A Civil Campaign
Cover of the first edition
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| Author | Lois McMaster Bujold |
|---|---|
| Audio read by | Grover Gardner |
| Cover artist | Patrick Turner |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Vorkosigan Saga |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Published | 1999 (Baen Books) |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 405 |
| ISBN | |
| Preceded by | Komarr |
| Followed by | Diplomatic Immunity |
A Civil Campaign: A Comedy of Biology and Manners is a science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold, first published in September 1999. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the thirteenth full-length novel in publication order. It is included in the 2008 omnibus Miles in Love. The title is an homage to the Georgette Heyer novel A Civil Contract and, like Heyer's historical romances, the novel focuses on romance, comedy, and courtship. It is dedicated to "Jane, Charlotte, Georgette, and Dorothy", likely the novelists Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Georgette Heyer, and Dorothy L. Sayers or Dorothy Dunnett.
An Imperial wedding is afoot, as Gregor Vorbarra, Emperor of Barrayar, has finally found love in the form of Komarran heiress Laisa.
Meanwhile, Miles Vorkosigan tackles the wooing of recent widow Ekaterin Vorsoisson in his typically deranged fashion: he does everything he can to avoid letting her know about the courtship prematurely, fearful that her failed marriage has put her off the institution for life. To get to see her frequently, and knowing of her ambition to become a gardener, he hires her to design a garden for Vorkosigan House.
His clone brother Mark also has romance problems, with Kareen Koudelka. While their relationship did not bother her on Beta Colony, the sexual mores of conservative Barrayar are much stricter, and she keeps it a secret from her family. A significant subplot involves Mark's first entrepreneurial venture: a genetically engineered insect called the "butter bug," capable of converting waste vegetation into nutritious, edible bug vomit.
Everything goes horribly wrong when Miles hosts a dinner party. A still-recovering Simon Illyan inadvertently blurts out Miles' not-so-secret courting (known to all the guests except the intended target). She leaves hastily after he panics and asks her to marry him. To further complicate matters, Kareen's parents forbid her to have anything to do with Mark after they find out about their relationship.
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