wewoowewoogggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg- ggggggggggwewoowewoogggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg- gggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg- ggggwewoowewoogggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg- gggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggyuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu- uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu- uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu- uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu- uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu- ffffffffgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg- ggggggggggI mean, don’t get me wrong, it had some really clever little plot twists (although it was a little easier than usual to jump ahead of Miles’s thought processes, even on first reading), and it was awesome having Bel take center-stage again, but… yeah. It fell flat for me. And I found a review online that mentioned how Bujold does best when her characters are in major states of transition in their lives, which is absolutely true—Cordelia’s story has her gradually adopting a completely new life (the hard way), The Warrior’s Apprentice is Miles tumbling into the persona of Admiral Naismith (the hard way), The Vor Game is Miles discovering how awful he is at being subordinate (the hard way), Brothers in Arms is Miles finding out about his sibling (the hard way), Mirror Dance is Mark learning he has family (the hard way), Memory is Miles giving up his job (the hard way), Komarr is Miles falling in love (the hard way), A Civil Campaign is Ekaterin having to cope with the notion of moving on after a bad relationship (the hard way), and… Diplomatic Immunity just doesn’t have the same emotional threat to it that the others do, in comparison, y’know? Sure, there’s Miles and Ekaterin’s impending parenthood, but there’s not this sense of panic you might have expected otherwise.

In part, I think that’s because Miles kind of grew up during the events of A Civil Campaign. Much to everyone’s surprise, he’s pretty much ready for fatherhood. There’s no sense of maybe-this-won’t-work-out because you know he’s gonna do fine, especially with Ekaterin involved. He’s come to peace with most of his own father-issues. There’s no threat involved in that transition. When I first read the book, I figured for sure Bel and Miles would survive, but I kind of suspected that Miles would either have his health permanently destroyed (which kind of already got explored in Memory—and did sort of happen in Diplomatic Immunity, but ultimately got brushed off in the face