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Contact us hereAuthor: Lois McMaster Bujold
Publisher: Baen Books
Year: 1989
ISBN: 0671698419
0671720937 (1991 reprint)
0671578294 (1999 reprint)
Description: 311 pages; 18 cm.
Borders of Infinity is a collection of short stories previously published in science-fiction magazines. The stories are tied together by a somewhat flimsy plot device -- Simon Illyan is investigating Miles Vorkosigan's expenses. The stories are, in essence, Miles' verbal reports to Illyan. Through the stories and the bridging sequences, we get to see another side of Miles.
The stories that make up this collection are diverse. In one, Miles is required to investigate and judge an infanticide in a backwater village in his father's "fiefdom". Mountains of Mourning is a fascinating tale of murder and cover up, of age-old tradition running headlong into modern ideas and ideals. Miles, acting for his father the Count, must balance justice with compassion, and tradition with the need to end prejudice and ignorance.
The second story finds Miles and his mercenary army (the Dendarii) hired to extricate a research scientist from Jackson's Hole, a place where criminal organizations rule. The mission gets complicated when the scientist insists on Miles terminating one of his experiments -- a genetically-altered super soldier. Even this task gets complicated, when Miles discovers that the super soldier is a teenage girl, genetically-manipulated into an 8 foot hairy monster. Now, Miles' task is not only to get the scientist out of Jackson's Hole, but to get a very valuable and very dangerous killer out as well.
The last story is one of my favorites. Miles is in a Cetagandan prison camp. Within minutes of his arrival, he is attacked and stripped of his few meager possessions -- a pair of pants and a bowl. He is befriended by an eccentric would-be evangelist, whose sanity (what little there is) hangs upon a strip of paper he managed to sneak into the prison camp. Miles mission is to rescue the hero of a battle that was fought against the Cetagandans. However, Miles' objectives have to be changed mid-mission when he discovers that the person he was to rescue has become catatonic and unlikely to survive. Throughout the story, we are completely unaware of how Miles managed to find himself in the hands of the Cetagandans, nor how he intends to get out. The ending is high-speed action, as all hell breaks loose. The novel "Brothers in Arms" immediately follows on from this mission.
Rating (out of 100): 91
Why? All three short stories are taut, emotion-filled pieces. And we get to see Miles at his best in 3 diverse situations. An excellent, excellent book.
ME
