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Mirror Dance cover art

Mirror Dance

By: Lois McMaster Bujold
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
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Summary

Hugo Award Winner, Best Novel, 1995

The dwarfish, fetally damaged yet brilliant Miles Vorkosigan has more than his share of troubles. Having recently escaped an assassination plot whose tool was a brainwashed clone of himself, Miles has set the clone, Mark, free for a new chance at life. But when he decides to let his clone brother assume his secret identity and lead the Dendarii Free Mercenary on an unauthorized mission to liberate other clones from the outlaw planet of Jackson's Whole, things get really messy.

The mission goes awry, Miles' rescue attempt goes even more wrong, and Miles ends up killed and placed in cryogenic suspension for future resuscitation. Then, as if that weren't bad enough, the cryo-container is lost! Now it is up to the confused, disturbed Mark to either take Miles' place as heir of the Vorkosigan line or redeem himself by finding and saving Miles.

Hi-fi sci-fi: listen to more in the Vorkosigan saga.
©1994 Lois McMaster Bujold (P)2007 Blackstone Audio Inc.
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Critic reviews

"[A]s good a story as ever was offered as science fiction, with Bujold's carefully crafted prose, logical working out of even minor plot points, and inimitable wit all very much in evidence. Deserves the highest recommendation and a hoard of eager readers." (Booklist)

"[An] intricate and rousing new installment of the Vorkosigan adventures....Bujold creates a tapestry of variegated human societies dispersed throughout a colorful galaxy. She peoples it with introspective but genuine heroes who seize the reader's imagination and intellect." (Publishers Weekly)

What listeners say about Mirror Dance

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More brilliance.

The same wit, charm and insight as always. With plenty of twists and turns along the way. Expertly read. You know what you're getting at this stage.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Engrossing

I bought this because it was a Bujold, didn't remember it as being so good. I really enjoyed finding out about Lord Mark and how his personality got so fractured. did all the ironing, vacuumed, walked the dog... really enjoyable.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Marvellous

At the very pinnacle of Miles's career as a mercenary commander, disaster strikes. Bujold does a marvellous job of showing what Miles means to everyone by removing him from the centre of the story for an extended period. Instead, the story is told from the perspective of Miles's clone brother Mark, providing us with another marvellous character and a fresh perspective on Miles himself. It's witty, insightful and poignant by turns.
Incidentally, the publisher's summary of this novel is a disgrace. It tells far too much of the story and actually gets some facts wrong.

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as good as ever

Bujold's books are ones I can re and re-read. Grover Gardner's narration adds to the pleasure

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Another great book

I've been reading these books for years and was a bit worried about listening to one but the narrator did it justice and I wouldn't hesitate to listen to another.

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Spot on Bretan accent!

The big problem with an audiobook of a sci-fi or fantasy series you know and love is the pronunciation of names.

The one and only drawback of this reading is that the reader didn't quite research enough in this regard. On the other hand, his producers obviously did! It was a delight to hear the story read by someone who apparently was chosen for his accent, which could definitely pass for Admiral Naismith's "Betan drawl"...

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Miles

I have loved the Little Admiral since the first time I listened to one of the books. No matter how often I listen my opinion stays the same. A big plus is the reader. A true fit.

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Another good one from Lois McMaster Bujold

Audiobook read by Grover Gardner.
I will state right upfront that I'm a big fan of Lois McMaster Bujold's books. I've read tall of them before, but this is the first time I've listened to the audiobook of Mirror Dance. Miles's clone twin Mark, stubbornly referred to as his brother, takes advantage of his appearance and poses as Admiral Naismith to abscond with Bel Thorne's ship, The Ariel, in order to rescue a bunch of clones from Jackson's Hole where they are being grown as bodies, ultimately destined to have their progenitors' brains transplanted into them and their own brains cast aside as medical waste. After some confusion when Mark's mission comes within a whisker of succeeding but then fails, Miles goes to the rescue only to take a needle grenade to the chest. He's hurriedly prepped for cryo, but his pod is left behind, and he's missing in action - presumed dead. This brings Mark to Barrayar and into the orbit of Aral and Cordelia Vorkosigan. He expects to be killed, but instead he's adopted and thus begins the rehabilitation of Lord Mark Vorkosigan, now determined to search for Miles. If you haven't read any of Ms Bujold's Vorkosigan books before, this is probably not the place to start. I heartily recommend you google 'Vorkosigan reading order' and start from the beginning. Told from both viewpoints, Mark's and Miles's this is a fascinating study of the differences between, and similarities of the two clone brothers. Though his voice is a biy 'heavy' for my taste, Grover Gardner does a good job of reading. Highly recommended.

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