Captain Vorpatril's Alliance
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''Captain Vorpatril's Alliance'' is a science fiction novel by American writer
Lois McMaster Bujold Lois McMaster Bujold ( ; born November 2, 1949) is an American speculative fiction writer. She has won the Hugo Award for best novel four times, matching Robert A. Heinlein's record (not counting his Retro Hugos). Her novella '' The Mountains of ...
, part of the
Vorkosigan Saga The Vorkosigan Saga is a series of science fiction novels and short stories set in a common fictional universe by American author Lois McMaster Bujold.Lillian Stewart Carl and John Helfers, ''The Vorkosigan Companion'', Baen Books 2008, The firs ...
. The action centers on
Miles Vorkosigan Miles Naismith Vorkosigan is a protagonist of a series of science fiction novels and short stories known as the Vorkosigan Saga, written by American author Lois McMaster Bujold. Personality Traits Miles is depicted as both brilliant (especially ...
's cousin Ivan Vorpatril, now a captain, and a Jackson's Whole refugee called Tej. By internal chronology, the book is set a year or so after ''
Diplomatic Immunity Diplomatic immunity is a principle of international law by which certain foreign government officials are recognized as having legal immunity from the jurisdiction of another country.
'' (2002), about four years before '' Cryoburn'' (2010).


Plot

During a stay on the planet Komarr, Captain Ivan Vorpatril is recruited by Byerly Vorrutyer, an undercover agent of Imperial Security, to find out the real identity of a young woman named Tej, connected to his investigation, whom he believes may be in danger. Ivan visits her workplace and flirts with her, asking her on a date, but is rejected. After he follows her back to her building, she lets him into her apartment, where he is ambushed by her companion, a genetically modified woman named Rish. He spends the night tied to a chair in their apartment while they decide what to do with him. When two men break in, Ivan manages to alert the women, who stun the intruders. Ivan then offers his own flat as a safe place for them. The women's persecutors accuse them of illegally entering Komarr and simultaneously accuse Ivan of kidnapping them, using the police investigation of these crimes to track them. A few days later, while the police force their way into his apartment, Ivan hastily marries Tej and hires Rish as her employee to give them legal protection. Tej reveals that she is the youngest daughter of Baron Cordonah from Jackson's Whole, a planet based on
laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( , from , ) is a type of economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies or regulations). As a system of thought, ''laissez-faire'' ...
free market economics In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...
where what would be crimes elsewhere abound. House Cordonah had been recently taken over by force by a competitor, who put a price on the remaining members of the House, making bounty hunters track them all the way to Komarr. Now as part of the family of a high Vor lord, Tej and Rish travel with Ivan to Barrayar. Back on Barrayar, Rish gets involved romantically with Byerly. Tej and Ivan attempt to get a divorce by petition to Count Falco Vorpatril, but are rejected. Falco tells Ivan that he will have to face the consequences of his own actions for a change. Ivan and Tej begin developing feelings for each other. Then the surviving members of Tej's family arrive unexpectedly. They have come to Barrayar to acquire the financial resources needed to attempt to take back their House. Tej's grandmother, a former Cetagandan ''haut'' lady, knows of an underground bunker forgotten since the Cetagandan invasion of Barrayar had been defeated a century before. It is filled with looted treasure, but they discover that Imperial Security's headquarters was inadvertently built just across the street from where the bunker is buried. They use a genetically modified fungus to dig their way into the bunker without alerting Imperial Security (ImpSec). Just as they are ready to enter the bunker, Ivan figures out the scheme and confronts Tej, who manages to secure his help. The scheme falls apart when the smuggler the baron had hired to transport the treasure trove proves to be more interested in the bounties on the family, and in the confrontation a long-forgotten buried bomb explodes, trapping them all in the bunker. While the bunker is flooding, Ivan and Tej confess their mutual feelings for each other and resolve to stay together. Barrayaran Imperial forces rescue them, but the foundations of ImpSec Headquarters are compromised, and the building partially sinks into the ground. Emperor Gregor negotiates a deal with Baron Cordonah: in exchange for one tenth of the bunker's contents and a ship to return to Jackson's Whole, House Cordonah becomes a covert ally of Barrayar. Byerly is exiled to Jackson's Whole with the Cordonahs, while Ivan is assigned as a diplomatic aide to planet Ylla. The book ends with Ivan and Tej reading letters from their families and planning their future.


