My favorite things

A parody of the song from The Sound of Music (music: Richard Rodgers, lyrics: Oscar Hammerstein II). The verses about 1632 (the Assiti Shards) now live at My favorite shards. The verses about the Harper Hall trilogy now live at My favorite harpers.

Gardening spiders Ungoliant, who took the form of a giant spider and, along with Dark Lord Melkor, destroyed the Two Trees of Valinor
And swords that are broken Elendil’s sword Narsil, called The Sword that was Broken after its damage in a battle against Sauron, and later caried by Aragorn (Strider).
Words in the Elvish Tengwar script: One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them, in the land of Mordor where the shadows lie. in the Black Speech The Black Speech of Mordor is a language constructed by Sauron.
That must not be spoken
Unfaithful stewards Denethor, the 26th ruling Steward of Gondor.
Denethor, the 26th ruling Steward of Gondor. Who don’t want their kings Denethor, the 26th ruling Steward of Gondor, is unhappy about the arrival of Aragorn, the rightful king.
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

When the orc An orc is a creature in The Lord of the Rings, created by Sauron. bites,
When the probe A neuronic probe is a fictional device in The Currents of Space. stings
When I’m feeling bad
I simply remember
My favorite kings Aragorn, king of Gondor
And I don’t feel so bad.

Hobbits fall captive Merry and Pippin, captured by Saruman’s orcs to
Former Saruman the White, head of the White Council, stripped of his rank by Gandalf Istari The order of wizards sent to Middle-earth to oppose Sauron; Saruman and Gandalf are both Istari. ,
Who anger ents Tree-shepherds of Fangorn Forest, ancient and slow to anger. Treebeard, the oldest of the ents and
Never say sorry,
Wormtongue A henchman of Saruman at Gandalf
A palantir flings,
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Rescuing Harold Shea and Heimdall are captured by fire giants and Shea bribes one of their jailers into letting them escape. Heimdall
For his roaring trumpet The trumpet Gjallarhorn, which Heimdall must blow to inaugorate Ragnarök.
The Blatant Beast , A character in Edmund Spenser’s epic poem The Faerie Queene . The beast threats to kill Harold Shea and his companions unless they ransome themselves with words (All jests are stale. I would an epic poem.) The beast already knows Beowulf, and Shea can't remember the words to The Sorceror. In desperation Shea recites The Ballad of Eskimo Nell . shocked by The beast, appalled by the bawdy and crude lyrics, leaves in disgust.
A fictional The Ballad of Eskimo Nell strumpet Eskimo Nell in The Ballad of Eskimo Nell
A fantasy novel
That loud laughter brings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Peddlers a zone agent of the Confederacy of Vega in the story The Second Night of Summer who drive their
Mysterious wagons
Petite young ladies Lessa, in the novel Dragonflight, is the last surviving member of the ruling family of Ruatha Hold. Searched and trained as any candidate is, she Impresses the newly hatched queen Ramoth at the hatching — a sudden, lifelong bond, the same shape as a treecat bonding.
Who can speak to dragons Large flying telepathic reptiles on the planet Pern.
Travelling the Cosmos
In a ship who sings Helva is an intelligent girl born with a severely disabled body. Her society trains people with such disabilities to operate machinery via a direct brain link. In Helva’s case, she is trained to operate a spaceship (brain ship), and became known as The Ship Who Sings due to her habit of singing to herself.
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Rochmont lords seeking to
Bring Dorsai disgrace
Dorsai whose vengence leaves
Of Rochenont no trace
A pacifist warrior who
"Su madre" sings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Time traveling bar men ‘—All You Zombies—’ from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March 1959
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, March 1959 Who are like no others The protagonist of ‘—All You Zombies—’ is a bartender who, with the aid of a time machine and a sex change operation, is his own father and own mother.
Who are their own fathers
And are their own mothers
Robert Anson Heinlein is known as the dean of science fiction authors Of all such stories
Know Heinlein’s Robert Anson Heinlein is known as the dean of science fiction authors; his stories By His Bootstraps and ‘—All You Zombies—’ are iconic in the time travel genre. are kings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Nostalgic time traveler, Don Benedict, a wooden-figure carver known as Dusty, has fled to 1880s New York with a stolen time-travel formula, staying to defend the trade against Demuth’s, a rival firm plotting to replace hand-carved wooden figures with mass-produced cast iron. From Avram Davidson’s Take Wooden Indians.
the past seeks to alter,
So industrial progress,
will slow down and falter,
to a business man, Walter, Dusty’s brother-in-law, has just heard that Demuth’s is finally making its move to replace wooden figures with cast iron—and, obliviously, sides with progress, sending Major Hennaberry into a rage.
A sea voyage To head off the Major’s fury, Dusty suggests a drink—a Rat Nolan special. Walter cries To progress!, drains half his glass, and his face turns green, then white, as he slides sideways into Rat Nolan’s arms—mickeyed. He’s carried aboard Bully Coyle’s ship unconscious to enjoy a regime of healthy exercise: a sea voyage to Amoy by way of the Straits, prescribed by the good doctor. brings,
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

