Something Witty This Way Comes

aral vorkosigan really is one of the most characters of all time. he’s bisexual. he watched the dismemberment of the emperor and the killing of most of his immediate family when he was eleven years old. his first wife cheated on him so he challenged both other men to a duel and killed them both. it looked as if they’d killed each other so nobody ever investigated and he got away with it. his wife then killed herself. he went on a years-long bender and had a very public affair with his dead wife’s brother. he dumped his dead wife’s brother thus initiating a ~20 year long toxic yaoi situation. he helped lead the invasion of the nearest planet and was dubbed "the butcher" of said planet after a subordinate initiated a massacre against his orders. he killed said subordinate with his bare hands. he met his second wife after his crew mutinied on a near deserted planet, and also after her entire party was killed. he fell in love with her at first sight because she was throwing up in the dirt while wearing pants as a woman. she helped kill his ex boyfriend. he proposed marriage to her in the middle of a war while she was considered a POW. he plotted with the emperor to kill the heir to the throne and all his significant supporters. he’s an adrenaline junkie who enjoys drunk driving his lightflyer through canyons at night and definitely has a death wish. and he's bisexual. all of this is information available in book 1 of 17

goddd I forgot how much I missed cordelia. 5 minutes into Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen and she chugs half a bottle of wine and tells a man he should have babies with her dead husband. she spends so much of the vorkosigan saga in the background doing feminism that u forget she's the woman who ended a civil war by bringing her husband a head in a bag

The Vorkosigan saga is a series where the lingering legacy of past conflicts is nearly omnipresent. From the personal all the way to societal level, consequences of the Time of Isolation, Cetagandan Occupation, Mad Yuri's War, Komarran Invasion, and all the rest just keep on coming up. And in case any of the political or emotional stuff is too subtle for you, surprisingly often there is An Old Bomb that's important to the plot.

This is one of the most powerful images I have ever seen, and I will reblog it every single time because every single time it brings tears to my eyes.

god okay. i just finished reading gentleman jole and the red queen, which officially ends my first read of the vorkosigan saga. on the book itself, i have so many thoughts, but overall i absolutely adored it. it was so full of happiness and joy and hope for the future, and i found it to be a really good reflection on everything that happened in the ~40 year period the series mainly focused on. it was funny and heartfelt and had just the right amount of somewhat baffling plot points, it was just so good. on the series as a whole, i think if you've seen any of my previous posts you won't be surprised when i say the vorkosigan saga might be one of my all time favorite series. i'm playing around with officially declaring it in my top 3 ever, and the number 1 spot shouldn't be any difficult challenge once i've thought about it more and read it again. because i am absolutely reading it again, and soon, along with everything else lmb has ever written. when i started shards of honor i was honestly expecting to find a silly funtime sci-fi series, and that's definitely what i got, but i can't say i was expecting to be like. a different person when i came out the other side. anyways. i have so many things to say and i will be making more posts in the future about my thoughts, however i am currently on my lunch break at work and need to actually go back to the lab now

so i'm a little bit more than halfway through gentleman jole and the red queen and i must say i was a little scared going into this book that i might not enjoy it as much as some of the others in the series (i always get really scared that the last book of a series will disappoint me) but no i think i might Adore this book. it's funny it's sincere it's heartfelt 70 year old cordelia is having great sex literally what more can i want from this book. it's definitely not like the rest of the series in the sense of not having any huge massive stakes or combat drop missions or anything like that, and it just has this really nostalgic feeling to it that i think works so well. it feels very quiet and mundane and i really love that. and it's also intensely bisexual which is always a win

This! All this! Is why I adore this book! It's such a grown up romcom!

i’m on literally like chapter 2 of gentleman jole and the red queen and i already know enough to conclude that this is the most bisexual book ever written and it’s only competition is shards of honor

so i just finished cryoburn. i'm assuming you're familiar with the horrors