We asked Jo if she fancied reviewing a favourite book. This is what she sent us back:
MEMORY isn’t my favourite of the Miles Vorkosigan books – the Miles in Love compendium gets that award – but it is, in my opinion, the most important. Not just because of what we learn about Miles, but also Simon Illyan, Chief of Imp-Sec and, until this book, a character we know a lot about but don’t really know. Which is how his relationship with the bulk of the characters can be summed up.
Now, I’ll admit I’m a sucker for interpersonal relationships in books. Most of my own are based around pivotal relationships – I don’t entirely understand how a book can be written without them. To that end, I’ll happily read a well-written dialogue and introspection scene, especially if I like the characters. So it’s probably not a shock that I find Memory a satisfying read on a number of levels.
The plot goes like this (and there will be light spoilers, I’m afraid): Miles has been caught hiding seizures left by his cyro-death, and has returned to duty as Admiral Naismith, his deep cover pseudonym. There, his seizures cause a devastating failure in his duty to care, which he compounds by lying to Illyan about. Caught, he’s discharged from Imp-sec, the only career and future he’s ever wanted, and removed from his Dendari Mercenary force and Quinn, the woman he loves. With one foul move, everything that has made Miles the character we know has been taken away.
Or has it? Bujold has a rare ability to get into the skin of her characters and make them real. And, whilst the reader may have forgotten the Miles Vorkosigan of his first book, she hasn’t. Because under Admiral Naismith is a half-forgotten Miles.
When events in Imp-sec take a turn for the worse, and it is Simon Illyan needing support, Miles swoops in to take charge, throwing the two men together in desperate circumstances.
Whilst there are strong performances from many of the secondary characters – Gregor, Ivan and Duv Galani in particular – the pivotal moments lie between Miles and Simon, and these are carried with great panache.
The scene where Miles is fired perfectly conveys what it is both to suffer loss, and to inflict it. Neither man comes out of it unscathed and we see in that scene Simon Illyan, the man, coming to the fore, rather than the bland Imp-sec character often used to drive plot rather than his character development previously.
In later scenes, both men are growing back to the person they might have been – Simon before he was forced into the Dictat role, and Miles back to the count’s heir he was born to be, and the person who caused him so much hurt growing up: Mutie Miles on the planet that despises his appearance.
We travel a journey with both men, and the end, when it comes, is satisfying, neatly wrapping up what has come before and leaving the reader wanting more. Mostly, though, we’ve learned who these men have become. For anyone wanting to understand the Vorkosigan series, Memory isn’t just a must-read, but a pivotal one.
————–
Jo Zebedee writes science fiction with a human touch. Her first book, Abendau’s Heir, was released in 2015. Her second book, Inish Carraig, about an alien invasion of Belfast, is available for preorder on Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inish-Carraig-Jo-Zebedee-ebook/dp/B012782E0G
More about Jo can be found on her website www.jozebedee.com, or she can be followed on Twitter on @joz1812.