A ducal detective Lord Darcy is the Chief Forensic Investigator for the Duke of Normandy in several stories by Gordon Randall Phillip David Garet (Randal Garet).
Whose aide Master Sean O’Lochlainn is Lord Darcy’s magical aide. does the magic
Finds that their cases
Are often quite tragic
I hope that more stories
still lurk in the wings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Oversized lizards Adzel is a reptilian alien partnered with the human David Falkayn in Trader Team by Poul Anderson.
With partners named David David Falkayn in Trader Team by Poul Anderson.
Who trade with sophonts
who sometimes are rabid
Finding new planets
With glorious rings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Operation Changeling (Part 1) from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May 1969 Operation Changeling (Part 2) from The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, June 1969 Witches and werewolves Werewolf Steven Matuchek and his wife Virginia (Ginny) Graylock
Whose babies are taken Agents of the Hell World have replaced their daughter Valeria with a changeling
Don’t take it lightly Steve and Ginny invade the Hell World to rescue Val.
The Hell World is shaken Steve and Ginny summon a whole pantheon of supernatural beings from other universes.
See angry parents
Operation Chaos Rescue their changelings
These are a few
Of my favorite things.

[hook]

Calvin In Henry Beam Piper’s novel Lord Kalvan of Othewhen, Calvin Morrison is a Keystone cop who is accidentally taken into and stranded in an alternate universe by a paratime transporter: he later learns that the region is called the princedom of Hostigos. The locals later have trouble with his American name and refer to him as Lord Kalvan. who knows his
Military history In Henry Beam Piper’s novel Lord Kalvan of Othewhen, Calvin Morrison is a Keystone cop who is accidentally taken into and stranded in an alternate universe by a paratime transporter: he later learns that the region is called the princedom of Hostigos. The locals later have trouble with his American name and refer to him as Lord Kalvan.
Runs afoul of the great
Paratime mystery The existence of alternate universes and of paratime transporters has been kept a secret for thousands of years.
The hand of a lovely
Young princess Princess Rylla, the daughter of Prince Ptosphes of Hostigos. it brings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Peasants are fleeing Calvin is eating dinner with a Hostigi family with whom he does not share a common language when they are interrupted by a small party of raiders from Nostor, a neighboring country. He helps his hosts fight off the raiders, taking their horses and weapons as spoils. They see smoke from a nearby village and a group of villagers fleeing from more raiders.
’Till Kalvan takes over Calvin rallies the villagers and leads them in a successful couterattack.
They win the fight but he’s
Shot by his lover Princess Rylla is leading a counterattack from the rear and shoots Calvin, mistaking him for a Nostori soldier. Upon discovering her error, she has him taken in and cared for.
A chance to win glory
And power it brings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Some yell in terror
But he can yell louder
He teaches Prince Ptosphes
How to make gunpowder The making of fireseed (gunpowder) is a temple secret of Styphon’s House. Kalvan laughs.
To the priests of Styphon
A gauntlet he flings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

