An entertaining book about clones and how they fit (or fail to fit) into the social structure of different planets. The protagonist, a clone of an infamous military officer, impersonates that officer to lead a military strike to rescue another group of clones. Hijinks ensue. I was somewhat put off by what a terrible person the protagonist starts out as, but he has a lot of growth. A lot of characters and settings from previous books are used; probably not a good entry point for a new reader. There's a Shakespearian level of mistaken identities due to all the clones, which was quite fun. Overall I enjoyed it. ( )

2021 reread via audiobook - an important book in the series but parts of it are so painful...
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4.5*
see my comments under the omnibus "Miles Errant" ( )

it's insane that there's a reviewer endorsement on the back of my copy that's like "great place for people new to Bujold to start!" No it isn't. What the hell. If I saw somebody holding a copy of this and they said "I think this'll be a great place to start" I would kick it out of their hands

El enano, con daño fetal pero brillante Miles Vorkosigan tiene más que su cuota de problemas. Habiendo escapado recientemente de un complot de asesinato cuya herramienta era un clon de sí mismo al que le habían lavado el cerebro, Miles ha liberado al clon, Mark, para una nueva oportunidad en la vida. Pero cuando decide dejar que su hermano clon asuma su identidad secreta y dirija al Mercenario Libre Dendarii en una misión no autorizada para liberar a otros clones del planeta forajido de Jackson's Whole, las cosas empiezan a complicarse mucho. La misión sale mal, el intento de rescate de Miles sale aún más mal y Miles termina asesinado y colocado en suspensión criogénica para una futura reanimación. Entonces, como si eso no fuera suficientemente malo, ¡el criocontenedor se pierde! Ahora depende de Mark, confundido y perturbado, tomar el lugar de Miles como heredero de la línea Vorkosigan o redimirse encontrando y salvando a Miles.

Another great Miles story. And I ended up loving Mark too, which I didn't think would happen. I'd say more but really if you like sci fi space opera and wonderfully developed characters why aren't you reading the Vorkosigan Saga already? ( )