#A Civil Campaign

[leojurand]

so i finished a civil campaign and the conclusion is pretty much what i've been saying since i started reading it: it's a good book, it's fun, but it's not really a book for me and it's kind of a disappointment.

i went into ACC with very high expectations knowing that it was one of, if not the fan favourite in the series. i can't say it's one of my favourites though... i enjoyed it a normal amount. it's more of a middle of the road entry for me

i liked that the two major plotlines in this book were political infighting and. bugs! tho i wasn't super into the bug stuff lol i wish it had been more of a side quest and not taken as much page time

but anyway. it was very entertaining nevertheless. just not one of the best vorkosigan books and it baffles me how often i've seen this up there with memory in rankings but well! different readers have different tastes!

diplomatic immunity comes next... will try to get into it soon 🫡

[i-cast-zone-of-truth]

AND MOST DISASTROUS DINNER PARTY GOES TO

[swordshapedleaves]

Yes I did stay up until four in the morning rereading A Civil Campaign. But in my defense once you get to the dinner party you really can't stop until you get to the letter.

[cookie-nom-nom]

Lois McMaster Bujold: okay so the A plot is an intense political romance dealing with slander and healing from abuse

me: cool cool and the B plot?

Lois: bugs

me: sorry, what?

Lois: B U G S

[regallibellbright]

“It’s… not what Tante Cordelia is most famous for, on Barrayar,” Martya offered after a moment.

Cordelia: I’m a successful survey captain, but do they call me Captain Naismith, Betan explorer?

Cordelia: I was foster-mother to the Emperor and influenced his education, but do they call me Lady Vorkosigan, influencer of Barrayaran politics for a generation?

Cordelia: I was even a war hero, even though I didn’t do most of what I’m credited for.

Cordelia: But you bring home ONE SEVERED HEAD in a shopping bag -!

[havendance]

That proposal!!! And then Miles immediately beginning to doodle their names together in hearts in his notes when he should be paying attention to the vote

[randomishnickname]

Just reread A Civil Campaign and my gooood i had forgotten how funny and thrilling and complex that book is. There's so much stuff happening! It's pure chaos everywhere! And yet it's all intervowen and makes perfect sense! Wonderful.

Quick overview of all the plot threads in A Civil Campaign, please help me out if i forgot some:

Miles' "secret" (*cough*) and catastrophic courting of Ekaterin

Ekaterin starting a new life in Vorbarr Sultana and fending off suitors left and right

Kareen Koudelka fighting to get her parents to accept her new galactic mores

Mark launching the Butterbug Business and all the delightful messes that ensue

René "Ghembretten" fighting for his claim to the Vorbretten Countship

Dono Vorrutyer fighting for the claim to his own Countship and all the shenanigans and intrigues that ensue

Escobaran police trying to get their hand on the wicked Doctor Enrique Borgos (Enrique ily <3)

Miles and Ekaterin fighting against awful rumors to preserve their reputation and protect Nikki

Gregor and Laisa's imperial marriage and its stressful preparations

And final special mention to Count Vormuir and his 118 daughters

That's like, 10 different plot threads at once, and wielded with such skill! Never a dull minute. I'm in such awe of LMMB 😵🤯

[haveyoureadthisscifibook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

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[alcnolien]

“Mark . . . why do the air holes have screens in them?”

The first time I read A Civil Campaign, this exact conversation was the MOMENT I realized what an absolutely wild book this was going to be. Yes I’m rereading it again for the 50th time.

[agardenandlibrary]

I just read the cover for A Civil Campaign and I gotta say. Hearing that both Miles AND Mark have "a cunning plan" to get the women in their lives to marry them. Fills me with foreboding

[thirdwifeofriversong]

if someone told me, last summer when i was reading shards of honor, that a VORRUTYER would be one of my favorite characters, i would’ve laughed in their face… but that was before i met dono

[leojurand]

this paragraph. delicious

[unbizzarre]

VORKOSIGAN DINNER PARTY SCENE (wip)

“My dinner party,' Miles grated. 'It's just breaking up.' And sinking. All souls feared lost.”

Work in progress. The dinner party scene in “A Civil Campaign” from Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga. Characters from left to right are: Ekaterine Vorsoisson, Captian Koudelka, Olivia Koudelka, Dono Vorrutyer, Alys Vorpatril, Miles Vorkosigan, and Enrique Borgos (under the table)

This is a drawing of my friend’s favorite scene in the vorkosigan saga! I personally found this book to be the most stressful to read in the entire series the first time I read it, but that was mostly just cuz I take a lot of damage from secondhand social anxiety for fictional characters. On a second read of the book I was a lot less stressed able to wholeheartedly enjoy this scifi comedy-of-manners for the delightfuly intricate social and politicial clusterfuck it is 🥰.

Second image is early planning for the piece trying to figure out where the hell everybody was supposed to be seated. Goddamn was that a logic puzzle!

[swordshapedleaves]

Quote from Kareen near the beginning of A Civil Campaign (yes I'm rereading it again):

“What Miles needs is a woman who will tell him to go soak his head, or it’ll be a disaster. For her, not him.” After a moment, she added sapiently, “Though if for her, for him too, sooner or later.”

That's it. That's the whole novel right there.

[abigailspinach]

Listening to this episode had me rereading the Lord Peter Wimsey books, if you're wondering how much of the conversation is about the dedication and comedies of manners and romance. The episode is celebration that works out way better than Miles' dinner party.

“My dinner party,' Miles grated. 'It's just breaking up.' And sinking. All souls feared lost.” ― Lois McMaster Bujold, A Civil Campaign

Meg and Laine talk about books – mostly historical romance novels. New episodes drop Mondays and Thursdays. Welcome!

[starfishlikestoread]

The "My ex-wife still misses me ... but her aim is getting better!" joke from GF but it's Count Vormuir in A Civil Campaign