Books › A Civil Campaign
A Civil Campaign
544 pages
A delightfully chaotic collision of space opera politics and Regency-style courtship, where the greatest battlefield is a dinner party.
What it feels like
Reading this feels like watching a masterfully orchestrated disaster unfold with spectacular, hilarious precision. It is a brilliant homage to the comedy of manners, transplanting the intricate social dances and disastrous misunderstandings of a Regency romance into a rich science fiction universe. The narrative moves at a brisk, theatrical clip, driven by sharp-witted dialogue and characters who are as fiercely intelligent as they are emotionally oblivious. Beneath the farcical dinner parties and political maneuvering lies a deeply warm and affectionate core, exploring how we heal from grief and find the courage to be vulnerable. It is an absolute delight for anyone who loves watching brilliant people make terrible, overly complicated decisions in the name of love, all wrapped in sparkling, character-driven prose.
- Mood
- chaotic
- warm
- romantic
- joyful
- Tone
- wry
- farcical
- affectionate
- witty
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the vulnerability of love · social maneuvering · healing from past trauma · political intrigue · the absurdity of courtship
- The writing
- Sharp, witty, and deeply attuned to character interiority, balancing laugh-out-loud comedic timing with moments of profound emotional resonance.
- The arc
- The journey moves from frantic, over-engineered scheming to a place of genuine vulnerability and hard-won romantic triumph.
- Who it's for
- Readers who delight in intricate social webs, disastrously funny misunderstandings, and the collision of space opera with Regency-style romance.
Content notes
- grief
- references to past domestic abuse
- mild violence
About the book
Miles Vorkosigan launches a campaign to win the heart of Ekatarina, whose former husband died as a result of Miles' investigations in the book Komarr, by the same author. As a member of the Vor class, Miles and Ekatarina are constrained by many social strictures. Because Miles is politically important, he and his actions are under close scrutiny and subject to various forms of political and social attack. The book is a comedy of manners, very well done so that we seldom look up and wonder why the characters don't just cut to the chase.
Description from Open Library.
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