Barrayar readthrough

[flourish]

Okay, readthrough #2: Barrayar! Sorry that this one's a day late - I just got back from vacation last night and was too pooped to post. ;) Some thoughts to kick us off:

• In my readthrough of this novel, I was surprised to see how much the "gun principle" applied. You know - "if you see a gun in the first act of the play, it will certainly be fired by the third act"? Only it applied to everything, not just nerve disruptors. For instance: Drou's disappointment when Cordelia wants to go shopping (and her parallel thrill when they go to Siegling's) is echoed in Cordelia bringing Vordarian's head back in a shopping bag. Even Cordelia remarking on how Drou looks awful in the "superior servant" dresses is echoed by Alys Vorpatril dressing her beautfiully for her wedding. Maybe this is part of what it is to write a really tight story?
• I was kind of uncomfortable with Koudelka's ideas about what he was "doing to" Drou. I think that given Barrayaran society, it's perfectly... understandable? That's not the right word, but you know what I mean. But because we don't really deeply delve into Barrayaran society until books later in the timeline (they were, I think, previously published, though) it is jarring. I'm now kind of itching for fanfic.
• Speaking of itching for fanfic, Barrayar brought up all this great stuff about the Time of Isolation and the Cetagandan war that I'd really, really love to see handled.

On those topics, would people be interested in doing some kind of a fest? I'd be into running one, if people were into writing for one, but I'm nervous that there are too few Vorkosigan fanfic writers around to make it very big at all. Worth it anyway, do you all think?

Comments

Illyan

[elf]

Reading this, I was struck by Illyan's presence, always in the background, but with hints of what he'll grow into.

He takes over as chief of security as the Vordarian Pretendership kicks off, and his first *real* job is clearing out spies and traitors. He had to be combing his memory for shreds of connection to Vordarian, or other shreds of dislike of Aral, and checking those memories against recent activities and public statements. Even with that, he must've been on the edge of panic every time Gregor was in a crowd of more than six people, and doubly panicked every time Aral and Gregor were in the same room, wondering if some idiot with plans to seize the throne had found a way past his security measures.

By the time Miles was a cadet, he must've spoiled a hundred badly-planned assassination attempts. I have the feeling a good portion of his tolerance for Miles was that Illyan was incredibly tired of stupid troublemakers; a brilliant one was so refreshing he didn't want to stop him.

(I like the idea of a fest. I don't know if I'd participate; it would depend on timing. I do have an Aral/Bothari story I'm itching to write, but it's being bumped by more pressing commitments.)

Re: Illyan

[philomytha.livejournal.com]

Ah, a fellow Illyan-lover! I noticed him in the background much more in Shards rather than Barrayar, actually. He must have had a pretty hard job there, ordered to steer Aral through the Escobar invasion and bring him out intact, but with no idea what it is Aral is actually doing (though I'd bet Betan dollars to sand he figures it out, since he has the same data Cordelia does). In Shards he's very much a pale shadow of what is to come, rather young and innocent by comparison with the later Illyan, though he does somehow (and why?) stand up to Aral when Aral wants to rescue Elena Visconti.

I like the idea that he enjoys Miles being a brilliant troublemaker, though from his point of view the advantage of stupid troublemakers is that he can outwit them before they actually make their trouble. This does not apply to Miles. But Miles makes trouble for the Cetagandans, mostly, so I guess Illyan will forgive him a lot for that.

He clearly has some interesting off-screen adventures in Barrayar, first in investigating Vordarian's plot, then in escaping Vorbarr Sultana, then doing his cleanup of ImpSec when he suddenly finds himself in charge. Might make some good fics...

There's been a fest on the bujold_fic comm each summer for the past few years, and I've written for that each year. I'd be happy to have a shot at writing for one here too, since I love having excuses to finish Bujold fics, but it might be a good idea to coordinate with the bujold_fic mod so that they don't overlap.

Re: Illyan

[cjk1701]

though he does somehow (and why?) stand up to Aral when Aral wants to rescue Elena Visconti

Well, at that point he was very much the Emperor's man, following Aral to keep him in line (and possibly also out of trouble), so a random Escobaran complication was probably the last thing he needed.

Re: Illyan

[flourish]

Thanks for pointing out the bujoldfic fest! I haven't participated in it, so it completely slipped my mind. That's a good point. Maybe we could do a "Winterfair gifts" fest at some point? But then, that conflicts with Yuletide, which I think Vorkosiverse is still small enough to qualify for. Unless we decide that for us "Winterfair" means "October," ha.

WRT Illyan: YES, Miles being brilliant and therefore getting away with it!

Re: Illyan

[philomytha.livejournal.com]

Isn't Gregor's birthday supposed to be in the autumn? There could be an Emperor's Birthday Fest...

Re: Illyan

[flourish]

Oh, I love that idea! It is in the autumn; we just noted that in Barrayar, actually.

In the meantime, as I do my research and contact the bujold-fic moderator and so on, I think a drabble thread is in order...

Re: Illyan

[raven]

Heh, I thought just this! I love Memory for this reason - how they're recognisably the same character, at different times in a long life. It's really good characterisation.