#rucy reads cetaganda

[fauxshow42]

This really is the "Not Yet" book 😂

Cetaganda ch. 12

Renewed my Cetaganda copy at the e-library! From what I understand get a small tiny cut from each license use so maybe my slowness is getting LMB some cents.

Remember that Cetaganda copy that was also checked out when I did the first chapter? Well now one copy of Brothers in Arms and Mirror Dance are checked out and I'd bet at least one of those is the same person, who has read 2, 3 additional books while I tell you my tales lol

(Right after I complained about my slowness, I proceeded to get in to a several minute wikipedia rabbit hole to figure out what a half-kilometer tall building looked like). (We're just 7 lines in!)

So a house counts as a bubble! <-Such an strange sentence out of context. But this explains Rian without the bubble in the Star Creche, she might consider it her home.

(Actively supressing the urge to investigate why some medals are called "orders"). (Catastrophically failed). (It has to do with orders of knights which in turn come from religious orders).

"I'm sure when we came in the average age dropped from ninety to eighty-nine". XDDDDD

Ah, yes, nothing like the bff of our main suspect to spice up the party. Feaaaaar. And now Ivan talking to the wife...

Contact is heree! And we get to see the inside of a bubble!! Cool!!

The bubbles fly! Great! I almost died in a panic there. Poor Miles!

Contact is Eta Ceta consort!!! Wow

A Key witnesss AHAHAHHAHAHAH (Yay for a translated pun!!)

Haut meeting. While the idea of eight powerful women deciding important stuff is cool, the idea that the important stuff revolves about genetically engeneering a superior race is. Hm. :/

"We do not clone ourselves, Lord Vorkosigan." <-Thing that will be funnier in further books, from what I've gathered.

Rian looked less and less like a damsel in distress. Actually, he wondered if he wouldn't be trying to save the dragon. Well, dragons need saving from time to time, too….

Miles I love you

"Perhaps we can consider a genome alteration that would make the haut-lords more controllable,” said the Consort of Rho Ceta at last. "If we want renewed expansion, we need the opposite,” the dark consort objected. "More aggresiveness".

SEE THIS IS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT, SO MESSED UP!!

Ivan's plan is in motion!

And Miles is back.

I don't talk enough about Vorob'yev. Being Barrayar's embassador in Cetaganda of all places must be terrible.

And once again, if The Vor Game should have been called “What are you doing here?” this book should have been called “Not Yet”.

[call-me-rucy]

Cetaganda ch. 11: Miles Vorkosigan Talks (tm)

My e-library lending period for Cetaganda expires in 51 minutes so better make this quick! Though I wonder what happens if it expires while I'm inside the book...

Oh, Vorreedi finally!

WE'RE TALKING ABOUT MILES' JOB!! THANK YOU, I WAS VERY CURIOUS!!

So he is just. Illyan's man. No intermediaries. Huh. I mean he already kinda was in TVG but I was not sure that would be permanent. Certainly that's one way to solve the subordination problems.

"How do you explain your job?" "Nepotism, obviously".

I love ittttt!!

Ah, yes, Simon Illyan, or God for SegImp.

Oh, wow, Eternal Plan A: Let Miles Talk is going swimmingly!

Miles confirmed to not have received the die-by-fast-penta treatment so there's still hope for one day description of what fast penta feels like!

If you need someone to follow the rules, you can always hire an idiot. Actually, the idiot will be much more capable of following the rules than a genius.

Have I already said I love these books?

Speaking of which, Illyan is gonna do the living equivalent of rolling in his grave when Miles starts telling him about all this.

NOT VORREEDI AND MILES CALLING IVAN AN IDIOT IMPLICITLY, MY POOR MAN CAN'T CATCH A BREAK LOL

Ivan squashing a pillow to his face is such an appropiate reaction.

This little story about the tunnel and Bothari is making me tear up. I hope nothing bad happens to Ivan. (I mean I know there's a book called Captain Vorpatril's Alliance but. Still.)

"FORWARD MOMENTUM". I feel like when the main theme song starts playing in a show or movie.

Benin, my maaaan!

This is really the Miles Vorkosigan Talks (tm) chapter of this book and I'm here for it.

Vorreedi stated dangerously, "I am not a mushroom, Lieutenant Vorkosigan."

