#mirror dance

[agardenandlibrary]

Mark, pretending to be Miles and getting more and more stressed the more people he meets who seem to have either a) slept with Miles or b) want to sleep with him: how is this man sleeping his way through the entire galaxy

#mirror dance #cara reads the Vorkosigan Saga #vorkosigan saga #first time reader #its pretty funny #Lois McMaster Bujold

[leojurand]

The Countess attached herself to her husband's arm. "Lead on, love. Vorkosigans Victorious."

Vorkosigans Convalescent, was more like it, Miles reflected, following. But you should see what the other guys look like.

—Mirror Dance, Lois McMaster Bujold

#book quotes #lois mcmaster bujold #vorkosigan saga #mirror dance #:'))

[thirdwifeofriversong]

“It’s… a transcendental act. Making life. I thought about that, when I was carrying Miles. ‘By this act, I bring one death into the world.’ One birth, one death, and all the pain and acts of will between.” - Barrayar, Ch. 17

This passage stands out after reading further Miles books. Cordelia did not, in fact, bring about one birth and one death as she had imagined. Instead, because of advanced technology, Miles experienced at least two of each. Two births — Cordelia’s placental transfer at five months and the “uncorking” of the uterine replicator at ten. In his late 20’s, Miles was killed, experienced death, then was revived (or, one could argue, born a third time) through cryo-revival. He then presumably dies a final time, perhaps after the series has ended (I’ve only read to “Winterfair Gifts”). Then we can consider Mark. Mark is a separate person, but he is a genetically identical clone made from Miles’s tissue samples as a young child — bringing Cordelia’s birth/death production to (arguably) four and three, though only of two humans. As is the case with much SF, advancements in technology serve to blur and expand our understanding of creation, life, death, and human experience.

#the vorkosigan saga #cordelia naismith vorkosigan #miles naismith vorkosigan #mark vorkosigan #barrayar #mirror dance #brothers in arms #lois mcmaster bujold #bujold #vorkosigan saga #vorkosigan #miles vorkosigan

[highladyluck]

It’s rather satisfying seeing Mark so thoroughly and quickly catch on to Ivan’s constant acting habit. Miles can also spot it, but Miles has known Ivan pretty much his whole life; Mark spent like three days with him before this. But of course Mark is constantly acting too, and like knows like.

#vorkosigan saga #mirror dance

[n0brainjustvibes]

I LOVE YOU THEMES I LOVE YOU PARALLELS

#vorkosigan saga #mirror dance

[ceilimoose]

I was listening to Mirror Dance this afternoon and was struck with this image so hard that I stopped my audio book, rushed to my computer, and immediately created it. These three are hilarious. Poor Simon. What did he ever do to deserve this?

#vorkosigan saga #cordelia naismith vorkosigan #mark vorkosigan #simon illyan #Mirror Dance #always with the shenanigans

[qwanderer]

I think this was the optimal time for a Vorkosigan saga reread because it's been more than a decade and probably closer to fifteen years ago since my first and only previous read-through. Most of what I remembered was vibes. The facts I did remember:

Cordelia exists

Miles exists and his name is (technically) Miles Vorkosigan

Mark exists and has an unusual relationship with food

A handful of the births, marriages and deaths that occurred

So the only big twist I knew was coming was the one encompassed in "Mark exists" which is a fun twist

Which is allowing me to read the more serious books like "mirror dance" straight through and appreciate the quality like it's the first time instead of going "oh no I remember this part and I don't want to read it again"

Anyway I stayed up till like three last night reading the end of mirror dance and I am having trouble regretting it because it's a rough one but it's so good and it's an unusual thing for me to be able to experience that kind of story properly twice

#vorkosigan saga #mirror dance

[regallibellbright]

“Killing you was the entire reason for my existence. Two years ago I was all primed to do it. I endured all those years of Galen for no other purpose.”

“Take heart,” advised the Countess. “Most people exist for no reason at all.”

There’s really not much to say here except: Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan. An icon.

But yeah, despite how this sounds Mark’s first meeting with his parents is going extremely well. Sure, he might have been cloned and raised with the express purpose of killing them, but where Vorkosigans are concerned that just translates to “surprise bonus family.”

