NB: We have two reviews for Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold. One from Carrie and one from RevMelinda. Their reviews are similar but distinct in how they react to the major revelations that take place in this story. We’re running them both, but in order to keep the discussion in one place, we’re closing comments on one and directing readers to the other – which is annoying, so we ask your pardon for having to click a little extra if you want to discuss this book. Also: there is no way to discuss this book without spoiling everything, so the whole thing is a spoiler. K? K. – SB Sarah

 

SPOILERS, AHOY!

 

 

 

 

GET READY!

 

 

 

 

YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!

 

 

It’s been three years since Aral Vorkosigan’s death, and his widow Cordelia, who serves as the Vicereine of Barrayar’s colony planet Sergyar, is gathering herself to move on—both emotionally and practically. Cordelia, now over 70, feeling her age but in the middle of her expected 120 year galactic lifespan, plans to use previously collected genetic material from herself and Aral to realize her longstanding dream of a big family (interrupted some 40 years earlier upon their son Miles’ sabotaged birth), and is setting the wheels in motion to create six new daughters (who will be gestated in uterine replicators). There is some genetic material left, which she offers to her old friend, 50 year old Admiral Oliver Jole, so that he, too, can create some children—sons who would be genetically Oliver’s and Aral’s.

Cordelia makes Oliver this offer because it turns out that throughout the some 20 years chronicled in previous books in the Vorkosigan saga, Aral Vorkosigan and Oliver Jole were involved in an intimate (romantic and sexual) relationship, condoned and supported (and sometimes joined) by Cordelia. All three considered this a three-way marriage. The relationship was an open secret among their friends and associates but kept from the people of Sergyar and Barrayar and, crucially, was not known by their son Miles. With Aral’s death, Cordelia and Oliver lost the linchpin that bound them together, and have grieved very much separately—now, three years later, Cordelia’s offer of genetic material becomes the catalyst that brings Cordelia and Oliver together in a new way.

There’s not much of an action plot—no real mystery to solve, no military battles to fight, no villains to outwit, although there are a few tense moments with the local wildlife. The focus of the action is internal: in the movement of Cordelia and Oliver out of grief and into a relationship with one another, coming to terms with the past, and reaching for and then claiming a very different future than the one they and others might have expected for them. Oliver, a career military officer, must choose between further advancement in his career and becoming a father. Cordelia must throw off the assumptions and expectations of her friends and family (most notably Miles) and move forward with her plans to retire, raise her new daughters, and remain on Sergyar (instead of existing in complacent dowager widowhood and grandmotherhood back on Barrayar). Oliver and Cordelia must also face Miles and reveal to him not only their newly ignited romantic relationship with one another, but must acknowledge to him the longstanding triad relationship between Aral, Oliver, and Cordelia.

In so many ways this is a typical Vorkosigan novel. Bujold gives us lots of sparkling dialogue, humorous scenes, fascinating descriptions of the planet Sergyar, technological details, and appearances by various ongoing characters (as well as some engaging new ones). There is the lovely developing romance and sexual intimacy between Cordelia and Oliver. Miles, now Count Vorkosigan, makes an appearance with his family, and is amusingly in the position of being stodgily traditional in the face of Cordelia and Oliver’s new relationship and future plans.

One of the things that characterizes the Vorkosigan series is how ordinary “human” challenges persist even in this future characterized by advanced technology—teenagers still act like teenagers, the military is still bound by bureaucracy, and older folks still have sex that younger folks still don’t want to know about. Bujold handles people, personalities, and complex situations with a deft and ironic hand—even in the midst of space flight, alien cultures, and advanced reproductive technologies, you feel like you know these characters, and you laugh and cry and shake your head as if they are familiar friends. And Cordelia is Cordelia: honest, free-thinking, courageous, funny, adventurous, and wise.

For those who have read the preceding novels, there are also lots of moments which give additional resonance and meaning to well-known events from those books. For example, at one point Cordelia returns with Oliver to the Sergyar mountain where Vorkosigan readers first met her (and she first met Aral) in the opening scene of “Shards of Honor.” At another point, Cordelia and Oliver join with Miles’ family to tour a soon-to-be-decommissioned Barrayaran spaceship that Aral commanded and Oliver served. These journeys allow Cordelia—and the reader—opportunities for remembrance and introspection, a chance to integrate and reconcile the past with the present, to come to terms with grief, and to move on into the future.

As much as I enjoyed the book—and I did enjoy it—I have to admit that I have tremendously mixed feelings about it. I assume that I am not alone among Bujold’s readers to have been surprised and—yes, I confess—disappointed at the revelation of the triad marriage between Aral, Cordelia, and Oliver. Aral’s bisexuality features as a plot point in previous books, so that was no surprise. However, having read all of the previous books, I felt that I knew Aral and Cordelia. Their relationship is the foundation stone of the series, and I found their story, their relationship, their sense of personal honor powerful and inspiring. Their changed narrative has changed my relationship with them as characters, and it has changed my relationship with the previous books. I am still not quite sure what to do with that in my head. In that, I feel like I’m in the same position as Miles, grappling with these revelations about his parents (as perhaps we all grapple to understand our parents as people) and reassessing past events in light of present understanding.

Perhaps some of the reason I’m struggling with it lies in narrative choices made by Bujold. The story of Aral’s relationship with Oliver is not provided in detail, but is referred to by asides and allusions in the narrative. We learn that Aral pursued Oliver and consummated the relationship when Cordelia was off planet, that Cordelia was informed about it after the fact, and that everyone around them freaked out except Cordelia—but we’re really told no more details at all. Is it just me, or does it not seem dishonorable to secretly pursue another sexual relationship when your wife is out of town—even if your wife is a very open minded Betan who would ultimately be your ally in it? What does it say about Aral that he would do such a thing? What does it say about Oliver? How does this ongoing secret relationship reconcile with the concept of honor which is such a big part of Barrayaran culture, and one of the chief themes of so many of the Vorkosigan books? Perhaps if Bujold had told the story of Aral and Oliver’s romance more completely, fleshed out the emotions and events, then I would have had more understanding and been more emotionally persuaded.

One of the novel’s primary themes is that the past informs the present, and that present knowledge illuminates and changes the past. Another might be that even our heroes are human, and that we shouldn’t put even great men and women on a pedestal. (It seems to me that in this book Bujold goes to great lengths to restore some of Aral’s humanity, with allusions to and stories about his earthiness, his sexual adventurousness, his youthful anger and violence.) And of course, there is the over-arching theme of hope and new life out of grief and loss.

By book’s end, Oliver has come to a decision about his future, Miles has been told about (and accepted) both the past triad marriage and the present relationship of Oliver and Cordelia, and Cordelia has taken the first steps toward claiming her new life and family. It’s a good ending point for a long family saga—or a jumping off point for a string of new adventures for a new generation, perhaps? Time will tell, I suppose.

I am so interested to know what others think of this book. As much as I enjoyed it, it was kind of a dissociative enjoyment—the whole time I was reading it, that voice in my head was saying “No, nuh-uh, no way,” as if I was reading some really, really good fan fiction that couldn’t possibly be Vorkosigan canon. I can’t quite decide if I’m excited that Bujold went in this somewhat challenging direction with the series, or if the series has jumped the shark and it’s careening off into the ditch. What do you think?

NB: as noted above, comments are closed for this review – but you can join the conversation in Carrie’s review.