I AM LAUGHING SO HARD XDDD

Ivan saving the day with his idea!! Yaaay! Like him more every chapter.

[call-me-rucy]

Cetanganda: Foreword and ch. 1

Cetaganda here we go!

Something marvelous happened: there was only one Cetaganda volume left in my e-library! There's two copies available at any given time for most Vorkosigan books, so that means there's other person reading the book too. I requested that they continued the Vorkosigan saga selfishly last year after reading Shards and Barrayar (I only had TWA left) so it makes me happy that other people are benefiting too. (I was so surprised when the library answered my request the following week with "Sorry, we could only get up to no 10 :/". That's 7 books more than you had before!!)

This edition has a foreword written in 1996 explaining the context of the Vorkosigan saga at the time. The guy is extremely excited for Memory to come out, and wonders if either Cetaganda or Memory would get the 1997 Hugo. A Wikipedia search reveals neither did and that the foreword guy died in 2021. Oh, well. I hope Memory also has a prologue from him so I can know if he liked it. He did seem to like Cetanganda a lot!

Ivan and Miles right off the bat! And Tung mention! Oh this is gonna be good.

And this TL has sci-fi words! "Vehivaina". What's that, vehipod?

They're both lieutenants! Nice!

"Meds"! "SegImp"!! Thanks, translator!! Good job so far, now show me how you do barrayaran and betan, though.

Ivan is 22 and Miles is 21 and will be 22 in some months which doesn't math with previous books, I recall in TWA Miles tells Elena that he is registered as born when transferred to the uterine replicator, and that would make him a bit older than Ivan as per Barrayar. This implies that his birthday was at some point changed to his second birth. Is this correct??? Sounds weird, but I can totally picture him changing his birthday for some weird paperwork issues when entering the military academy or something. Or maybe it's a security issue and he had to change his birthday to not have the same as Admiral Naismith.

Anyway this sets this book two/one-half-ish years after TVG. Cool!

If this tedious duty ran to schedule, he should actually be back home in time for a celebration, for a change. A pleasant thought

Heeere we go. They're gonna be stuck here until Miles birthday, or worse.

The Barrayaran ambassador would be waiting...

No he will not.

Barrayaran is "Barrayarés"!! Cool! We keep winning!! I like barrayares better than barrayarano cause "¡BARRAYARESES!" sounds cooler. Cordelia always in my heart.

First fight of the book, we're using plan B, let miles friends do violence. Also, what is happening?? Who's the old guy???

"Destructor nervioso"???? Destructor??? Noooo, i liked this translatioooon TT_TT

"Cetagandano" I like iiit, why did you use destructooooor

"Betanés". Personally I like "betano" more but this is fine. Why destructooooor thouuuuugh

Maybe it's a dildo.

Ivaaaaan xD This book is gonna be a fun ride!

Anyways, cool start. Happy to see Miles scheming right away. Also, can anyone else can hear Botharis voice in the distance, "We’ve only been in this bloody place two bloody hours…"

[call-me-rucy]

Cetaganda ch. 7

At this rate Miles is gonna get himself demoted to Cetagandan security.

"We? We? Miles, we've only been here for two and a half days, how did we get put in charge of the Cetagandan Empire?"

Ivan makes a great point XD

Deduction time! Deduction time!

If The Vor Game should have been called "What are you doing here?" this book should have been called "Not Yet".

The police is coming! Let's watch Miles wring all the details out :D

I will not admit how long it took me to undestand what the standard in "forty years standard" meant. Of course. Planets. And all that scifi stuff that we know and love.

Miles, my boy, you're out-detectiving the actual detective xD

Let the poor man get a word in edgeways, at least XDDDD

The translator did a choice here that. Surprises me because how well it stands. Miles says "my physical disabilities" and that has been translated as "mis problemas físicos", "my physical problems". The thing is, if it had been translated as the word commonly used for disabilities back then, it would probably be a word that is now outdated and considered pejorative. The term one would use now is "discapacidad", but I'm not entirely sure how widely spread was its use back then. Not much, probably, considering a law written in 1978 was only recently changed to have appropiate wording, and 1996 is much closer to 1978 than it is to 2024. So it was a nice save on the translator's part.

The hard nine day countdown is making me think Miles make it to his birthday in Barrayar after all! :D

"He wanted to project an air of professional interest, not frantic obsession." TOO LATE, I'M AFRAID.

