A Civil Campaign: A Comedy of Biology and Manners
A Civil Campaign: A Comedy of Biology and Manners book cover

A Civil Campaign: A Comedy of Biology and Manners

Hardcover – September 1, 1999

by
Price
$18.95
Format
Hardcover
Pages
405
Publisher
Baen Books
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-0671578275
Dimensions
6.13 x 1.47 x 9.25 inches
Weight
1.6 pounds

Description

If you relish costume adventure in an intergalactic society starring strong, convincing male and female characters, you'll adore the Vorkosigan Series. If you haven't met Miles Vorkosigan, whose brilliance, manic energy, and unstoppable determination make him a larger-than-life hero despite his dwarfish stature, pick up Komarr and A Civil Campaign . Read them, and then go back and catch the previous nine books (10 if you count Ethan of Athos , which features not Miles but his partner, Ellie Quinn); or read the series in order, starting with the romance of Miles's parents in Shards of Honor . A Civil Campaign opens where Komarr ends, with Miles determined to court Ekaterin. Unfortunately, his approach is described as "General Romeo Vorkosigan, the one-man strike force." By his father . The potential for comic disaster increases when Miles's clone brother Mark arrives. He's brought a brilliant but scatterbrained scientist who's created a bug producing a perfect food: bug butter. They set up a lab in the basement of Vorkosigan House. Mark has also found a nice Barrayaran girl--she even likes the bugs--with whom he got together on the sexually liberated world of Beta. But now Kareen's living at home. Naturally, disaster strikes, repeatedly and on all fronts. Bujold unfolds her comedy of manners while continuing to explore familiar themes: the difficulties in becoming a strong adult woman in a patriarchy, the need for trust and honesty in relationships between the sexes, the difference between appearance and identity, and the impact of advanced biotechnologies on society. A Civil Campaign is a sure-fire Hugo and Nebula nominee, likely to add another statue to Bujold's already full shelf. It's charming, touching, and quite funny too. --Nona Vero From Publishers Weekly Bujold dedicates her new novel to the Bront?s, Georgette Heyer and Dorothy Sayers, which gives a pretty good indication of the territory she's staked out in this well-done addition (after Komarr) to her popular Miles Vorkosigan series. Miles, forced by ill heath to give up his military career and having embarked on a second career as an Imperial Auditor (a kind of peripatetic judge and ambassador), is madly in love with the beautiful and brilliant Ekaterin Vorsoisson. Unfortunately, Ekaterin is the recent widow of a crooked government official whose death Miles holds himself partially responsible for. Their courtship is made even more difficult by a series of interrelated events. First, Emperor Gregor is getting married, and Miles, like everyone else in the government, is caught up in the complex social and diplomatic whirl surrounding the impending nuptials. Second, Miles's disaster-prone clone brother, Mark, has concocted a scheme to make a fortune marketing "butter bugs," unattractive, cockroachlike creatures that secrete a bland tofulike food product. Worse, Mark has set up his laboratory in Vorkosigan House, the bugs have gotten loose and Miles's parents, Lord Aral and Lady Cordelia, are due home any second. And then there's the dirty infighting going on in the Council of Counts over who should inherit two vacant districts, plus an attempt to frame Miles for murder. Through all these often hilarious and occasionally dangerous incidents, Miles strives heroically to keep his eye on the prizeAthe winning of Ekaterin's hand in marriage. Bujold successfully mixes quirky humor with just enough action, a dab of feminist social commentary and her usual superb character development in a sprightly SF romance that her many fans will find enormously satisfying. (Sept.) FYI: Bujold has won four Hugos and two Nebulas for books and stories in the Miles Vorkosigan series. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal As an Imperial Auditor, Miles Vorkosigan involves himself in the Emperor's wedding plans and discovers his own romantic interest in Lady Ekaterin Vorsoisson. The latest in Bujold's space opera featuring the diminutive nobleman Miles Vorkosigan combines a comedy of manners with political intrigue as suspicious deaths and treachery threaten to cast a damper on galactic affairs. Libraries should purchase where the series is popular. