Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance is 17th and most recent book in the Vorkosian saga, one of the best sci-fi space opera series of all time (in my opinion). When I first discovered this series I ripped through 14 books in one summer and was still desperate for more. That being said, Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance was not as good as most of the earlier books. This book focuses on Miles’ under-the-radar cousin, Ivan Vorpatril- and it starts out well. Within the first 50 pages Ivan has uncovered two Jacksonian fugitives and foiled several plots for their re-capture with ridiculously harebrained schemes. But the book stalls out in the middle with a long section where very little happens. Things pick up again towards the end of the book, and if it had been written by a different author I probably would have been satisfied. But the majority of Bujold’s books are so staggeringly awesome that a book of hers which is merely good comes off as a bit of a disappointment.