Miles you have to understand that not everyone has their Emperor on speed dial. Your buddy Greg is an exception, you are an exception!

NOT IVAN GETTING INVITED TO PARTIES LEFT AND RIGHT AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH I LOVE THIS

[call-me-rucy]

Cetaganda ch. 4

Ivan blackmailing Miles over boots! So funny! Poor Miles though...

About Ivan I must say "¡y parecía tonto cuando lo compramos!" (idiom, lit: "and he looked stupid when we bought him"). Ivan you idiot this, Ivan you idiot that but he's not half bad.

If only 17 yo Miles "Ocupation: security risk" could see 23 yo Miles "Ivan, I am SegImp".

Cordelia mention!! :D Updates on the mysterious thing! Star Creche seal, huh.

Wow, so. The haut are like, imperial family and adjacent but theyr'e all genetically engineered one by one. Oof.

Oh, my friends, we have a countdown! 10 days until the mysterius thing is needed!! Miles might make it to his (second?) birthday in Barrayar!

So the thing might belong to someone on Lisbet Degtiar's family. Like... Rian Degtiar, for example??

I'm gonna have to reread this explanation multiple times.

"And where does sex fit in all this?" "There's no sex." "There's no sex!"

Poor Ivan xD

Hm.... Now Im not so sure about what I said abou Rian's age... She might be older than 30.

So... The only way to be important in Cetaganda is to have "the good genes". And you can be thrown out of the good genes club. And if you're a woman you don't get to meet your children unless they're sons of the Emperor. This. is. infernal.

Also the fact that they're such freaks about genes makes the fact that they used nuclear weapons in the First Cetagandan War have another layer of meaning. Augh.

HUH. Great Key of the Star Creche.

"Lura was taking the Great Key somewhere, obviously. To the Great Lock, for all I know"

AHAHAHAHAH

So party at Yenaro's, is it? That's gonna go so wrong...

[call-me-rucy]

Cetaganda ch. 3

So Vor is equivalent to ghemlord, I guess? Then haut might be the royal family proper.

Each house also has a mourning uniform?! So many uniforms! If I do more Vorkosigan art I'll be trained in uniform design for the rest of my life.

"No one but the Cetagandan Emperor could arrange an assassination inside". Me, knowing this book is marketed as a murder mystery: *rises eyebrow*

Today I learned the word: "Satrapía" (satrap)

NOT "BLOQUEADORES" FOR STUNNERS. Oh come onnnnn… Aturdidores. It has always been aturdidores. What's with being a pretty cool TL but giving the weapons ridiculous names?

You know what's worse of this translation ordeal? That I looked it up and this is the same person who translated Barrayar. So, to the fact that this translation is not consistent with any other, add the injury that it's not consistent with their own work!!!

The hautladies and their bubbles is interesting worbuilding! I like it!!

Gregor mentioned!! Hi, my boy!! Well, "my boy", he's older than me now… (If Miles is 23, Ivan 22 then Gregor is 28. They grow up so fast :"))

Is-is it good etiquette to gift the sword greatgrampa used to kill someone's army to that someone? Cause iirc Dorca is the last common ancestor for Miles and Gregor, yes?

And we're meeting with a hautlady! Cool!!

Miles, for the love of everything, think! "Genomic constellation"! "Three generations apart"! This is the empress greagranddaughter, I'm betting my money. And she must be 30 or so if she has served half of her life and we asume Cetagandans are not too big on child labour...

Oh! Gender stuff! So ba-people don't have gender, huh.

So that was. An intense meeting. But hey, there's at least one person searching the mysterious thing!

Heeeere's the dead body! :D

Can't help but notice that since it's in the place of the first gift, it would be in the place of the Emperor's gift, presumably. Which could mean nothing.

Research has shown English does "it" pronouns for bas. Consistent with other non-binary people in the saga such as Bel. Spanish on its part is doing its very best to avoid pronouns but ba has been designated a male noun. "Un ba/el ba" and not "una ba/la ba".

"Damn, I wish I could have been in charge of this."

Miles. Be extremely careful with what you wish for.

[call-me-rucy]

Cetanganda ch. 10: The kitten tree

Vorreedi is actually doing stuff! And appearing! I mean by this point they all must know something is up. He was invited to the Star Creche!