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist The latest Miles Vorkosigan adventure has him campaigning in four plots. Courting the lovely widow Ekaterin Vorsoissons, he must overcome her resistance to marrying again. As best man at Emperor Gregor's wedding, he must wade hip-deep in social intrigue. As an imperial auditor, he must deal with two disputes over aristocratic titles, one of which arose because one claimant has had gender-changing surgery. And as heir to the Vorkosigan title, he has duties contingent on his clone-sibling Mark's complicated courtship of Karreen Koudelka. Bujold weaves all four actions into a seamless whole that her faithful readers may rank among the best books in an outstanding series. Familiarity with most of the characters and with Barrayaran society is expected, however, and readers new to Miles may feel somewhat at sea in this comedy of manners--the banquet at Vorkosigan House is one of Bujold's most memorable scenes. There is, of course, a pleasant remedy for such discomfort: go further back in the Vorkosigan corpus and read forward! Roland Green From Kirkus Reviews Another yarn in Bujold's military-family series (Mirror Dance, 1994, etc.) set on planet Barrayar, home of the dwarfish, multitalented Miles Vorkosiganhis secret identity is that of the fearless mercenary leader Admiral Naismithand his obese clone-brother Mark. Here, the Emperor Gregor comes to Barrayar to be wed, with Miles's aunt, the Lady Alys Vorpatril, making the arrangements. Amid the pomp and circumstance, Miles's tender, careful wooing of lovely widow Madame Ekatarin Vorsoisson will stir intrigues both political and romantic. Whatever the actionand, physically, there isn't muchMiles will be in the thick of it. Inviting if sometimes overembellished folderol, with an agreeable sense of humor. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. ONE CUNNING PLAN TOO MANY...? It's spring in Vorbarr Sultana, and a young person's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love ... money ... bio-genetics ... love ... lack of money ... incompatible planetary sexual mores ... love ... District succession scandals ... the Emperor's wedding ... and, of course, love ... Lord Miles Vorkosigan, youngest Imperial Auditor to be appointed by the Emperor since the Time of Isolation, has a problem all his new power can't solve: unrequited love for the beautiful Vor widow Ekaterin Vorsoisson. Ekaterin is violently allergic to marriage as a result of her first exposure. But as Miles learned from his late career in galactic covert ops, if a frontal assault won't do, go to subterfuge. He has a cunning plan ... Lord Mark Vorkosigan has a problem: his love for the sunny Kareen, daughter of Commodore Koudelka, has just become unrequited again. But if all his new money can't solve their dilemma, perhaps a judicious blending of science and entrepreneurial scheming might. He has a cunning plan ... Lord Ivan Vorpatril has a problem: unrequited love in general. True, with the men on Barrayar out-numbering the women five to four, his odds aren't good. But Ivan had never thought the odds applied to him. He too has a cunning plan ... If no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy, just imagine what all Miles's closest friends and relatives can do to his romantic strategy! A science fiction and fantasy legend, Lois McMaster Bujold has won seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards. Her Miles Vorkosigan saga is a massively popular science fiction mainstay. Her many New York Times bestsellers includexa0series entries Cryoburn, Diplomatic Immunity, and Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance . In 2020, Ms. Bujold was named the 36th Damon Knight Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • Ekaterin is violently allergic to marriage as a result of her first exposure. But as Miles learned from his late career in galactic covert ops, if a frontal assault won't do, go to subterfuge. He has a cunning plan. Lord Mark Vorkosigan has a problem: his love for the sunny Kareen, daughter of Commodore Koudelka, has just become unrequited again.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(905)
★★★★
25%
(377)
★★★
15%
(226)
★★
7%
(106)
★
-7%
(-106)

Most Helpful Reviews

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I laughed, I cried, I kissed a night's sleep goodbye