They thought they were lost but Styphon’s House has decreed a ban on selling gunpowder to Hostigos and is supporting Nostor’s plan to conquer Hostigos.
Their hopes When Kalvan teaches the Hostigi to make a superior grade of gunpowder, they become optimistic. he’s igniting
Yet he can’t keep Rylla his
Love from the fighting Rylla is assertive, and insists on participating in the defense of her homeland; Neither her father Ptosphes nor her fiancé Kalvan can disuade her, even after she breaks her leg in battle.
He is a rival
To all the great kings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Graduate students English major Matthew Mantrell, in Christopher Stasheff’s novel Her Majesty’s Wizard
Who feel they’re in Hades Mathew is transported by magic into an alternate universe.
Rescue from prison
Deposed royal ladies Princess Alisande, the daughter of the deposed king of Merovence.
Summoning dragons Mathew attempts to conjure a source of light for his cell; he inadvertently summons the dragon Stegoman instead.
With tears in their wings Stegoman’s tribe ripped holes in his wings to protect themselves from his eratic behavior.
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Bean-nighes and bean sidhes
with their cheerful greeting
Portend that your pleasures
Are doomed to be fleeting
Bloody detergent in Esther Friesner’s novel "Gnome Man’s Land", a Bean-nighes washes her bloody clothes at a laundromat.
To your clothing clings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Small gentle treecats Stephanie Harrington was the first human to bond with a treecat; Honor Harrington’s own bond with Nimitz came generations later. Treecats are a highly social nonverbal species native to the planet Sphinx in the Manticore binary star system. While telepathic among themselves, they are only able to read human emotions. Due to the native predators on Sphinx, treecats have evolved an impressive ability to defend themselves, and it would be a fatal error to assume due to their gentle nature that they are helpless.
With friends that are royal The House of Winton is a protector of treecats. The reigning Elizabeth Adrienne Samantha Annette Winton (Queen Elizabeth III) has bonded with a treecat.
Humans with treecats
To whom they are loyal
Mess with their two-legs This refers to an assassination attempt against Grayson Planetary Protector Benjamin Mayhew IX at a banquet honoring Honor Harrington. Honor and her treecat Nimitz are severely injured while defending Mayhew.
And see what that brings This refers to the damage that Nimitz inflicts on the assassins.
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Pavel cornered Honor,
alone in the shower Refers to Pavel Young’s attempted sexual assault on Honor Harrington in a Saganami Island Naval Academy shower room when both were cadets. ,
Though she broke his bones The full incident is narrated as backstory in The Short Victorious War. Honor, acting in self-defense, beat Young badly, and would later regard herself as having let him off too easily given what he attempted. ,
still she feared the Youngs’ power
The sad consequences,
that forbearance Honor never files a formal complaint over the assault — a silence that costs her later. Young’s desertion resurfaces at Basilisk Station: as senior officer of the picket, he takes his ship, HMS Warlock, off to Manticore for an unnecessary refit, abandoning Honor as the system’s sole defender and setting her up to take the blame. Years later, Honor challenges Young to a duel — legally sanctioned combat — after he hires a professional duelist to kill Tankersley rather than face him himself. Young breaks dueling protocol and fires early, hitting her shoulder while her back is still turned; the neutral referee moves to shoot Young for the violation, but the text is explicit that Honor’s own return fire kills him first — the referee’s shots strike Young only after he is already dead. brings,
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Audubon dancers The Audubon Ballroom is an antislavery organization widely considered to be terrorist. who
Will not be chattels
Have strange bedfellows
To help with their battles
With secret agents
They sometimes have flings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Betan survey ships A ship from the Survey Service of Beta Colony, captained by Cordelia Naismith.
Whose captains are taken Captain Lord Aral Vorkosigan from Barrayar captures Cordelia.
Vorbarran warships
That with strife are shaken Cordelia’s men free captured mutineers against orders, but do not join them. When the freed mutineers resume their uprising, Cordelia suppresses it herself using a plasma arc.
Mess with Cordelia
A slit throat she brings Admiral Vorrutyer has tied Cordelia, a prisoner for the second time, to his bed, tortured her and ordered Sergeant Konstantine Bothari, who is intensely loyal to Aral, to rape her. Bothari instead slits his throat, because Cordelia is under Aral’s protection.
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

