Mirror Dance

Mirror Dance
Author(s)	Lois McMaster Bujold
Cover artist	Gary Ruddell
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Vorkosigan Saga
Genre(s)	Science fiction
Publisher	Baen Books
Publication date	1994
Pages	392
ISBN	9780671722104
Preceded by	Barrayar
Followed by	Cetaganda

Mirror Dance is a Hugo- and Locus-award-winning science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold. Part of the Vorkosigan Saga, it was first published by Baen Books in March 1994.^[1]

Plot summary

Mark masquerades as Miles and dupes the Dendarii into a mission to free clones held "prisoner" on Jackson's Whole, an anything-goes freebooters' planet where Mark was created and raised. When Miles finds out, he attempts to rescue his troops and his brother from the mess Mark has made, but is killed by a needle-grenade. He is frozen in a cryonic chamber on the spot, but the medic in charge becomes separated from the rest of the men while retreating under fire. He uses an automated shipping system to send the chamber to safety, but is killed before he can tell anyone its destination.

The Dendarii take Mark to Miles' parents on Barrayar. Cordelia accepts him as another son and has him acknowledged legally as a member of the family. After a while, Mark concludes that Miles is still on Jackson's Whole, and decides to go there himself to look for him, since ImpSec does not believe him. Cordelia helps him by buying him a ship.

Meanwhile, Miles has been resuscitated by the Duronas, a research group cloned from a medical genius, who are employed by Jackson's Whole magnate Baron Fell. His memory takes some time to return, and the doctors treating him do not know whether he is Mark, Admiral Naismith or Miles Vorkosigan (they are unaware of Miles' dual identity). Mark finds Miles, but is captured by Miles' old nemesis, Baron Ryoval, held prisoner, and tortured for five days. The stress and trauma, building upon the trauma he had experienced while growing up and being trained as an assassin, cause his personality to fragment into four sub-personalities: Gorge the glutton, Grunt the sexual pervert, Howl the masochist, and Killer the assassin. Together, the first three protect the fragile Mark persona, while Killer bides his time. When Ryoval's assistant informs him that Mark seems to be enjoying the torture, a frustrated Ryoval decides to study his victim alone. Killer takes the opportunity to emerge and kill Ryoval, allowing Mark to escape.

He sells Ryoval's secrets, accessible through a code ring, to Baron Fell for a large sum of money and permission for the Durona Group to leave Jackson's Whole.

Miles' death and revivification have serious repercussions for his health. Mark has his own problems, thanks to his strange upbringing, complicated by the torture. When he asks his mother for help, she sends him to Beta Colony for psychiatric treatment and therapy.

By necessity, this novel is told from the viewpoints of Miles and Mark. This was the first novel in the Vorkosigan series to be written this way, though not the first time Bujold has employed this style; the first occasion was Falling Free.

Awards

Mirror Dance won both the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 1995.^[2]

References

1. ^ Bujold, Lois McMaster (1994). Mirror Dance. Riverdale, New York: Baen Books. Copyright page. ISBN 9780671722104. http://books.google.com/books?id=aZ0YkIU0HusC&lpg=PP1&dq=mirror%20dance&pg=PT2. Retrieved May 22, 2011. 
2. ^ "1995 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. http://www.worldswithoutend.com/books_year_index.asp?year=1995. Retrieved May 22, 2011.