Let me first explain that I am a great lover of Miles Vorkosigan books. And a great fan of Bujold's, even when she's not writing about him. But I think this is one of the better books in the series, showing more about him than those that spend more time with his point of view.
If you have read Komarr (and you really SHOULD), you know what one story thread is going to be. But this hardly prepares you for all the twists and turns of what, to a Barryarran biographer, would be one of the calm, safe, boring parts of Miles' life. As if he was going to have any.
It's hard to know what to say about this book; a LOT of people find the person of their dreams, Miles holds down a REAL job, Kareen finds her path in life, Mark is more Mark-like than ever, Aral and Cordelia use their parenting skills, and Barrayar as a whole gets dragged kicking and screaming another step towards enlightenment.
There are 3 spots where I cry, 4 spots where I laugh, and I enjoyed the whole thing. This probably isn't a good book to start the series with, but it's a good book. Start with _Warrior's_Apprentice_ or _Brothers_in_Arms_, which are out in paperback.
34 people found this helpful
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Love and Bug Butter on Barrayar

Miles Vorkosigan has got to be one of the most brilliant characters ever unleashed on the unsuspecting reading public. Dwarfed before birth by an assassination attempt upon his pregnant mother, Miles has every reason to shun public life and duty; instead he drives his crippled body mercilessly through a career as a military secret agent. Medically discharged before thirty due to seizures, Miles has become a special Auditor for his cousin the Emperor, prying into suspicious cases and hunting trouble. This brought him into the life of lovely Vor widow Ekaterina in the last book, KOMARR. Miles at war is an unstoppable force, or almost. Miles in love is a different story. Perhaps someone should have advised him that laying siege to a woman's heart is only a figure of speech? Bujold is always amusing, but seldom comical; thus it slipped up on me. Add in the continuing saga of Miles' clone Mark, always on the lookout for a money-making scheme, and his bioengineered butter bugs, which make a sort of yogurt instead of honey. Mark's in love, too, and her parents aren't thrilled. Add in Lady Donna's scheme to inherit her brother's title and you have the guest list for a dinner party of apocalyptic proportions. I laughed like hell, but there's a serious side to this foolishness: Miles really loves the girl. If he blows this one it's going to be a long lonely life. Mark's no better off with his dilemma, since few women can really relate to his dwarfed body and unstable mind. And fans of Ivan Vorpatril will find him in top form, casually drifting along ogling the women and ducking responsibility. Tangled political maneuvering, strong characters, and a complicated emotional situation; just what I expected from Bujold, who also gives us men a look at how the fair sex see our foibles. Lucky Miles and Mark; mother Cordelia is still a force to be reckoned with in this universe, and after the bug butter is all mopped up and everyone's had their share of humiliation there's still a good chance of a happy ending. Not many authors can keep a character like Miles alive and growing through this many sequels; Bujold's done a great job of making him plausible, one broken bone at the time.
20 people found this helpful
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Romantic, Hilarious, and Deep

This has got to be the best Vorkosigan book ever. I wouldrecommend this to anyone who loves to read, even if they've never read SF before. I love how Bujold creates a true story. It has everything you could want, from true Milesian strategy, imperial politics, and technological consequences to intimate romance (that doesn't have to mean sex), the human condition and bug butter wrestling. If you've never read a Vorkosigan book, I'd suggest reading Komarr first, but even without that Civil Campaign is enjoyable. For all of you who have read all the books(and I know there's a lot of you out there.) Bujold seamlessly meshes references to previous events that make you fall down laughing. I just CAN'T WAIT for the next book! I have a feeling it could include a confrontation between Mile's new life and his old. That would be perfect. There are so many ways to continue the story, I can't stand it. I agree with all previous reviews that compare Bujold to Jane Austin. Bujold has the characters as the most important part of the story. She gets inside them, so you see out of their eyes. I love the not so abject letter "...possess the power of your eyes...". There's something in this for everyone. You have to read it!
12 people found this helpful
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Same Miles, different style