A surprise reception
planned by steady Freddy Refers to Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan being awarded a medal by “Steady Freddy,” the President of Beta Colony, for her alleged killing of Admiral Vorrutyer. Furious at the propaganda use being made of it, she flings the medal back at him. ,
Her toe in his crotch Security guards grab her the instant she flings the medal back; struggling against them, the toe of her jackboot catches the President in the groin with perfect unplanned accuracy. ,
because she wasn’t ready,
Underwater breathing Cordelia garrotes her with a belt and holds her head underwater in an aquarium, telling her to “grow gills” and dunking her under again, until she gets the information she needs. ,
to Mehta Dr. Mehta, the psychiatrist who secretly drugged Cordelia during a supposedly voluntary interview—justifying it afterward as ethical since “permission is obtained post facto”— later tries to have her involuntarily committed. she brings,
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Stealing The capture of Miles Vorkosigan’s uterine replicator during Count Vidal Vordarian’s coup. the son of
A helpless Vor Lady Cordelia organizes a forbidden rescue party for Miles, including armsman Bothari.
Who has an A mutiny on Aral’s ship. armsman Konstantine Bothari
Who is rather shady
Losing your head After Cordelia captures Count Vidal Vordarian, he refuses to accept that his cause is lost, Cordelia orders Bothari to execute him, and he says "What? You’re a Betan! You can’t do—". Bad guess ;-) is
The fate that it brings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Anger Cordelia?
You’d better get hopping
Lest you be there
When she starts to go shopping Soon after Cordelia returns home with her rescued son, an ImpSec officer wants to register what is in the bag containing Vordarian’s severed head. Koudelka peeks inside and says Put it down as a Winterfair gift for Admiral Vorkosigan. From his wife. Aral has ordered that she be taken to him as soon as she returns, and she joins a sealed meeting. Aral’s father, Count Piotr Pierre Vorkosigan, angrily asks her Good God, woman, where have you been?, she holds up the bag, replies Shopping. Want to see what I bought?, and spills the head on the table.
Look what a pacifist Cut off one little head and people remember it forever ;-) — a callback to this same incident from Lois McMaster Bujold’s much later Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen (2016), not this session’s own invention.
Betan girl brings
These are a few of
My favorite things

[hook]

First blade she buys fails, Cordelia goes shopping in the capital for a spring-sheathed swordstick for Aral’s war-wounded aide-de-camp Lieutenant Koudelka (“Kou”), who walks with a cane. The first sample she tries has its blade snap clean off against the wall.
when tested, the blade breaks,
She tells the shop keeper
I won’t buy those cheap fakes,
A much better blade
To Kou she then brings, The heavier second sample holds up. Cordelia gives it to Koudelka “to help keep you from running Kou completely into the ground.” It’s the same swordstick she later draws on Vordarian, and the blade Bothari finishes him with — see “Losing your head,” above.
These are a few of
My favorite things

[hook]

Making Ryoval’s day “Making Ryoval’s day” is tongue in cheek — with Miles guiding her, Taura guts his life’s work: years of irreplaceable genetic samples, destroyed by his own creation turned against him. Miles shows her the temperature control on Ryoval’s high-security tissue-sample freezers and has her turn it with a single finger, ruining the lot. This refers to Miles Vorkosigan’s escape from House Ryoval on Jackson’s Whole with Taura, one of Ryoval’s own genetically engineered creations, in Lois McMaster Bujold’s novella “Labyrinth.”
when he is at leisure,
Teaching Taura revenge does not take much pressure Literally as well as figuratively — ruining years of Ryoval’s genetic research takes no more than the pressure of Taura’s one finger on a temperature dial. ,
Recruiting her so that she can spread her wings,
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Vorbarran agents Miles Vorkosigan in his persona as Admiral Naismith, on a covert mission to extract Dr. Hugh Canaba from Jackson’s Whole, with a cover story of weapon shopping.
Who couldn’t be bolder
Who have affairs with
A gene-tailored soldier An 8' tall super soldier commissioned by people who have never seen combat, and treated as a laboratory animal. She refuses to believe that Miles considers her human unless he makes love to her. Afterward, learning she has only ever been called Nine—a number, not a name—he is outraged, and gives her a real one: Taura.
A rescue float truck Bel Thorne’s mission to ransom Miles.
That takes a few dings Miles refuses to allow Bel Thorne to swap the quaddie Nicol for him, and instead orders his men to fight. They escape in a stolen float truck, which takes fire and is damaged along the way; the Dendarii drop shuttle, undamaged, arrives afterward to pick everyone up.
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Thieves dressed as boys Kim, an adolescent girl who dresses as a boy because she is afraid of being forced into a brothel if her sex is discovered. She is hired to break into the wagon of Mairelon the Magician, who does a magic show, and to look for a silver bowl.
Who are caught and coopted Kim is caught by Mairelon and coopted into assisting him in an investigation into the theft of the Saltash set, which incldes the silver bowl she was asked to look for,
Help solve a case Kim discovers that Mairelon is actually Richard Merrill, a real magician and member of an aristocratic family. Mairelon, his assistant Hunch and Kim have a series of comic encounters with various suspects.
And wind up adopted Towards the end of the investigation, Kim mentions that a spell she had deliberately interrupted looked bad, and Merrill explains to Kim that only people with magical talent can see magic being used. He then proposes making her his ward and teaching her magic.
Hide behind the table Kim shoves a heavy card table into Dan Laverham, breaking his concentration on a distorted, escalating spell he can no longer control, then ducks behind the overturned table as it breaks free in a chaotic backlash.
When a foe magic flings The freed spell flings sharp-edged magical debris in every direction; Mairelon, Renée D’Auber, and Lord St. Clair together cast a defensive counter-ward against it while Kim shelters behind the table.
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Students of magic Merrill is teaching Kim multiple languages and assigning magical texts for her to read.
Weighed down by their reading Merrill is giving Kim magical reading assignments in multiple languages.
Who their decorum While Merrill is somewhat unconventional and neither he nor his mother Lady Wendall are unduly concerned with decorum, his paternal aunt Agatha Lowe, living in his brother Andrew’s house and acting as a chaperone for Kim, is very much a stickler for appropriate behavior.
Not always are heeding Merril’s aunt lectures both Kim and Merrill on what she perceives as inappropriate behavior. She does, however, make limited concessions to the demands of magical training.
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