#I guess this is a vorkosigan saga liveblog now #vorkosigan saga #mirror dance #mark pierre vorkosigan #cordelia naismith vorkosigan #what I wouldn't give to see Cordelia's dispatch home to her mother and brother and such after BiA #'so it turns out one of Aral's political enemies cloned Miles when he was six for a nefarious plot' #'Miles gave Mark a credit chit for half a million marks so he can have some teenage independence so I haven't met him yet sadly' #'if he introduces himself to you please let him know he's welcome on Barrayar whenever he feels comfortable' #'or we could come visit if he'd prefer. Aral can make the time for a vacation by now surely.' #'and if he's not comfortable with that then he can of course stay with you as long as he'd like and we won't push'

[alcnolien]

Oh, Mother. Oh, Da. Oh, Sergeant. Your boy has screwed up this one, bad.

One of my favorite scenes from Mirror Dance, by Lois McMaster Bujold

#vorkosigan saga #miles naismith vorkosigan #mirror dance #lois mcmaster bujold #chell sea art

[kissingdeadgirls]

a little something for the medical/surgical kink girlies

#mirror dance #reading vorkosigan

[litcityblues]

"Mirror Dance" --A Review

I've picked up David Weber's Honorverse series, but that doesn't for one minute mean I'm going to just abandon The Vorkosigan Saga. In fact, I'm getting right back into it with the sequel to Brothers In Arms, Mirror Dance.

As anyone with any familiarity with this series knows, there's a difference between the internal chronology of the series and the published chronology. I'm following the former and not the latter, so Mirror Dance presents me with something of a conundrum. Going by the internal chronology, this volume represents the first to win either a Hugo, Nebula, or a Locus since The Vor Game. That sort of tracks with my overall reading impressions of the series. Brothers In Arms, while still enjoyable, just doesn't quite land the way earlier volumes in the series do. You could say the same thing about Cetaganda-- solid, and enjoyable, but just doesn't land in quite the same way.

So that being said, Mirror Dance feels like an amazing return to form for the series- if you're going by the internal chronology.

If you take the time to sort out the published chronology, it gets messier in the earlier going. (Full Disclaimer, for those of you new to my Vorkosigan Adventures-- I haven't read Ethan of Athos yet and haven't touched 'Dreamweaver's Dilemma' or 'Falling Free' either. I started with 'Shards of Honor' and went from there.) Going by the published chronology you get a very different picture. It feels like the series sort of drops off the pace a bit for a few volumes--but in the published order, between 1989-1994, the series picked up four Hugo Awards, a Nebula, two Locus Awards, and two second-place finishes/nominations for Nebula Awards, and a second-place finish for a Locus.

I can't, therefore, really say that Mirror Dance is a return to form. In reality, it was the capstone to an incredible run of writing in the series. The division between chronologies (thankfully) resolves itself after the next novel (Memory) and while it hasn't reached the heights of its 1989-1994 run, the series has picked up eleven second-place finishes/nominations subsequently across the three big awards and the entire series won a Hugo Award for best series in 2017.

So, all that being said, let's talk about Mirror Dance.

Mark, Miles' clone brother, masquerades as him and dupes the Dendarii mercenaries into undertaking a mission to free 50 clones on Jackson's Whole, the anything-goes planet where Mark was created and raised. (Miles has been there before in [Insert Title Here] and made some enemies in the process, a fact which comes back to haunt him in this volume.) Miles eventually uncovers the deception and goes to rescue his troops- including Mark, Taura, and Bel Thorne- even though the latter caught onto Mark's deception and instead of stopping him, goes along with it to strike a blow against the cloners of Jackson's Whole which Bel despises. The raid, however, goes badly wrong and Miles is killed by a needle grenade.

Miles is shoved into a cryonic chamber on the spot, but the medic in charge of getting it to safety is separated and killed in the retreat. They figure out that he used an automatic shipping system to send the chamber to safety, but don't know where it ended up.

The Dendarii grab Mark, extricate themselves from the disaster and get themselves back to Barrayar where they deliver Mark to Miles' parents, Cordelia and Aral Vorkosigan. Cordelia accepts him as another son and has him officially acknowledged as a member of the family. His relationship with Aral takes somewhat longer to develop as his original purpose and programming were to infiltrate Barrayar and assassinate among other officials, Aral. But eventually, Mark begins to fit in and his compulsive overeating (a side effect of his upbringing/programming) allows him to become distinctly different from Miles in appearance as well as personality.

Eventually, Mark becomes convinced that Miles has to be on Jackson's Whole, and with the assistance of Cordelia (who gets him a starship) and some of the Dendarii, goes back to find him and is ultimately successful in doing so.