Reception

''Captain Vorpatril's Alliance'' was a finalist for the 2013
Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) and chosen by its members. The award is administered by th ...
for Best Novel. At
Tor.com ''Reactor'', formerly ''Tor.com'', is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on specul ...
,
Jo Walton Jo Walton (born 1964) is a Welsh-Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She is best known for the fantasy novel '' Among Others'', which won the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2012, and '' Tooth and Claw'', a Victorian-era novel w ...
described it as "adorable as a whole", "deeply readable and tons of fun", and "also a really remarkably good science fiction novel", comparing it to
Georgette Heyer Georgette Heyer (; 16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both the Regency romance and detective fiction genres. Her writing career began in 1921, when she turned a story conceived for her ail ...
's ''
Cotillion The cotillion (also cotillon or French country dance) is a social dance, popular in 18th-century Europe and North America. Originally for four couples in square formation, it was a courtly version of an English country dance, the forerunner ...
'',The Ivan Book: Lois McMaster Bujold’s ''Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance''
reviewed by
Jo Walton Jo Walton (born 1964) is a Welsh-Canadian fantasy and science fiction writer and poet. She is best known for the fantasy novel '' Among Others'', which won the Hugo and Nebula Awards in 2012, and '' Tooth and Claw'', a Victorian-era novel w ...
, at
Tor.com ''Reactor'', formerly ''Tor.com'', is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on specul ...
; published December 4, 2012; retrieved March 7, 2017
while at
Locus Online ''Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field'', founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy fields. ...
, Paul Di Filippo compared it to a
Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...
farce, and to a "lighthearted and absurd" version of the works of
C. J. Cherryh Carolyn Janice Cherry (born September 1, 1942), better known by the pen name C. J. Cherryh, is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has written more than 80 books since the mid-1970s, including the Hugo Award–winning novels '' Downbe ...
, complimenting Bujold's execution in alternating the viewpoint between Ivan and Tej.Paul Di Filippo reviews Lois McMaster Bujold
at
Locus Online ''Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field'', founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy fields. ...
; published December 15, 2012; retrieved March 7, 2017
The
SF Site ''SF Site'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine edited by Rodger Turner. It is among the oldest of websites dedicated to science fiction and primarily publishes book reviews. It has won the Locus Award and received nominations for ...
's
Steven H Silver Steven H Silver (born April 19, 1967) is an American science fiction fan and bibliographer, publisher, author, and editor. He has been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer twelve times and Best Fanzine eight times without winning ...
, conversely, felt that the alternating viewpoint was not executed as well as it could have been, and that Ivan "makes a better support ngcharacter than a primary character"; Silver conceded, however, that Ivan and Tej may "seem less than dynamic merely in comparison to Bujold's more typical protagonists".CAPTAIN VORPATRIL'S ALLIANCE, by Lois McMaster Bujold
reviewed by
Steven H Silver Steven H Silver (born April 19, 1967) is an American science fiction fan and bibliographer, publisher, author, and editor. He has been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer twelve times and Best Fanzine eight times without winning ...
, at the
SF Site ''SF Site'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine edited by Rodger Turner. It is among the oldest of websites dedicated to science fiction and primarily publishes book reviews. It has won the Locus Award and received nominations for ...
; published November 2012; retrieved March 7, 2017


Publication history

Bujold began writing the novel in November 2009, but was interrupted by medical issues. In December 2010, she deleted the last five chapters and rewrote them with the "(s)ame characters, but a different location, (which) made all the difference.""Topias: Lois McMaster Bujold", in ''
Locus Locus (plural loci) is Latin for "place". It may refer to: Mathematics and science * Locus (mathematics), the set of points satisfying a particular condition, often forming a curve * Root locus analysis, a diagram visualizing the position of r ...
'', issue 612; vol. 68, no. 1; p. 6-7
From June 2012, the book was sold as a non-proofread advance reader
e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Al ...
(e-ARC). The official print release was November 2012.


References


External links

*{{ISFDB title, id=1495549 2012 American novels 2012 science fiction novels American science fiction novels Novels by Lois McMaster Bujold Vorkosigan Saga Baen Books books