"Your so-called ward"; Mrs. Hardcastle, at tea, pointedly: I was speaking, sir, of your so-called ward.
the snub lands, cold and cutting,
Mairelon's smile Mrs. Lowe bristles in outrage on Kim’s behalf and starts to speak, but Mairelon holds up a restraining hand — he’ll handle this himself.
as he's calmly rebutting:
By her own malice hoist, In a deceptively gentle tone: Then you will certainly not wish to attend her come-out ball. I must remember not to send you a card.
hark, bon ton sings, He makes an elegant bow that pointedly excludes Mrs. Hardcastle while including the other ladies present, then ushers Kim and his thunderstruck aunt from the room.
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Mannering preens; I cast all my spells in English, he says, proud to be an English wizard, and prouder still that he’s had his fellow conspirators do the same.
he's a fool who's not learning,
"Oaf!" Kim snaps back, You are a blithering idiot, Kim snarls — casting in English lets power spill in uncontrolled, a danger her own botched experiment had already taught her firsthand.
and your vanity's burning,
Crack of her palm, When Mannering grabs her arm to stop her leaving, Kim answers with the heel of her palm to his chin, dropping him where he stands.
and the pain that it brings,
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Mrs. Lowe jabs with her sunshade, Not just yet, I think, Mrs. Lowe murmurs, and jabs the downed Mannering with the point of her sunshade — the first sign that the prim chaperone is anything but a bystander.
unblinking,
She bars the door, She scoops up the wooden shaft Mannering was lying on and bars the rear door herself, then goes to fetch Hunch the moment Kim tells her to.
from the fray she's not shrinking,
Trussed up like roast pig, Hunch binds and gags Mannering in seconds — he’s done it before, for Merrill’s wilder scrapes — and Mrs. Lowe rides the whole way back beside him, stiff with disapproval but never once objecting to what they’ve done.
she Mannering brings,
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Rescue their teacher Merrill is part of a group casting a spell and Kim discovers that he is in danger of insanity as a byproduct of the spell. She trades places with him, risking her life, and averts disaster.
And get wedding rings Merrill proposes to Kim after she recovers from her participation in the spell.
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Kisses her senseless, The instant Kim comes to after the spell-trade, a panic-stricken Mairelon says Thank God! and kisses her.
and mother's delighted,
Not here, in public, Lady Wendall approves at once (Marrying your ward is exactly the sort of usual scandal I had in mind); Mrs. Lowe’s only complaint is timing — such things should wait until after the notice appears in the Gazette. And in private.
Aunt sniffs, unexcited,
Kim says just "Yes," Mairelon, misunderstanding, thinks Kim balks at marrying a toff like him; she corrects him — she meant the marquis she’d been offered, not him. Then you would? he asks. You’ve whiddled it, she tells him, in her old thieves’-cant way of saying he’s got it right.
and it's soon wedding rings,
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Bungled proposals The widowed Ekaterin Vorsoisson wants a year of mourning before considering any suitors. Miles, in love with her, is afraid that someone else will marry her, and hires her to design a garden of native plants as a ploy to be in frequent contact with her. Miles unwisely confides in his cousin Ivan Xav Vorpatril (That idiot Ivan — Miles’s own verbatim line for him, from The Warrior’s Apprentice), the son of Mile’s aunt Alys Vorpatril , a woman with no official authority but enough social clout to make her a good friend and a dangerous enemy. Miles extracts a reluctant promise from Ivan to leave Ekaterin alone; resentful at being pressured into it, Ivan decides to get even by encouraging potential rivals to court Ekaterin. At a family dinner, Simon Illyan, the former head of Imperial Security (ImpSec), asks about Miles’s intended proposal to Ekaterin, causing Miles to make a panicky proposal, and Ekaterin, outraged at being manipulated, storms out. can
Sometimes be tricky
You’ll face his mother
When you mess with Nikki
She’s a strong lady
Who knows a few things
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Harrying Nikki, Alexi Vormoncrief has cornered Nikki alone in his great-uncle’s parlor, grilling him about the bandages he glimpsed on Miles’s wrists after Tien’s death.
then hounding his mother,
Claiming protection, He’s just told Nikki that Miles murdered his father; when Ekaterin confronts him, he says he only wants to protect her from the mutie lord, and grabs for her.
he means but to smother,
Crack of her palm, The heel of her hand crunches into his nose hard enough to draw blood, and she shrieks: Let go of me, you blithering twit!
and a name that still stings,
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Storming the house of an Auditor, You entered the home of an Imperial Auditor, uninvited and unannounced, while the Auditor was not present, and offered physical violence to a member of his family, Illyan tells him — Miles holds that rank, and it is no small thing to violate.
boldly,
Illyan then answers him, He’s just watched Ekaterin herself flatten Vormoncrief with a palm strike to the nose, before he even reached the doorway.
dry and so coldly,
Not twice, or not once: The lady asked you to unhand her, Lieutenant. She shouldn’t have to ask twice. Or . . . once. Given what happens to officers who embarrass themselves on Kyril Island afterward, a quiet word from a colonel may be the lenient option.
he's answered to kings,
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Blackmailing Miles Richars Vorrutyer is challenging his cousin Dono (née Donna) Vorrutyer for the seat of the deceased Count Pierre Vorrutyer. He threatens to formally charge Miles for the murder of Etienne Vorsoisson, Ekaterin’s deceased husband, unless Miles votes his father’s proxy in his favor. Miles, who previously had been on the fence, is outraged both on his own behalf and on Ekaterin’s. He pretends to agree, and immediately starts planning to bring Richars down. Shoe, foot! is
Not very clever No, You know, Richars, I’m glad you came to see me. Before we had this little talk, I had actually been undecided how I was going to vote on the matter of the Vorrutyer’s District. does not mean I capitulate, it means You’re toast.
From you all your hopes and
Your dreams it will sever
Loss of your rank and
A trial Richars plots to have Donna castrated in order to disqualify him for the countship. Ivan Vorpatril and Olivia Koudelka rescue Donna, capture his assailants, use the attack to gain more votes for Donna and reveal the plot in the council of counts prior to the votes. Richars is not only defeated but is facing serious criminal charges. it brings.
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Gullible inlaws Lieutenant Alexi Vormoncrief convinces Ekaterin’s brother Hugo Vorvayne , and Etienne’s cousin Vassily Vorsoisson , who has legal guardianship over Nikki, that being around Miles, or even being in the capital, is dangerous, and they threaten to take Nikki away from her if she doesn’t move him.
Want to take Nicholai
Emperor Gregor
Responds to his outcry
Meddlesome shavetails Alexi Vormoncrief spreads rumors about Miles, to the detriment of Ekaterin and Nikki, whom the emperor has taken under his wing. The emperor is not amused. Gerard, take a note. This is the third time this month that the busy Lieutenant Vormoncrief has come to my negative attention in matters touching political concerns. Remind Us to find him a post somewhere in the Empire where he may be less busy.
The emperor zings He sends Lt. Vormoncrief to Kyril Island, the worst duty station in the empire.
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Nikki is defiant, his spirit not broken, Ordered to go with his cousin Vassily Vorsoisson, Nikki refuses, dodges the grab, and threatens to tell everyone Vassily is kidnapping him — and that he’s not his father, both true.
Of bathroom to backstairs, no warning is spoken the bathroom connecting Aunt Vorthys’s room to the study where Nikki has barricaded himself. Ekaterin decides that if her aunt is willing to stay silent about the second door, she will protect Nikki the same way — by giving him a free hand and letting him make his call to Gregor.
In Vorhartung Castle a comconsole rings Nikki uses the blank, unmarked code-card Gregor gave him earlier — a direct line to the Emperor’s own comconsole channel, reserved for “a very few friends and relatives”. Gregor had offered it for a narrower purpose, someone to talk to about the rumors over his father’s death, not rescue from a custody fight; Nikki stretches its intended use, but under the circumstances the stretch is justified.
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Though Gregor is busy he answers and listens
The face of the tyrant with sweat shortly glistens Vassily is hauled before the Emperor in a private side chamber at Vorhartung Castle and rebuked: “Your concern is laudable but not necessary. Your gullibility is less laudable. Correct it, please,” followed by “Madame Vorsoisson has my full trust, Lieutenant; I recommend you give her yours.”
To meddlesome shavetails Alexi Vormoncrief, whose rumor-mongering panicked Vassily into trying to take Nikki in the first place, gets the same dressing-down here that sends him to Kyril Island — see “Responds to his outcry,” above. sweet Nemesis sings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