"Tell them he's the man who taught you all you know about the Barrayaran Art of Love." "He's not my type," said Ivan through his teeth.

...which could mean nothing but bisexual Ivan is very welcome.

"So use your initiative!" "I don't have initiative. I follow orders, thank you. It's much safer." "Fine. I order you to use your initiative."

This sums up pretty much their attitudes in life and I love them xD

Ivan telling tales of how Miles got them in trouble when they were kids is great, I could read a book of just the childhood exploits of the Vorkosigang.

Fish resembling cetagandan make-up make me remember I haven't yet figured who the other guy in the cover is. Benin, maybe? Or the murderer satrap governor.

(Then again, I did never really figure out who the other guy in TWA's cover was supposed to be. Is it Baz? Is it Ivan? Is it Mayhew?)

Ah! Here comes the famous kitten tree, I think...

...

...

(Image source)

ALL THIS TIME I THOUGHT THE KITTEN TREE WOULD BE SOMETHING CUTE. I FEEL SO BETRAYED. it's got kitten in the name it should be cute...

MY POOR IVAAAAN TT__TT

(So this is what it feels to be recomended FMA:B and reach episode 4, huh)

Not Yenaro here too!

Voreedi is away taking care of some B?-plot! Ivan's "friends" are here! Go now Miles, that's your chance.

AHAHAHAH NO HE'S VOR TOO SO THEY ASUME SAME ETIQUETTE AHHAHAHAHAHAH

Yenaro has appeared. Is it now the time for an allergic reaction to perfume?

Not an allergy, huh. What is it then? Asterzine, which google says it doesn't actually exist so I'll have to wait for Miles to explain.

Miles gently set the pitcher down, stood, jerked up his chin, and addressed Yenaro in a low-pitched growl.

This is Miles being Miles but also being Aral's son and I love the characterization.

A bomb. Okay. Okay. Thanks for Miles' nose. A bomb.

They live to see one day more, even if they're going against the worng satrap governot.

NOT MILES BEING SUSPECTED OF HIRING A CETAGANDAN ASSASSIN ON YENARO

Ohhh, so no Rian at this time huh. Shame. I love to read about competent woman almost as much as Miles likes them.

[call-me-rucy]

Cetaganda ch. 9

Not Miles wishing for a fake dating situation AHAHAHAHH

The Star Creche!! Wooooww...

Something something Miles likes competent women. When you thought Rian couldn't have been more his type (tall, dark hair) and now she's solving the mystery and doing politics.

Oh, we have a plan!

Miles: "If I try and fail . . . at least I can't make it any worse." Me: I'm not so sure. Also Miles: Are you sure of that?

I didn't realize in previous conversations but here the formal you is really shining. The distance and respect it implies...

Miles disguised as ba would certainly be interesting!

Wow this call has a some serious "this is plot" vibes. Whatever is L-X-10-Terran-C, though. A gene?

"Agujero de Jackson"??!?! AGUJERO?! Noooo, come onnnnnn. It's not Jackson's Hole, it's Jackson's Whole. Even I know this, this is Vorkosigan 101.

Can't believe Rian just filed away this conversation with "Life goes on". Such a mood. Also why is it plot if it's not plot. This is going to come bite us again at some point. Either that or this is a private joke of LMB that we have no hope to ever understand, that is.

I like how much Illyan is in books where he isn't.

This parragraph on Miles fantasizing with taking Rian with him is so funny thinking that Aral pulled off a just-marginally-less crazy version of this.

Oh the adult adults. i had forgotten about that part lol AND BENIN ALREADY! XD MAN SURE WORKS FAST

[call-me-rucy]

Cetaganda ch. 8: Poetry

Mia Maz again! For a vervani, she sure is tagging along with Barrayar a lot...

Offering of elegiac poetry, huh? I'm beginning to see why the funeral is 10 days long.

Wait wait wait. Is this a date for Vorob'yev and Maz?? And Miles is just, tagging along??? lol

If I ever reread the Vorkosigan saga from the beginning I'm gonna make myself a map. For this round I'm good just keeping track of the translations.

Speaking of which! Uterine replicator! "Replicador uterino". (I believe Miles had thought "replicator" before but we now get the complete term). It is the same as in "Barrayar" so yay for consitency! Unyay becuase every other book is different. But oh well. So far the only consistenly translated term has been plasma arc. I hope there are plasma arcs in this book.