The latest entry in the Vorkosigan Saga is a return to form for Bujold, after some recent entries that I felt were not quite up to her standard, and a continuation of the evolution of the series from its space opera origins.
The early volumes of the Miles Vorkosigan series emphasized action with lots of space battles and narrow escapes. In the more recent volumes, Miles has been forced by politics and injuries to end his career as a mercenary admiral and return to his homeworld of Barrayar. The most recent books, "Memory" and "Komarr", were essentially detective stories with Miles unraveling plots against the Barrayar Imperium. Although Bujold's first attempt at combining the SF and Mystery genres, the novella 'In the Mountains of Mourning' from "Borders of Infinity" is the finest blend of the two styles I've ever read, better than Asimov's Robot mysteries, these books never quite took off.
In "A Civil Campaign", Bujold adopts yet another genre and writes a 'comedy of manners and biology' with a dedication to 'Jane [Austen], Charlotte [Bronte], Georgette [Heyer] and Dorothy [Sayers?]'. The result is a brilliant success, in many ways the best book in this superior series. For all her gifts and all her skill in describing high society dinner parties, Jane Austen regrettably never stopped to consider the possible ways they could be thrown into chaos by sex-change operations or genetic engineering run amok. Bujold does, and the disastrous party in the center of this novel is, all by itself, worth the price of admission.
The action that dominated earlier installments and slowed down in recent ones is altogether gone in "A Civil Campaign". There is one ambush, where Miles is not present, and a 'battle' fought with tubs of bugbutter, a gooey product of genetically redesigned bugs off which Miles's clone brother Mark hopes to make his fortune.
The slower pace and greater length of this book allow for further development of the characters. Miles is developed, of course, but his longtime sidekick, Ivan Vorpatril, also is very visible, and for the first time playing an independent part. Cordelia is back, more prominent than she has been for some time, and the Koudelka daughters make their first appearances as prominent adult characters, with various adult romantic entanglements. Comic situations often appeared in earlier installments, but usually as bits of relief thrown in between the action sequences. Here the comic situations are also more fully developed than in earlier volumes, producing the funniest Vorkosigan novel to date.
This book is heavily dependent on the complex back story created in earlier volumes and would probably be frustrating for a reader not familiar with the series.
7 people found this helpful
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Just another rave

There haven't been too many negative reviews, and LMB doesn't deserve many. This isn't the book to introduce Miles to your friends who haven't already met him. This book is neither Brothers in Arms or Memory, the two best books in the series. But it is very, very good.
I especially liked the fact that she has finally taken the time to show that the one thing you really don't want to do is engage Ivan. Once, through Miles' viewpoint, the remark was made about his having a sharp but lazy mind. Well, once you stub your toe on his sense of right and wrong, he becomes as bad a person to cross as Miles himself.
I'm waiting for a book about Ivan.
Recently, I read a review which remarked that the purpose of a novel has usually been to bring two young people to the altar. Here we are. Miles and Ekaterin are going to marry; Gregor and Laisa are married, Duv Galeni and (god help us) Team Koudelka are married off. Let's see what can be done with Ivan.
I've always liked and sympathized with Ivan. I adore Miles, and I would actually allow myself to be locked up with him for a week. Which is why I keep re-reading all these books. But let's see what can be done with poor Ivan, and who is he going to marry?
Loved it, just admitted it wasn't Memory.
7 people found this helpful
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Winner of the 1999 Sapphire Award

The readers of the Science Fiction Romance newsletter voted A Civil Campaign the best Science Fiction Romance of 1999.
Personally, I'm glad I didn't read it in public, because the disasterous dinner scene, the bug butter fight, and numerous other highlights had me howling with laughter, and many key points had me shouting, "No, Miles! Don't!"
6 people found this helpful
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A sparkling, frothy, delight.

