THIS IS SIMPLY THE FIRST 1/3 (approximately) of THE VOR GAME, so if you're planning on reading the Vor Game next, you don't have to buy this separately. It's good, but no need to read it twice! (I'd thought it was a stand-alone bridging short story or novella, but no, it's not).

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve! ( )

Although I like this story and it's reflected in the rating, I wouldn't recommend buying it on its own. This is really the first part of The Vor Game featuring Miles and part of the Vorkosigan Saga and not only have a lot of events passed in previous stories, but the novel this is part of can be found in the Young Miles omnibus along with The Warrior's Apprentice and "The Mountains of Mourning." In this one Miles is on his first assignment in the Barrayar military out of the academy. He's promised he just has to stay out of trouble to get a prize berth on one of the newest space ships. Unfortunately, asking Miles to stay out of trouble... ( )

This story was later incorporated in The Vor Game. Miles is sent to an arctic weather station as part of his military training, but as usual runs into big problems. The Miles stories I like best are the ones where Miles is caught in a web of cultural constraints. This is a good one for that. ( )