Miles, for his part, has been revived by the Duronas, a research group cloned from a medical genius and currently in the employ of Baron Fell. They hope they have Miles because they want to hire him to extricate them and take them off of Jackson's Whole so they can escape. Miles, however, is suffering from post-revival amnesia and his memory takes a while to come back. When Mark and company finally discover him, Baron Ryoval (Miles' old enemy from 'Labyrinth') captures Mark and, thinking that he's Miles has him subjected to brutal torture. Mark, not exactly stable as a table for any number of very valid reasons, fractures into separate personalities to deal with it all, and when Ryoval wants to interrogate him alone, one of the personalities 'Killer' takes out Ryoval and Mark flees.

Eventually, a deal is done. Mark gives Baron Fell access to Ryoval's codes in exchange for the freedom of the Durona group. They all make it back to Barryar in time for the Vorkosigans to attend the Winterfair Ball as a family. Mark takes Cordelia up on her offer of therapy at Beta Colony. Miles hides his new medical condition (seizures, possibly as a result of the thawing process) and hopes they'll go away. Aral Vorkosigan finally retires as Prime Minister with potentially a retirement post as Viceroy of the Planet Sergyar on tap.

Overall: I know it's not really a return to form like I said up top, but it feels like one. This was a really excellent book-- while Miles having solo adventures is always fun, I love both Aral and Cordelia and I love getting to see them in a book again, especially with the addition of Mark. Mark has a very problematic moment with a clone that looks like an adult but is mentally ten years old or so and in the moment, it's very jarring to the reader and very comfortable- as I expect it's designed to be. But the more you learn about the trauma Mark has gone through, not only growing up, but again at the hands of Ryoval, his behaviors, while you can't condone them, are at least understandable, and thankfully, he makes the decision to get some help at the end of the book. Miles has a brother now. Miles is itching to get married and find a Lady Vorkosigan. This feels like it's a very nice setup for future volumes and an excellent entry in the overall series. My Grade: **** out of ****

#the vorkosigan saga #mirror dance #miles vorkosigan

[agardenandlibrary]

new episode out on my podcast Backlog Books (link in pinned post)

Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold

This was a very good book, though difficult in many places. We’re in Mark’s point of view for most of this book, and while I’ve gotten used to Miles as the point of view character, it is also fun to see him from Mark’s perspective. Because Mark has such a unique perspective on Miles, having been raised to impersonate him – he has a deep understanding of who Miles is, and an uncanny ability to be a huge annoyance, which is such a sibling thing.  I do love to see Mark grow through this book. But he does go through a lot of really hard, difficult, painful situations. Bujold does such a good job of getting her characters through the horrible events.

#cara reads the vorkosigan saga #mirror dance #cara podcasts #backlog books podcast

[leojurand]

everyone so far has been endlessly miserable in mirror dance and then cordelia shows up, and she more than anyone has the right to be miserable but instead she's so practical and calm and loving... mother to many

#vorkosigan #mirror dance #this book is so dark... #what mark was doing to that clone was HORRIBLE and disgusting #and what's been done to him is horrifying #he's a very interesting character... very tragic #also they're having a terrible time but i very much enjoy seeing quinn and elena from a different perspective #because miles seeing them as his hot bodyguard gf and his first love was. rather exhausting

[paradises-library]

Miles would, demonstrably, lay down his life for his brother, but he did have a notable tendency to try to subsume the people around him into extensions of his own personality.

Mirror Dance, Lois McMaster Bujold

#mirror dance #lois mcmaster bujold #the vorkosigan saga #quotes

[highladyluck]

Excuse me, Mark, but you dropped this foreshadowing.

#vorkosigan saga #mirror dance

[n0brainjustvibes]

It also has not escaped my notice that (soon-to-be-)Mark's alias literally contains the word "-mark". In fact, Vandermark translates to "from/of the Mark" (which meant "from the border" in middle Dutch - at least, according to 23andme). I'm sure one could find symbolism in "from the border", but I also like taking things a tad more literally. After all, his search for self-determination was sparked from the name/idea of "Mark", and "Mark" still subconsciously defines it.

"The power of the suggestion (...) sapping his satisfaction with every pseudonym he'd ever tried..."

Also - though this can't be a deliberate reference, since Toki Pona was coined after Mirror Dance was published - the word "jan" in the conlang Toki Pona means "human being, person, somebody", and iirc it's used to indicate that the next word is a name. So that alias asserts his personhood, while also describing him as Some Guy who comes from Mark, and highlighting that "from Mark" is the extent of his current name/identity.

#mirror dance #mark vorkosigan #vorkosigan saga #analysis