I read it, finally. Forearmed and forewarned about the "nothing happens", it was still very "nothing happens"-y. Nothing that could generate suspense wasn't resolved immediately, except for the plascrete, which was very background the whole time and did get resolved in a vaguely deus ex machina way. All in all, I have to agree with ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
avanti_90: the book is above all mild.
It's also a book where I'd have been interested in the story of anyone except the principal characters. Kaya Vorinnis, dealing with bureaucracy and an amorous ghem-lord, the University people, Freddie Haines and her five friends, all the diplomatic staff, the military folks running around, etc.
The romance itself fell flat. It's the least convincing romance Bujold has written. (Admittedly, I've never read the Chalion stuff, and am hazy on Ivan/Tej, but still.) I suppose she was trying to show ~a comfortable relationship that just adds sex~, but fell flat. At the start, Jole and Cordelia both claim to have fallen more distant from each other, but no real change in distance seems to happen. They just go from being friends with identical narrative voices to being friends with identical narrative voices who have unappealingly written sex with each other. Also the whole kids!!1! thing was verging on self-parody. Cordelia wanted six children, well, okay. She already has two. She proceeds to start six more, for a total of eight. It's ... well, idk. Cordelia's thought processes have always been alien to me, especially when she's involved in a romance plot like Shards of GJRQ. (Barrayar, she was mostly being confused about Barrayar and thus more relateable.) (Miles, OTOH, I grok much better, funnily enough.) Jole, again, seems Cordelia-like in mental voice (and physical, to the point where I occasionally had trouble determining who was saying what) and turns even more into a Cordelia expy, what with trying to become a scientist and desiring to raise loads of kids.
avanti_90: the book is above all mild.It's also a book where I'd have been interested in the story of anyone except the principal characters. Kaya Vorinnis, dealing with bureaucracy and an amorous ghem-lord, the University people, Freddie Haines and her five friends, all the diplomatic staff, the military folks running around, etc.
The romance itself fell flat. It's the least convincing romance Bujold has written. (Admittedly, I've never read the Chalion stuff, and am hazy on Ivan/Tej, but still.) I suppose she was trying to show ~a comfortable relationship that just adds sex~, but fell flat. At the start, Jole and Cordelia both claim to have fallen more distant from each other, but no real change in distance seems to happen. They just go from being friends with identical narrative voices to being friends with identical narrative voices who have unappealingly written sex with each other. Also the whole kids!!1! thing was verging on self-parody. Cordelia wanted six children, well, okay. She already has two. She proceeds to start six more, for a total of eight. It's ... well, idk. Cordelia's thought processes have always been alien to me, especially when she's involved in a romance plot like Shards of GJRQ. (Barrayar, she was mostly being confused about Barrayar and thus more relateable.) (Miles, OTOH, I grok much better, funnily enough.) Jole, again, seems Cordelia-like in mental voice (and physical, to the point where I occasionally had trouble determining who was saying what) and turns even more into a Cordelia expy, what with trying to become a scientist and desiring to raise loads of kids.