An auditor’s aegis,
the emperor’s own voice. Gregor, explaining the office to Miles: An Auditor is not just my Voice. He’s my eyes and ears, as well, very much in the original sense of the word . . . to go places I can’t, and report back with an absolutely independent angle of view.
Treading where you shouldn’t
is such a forlorn choice, Ask Richars Vorrutyer, or Alexi Vormoncrief—caught by Simon Illyan invading the home of Lord Auditor Vorthys and manhandling the Auditor’s niece Ekaterin, who’s just decked him for it. Illyan, from the archway, deadly dry: The lady asked you to unhand her, Lieutenant. She shouldn’t have to ask twice. Or . . .  once. Then, in an arctic voice: What I saw was that you entered the home of an Imperial Auditor, uninvited and unannounced, while the Auditor was not present, and offered physical violence to a member of his family. Who is your commanding officer, Lieutenant Vormoncrief?
it’s so suicidal
to test what that brings,
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Richars Vorrutyer when
slandering Miles
Ekaterin’s retort You are mistaken, Lord Richars, she snapped down at him. Not your first mistake, apparently.
...
That’s your idea of proof? Ekaterin snarled. Fine. Your legal theory is easily demolished–.
...
Let’s finish this. Lord Vorkosigan!
Miles jerked in his seat, taken by surprise. Madame? He made a little half-bow gesture. Yours to command...
Good. Will you marry me?
...
So much for that line of reasoning, Lord Richars, Ekaterin finished. She sat back, and added, by no means under her breath, Twit.
that has all in smiles
Miles who now can
foresee wedding rings Not just his own wedding to Ekaterin, but also Gregor’s wedding. Miles does not yet know about the romance between Alys and Simon.
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Tinker Alexander Graham Bell (Tinker) is the title character in Wen Spencer’s novel Tinker the genius
Who’s brave, fierce and loyal
Twice saves Windwolf Wolf Who Rules Wind, the viceroy of the westernlands of Elfhome
Who is nearly royal
A very large magnet Tinker uses an electromagnet on a crane in her junkyard to disrupt the magically enlarged foo dogs attacking Windwolf, which she initially confuses with wargs.
That to foo dogs clings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Fake EIA Earth Interdimensional Agency agents
Who really are Oni Elves of the Skin clan and their creations.
Tinker unaware One might think that overhearing He is here. Laid out like the dead. Easy prey. ... Do them all. Quietly. would be a hint. that
The agents are phony
To her rescue mission
Stout courage she brings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Tinker and Oilcan Orville John Wright (Oilcan) is sensitive about his real name. when
Crashing the border Oilcan, Tinker and Windwolf are pursued by Oni disguised as agents of the Earth Interdimensional Agency (EIA) while waiting for startup. At startup they crash through a barricade and proceed on to an elven hospice in search of medical care for the seriously injured Windwolf. Real EIA agents, unaware of the fake ones, pursue Tinker and Oilcan.
Elves at the hospice
Soon bring things to order When pursuing EIA agents arrest Tinker and Oilcan for crashing the barricade, the elves intervene. What’s he saying? ... He’s saying ‘Hands off the kids or we’ll break your face.’
Their care of the duo After Windwolf is treated, he notices that Tinker’s hand is infected and demands that the elves in the hospice treat her.
Recovery brings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Tinker taken in by
Tooloo’s deceiving
Misunderstands Windwolf’s
We are not even
A lesson in linguistic
Details it brings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Director Maynard Derek Maynard, director of the Earth Interdimensional Agency (EIA)
Averting a crisis If the elves believe that the EIA is trying to murder Windwolf, it could lead to a genocidal war.
Tinker telling Maynard Maynard has drafted Tinker to identify items in a batch of contraband.
What each strange device is
A bonus Maynard allows Tinker to take some of the contraband as compensation for her assistance that Tinker
To her junkyard brings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Windwolf telling Tinker
It’s not you who owe me The elf Tooloo told Tinker that she owes a life debt to Windwolf, a lie of epic proportions; it is Windwolf who owes a life debt to Tinker.
You saved my life twice Once as a young girl from a saurus (a natural, dinosaur-like reptile) and once as an adult from the "wargs" — actually magically enlarged foo dogs; real wargs are a separate, genuinely engineered species in their own right, but not what attacked this time.
Brave Tinker ze domi A polite greeting recognizing Tinker as a member of the Domana caste.
A mark a blue triangle, called a dau, that Windwolf places on Tinker’s forehead after she accepts two ceremonial gifts from him, which he mistakenly assumes that she recognizes as betrothal gifts. The dau signifies that she is adopted into the Domana caste, betrothed to him and under his personal protection. on her forehead
That big changes brings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

