The Flowers of Vashnoi (Vorkosigan Saga)
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4.4 • 131 Ratings
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- $3.99
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
Still new to her duties as Lady Vorkosigan, Ekaterin is working together with expatriate scientist Enrique Borgos on a radical scheme to recover the lands of the Vashnoi exclusion zone, lingering radioactive legacy of the Cetagandan invasion of the planet Barrayar. When Enrique’s experimental bioengineered creatures go missing, the pair discover that the zone still conceals deadly old secrets.
This novella falls after Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance in the Vorkosigan series timeline, but may be read entirely independently. The Vorkosigan saga was the recipient of the first Hugo Award for best science fiction series in 2017.
“Bujold couldn't characterize badly if threatened with a firing squad.”
- Booklist
“Bujold is not just a master of plot, she is a master of emotion.”
- SF Site
“Bujold continues to prove what marvels genius can create out of basic space operatics.”
- Library Journal
“Bujold is one of the best writers of SF adventure to come along in years.”
- Locus Magazine
“A superb craftsman and stylist, Ms. Bujold is well on her way to becoming one of the great voices of speculative fiction.”
- Rave Reviews
“Bujold has a gift, nearly unique in science fiction, for the comedy of manners.”
- Chicago Sun Times
Bujold's "work remains among the most enjoyable and rewarding in contemporary SF."
- Publishers Weekly
“Superb far-future saga.”
- Publishers Weekly, on the 'Vorkosigan' series
Lois McMaster Bujold was born in 1949, the daughter of an engineering professor at Ohio State University, from whom she picked up her early interest in science fiction. She now lives in Minneapolis, and has two grown children. She began writing with the aim of professional publication in 1982. She wrote three novels in three years; in October of 1985, all three sold to Baen Books, launching her career. Bujold went on to write many other books for Baen, mostly featuring her popular character Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, his family, friends, and enemies. Her books have been translated into over twenty languages. Her fantasy from Eos includes the award-winning Chalion series and the Sharing Knife series.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bujold (The Prisoner of Limnos) expands her Hugo-winning Vorkosigan series with this enjoyable standalone novella, which begins with Lady Ekaterin Vorkosigan's bioengineered radiation remediation bugs and ends with an unlikely rescue. Eighty years ago, the Cetagandans leveled the city of Vorkosigan Vashnoi with atomic bombs, rendering the entire area radioactive. Ekaterin and her scientist partner, Enrique Borgos, travel to a test plot in the region to check on the success of their insect-driven radiation abatement project, only to discover that over half of their creations have been stolen. Scanning from the air locates a homestead housing four individuals. All that is left is for Ekaterin to figure out how they have come to live in this irradiated place and persuade Ma Roga and her three suspicious children to leave Vashnoi for the medical treatments and opportunities of the outside world. Ekaterin proves to be as formidable, whip-smart, and compassionate as her husband, series protagonist Miles Vorkosigan. This savory vignette could serve as an introduction to the larger series and will be welcomed by Bujold's many fans.
Customer Reviews
Bioengineering and some dark underbelly
This is a pleasant (well, maybe wrong word, see futher...) side-story in the Vorkosigan universe focusing on collaborations between Ekaterin and bioengineer Enrique looking for genetically engineered mitigations for the toxic waste site that forms part of Miles’ inheritance. It’s also about the persistance of ingrained prejudices and the ways in which ignorance (on all sides) enables unprivileged people to fall through the cracks in an otherwise progressive society. Although I liked that these issues were highlighted, I’m less enamored of how often the solutions to individual social problems in the Vor universe are for some wealthy privileged person to throw money and influence at the central characters of the narrative. My main beef with the fictional universe is that the positive outcomes rely on the personal goodwill and honor of people who could just as easily be awful and abusive (and whose peers often are). It's not that I expect my fiction to be universally fluffy and progressive, but I've often felt that the Vorkosigan series isn't sufficiently self-aware of how it valorizes a "benevolent dictator" approach to society. There should be more occasions when the system fails badly in horrific ways and can't be tidied up by the personal goodwill of someone with power and privilege.
Good to see Ekaterin come into her own
That is, we see her from her internal viewpoint, and not just as an adjunct to Miles.
It’s lovely to get to know her better. It reminds me of how we get to see Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, from Jim’s wife and fellow Navajo Police Officer Bernadette Manuelito now that Anne Hillerman is telling the stories, after her father’s death. We get to see Bernie from the inside now, much as we are inside Ekaterin’s head here.
We see Ekaterin very much out of her element, but coping with it and taking charge, as she has since resettling on Barrayar. Well, she did marry Miles, and has herded him rather well. Managing her Countess-ly responsibilities is almost signal lost in the noise compared to handling Miles.
At the end, I had a satisfied smile. I’m ready for another installment of The Life of Lady Ekaterin Vorkosigan.
Two Eventful Vorkisigan Days
Married only 4 years to the fast-talking trouble-magnet Lord Vorkosigan, and Ekaterin has twins to feed -- and fortunately lots of help, because going on a wild fairy hunt will take a *tad* longer than a few hours.
Very fun 22,000 word novella!