Lois McMaster Bujold

The Warrior's Apprentice

Vicky  Nuñez 

This is the second book in publishing order, the third in chronological order of the Vorkosigan Saga.
It can definitely be read as a standalone, but you will have so much more understanding of the story if you read it in chronological order.
I honestly knew Miles was going to be a great character because of what everyone says about him, but this definitely surpassed every expectation.

A great YA Sci-fi book that can be read by anyone who likes adventure.

Gavin

Merely entertaining this time. A dozen flat conveniences are required to let teen Miles slip into power and success. Narrativium lensing of the probabilities.

(view spoiler)[He accidentally joins a war, accidentally raises an army, bullshits his way into fighting it. But at no point do we learn if the Felicians are a more deserving party than the other lot. The arbitrariness of Character Select. There is no weight to any of it, once Bothari dies. Even the evil svengali Vordrozda is offscreen and paper-thin. (hide spoiler)]

The Bothari arc is well done but not very satisfying (Visconti is 2D).

(Didn't get what the title was referring to until after I'd read the whole thing.)

Ryan LaFerney

The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold, is a surprisingly deep coming of age story that at its core is about a boy becoming a man. Now I know what you're thinking and no this isn't a story about the sexual awakening of our protagonist, young Miles but rather it is story about Miles growing into the type of person he'll become in later stories - a confident leader who learns from his mistakes.

The Warrior's Apprentice is part of the beloved Vorkosigan Saga. It was the second book published in the series, and is the fifth story, including novellas, in the internal chronology of the series. The Warrior's Apprentice was first published by Baen Books in 1986, and was included in the 1997 omnibus Young Miles.

Bujold's first novel featuring an adult Miles Vorkosigan — the birth-defect stricken child of Count Aral Vorkosigan and Cordelia Naismith (which you can read about in Barrayar)— is a rousing space opera adventure. Miles is Vor—that is, he is a Lord, of the military variety. The story begins as Miles, at 17, fails to qualify for his officer's candidacy in the Barrayaran Imperial Military Service due to his brittle bones and stunted growth. Miles' father, to assuage the young man's humiliation and feelings of failure (in Barrayar's miliaristic culture, such humiliation is strong), suggests Miles take an extended vacation on his mother's homeworld of Beta Colony. And that's just what Miles does, with his loyal retainer Bothari (the political system in this series is influenced by feudalism), and Bothari's adopted daughter Elena, in tow.

But Miles isn't content to sit idly by. Determined to prove himself (to himself, as well as to his father), Miles launches a hare-brained scheme that involves purchasing a ship with credit he doesn't have and going into business for himself in shipping. Or rather, smuggling a la Han Solo. The first commission Miles takes involves supplying one side of a fierce war brewing on the remote colony world of Tau Verde IV. With a skeleton crew consisting of his companions and a handful of hired hands — one of whom is even a deserter from the Barrayaran military — Miles very quickly finds himself in over his head. Forced by circumstance to become a bullshit artist par excellence, Miles concocts an imaginary mercenary force, the Dendarii Free Mercenaries, of which he is the leader, and before long finds himself a major player in a planetary conflict. Things quickly escalate and lives are stake. And meanwhile there is a plot afoot to unseat Miles’ father, Miles himself, and all other successors on Barrayar. You see Miles in fact stands in violation of an obscure yet sacred Barrayaran Imperial edict that prohibits any imperial vassal from raising a military force exceeding a limited and fixed number of personal armsmen. His father's enemies have taken advantage of the situation, sown suspicion with the young and inexperienced Barrayaran Emperor, and officially charged Miles in the ruling political council on Barrayar. Can Miles survive the warfare and the political fallout of his actions?

Can Miles use his newfound confidence and biting intellect, to save his father, to save himself, and prove that he is much more than an Academy washout? You'll just have to read to find out.

Miles might not be a traditional brawny hero, but his determination, his self-deprecating sense of humor, and quiet confidence win your heart. Bujold crafts this space opera flawlessly, primarily through her strong characterization. Besides the charmingly wonderful Miles, the characters of Elena (the love of Miles’ life–thus far), and of his bodyguard and friend Bothari are fantastically drawn. I also appreciate that the growth that Miles achieves isn't because he perfectly saves the day. The circumstances Miles finds himself in are ones with real consequences, in which honor and lives are at serious stake. Lives are lost. Facing those consequences will involve a great deal of personal growth under the kind of pressure that has broken better men. By getting himself involved in a planetary war, Miles is forced to grow up as he puts the lives of his friends, his family, and his home in peril.

In short, this a rousing coming of age space adventure that I can't wait to reread.

Janice Hopper

I liked this better the first time I read it 10 or 15 years ago. It's still good, but some of the attitudes are now a bit outdated.

Read for SFF book club.

Ben Nathan

Can I give a book more than 5 stars? Just this once? Please...? Wow is all I have to say.

Spaceghost 

A. D. Knapp

Jeff James

Hunter Loftis

Tim Pennington-Russell

Miguel Angel

Danny Engström

Terry Thomas

Alost

Brent Nef

Alexandria Wilkie

Steven O'Toole

Isa s

Hanna

Discharged from the Barrarayan academy after flunking the physical, a discouraged Miles Vorkosigan takes possession of a jumpship and becomes the leader of a mercenary force that expands to a fleet of treasonous proportions.

Chris

Sarvagnan S

Tetiana Bilokin

The Warrior's Apprentice

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