Consorts!! Ladies!! The plot thinkens. I wonder if Lord X will end up being Lady X, taking into account that a bubble was needed for the murder...

MILES POETRY!! This is so fun.

Una emperatriz Degtiar de nombre Lisbet atrapó a un sátrapa en su red. Tentado a la traición sin ninguna razón, pronto tendrá un choque con su propia sed.

which translates as

A Degtiar empress by the name of Lisbet caught a satrap in her net. Tempted to betrayal for no reason, he will soon have a clash with his own thirst.

ANOTHER!!! :D

Una hermosa dama llamada Rian hipnotizó a un joven Vor galán. El pequeño de cuerpo increible cree que es un detective, y no sabe que lo van a castigar.

which translates as

A beautiful lady called Rian hypnotised a young Vor gentleman. The little one with the unbelievable body thinks he is a detective, and doesn't know he's going to get punished.

So while in English Rian is supossed to rhyme with scion and lion, in Spanish translator says it rhymes with galán and castigar, so in this case Rian would have to be pronounced "Ree-AHN".

Rice hand arranged grain by grain! On the one hand, wow the cetagandans, and on the other hand, wow the world-building.

Ah! Weaponized hosting etiquette!! Good job, Miles.

AND RIAN IS CALLING AGAIN :D

[call-me-rucy]

Cetaganda ch. 5: The Party

Party here we go!

I love scifi words! Tecnomed! Vueloliviano (lightflyer?)! Comus (comms)!

Miles' "but what if they're incompetent, i better just do it alone and never ask for help and handle 300 problems myself" attitude is hm. Oddly relatable.

Oh. Perfumes and drugs. Because nothing has ever gone wrong with perfumes and drugs in the Vorkosigan family before. My bets are now on an allergic reaction.

Miles sent up a short silent prayer to the guardian god of fools, lovers, and madmen

XDDDD Poor Ivan. Doesn't deserve this slander. But it's cool that Miles worries.

Oh, we're profiling suspects! This is really Detective Miles: the book. So, Lord X (or Lady X, Miles), is our suspect. It makes sense that even if Yenaro was actively trying to harm them he needed help to make the sculpture.

My main suspect rn is the Emperor but we'll see.

Me: Too much drink description. Is it poisoned? Maybe it's like in the Princess Bride where... Miles: Ah. Yes. This could easily be poisoned in this and that way. Me: Miles I adore you.

A mysterious girl! A ba! Rian Degtiar here we go!

Btw how does one pronounce Rian? I've been thinking "Ryan" but it might be "Ree-ann" as well.

Why did Rian know Miles was gonna be there though?

Oh??? So the Key was being taken somewhere.

"Pentarrápida"! New word!! Fast penta has been translated as penta-fast. Good enough.

Aunt Alys mention!

"OH" IS SUCH A FANFIC THING TO SAY.

WOW I LOVED THIS CHAPTER'S END, WITH RIAN'S DESCRIPTION!!

[call-me-rucy]

Cetanganda ch. 6: The after?party

"I swear by my word as Vorkosigan" This is so nostlagic, he sounds like his dad.

Fake key, huh?

WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO BACKUPS. YOU BACK UP ALL YOUR DATA MY DEAR CETAGANDAN PRINCESS*

*yes I know it's not her title but she looks like shes gonna be empress since she wants the key and she had it from the previous empress.

"I already know enough to destroy you. Tell me enough to save you!"

Is a brilliant quote!!

Eight. Cetagandan. Capitals? Eh?? THIS IS CRAZY!!

(A thing I love about this books is that regardless of the info in each book, which is more than sufficient to carry the plot, you can also have the extra info of reading the other books. Like, if you read this book first, Cetagandan aspirations are well explained but knowing what they have done is. A whole other scale.)

"No battle-plan survives first contact with the enemy". Someone has said that. Idk if it was Aral or Tung but it has reference vibes.

An internet search says it was "Prussian Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke".

An internet search including "vorkosigan" is returning "A Civil Campaign". Which is in the opposite temporal direction.

A further internet search is returning Vorkosigan fanfic.

I'm giving up. (Does anyone happen to know this by heart?)

