Don't Be Afraid of the Dork

This omnibus volume contains 2 novels and a novella: Komarr, A Civil Campaign,and Winterfair Gifts. Ever since I began reading the Vorkosigan series and learned of this omnibus I was excited to get to it because I'd heard that Lois McMaster Bujold used Georgette Heyer as an inspiration to write a regency era romance in space. For me that sounded about as awesome as it could get. As often happens forme with the Vorkosigan books, I was at first disappointed but find myself after just finishing the book feeling very content and happy with it.

To use her own words, Komarr is the romantic drama where Miles falls in love with Ekaterin Vorsoisson and A Civil Campaign is the romantic comedy where he attempts to woo her. I am still a little underwhelmed by the character Ekaterin and how Bujold chose to unfold the romance but the surrounding stories are engrossing and my overall impression by the end was good. In A Civil Campaign we get to spend some time in the Barrayarn political scene which is fun. Winterfair Gifts is a pretty unremarkable short story told from the perspective of Vorkosigan Armsman Roic.

One warning - I missed the connecting book (Memory)between this omnibus and the preceding one (Miles Errant). There is a lot of stuff presented in a way that felt like I was expected to know the background and I didn't. Probably better not to miss that connecting novel.