Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #134010 in Books
• Published on: 1998-04-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 462 pages

Synopsis
Military genius, Miles Vorkosigan has been lying about his weaknesses and is summoned home to face the Barrayan security chief, Simon Illyan. But when things begin to go wrong inside Imperial Security itself, Miles finds that guarding the guardians becomes both necessary and potentially lethal.

Customer Reviews

Miles grows up
Following his death in 'Mirror Dance', Miles finds that there are complications to his recovery - complications that lead to near-disaster on a Dendarii mission. Rather than revealing all to Simon Illyan, Miles attempts a cover up. Found out, he is released from military service. The 'little admiral' must now cease to exist.

It is time for Lord Vorkosigan to come into his own, as a crisis develops over the life of Simon Illyan, as Simon's memory chip appears to go into meltdown. Miles is forced to take drastic action, with the aid of the Emperor, action which ultimately leads to his redemption. And finally Lord Vorkosigan gets a little of the respect that is due to him for his service.

Much less action in this book than previously in the series, the main point of interest aside from trying to work out who if anyone is the baddie here, is the internalisation of Mile's struggle to integrate Admiral Naismmith and Lord Vorkosigan into 'Miles'. The battle is internal and at one hilarious point also external. It is something very different from the previous books in the series, and clearly key to the next phase in Miles' life. He really comes into his own here, and the conflict is ultimately resolved peacefully, if not without losses.

A fantastic addition to the series, if a little slower paced and with less external action than usual. It's about time Miles matured - it will be interesting to see where he goes next.

Possibly her best!
In terms of plot and character development Memory is the book which for me best sums up Miles Vorkosigan. Written in the wry and often very amusing style which has become Bujold’s hallmark, ‘Memory’ unfolds at a tremendous pace, starting in one direction and taking an abrupt turn which, if possible, seems even more satisfying than the first. For the almost the first time we see Miles make a mistake, one from which not even his hyperactive imagination can save him. ‘Memory’ brings Miles back to his planet of birth, almost a homecoming, and Bujold brings out new aspects of her characters that we’ve not seen before.

In many ways I felt that Memory marks the point at which Miles Naismith Vorkosigan begins to grow up, we finally find out what the adult Miles’ is like, and satisfying though the younger Miles’ was the adult is even better, this has been well worth the wait. This is possibly the best story she has written, it is difficult to stop reading, even on th 10th re-read!

While technically this is a stand alone volume in the Barrayar series there is so much development done in earlier works that readers won’t get the full benefit without reading those books. That’s just not a problem! Bujold writes real stories, with real characters and plots which are enjoyable.

Bujold at her best
Bujold is my favourite author for characterisation and this is Bujold at her best. Miles's character is fully rounded and in this book he complete's his journey to knowing and being comfortable with himself.

Bujold once said she came up with her plots by asking herself 'what is the worst thing I can do to Miles now' and you can really see this premise at work here.

BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT. It is a definate 'keeper' and 'rereader'.