金石堂Captain Ivan Vorpatril is happy with his relatively uneventful bachelor�� life of a staff officer to a Barrayaran admiral.� Ivan, cousin to Imperial troubleshooter Miles Vorkosigan, is not far down the hereditary list for the emperorship.� Thankfully, new heirs have directed that headache elsewhere, leaving Ivan to enjoy his life on Komarr, far from the Byzantine court politics of his home system.� But when an old friend in Barrayaran intelligence asks Ivan to protect an attractive�young woman who may be on the hit list of a criminal syndicate, Ivan�� chivalrous nature takes over.� It seems danger and adventure have once more found Captain Vorpatril.
Tej Arqua and her half-sister and servant Rish are fleeing the violent overthrow of their clan on free-for-all planet Jackson�� Whole.� Now it seems Tej may possess a hidden secret of which even she may not be aware.� It�� a secret that could corrupt the heart of a highly regarded Barayarran family and provide the final advantage for the thugs who seek to overthrow Tej�� homeworld.�
But none of Tej�� formidable adversaries have counted on Ivan Vorpatril.� For behind Ivan�� fa�ade of wry and self-effacing humor lies a true and cunning protector who will never leave a distressed lady in the lurch��p to and including making the ultimate sacrifice to keep her from harm: the treasured and hard-won freedom from his own fate as a scion of Barrayar.
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About Captain Vorpatril's Alliance:
"A solid, entertaining installment in the Vorkosigan Saga."��I>Jonathan Strahan, editor, Year's Best� Science Fiction and Fantasy
About Lois McMaster Bujold�� Vorkosigan Saga:
���ans have been clamoring for Hugo winner Bujold to pen a new Vorkosigan Saga novel. . . her deft and absorbing writing easily corrals the complex plot.����I>Publishers Weekly on Cryoburn
���ujold mixes quirky humor with action [and] superb character development�吆E]normously satisfying.����I>Publishers Weekly.
��ne of sf�� outstanding talents . . . an outstanding series.����I>Booklist
�� . . an intelligent, well-crafted and thoroughly satisfying blend of adventure, sociopolitical commentary, scientific experiments, and occasional perils . . . with that extra spicing of romance. . . .����I>Locus
About Vorkosigan series entry Diplomatic Immunity:
��ujold is adept at world-building and provides a witty, character-centered plot, full of exquisite grace notes. . . fans will be thoroughly gripped and likely to finish the book in a single sitting.����I>Publishers Weekly
