Cryoburn is the latest in Lois McMaster Bujold’s Miles Vorkosigan series, and it packs quite a wallop. Miles, in his role as Imperial Auditor, is conducting an investigation on Kibou-Daini, a planet where a surprisingly large percentage of the population are cryogenically frozen, their votes assigned to the corporations that are keeping them that way. The book is in part a meditation on life, death, selfishness, and maturity; and most of its impact is at the end. The climax surprised Jane and I considerably, and not entirely favorably at first; but on reflection it is precisely the climax that makes sense of the rest of the book.

Unfortunately, I can’t say anything more about it without spoiling it.

If you’ve not read any Bujold, go pick up Young Miles, followed by Cordelia’s Honor, or possibly vice-versa. Do not start with this one; the books are best read more or less in chronological order.