It's easy to tell A Civil Campaign is not your typical SF adventure. Author Lois McMaster Bujold bills it as "A Comedy of Biology and Manners", and dedicates it to "Jane, Charlotte, Georgette and Dorothy." That's Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Georgette Heyer and Dorothy Sayers.

Not the usual run of science-fiction influences, but appropriate. As the book, the 14^th in the award-winning Vorkosigan series, opens, Emperor Gregor is about to get married, and all the imperial planet Barrayar is in a tizzy. Gregor's lifelong friend, diplomat Miles Vorkosigan, is the best man, of course, and Miles couldn't be happier about it, at least until he sees the long list of social events he's supposed to represent Gregor at during the wedding week.

The wedding preparations go surprisingly smoothly, though, and that means everyone's fancy has time to turn to thoughts of love.

Ivan's always looking for love, but he's had an unusual amount of trouble finding it lately. Miles' clone brother Mark is back on Barrayar, pursuing a new business project and one of Commodore Koudelka's daughters. And Miles himself has set his sights on the heart of Ekaterin Vorsoisson, a lovely widow he met in the last Vorkosigan book, Komarr.

Miles being Miles, he can't woo her the simple way. Instead, he's putting all his military genius to planning an irresistible assault upon her affections, hoping he'll sweep her off her feet before she notices he's up to something. Of course, absolutely nothing goes as planned, and hijinks ensue.

All this may sound a bit twee, with lots of romantic comedy and not much SF, and, while it's true that a lot of the "comedy of biology" comes from Ivan's, Mark's and Miles' raging hormones, Bujold is also writing about the havoc science and alien cultures can wreak on society.

Mark's problems with Kareen Koudelka stem from culture clash. They fell in love in the sexually unrepressed society of Beta, and they can't figure out where they stand with Barrayar's uptight mores. Meanwhile, Ivan's having much too close an encounter with an old girlfriend who has transformed herself into a man for political reasons. Then there's Mark's business project -- "butter bugs", genetically engineered insects that are both a revolutionary food source and quite possibly the most disgusting things in the galaxy.

There's a lot to ponder in these plot elements, but they're mostly there to wreck everybody's love life -- especially with Miles, who hardly needs help given the damage he can do to it himself.

They also provide hooks for a lot of funny scenes and character turns. Just about every regular character in the series gets a moment in the sun, from Miles' parents to Simon Illyan and Armsman Pym. Even Lady Alys gets to shine, in a hysterical scene that shows just how much damage a well-managed social schedule can do to a villain's plans for political intrigue.

Finally, there's Ekaterin, who's smart, spunky and a perfect match for Miles. Bujold does a magnificent job with their romance, deftly shifting viewpoints between them so we can see exactly where they're right and wrong in their understanding of each other. It's not giving away much to say that we'll be seeing more of Ekaterin in future books, and I'm glad.

I don't know if Bujold ever thought of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" while she was writing this, but it kept coming to mind while I read it. Like the play, this book is about horny young people taking a break from saving the world while their thoughts turn to love. All hell promptly breaks loose, but since there's nothing too important at stake, it's a delightful confection of a story.

New readers will want to read the rest of the series first -- if only to keep everyone straight without a scorecard! -- but if you're a long-time fan of the Vorkosigan books, you're going to love A Civil Campaign.