martinContinuing my unplanned Vorkosigan re-read:
"The Warrior's Apprentice" and "Mountains of Morning", the two first books about Miles Vorkosigan, and establishing very different aspects of him. (1/3)
In the first we get his brilliance, his ability to inspire loyalty, his unstoppability - but also some of his greatest failures: all the deaths and lies spiral from his overconfidence and unwillingness to admit defeat. At the end he feels ashamed of the cheers of "Admiral Naismith", despite his successes.
In "Mountains of Mourning" he is much less showy and impressive (despite some piercing insights into the people around him) but we see clearly his honour, his self-sacrifice.
This short novella (which won a Hugo and a Nebula) is key to who Miles is, and it's his personal commitment here to a dead child that ultimately turns out to be so important many books later.
Continuing the Vorkosigan reread:
In "The Vor Game" Miles' genius is blended with more awareness of the stakes - more humility - and I find him much more appealing.
The part where he and Gregor are playing off each other to manipulate the crazy mercenary had me jumping up and down with excitement! So good 😁
Pretty much everything Miles achieves through this book is through him talking and putting himself at risk, and it's thrilling throughout.
