a seizure every month or so. And when one is wearing an armored space suit with a high powered laser and has a seizure, watch out ! And unfortunately, he failed to disclose this new medical status change to his superiors.Vorkosigan Saga (Chronological) by Lois McMaster Bujold1. Dreamweaver's Dilemma2. Falling Free3. Shards of Honor4. Barrayar5. The Warrior's Apprentice6. The Borders of Infinity (The Mountains of Mourning, etc)7. The Vor Game8. Cetaganda9. Ethan Of Athos10. Brothers in Arms11. Mirror Dance12. Memory13. Komarr14. A Civil Campaign15. Diplomatic Immunity16. Captain Vorpatril's Alliance17. CryoBurn18. Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen

Any book with Miles Vorkosigan as a main character is worth the read...let me amend that, any book written by Lois MeMaster Bujold is worth the read. Her characters are astounding in their depth and personality and her story lines are not to be faulted. A very satisfying read!

Memory is, ironically, among the more memorable Vorkosigan books. Bujold's writing and dialogue are as sharp as ever, but in this book we encounter the beginning of Miles' transition from swashbuckling space pirate to something more adult, in many senses of the word.Many book and TV series' that are predicated on one main character never take the risk of making profound changes to how that character moves through the story. But in this book, both Miles and the series itself begin to evolve into something more adult than they have been for the last 8 books. Its a subtle thing, but to make those kinds of changes to a character as compelling as Miles Vorkosigan, and do so successfully, is a remarkable testament to the storytelling skill of the author.

I think the story is an important step in Miles' evolution. But, I did find it to be a slow read. Maybe I'm spoiled and expecting more action in these stories. I did like the resolution to the mystery in the story, I thought that was clever.

I found this book poignant as it essentially waves farewell to the Miles Naismith identity that we'd grown to love in the previous books. The Miles Vorkosigan books that come out later were not, in my opinion, as mentally engrossing.

At a risk of repeating myself, this is my favourite Miles book thus far.I have discovered that, despite preferring space opera over the other subgenres of scifi, I rather the Vorkosigan books full of political intrigue and set on Barrayar than the action adventure/space setting installments. I also prefer Lord Vorkosigan over Admiral Naismith, and Memory is truly the first book that focuses on the Vor Lord instead of the admiral for quite a while.The opening chapters show the medical side effects and debilitating seizures Miles has been enduring following his ‘death’. His ill health, and his concealment of it, forces Miles to yield his command of the Dendarii fleet and return to Barrayar.Soon after Miles's arrival planetside, his Impsec boss, Simon Illyan, has a memory chip (which was implanted in his brain years ago) go haywire. Illyan’s mental and physical health declines at such a rapid rate that he needs to resign his commission, leaving Miles without any chance of reinstatement when Illyan’s successor does not appreciate Miles’s... unique qualities. Miles does not, of course, let that stop him and the book's mystery plot is that of Miles investigating whether or not Illyan’s chip was sabotaged deliberately.Although I always enjoy Miles solving a mystery, I found a lot of this book incredibly sad. Both Illyan and Miles have to discover what type of men they will be without their military personas. Somehow LMB makes all this introspective reflection and searching for identity far from boring. As LMB showed in Mirror Dance, Illyan and Miles have a lovely pseudo father/son relationship, and she raised the poignancy level in Memory again by showing us the respect and love they share. *sniff* I also loved how the situation evoked memories for Miles of his grandfather. *sniff*It’s not just the Miles and Illyan show, my other favs Ivan, Gregor, Galeni and Taura get some quality scenes and we even get a couple featuring Cordelia and Aral (happy sigh).Amongst the tears, LMB includes her trademark humour, a lot coming from a hilarious new character, Miles’s stand in driver-cum-butler Martin. Ivan is, of course, still the brunt of several jokes and I pretty much laughed out loud at Miles offering him a cat and his reaction to one of the romantic subplots (might I just add, this romance was the cutest!).Memory was another of the longer books in the series but again, like Mirror Dance, I flew through it, probably ignoring real life far too much to find out Miles’s fate (for now). And of course I'm now sucked in to starting Komarr immediately.5 out of 5 obviously

un romanzo drammatico ,ma sempre affascinante con una trama serrata e dai risvolti imprevedibili.Miles è un po tutti noi con i suoi aspetti geniali, demenziali e le debolezze connesse.

Otra novela más de la autora: divertidísima. Mantiene la estructura habitual de sus novelas: en bola de nieve que va creciendo.

Unfortunately for me, I am a bit sleepy today after staying up to god knows how late finishing this book.The thing with Lois McMaster Bujold is that you can never tell what direction she is going to take. She surprises at every turn and that's one of the best things about her writing. For the first time, I was having second thoughts about the beginning of this book because of the predicament that Miles found himself in - it made uncomfortable reading. However, that's life (I know it's a book) but life is unpredictable and LMB shows this in her books and this book in particular. She could have followed convention - there's a simple convention that she could have followed but she didn't and it's made the fabric of this saga richer for it.Top marks. Simply excellent writing.