NSA The National Security Agency, an intelligence agency tasked with protecting our communication and compromising enemy communication. The NSA does not have authority, experience, mandate, resources or training for the mission described in the novel, and any of CIA, DIA, FBI, would have been more plausible. agents with
No erudition Agents Corg Durrack and Hannah Briggs have not the faintest clue about the geography, laws, politics or treaty that affect their mission. Any real operative would have been briefed.
Kidnap Tinker on a
bungled mission.
Diplomatic tension is
What the pair brings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Elves at Poppymeadow An enclave of Wind clan elves
Greet Tinker ze domi
Tinker in love asks After abandoning Nathan Czernowski for making aggressive and unwanted advances during a date that he had agreed would be low key, Tinker asks Windwolf to make love to her.
Windwolf, won’t you show me
A misunderstood spell Windwolf casts a spell on Tinker. Tinker misunderstands We are at a branching. ... To the left, every path leads to death. No matter which way you go, you will die. as referring to a disease, but it actually refers to being human and hence mortal. The spell is intended to make her an elf of Windwolf’s Domana caste.
Immortality brings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Pony Nearing his majority, a sekasha may offer his oath to whomever he chooses. Windwolf expected the offer to come to him—Pony offered it to Tinker instead. Windwolf tells her plainly that this brings her honor, since not everyone can hold a sekasha; once accepted, the bond can’t be unmade. Tinker, true to form, says yes before she understands what she’s agreed to. offering service
To guard and protect her
For holding sekasha
The elves will respect her
The rise in her status
That his service brings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Nathan unconcerned
That Tinker is younger After Windwolf’s spell remade Tinker as an elf, Nathan decides the transformation erased the years that had stopped him before.
Loses control and
Gives in to his hunger
Pony’s sharp sword Pony stops the assault before it goes further.
At his neck it brings
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