I hope I see you again too, Rian Degtiar! :"D

Ah. So Ivan is taking "a tour" "of the house" with two ladies. With two. Ay, Ivan...

POISONED?! It was supposed to be a joke!! Miles' paranoia!!

The fact that the first question is if he killed anyone...

"Primito" in English appears to be "coz" but primito, lil' cousin, is so adorable.

I AM LAUGHING SO HARD. INSTANT FOLKLORE. THREE TIMES. MY POOR DEAR IVAN AHHAHAHAHAHAHAH HIS FINGERS HURTTTT

Miles reluctancy to rely on other SegImp personnel is gonna come bite us all in the back. The moment to confess is now, my boy!!

[call-me-rucy]

I'll start a "Cetaganda" liveblog at some point this month

After the cool experience that was liveblogging The Vor Game last year, I've decided to liveblog Cetaganda as well.

The Vor Game I did on my own tag (#rucy reads the vor game), but I was advised that I could post it in the main tag, so unless someone objects, I will tag "vorkosigan saga" in each post as well. Theoretically, it will be one post per chapter, with the occasional extra thought or drawing. So feel free to object, I'm a total newcomer here and don't know how this fandom works.

Speaking of extra thoughts, here's some about my upcoming read!

This is the edition that I'll be reading:

It's the spanish most recent one, from 2019, but the only thing new is the cover, I think, cause the translation is still the one from 1996. This edition has such cool covers! That's what pulled me into Shards in the first place. I've come to learn getting into Vorkosigan by the covers is a rare ocurrence so I'm glad for these new illustrations.

I think this in particular is trying to be a mix the original(???) one and one of the old Spanish ones:

So. Miles, I'm guessing? vs a cetagandan guy. I'm guessing cause in the other Spanish covers from the same artist his nose looks different. And I never really figured if the guy in TWA's cover was supposed to be Baz or Ivan so, unlikely, but it could be Ivan. The English one I think it is Miles but hey, they might've changed the character. And the empress of Cetaganda is involved. And Ivan is there, according to the book summary, which is cool, because I've barely seen him these past books and he seems fun! :D

[call-me-rucy]

I love reading your reactions to Cetaganda! The Vorkosigan Saga is my number one favorite series of all time and was super influential on my personality and politics growing up. I've read them all about 20 times, haha.

Thank you so much!! It is so much fun reading and knowing that my silly thoughts will be read by People Who Know. Someday, years and books in the future, I hope to become one of you.

I undestand the feeling. I'm only 4.5-ish books in and I'm already wanting rereads of Shards and Barrayar. No doubt soon I will yearn for young Miles too. I hope this saga stays with me for a long time.

Thanks for following my reactions and sorry for the slow pace <3

[call-me-rucy]

Cetaganda ch. 2

Ivan behaving as Miles' paranoia's straight man is so funny. He doesn't usually have a straight man around constantly.

"Comuconsola"!!!! Oh I love this translation. I hope there's not many nerve disruptors in this book.

"Asyntotic". This books speak my language

Great Uncle Piotr. Aunt Cordelia. I'm just now realising family relations are simetrical and just as Ivan is Miles cousin, Miles is Ivan's cousin.

It took me three paragraphs to figure out an "auto de superficie" is a FREAKING CAR.

And everyone knows what happened there (at the Hegen Hub).

No you don't. Poor Miles.

Hi, I'm a hero, but I can't tell you why. It's classified.

ITS CLASSIFIED XDDDD MY POOR BOY

"Thirty-two stab wounds in the back, worst case of suicide they ever saw?"

Cetagandan culture is so far: confusing. Whats ghem. Whats haut. When do you have to say ghem in front of words?

Ivan has found nother elf-lady? Another after Cavilo, I mean, she was described like an elf at some point. And blonde as well. Wait, could Cavilo be cetagandan?

ELENA MENTIONED :")

Do cetagandans have surnames? Or is this guy Yenaro son of Yenaro son of Yenaro?

The plot wants me to pay attention to the sculpture and I cannot for the life of me begin to see why.

LMB is the queen of getting a trope/thing I'm not really fond of and spinning it so I say "ooooh, it was not the thing I disliked, it was how it was written".

Me: What is the sculpture for. What is the sculpture for. What is the sculpture for. Miles: (Dying in pain) Me: Ah.

Wow Miles is really paranoid here, huh.

