Borders of Infinity

Book Review by C. Douglas BakerBujold explores the character of Mile Vorkosigan in great detail in Borders of Infinity. This may sound like an odd statement given the numerous books that have been written about Miles, but nowhere else does Bujold really probe into Miles' personality and inner motivations like she does here. The reader also learns more about the psyche of Barrayarans. Borders of Infinity is a collection of three stories: the Hugo award winning "The Mountains of Mourning", "Labyrinth", and "The Borders of Infinity". Each stand on their own as a single story. Miles is recounting each to Simon Illyan, his father's security chief, to account for the cost overruns of the auspicious Dendarii Mercenaries. (Read Brothers in Arms for details)."The Mountains of Mourning" finds Miles' dispatched deep into the Dendarii mountains to investigate an infanticide that has been laid before the feet of Aral, his father. The local authority appears to be stifling the investigation and letting the culprit of the crime go. Bujold uses this story to show Miles in a deeply self-conscious and introspective mood. He is forced to confront his own deformities and what that means both on Barrayar and in the world (universe) at large. Miles has a deep seeded inferiority complex that he overcomes throughout his life and here we see clearly what motivates Miles. Miles is clearly haunted by the reputations of his grandfather and father, who are Vor class military heroes. Miles innately feels he must live up to their reputations as can be seen in his reflections on his own father's stress under the weight of his grandfather's achievements. Yet, Miles has much more to overcome being a deformed, albeit brilliant, young man. He sets out to do so. In this story we see why. [Minor Spoiler for "Labyrinth"]In "Labyrinth" Bujold once again explores the implications of genetic engineering, especially without any moral guidelines. The Dendarii Mercenaries are sent to assist a genetic engineer escape his Jackson Whole employers. This geneticist has a variety of interesting genetic samples that are important to his research and refuses to leave without them. Unfortunately he has hidden them in the calf of this part-human,eight-foot tall, incredibly strong, wolfish looking, genetically engineered creature. Worse yet, the creature has been sold to another Jackson Whole entrepreneur and Miles must form a plan to get the material then murder the creature before the geneticist will leave. This sets up a series of very interesting events. In fact, at one point, this reader almost fell out of bed laughing. Finally, "Borders of Infinity" finds Miles trapped in a Cetagandan prisoner of war camp. The Miles timeline in the back of many Vorkosigan books gives away the plot and if you have not read it avoid doing so. This too is a very enjoyable adventure and shows Miles at his best. We also see Miles has inherited theempathy and hatred of unnecessary deaths th

This is the complicated book of the lot. It's short stories, which take place in various times throughout the series. I recommend reading them in the time-order of the series, not when the book shows up in the series. I mean, read "The mountains of Mourning" after "The Warrior's Apprentice" but before "The Vor Game", etc. These stories fit together so tightly and seamlessly that you might as well just consider the whole series one long book, and read it that way; just think of the individual books as bite-sized packages for the larger story. Shards of HonorBarayar(these two books are also combined into "Cordelia's Honor")The Warrior's ApprenticeShort Story: The Mountains of Mourning (all short stories are contained in "Borders of Infinity")The Vor GameCetagandaEthan of AthosShort Story: LabyrinthShort Story: The Borders of InfinityBrothers in ArmsThe Borders of InfinityMirror DanceMemoryKomarrA Civil CampaignDiplomatic ImmunityNow go forth and read...

well, borders of infinity features as one of the most confusing book in the back of each vorkosigan saga book, where the times of miles vorkosigan/admiral naismith is shown. what you actually have here is a collection of 3 stories, written in a style in which miles is telling them to simon. so in between each short story, you have the interaction between miles and simon. so in the end you have four stories! no! don't skip this book! each story is important and will be mentioned again later in the series! the first of the three stories appears in the collection, young miles, but the other two stories don't appear anywhere else. if you are new to the vorksigan series, start with shards of honour (about miles' parents) or skip the parents and start at the warrior's apprentice or the collection young miles. this is a fantastic sci-fi series ; funny and interesting. you won't regret reading the series!

I usually can't stand short stories because I just NEED that lengthy feel of a novel to be able to get into the author's mind. But from reading Bujold's previous works, it was no problem to get the feel of Miles' world - I already knew it by heart.Ironically enough, I think Bujold has done her best characterization in the Borders of Infinity and in Ethan of Athos - her shortest works. At times the tone is light-hearted but the overriding themes were truly compelling.I LOVE Borders of Infinty (the short story), I love it, love it, LOVE IT - Especially the moment when Miles bows down with the hat and does that poetic dance in front of the women.I can't believe how well and how completely Bujold created a world within the dome. Read it, you'll know what I mean.

Don't read this book first. You need to go back and read Shards of Honor, and Barrayar. And then Warrior's Apprentice. But this was just about my favorite. I loved it. Fast packed, funny, Intelligent. Everything you expect from Miles. I'd love to see more shorts from Bujold.