I've read all of the Miles Vorkosigan books and I must say they just get better. This book is classified as science fiction but it could have just as easily been called a romance or general fiction.
We find Miles where we left off with him from the last book, 'Komarr', still helplessly infautated with the lovely widow Ekaterin. How appropriate that the title of the book is 'a Civil Campaign' because Miles' courtship of the widow is done in typical Miles style -- as a military campaign. And in typical Miles fashion he is...overwhelming. But before he can complete his strategy of getting the girl Miles must vanquish a political foe intent upon damaging his reputation by accusing him of murder. Mark, Miles' troubled clone brother, makes an appearance with a new friend whose new 'culinary' invention creates havoc in the Vorkosigan household. And in the meantime, Miles still has to participate in all the tedious round of socializing that preceeds Gregor's wedding.
There is so much stuff in this book that you can't put it down. Ms. Bujold introduces a couple of fascinating new characters as well as reintroducing us to and enrichening some of our old favorites.
The highlights of this book are many, but I especially loved Miles' comically doomed dinner party, Ivan's continued proof that he's no idiot and the wonderfully satisfying clamatic scene at the Council of Counts. And I always cry at weddings!
6 people found this helpful
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The Battlefield of Love

Miles Vorkosigan is at it again, merrily planning (and attempting to execute) a very exacting military campaign. The only trouble is, the military objective is inducing his new-found lady love Ekaterin to marry him. His plan includes notable pieces of strategy: not to be too obvious about it, as she is still in mourning for her late husband (see the earlier book Komarr for details); keep other suitors well away; make sure there are frequent opportunities for the two to be in each other's presence; ensure that she becomes aware of all the niceties that would entail from marrying into one of the noblest families on Barrayar. Each piece of his plan, though, runs into one minefield after another, and as he puts emergency stop-losses in place, his situation continuously deteriorates, culminating in a dinner where absolutely everything goes wrong.
The dinner may be the high point of this book - the person who can read this section and not fall over laughing, cringing, and crying all at the same time isn't a real human being. For this book is not about military action, political plots, or single-handed world-saving, but is rather a very witty comedy. The picture of Miles making just about every mistake a lovelorn suitor can is both marvelously funny and very believable, and the picture of Barrayaran society is solidly fleshed out, making the whole a perfect environment in which to play out such a comedy of manners. As usual, Bujold keeps several plot threads spinning at once, whose resolution, while (for once) not at all earth-shaking, makes for a nicely unified wholeness to the basic story.
In another departure for Bujold, this story is told from several viewpoints, not just Miles', which adds a lot to the reader's perspective of the society and situation, and also allows for much greater character development of Ivan Vorpatril, Mark (Miles' clone brother), and Ekaterin than has been the case with previous books in this series.
Perhaps my only real objection to this book was that some of the side plots from the main story just didn't seem to have enough importance and weren't detailed enough to make me really get involved with them, so that their major effect on the final outcome seemed to be larger than justified and a little bit of a surprise. This is a pretty minor quibble, though. Nominated for the 2000 Hugo award, this is a fine entertaining read, full of chuckles and belly-laughs, managing to make Miles into a normal human being without totally losing his aura of impossible competence, engaging and heart-warming. Possibly the best of all the Vorkosigan books.
--- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
5 people found this helpful
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Just why can't she write three times as fast?

I'm torn between begging her to write faster, yet sure I want her to never let down her quality. Lois' quality as a writer is still improving. This is a tapestry of persons you want to spend time with, situations you want to watch unfold and calamities that make you laugh out loud. I've re-read this book at least four times already and STILL am finding new details to enjoy. The series should be read in order, however, starting with Cordelia's Honor (including both Shards of Honor and Barrayar).
When reading the best books, I really wish I could know the people and live among them to see the events the writer hasn't time to write down for us. This is one of the best books by the best writer of our time. Really, I like her a lot.
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Unbelievably good

This is another slam bang smash by Lois. I cannot begin to describe how incredibly funny, happy, sad, intricate and just plain magnificent this book is. If you're a Vorkosigan fan, this is IT. If you're wondering what all the hoopla is about, you should read Komarr first. (That's according to the author). Unlike most Science Fiction, Bujold writes a book that is long on interpersonal interaction and short on My Eyes Glaze Over. The science that is in her books, though, is very good and central to the story. The plot about the Butter Bugs is sure to resonate through the rest of the Miles books.
Oh, and I've never seen a better disastrous sad/farcical scene than the dinner in ANY book.
Damn Fine Read Lois. Great Job!
5 people found this helpful

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