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Christmas 2010: I realised that I had got stuck in a rut. I was re-reading old favourites again and again, waiting for a few trusted authors to release new works. Something had to be done.

On the spur of the moment I set myself a challenge, to read every book to have won the Locus Sci-Fi award. That’s 35 books, 6 of which I’d previously read, leaving 29 titles by 14 authors who were new to me.

While working through this reading list I got married, went on my honeymoon, switched career and became a father. As such these stories became imprinted on my memory as the soundtrack to the happiest period in my life (so far).

When I picked up Mirror Dance I was coming off the back of a strong, post-Wedding run of books. Cryptonomicon , The Years of Rice and Salt , To Say Nothing of the Dog , The Diamond Age , and Doomsday Book � that’s five novels, all getting four or five-star ratings from me in a row.

I wasn’t sure what to do about the Vorkosigan Saga. There were three trilogies on my Locus Quest reading list � Mars Trilogy, The Baroque Cycle and The Uplift Saga � where books two and three had won the Locus Sci-Fi Award, so I’d convinced myself that I should read the whole trilogy in each case to understand the award winners in context. At the other end of the spectrum was The Telling , which is part of the Hainish Cycle, but stands alone � so I didn’t read any other books in the series before I picked it up. The Vorkosigan Saga is definitely a traditional series � and should therefore ideally be read in chronological order, but the award winners on my list were books two and nine in a fourteen (and still growing) book series. There was no way I was going to read twelve other books to understand these two in full context. Harsh as it felt I was going to have to sample those two books out of order and hope they stood up.

Such were my thoughts beginning Mirror Dance . “It’s been such a wonderful run of books, but it had to end at some point.� “You can’t just jump in at book nine, it will make no sense!�

Oh, how little did I know!

Mirror Dance is superb! Really, truly, hand on my heart, right up there with my favourite books. Pure sci-fi adventure, with wit and drama and action and heartache and everything! Wonderful characters, a brilliant scenario � just an awful lot of fun!

Every sentence I write to describe this book ends with an exclamation mark!

I highly recommend this book as an entry point to the series. As I understand it, it marks the beginning of a four-book arc within the larger series, involving Marc. It also introduces Miles through a more vulnerable lens than some of the other books, and there are plenty more Miles books to get your teeth into once your curiosity is piqued. Cordelia may only be a minor character here, but she’s still a powerful presence and it was exciting to learn that she has her own books too! Finally, this story does a whistle-stop tour of the various local worlds used in the saga, so in that sense it works as a brilliant orientation.

I’ve since read two more Vorkosigan Saga novels: Barrayar (the other Locus winner, focused on Cordelia) and The Vor Game (a Hugo winner focused on Miles). Both of them were also excellent, (and will be reviewed soon) � and I am definitely a Vorkosigan Saga convert. I am now determined to read the whole series (albeit probably all jumbled out of order!). Of the three I’ve read, Mirror Dance is definitely still my favourite.

I like long running series. I like characters you get to spend a dozen books with. I’m a big fan of Discworld and the Dresden Files � and I’ve always wanted a sci-fi equivalent to follow as eagerly. With the Vorkosigan Saga I feel I’ve found that missing puzzle piece � and it makes me very happy. Thank-you, Madame Bujold, thank-you.

=D