Strong women knowing Several of the women this song has sung of.
their worth and their measure,
A rifle, a dragon, Julie Sims’ scoped Remington; Lessa Impressing the newly hatched queen Ramoth — a sudden, lifelong bond, the same shape as a treecat bonding.
a hard-won treasure, The silver Balthazar Abrabanel was carrying: a chest of guilders belonging to Gustav Adolf, entrusted to him for delivery. Mackay, Gustav’s own captain, had been sent to collect it; Mike’s rescue is what kept it out of Tilly’s hands.
Read Tehillim, Tehillim (“praises”), the Hebrew name for the Book of Psalms.
recognition it brings, Reading it and recognizing these same women in it.
These are a few of
My favorite things.

[hook]

A woman of valor Esheth chayil (“woman of valor”), Proverbs 31:10–31, traditionally sung in praise of a woman’s strength and worth — a closing nod to several of the women this song has sung of, not a claim that each one fits the Proverbs 31 mold specifically: among them Gretchen Richter, Rebecca Abrabanel, Julie Sims, Sharon Nichols, Cordelia Vorkosigan, Ekaterin Vorsoisson, Honor and Stephanie Harrington, Lessa, Tinker, Princess Rylla, and Kim. ,
her worth beyond measure,
she girds on her strength,
and shields her whole treasure;
her hands to the needy,
whatever it brings —
These are a few of
My favorite things.