Synopsis: Miles Vorkosigan goes on a diplomatic mission to the Cetagandan Empire. Within minutes of arriving, he gets swept up in a silent coup d' etat that if it succeeds, blame will be placed on the Barrayaran government.
This was a fun story. The Cetagandans are a people who focus on improvement of the race by genetic engineering. They have a two-caste system: the Haut, who are artists--the cream of engineering--and the Ghem, the military. In addition, there are the Ba, a servitor race--think genetic eunuchs. It's an interesting societal construct mainly because one would think the Ghem would lead because they have all the guns, but the leaders of Cetaganda are the Haut.
The plot of the book deals with the Star Creche which is the gene bank for the entire civilization. I had a little problem with an eight-star empire relying on a single gene bank. Talk about all eggs, one basket.
Haut women are so beautiful they spend the majority of their time encased in opaque indestructible bubbles. When Miles first sees a Haut woman's face, he is effectively ensorcelled by it. That seemed a bit much to me, but that might be because Haut women are impossibly beautiful. what that really means is that you can't even imagine how beautiful unless you see one. So in my mind, Miles is mush-brained over the most perfect female I can imagine, and that doesn't really seem in character.
Overall, it's an enjoyable book. It brings the intrigue of politics into a locked-room murder into a spy thriller. Besides the points above, the only disappointment is that the Dendarii don't show up.
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