[call-me-rucy]

Cetaganda ch. 12

Renewed my Cetaganda copy at the e-library! From what I understand get a small tiny cut from each license use so maybe my slowness is getting LMB some cents.

Remember that Cetaganda copy that was also checked out when I did the first chapter? Well now one copy of Brothers in Arms and Mirror Dance are checked out and I'd bet at least one of those is the same person, who has read 2, 3 additional books while I tell you my tales lol

(Right after I complained about my slowness, I proceeded to get in to a several minute wikipedia rabbit hole to figure out what a half-kilometer tall building looked like). (We're just 7 lines in!)

So a house counts as a bubble! <-Such an strange sentence out of context. But this explains Rian without the bubble in the Star Creche, she might consider it her home.

(Actively supressing the urge to investigate why some medals are called "orders"). (Catastrophically failed). (It has to do with orders of knights which in turn come from religious orders).

"I'm sure when we came in the average age dropped from ninety to eighty-nine". XDDDDD

Ah, yes, nothing like the bff of our main suspect to spice up the party. Feaaaaar. And now Ivan talking to the wife...

Contact is heree! And we get to see the inside of a bubble!! Cool!!

The bubbles fly! Great! I almost died in a panic there. Poor Miles!

Contact is Eta Ceta consort!!! Wow

A Key witnesss AHAHAHHAHAHAH (Yay for a translated pun!!)

Haut meeting. While the idea of eight powerful women deciding important stuff is cool, the idea that the important stuff revolves about genetically engeneering a superior race is. Hm. :/

"We do not clone ourselves, Lord Vorkosigan." <-Thing that will be funnier in further books, from what I've gathered.

Rian looked less and less like a damsel in distress. Actually, he wondered if he wouldn't be trying to save the dragon. Well, dragons need saving from time to time, too….

Miles I love you

"Perhaps we can consider a genome alteration that would make the haut-lords more controllable,” said the Consort of Rho Ceta at last. "If we want renewed expansion, we need the opposite,” the dark consort objected. "More aggresiveness".

SEE THIS IS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT, SO MESSED UP!!

Ivan's plan is in motion!

And Miles is back.

I don't talk enough about Vorob'yev. Being Barrayar's embassador in Cetaganda of all places must be terrible.

And once again, if The Vor Game should have been called “What are you doing here?” this book should have been called “Not Yet”.

[fauxshow42]

I love all the real quotes Bujold fits smoothly into these books!

Cetanganda ch. 6: The after?party

"I swear by my word as Vorkosigan" This is so nostlagic, he sounds like his dad.

Fake key, huh?

WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO BACKUPS. YOU BACK UP ALL YOUR DATA MY DEAR CETAGANDAN PRINCESS*

*yes I know it's not her title but she looks like shes gonna be empress since she wants the key and she had it from the previous empress.

"I already know enough to destroy you. Tell me enough to save you!"

Is a brilliant quote!!

Eight. Cetagandan. Capitals? Eh?? THIS IS CRAZY!!

(A thing I love about this books is that regardless of the info in each book, which is more than sufficient to carry the plot, you can also have the extra info of reading the other books. Like, if you read this book first, Cetagandan aspirations are well explained but knowing what they have done is. A whole other scale.)

"No battle-plan survives first contact with the enemy". Someone has said that. Idk if it was Aral or Tung but it has reference vibes.

An internet search says it was "Prussian Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke".

An internet search including "vorkosigan" is returning "A Civil Campaign". Which is in the opposite temporal direction.

A further internet search is returning Vorkosigan fanfic.

I'm giving up. (Does anyone happen to know this by heart?)

I hope I see you again too, Rian Degtiar! :"D

Ah. So Ivan is taking "a tour" "of the house" with two ladies. With two. Ay, Ivan...

POISONED?! It was supposed to be a joke!! Miles' paranoia!!

The fact that the first question is if he killed anyone...

"Primito" in English appears to be "coz" but primito, lil' cousin, is so adorable.

I AM LAUGHING SO HARD. INSTANT FOLKLORE. THREE TIMES. MY POOR DEAR IVAN AHHAHAHAHAHAHAH HIS FINGERS HURTTTT

Miles reluctancy to rely on other SegImp personnel is gonna come bite us all in the back. The moment to confess is now, my boy!!