[SpaceBadger]

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
aside from it not having the general looniness of the other books, i don't really see the problem. the books more serious tone reflects the more serious and experienced miles. he was in his twenty's during his adventure's and now that he's thirty, his starting to run his thinking from his brain, not his glands. and is naturally appalled at some of the risks he took.

Bah, I'm talking about the plot and the writing - just not up to Bujold's usual high standards. I mean, seriously, look at the ending - all of the action happens offstage and is described second-hand afterward!

Miles is no more of a stick in this one than he was in Civil Campaign, and I =loved= Civil Campaign. I just didn't think Diplomatic Immunity was as good a book as the rest, and I've been reading them (and re-reading them) since about '88 or '89, whenever I first ran across Miles in the pages of Analog (the story where he meets Taura, title escapes me at the moment). Diplomatic Immunity just felt too much like she was going through the motions without anything really interesting to say, which was a significant letdown from her usual quality.

I'm happy to report that Bujold's latest book, Paladin of Souls (second in the Chalion series, not a Vorkosigan book), is an excellent story and shows very well that she has not lost her touch - perhaps she just needs to get away from Miles for awhile.

SpaceBadger

[ January 03, 2004, 02:47: Message edited by: SpaceBadger ]