If what hooked you was Mark trying to define himself against Miles—right down to that harrowing, post–Jackson’s Whole reckoning—then you’ll love how Ancillary Justice dives into fractured identity. Breq used to be a starship AI spread across countless bodies; now she’s trapped in one, hunting justice against the empire that shattered her. The book probes the same questions that make Mark and Miles so compelling: who are you when your body, history, and loyalties don’t line up—and what do you owe the people who made you?

If you were absorbed by the intense interiority of Mark’s POV—his trauma under Baron Ryoval, the pressure of impersonations gone wrong, the dread and duty of rescuing the clones—you’ll click with Mahit Dzmare’s voice. In A Memory Called Empire, Mahit arrives at a glittering imperial court with a dead mentor’s persona implanted in her mind—corrupt, incomplete, and invasive. The result is the same claustrophobic, thoughtful immersion you enjoyed in Mirror Dance: navigating peril, identity slippage, and impossible choices while keeping your soul intact.

If Mark’s brutal experiences on Jackson’s Whole—and his hard-won recovery with the Vorkosigans—moved you, The Sparrow offers a similarly powerful arc. Jesuit linguist Emilio Sandoz returns from first contact devastated and secretive; the narrative uncovers what happened and how he confronts the wreckage of his identity. Like Mark’s step-by-step reclamation of self, Emilio’s journey is wrenching, humane, and ultimately cathartic.

If the darkest parts of Mirror Dance gripped you—Miles’s death and revival, the grotesque markets of Jackson’s Whole, Baron Ryoval’s sadism—then Altered Carbon scratches that itch. Takeshi Kovacs navigates a world where consciousness is sleeved like hardware, and the powerful treat bodies as disposable. It’s the same savage edge, moral murk, and high-stakes violence that made the Dendarii’s rescue mission feel like a plunge into hell.

If you enjoyed Miles/Mark’s audacious deceptions—Mark commandeering the Dendarii, the dangerous con on Jackson’s Whole—Jean le Flambeur’s capers will delight you. In The Quantum Thief, a master thief with a checkered past is sprung from a Dilemma Prison to pull off impossible jobs in societies built on privacy economies and mind games. It channels the same clever gambits, charm, and moral gray zones that make the Vorkosigan cons so addictive.