Tea Leaf Books: Borders of Infinity

There's something really comforting about series from good authors. I like knowing that I can keep going back for more Vorkosigan from my hero Loid McMaster Bujold. And given how great the narrator is, I just keep picking them up in audiobook form every time I get a credit from Audible. Good for housework, knitting, driving, walking, boring times at work, any time I want to shut out anyone obnoxious; I'm hard pressed to find a time when an audiobook ISN'T the right choice. So I return to Miles Vorkosigan with my metaphorical blanket and hot tea, curled up in front of a window on a rainy day.

Borders of Infinity is actually a three novella collection, including the novella of the same name and two others, The Mountains of Mourning and Labyrinth. Each have entirely separate storylines, tied together by a rather thin thread of Miles being questioned about each of these incidents during recovery from one of his many surgeries. Really, we could have done without the 'present' storyline at all. Each novella stands well enough on its own, but I think it was probably written up just for the release of these three together. There are other collections the novellas can be found in, so I suppose they had to tie these together in some way to make them stand together.

The Mountains of Mourning is actually my favorite of the three, because we're seeing a side of Barrayar that is normally quite hidden. A woman appears at Miles' home, asking to appeal to Count Vorkosigan for justice for her murdered infant, a baby girl who had "the cat's mouth", or a cleft lip/palate. Many Barrayarans have been fighting the mutant stigma for years, but in this backcountry it remains strong. Miles is dispatched by his father to investigate who smothered the child and decide for himself what to do about it. Especially nice was how Miles found a way to use the tragedy to better the whole area, by sending the child's mother to a school to learn how to become a teacher, so that she can come back and improve the lives of all the local children. Through education do people stop murdering their babies, one hopes.

I find it really interesting to explore characters that Miles wouldn't normally interact much with: his own people. He's spent so much time in space with the mercenaries or in the Barrayaran military tht we forget he has familial duties regarding the people who are technically under the care of his family. It was also nice to see 'country' people portrayed varyingly, rather than a monolith of stupid and intolerant. Sure, there were a few stupid and intolerant characters in the mountains, but there's a few on the ships, and in the Vor, and the goverment, too. I just like that those traits define those characters, and not their people as a whole.

Labyrinth was also interesting, for here we see the introduction of Taura. I remember Jackson's Whole from Ethan of Athos, mostly as a seedy planet with a penchant for immortality via transplanting brains into homegrown clones. The Houses that populate Jackson's Whole all seem to be very interested in genetics, and trade both in interesting genomes and creatures (or people) created using them. Miles and the Dendarii are sent to retrieve a particular scientist from House Bharaputra, only their plans go awry when Dr. Canaba places the genomes he was going to take within a living creature that is subsequently sold to Baron Ryoval. They have to stage a mission to infiltrate Ryoval's labs and retrieve the sample and kill the creature. Only.. it turns out the 'creature' is really an altered sixteen-year-old girl, cold, starved, hurt and scared.The retrieval mission turns into a rescue mission with some laboratory vandalism thrown in for good measure.

Taura is a fascinating character, and so far one of my favorites. She was part of a batch of embryos genetically altered to be super soldiers, possibly by using animal genes. By consequence Taura is very large, very strong, and very fast: her metabolism runs at a much faster rate than regular humans, and she is the only one of her cohort to have survived this long. Her face is almost leonine to Miles, and she has functional fangs and claws. She's been treated as an animal or experiment for so long that it's baffling to her when Miles treats her like a human. And treat her he does. She asks him to prove her humanity by sleeping with her. For such a self-proclaimed ugly, Miles sure gets a lot of action from a lot of hot ladies. (I had an ick moment here, but then realized this story was taking place when Miles was only 23--so the age difference isn't quite as stark as I initially thought.)

Lastly is Borders of Infinity itself. In this novella Miles as Captain Naismith infiltrates a Cetagandan prisoner-of-war camp to rescue a captured Colonel who was supposed to stage a Marilacan resistance against the Cetagandans. Only the Colonel is beyond Miles' help, and he still must figure out a way to rally the prisoners and escape from the dome the Cetagandans have encased him in. A good story that showcases Miles' ability to read and influence people, which is really his greatest asset--how else could a teenager bluff his way into commanding an entire mercenary crew? Overall I just didn't find it quite as interesting as the other two, but it's certainly a fine story on its own. Miles spends a lot of time naked. He practically creates a religion. He gets beat up by some women for a while and falls a little bit for a tragic redhead.

So I'll leave you with classic Bujold Vorkosigan quips.