Falling Free—The Nebula Award-winning novel. Leo Graf was just your typical efficient engineer: mind your own business and do the job. But all that changed on his assignment to the Cay Habitat, where children had been bio-engineered to have four arms (and no legs) to function in zero gravity. Now that they're no longer needed, a heartless mega corporation is getting rid of them before they eat into the profit margin. Leo Graf adopted 1000 quaddies—now he had to teach them to be free.

“Labyrinth”—When Miles Vorkosigan is captured while on a secret mission to a lawless world, his only hope of escape is an unlikely pair of allies: a quaddie and a teenage werewolf.

Diplomatic Immunity— Miles Vorkosigan and his wife were heading home for the births of their first children, but a major diplomatic disaster is looming at Graf Station, colonized by the descendants of the original quaddies, and duty calls. Unfortunately, diplomatic immunity doesn't carry over to immunity from a very nasty biological weapon. The downside of being a troubleshooter comes when trouble starts shooting back. . . .

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.0 based on 4 reviews)

READ the description!

Some of the other reviewers apparently neglected to read the book description ("Two complete novels and a short novel in one large volume"!), and gave the work a poor review on the basis of their own negligence because it wasn't new material. No, it is *not* new material, but this is not a new thing for the Vorkosigan series. This title is, in fact, the fifth Vorkosigan Universe omnibus (after Vorkosigan's Game; Young Miles; Miles, Mystery and Mayhem; and Miles Errant-- Miles in Love comes after this one). It packs all the Quaddie stories in one neat little volume: the Nebula Award-winning Falling Free, which is set 300 years P.M. (pre-Miles) and provides some fascinating background on how the universe that Miles knows came to be that way; the short story "Labyrinth," which is Miles' first contact with a living, breathing Quaddie; and the novel Diplomatic Immunity, which brings Miles and his new wife back to Quaddiespace, where it all began.

These stories include some of the best and most sensitive writing in the whole series, in my opinion, and I love the omnibus format. Not only does it save me a bit of shelf space (that is, if I can bear to toss my original copies), but it puts things together thematically-- we get the *whole* Quaddie story in one volume now, and it's much easier to see the connections between the beginning and ending novels. I adore Bujold's Miles books, and I wish she'd write more of them, too, but meanwhile, I'm happy to have the omnibus editions.
February 26, 2008

Great but It has all been published before

I am a huge fan of the Miles Vorkosigan saga by Bujold and eagerly looked forward to this book only to find it has all been published before. So if you are a fan like I am and have read everything in this book already, there is no need to buy it. However, if you haven't read any of this series, then treat yourself and start here.
September 12, 2007

Nothing New

I wanted a new Miles book. If I knew it was the same old, same old that I already have with nothing new at all, I never would have bought it. Waste of money. The buyer should be put on notice that this is nothing but a rerun. A large part of the book (while nice) does not even contain Miles. When is Ms. Bujold going to write about wonderful Miles and his children??
September 06, 2007

well written reprints of three Quaddie tales

"Falling Free". Engineer Leo Graf is sent to Cay Habitat, where bio-engineering led to "Quaddie" children having four arms and no legs to perform in a zero gravity environment. His job is to train these Quaddies in welding in space. However, new technology and a bottom line mentality leave the Quaddies expendable unless Leo intervenes.

"Labyrinth". Over two centuries after Leo's mission, Miles Vorkosigan goes undercover as Dendarii Mercenary Admiral Naismith to escort a genetic research scientist defecting from his current employer on the lawless planet Jackson's Whole. However, instead of completing his secret mission successfully, his pick up refuses to leave without taking his experimental samples with him. However, to obtain them Miles must kill an eight-foot tall bio-engineered killing machine that has the other "species" buried inside his calf. The new corporate owner of the giant learns of Miles' quest leaving the outsider needing help that he receives from enigmatic Bel Thorne and Quaddie musician Nicol.

"Diplomatic Immunity". Imperial auditor Miles Vorkosigan and his wife Ekaterin enjoy their belated intergalactic honeymoon until the ship's Tau Cetan captain informs them that a Barrayaran Imperial Courier has an official sealed data disc for him. Emperor Gregor Vorbarra wants Miles to investigate a murder involving an impoundment of a Komarran trader ship on Graf Station in remote "Quaddiespace".

These well written reprints of three Quaddie tales provide readers with exciting cautionary science fiction thrillers in which Lois McMaster Bujold warns her audience to insure science does not cross an ethical line with bioengineering throwaway people. Exciting especially the Miles' saga, Quaddie fans will enjoy this omnibus edition.

Harriet Klausner

August 09, 2007

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

Miles in Love
by Lois McMaster Bujold

Miles Errant
by Lois McMaster Bujold

Miles, Mystery & Mayhem
by Lois McMaster Bujold

Memory (Miles Vorkosigan Adventures)
by Lois McMaster Bujold

Young Miles
by Lois McMaster Bujold