![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccastareyesThings that Make Becca Squee: Day 3
This is my day for Space Opera and Science Fiction.
So, I have this history of being spoiled by my friends for things, mostly because I don't care about spoilers until I'm actually reading something. I also have a history of remembering when friends mention series that I later end up liking -- like the time we watched the first VHS of Slayers in high school and I kept thinking I ought to see the rest of the series. Heck, I even noticed that the mall's music store carried the tapes. But, I didn't end up seeing the rest until Anime Club in college re-introduced me to it.
(Then again, I would have probably thrown myself right into the ship wars... maybe this was for the best.)
Anyway, today I'm talking about the Vorkosigan Saga series by Lois McMaster Bujold, who was also the author of the series I did for Monday. She's one of four authors that appears more than once on my list, and one of two that appears three times. And the reason I told that story above is because my real first introduction to the series was when![[insanejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/ij-userinfo.gif)
eiviiaru decided she was going to play Mark Vorkosigan in an RPG I ran and the co-mod and I had to hunt down a picture of him (or Miles Vorsokigan, rather -- clones are handy like that, and he appeared on more covers).
But, I didn't end up reading the books themselves then. I have no clue why I started reading them. Maybe a chance mention onlimyaael's journal or something, or I was really craving some science fiction.
Anyway, the series runs to nine books and four short stories. There are an additional four books set in the universe, but not about Miles himself: two about Miles's parents, one that involved one of Miles's subordinates on a mission, and a fourth set early on that elaborated on a bit of backstory for the universe. The books have a mix in tones from mystery to adventure to romance, and the places Miles visits look interesting.
Setting
As I said earlier, the Miles Vorkosigan universe is set in a future Earth, where things like FTL travel, genetic manipulation and other things are quite common. The title character comes from the planet Barrayar which has gone through a time of isolation and technological regression, a period of being conquered by the nearest power, a bloody rebellion, the formation of a multi-planet empire, and a civil war all in the last few centuries before Miles was born. There are parts of the planet that are reasonably modern and parts where things like electricity and running water aren't.
This also means that Barrayar has a number of backwards attitudes -- women still aren't allowed in the military and people born with birth defects and mutations face a life of discrimination -- if they aren't born in the back country, where infanticide is still practiced. Things are changing, but slowly. That is one of the things many of the characters are working for -- not just the ability to go off and have adventures and save the planet from invaders, but changing how their own planet works.
Characters
Lord Miles Vorkosigan: The series' main character. Thanks to an assassination attempt on his parents, Miles was lucky to be born. He was born with severe bone problems -- they break easily -- and a number of other things that meant he spent most of his early childhood getting surgery. He also is shorter than Edward Elric.
Miles survives by being smart, determined and hella manipulative. Which is why I like him. He is the type of character to jump straight into trouble and then has to think his way out of it. The books cover about twelve years at this point, and he goes from trying out for the officer's academy at the beginning of the first book to attending the birth of his first two children at the end of the most recent. In between, he's lead an interesting life.
Count Aral Vorkosigan and Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan: Miles's parents. He's a decorated military officer who is also nobility and formerly regent for the Barrayarian Empire. She's a captain from the Betan Astronomical Survey. They met on an newly-charted planet, and had to survive the wilderness, treason and the fact their planets had declared war on one another. Together... they fight crime!
But, seriously, I was already fond of Miles's parents before I read the books Cordelia narrates. Both are incredibly perceptive and intelligent people. Plus... well, I adore Cordelia. There's something about a woman who goes from ultra-modern ultra-liberal Beta Colony to backwater Barrayar for love... then decides that since she loves Aral, and Aral can't leave to be with her, and she won't leave him, she'll just have to make the planet a better place while she's there. She didn't ask to be a reformer, but she's darn good at it.
Ivan Vorpatril: Miles's second cousin, and usually playing his sidekick. Ivan is good-looking and a bit of a womanizer, but generally seen as clueless (at least next to Miles -- but this is not hard).
Dammit, this is hard... there's really an ensemble cast, from the Barrayarans to the mercenaries that Miles ends up tricking into accepting him as their leader. Suffice to say, there are many characters and I like most of them.
I can't speak much for the overarching plot, as most of the books are at least somewhat stand alone or in small arcs. Reading in sequence can be helpful, though, and there are a few that really go together -- Shards of Honor/Barrayar, The Warrior's Apprentice/The Vor Game, Brothers in Arms/Mirror Dance and Komarr/A Civil Campaign. A lot of the books are sold in anthology form nowadays, which makes things helpful. Cetagandia is probably the closest of the Miles books to a stand-alone, not counting the two that aren't about Miles himself, or his parents.
On Amazon
On B&N
I think we kiddedeiviiaru a bit, since between Mark and a halfling, she was playing two out of the three shortest characters in the game -- the third being the Ewok lasafara was playing.
This is my day for Space Opera and Science Fiction.
So, I have this history of being spoiled by my friends for things, mostly because I don't care about spoilers until I'm actually reading something. I also have a history of remembering when friends mention series that I later end up liking -- like the time we watched the first VHS of Slayers in high school and I kept thinking I ought to see the rest of the series. Heck, I even noticed that the mall's music store carried the tapes. But, I didn't end up seeing the rest until Anime Club in college re-introduced me to it.
(Then again, I would have probably thrown myself right into the ship wars... maybe this was for the best.)
Anyway, today I'm talking about the Vorkosigan Saga series by Lois McMaster Bujold, who was also the author of the series I did for Monday. She's one of four authors that appears more than once on my list, and one of two that appears three times. And the reason I told that story above is because my real first introduction to the series was when
eiviiaru decided she was going to play Mark Vorkosigan in an RPG I ran and the co-mod and I had to hunt down a picture of him (or Miles Vorsokigan, rather -- clones are handy like that, and he appeared on more covers). But, I didn't end up reading the books themselves then. I have no clue why I started reading them. Maybe a chance mention on
limyaael's journal or something, or I was really craving some science fiction. Anyway, the series runs to nine books and four short stories. There are an additional four books set in the universe, but not about Miles himself: two about Miles's parents, one that involved one of Miles's subordinates on a mission, and a fourth set early on that elaborated on a bit of backstory for the universe. The books have a mix in tones from mystery to adventure to romance, and the places Miles visits look interesting.
Setting
As I said earlier, the Miles Vorkosigan universe is set in a future Earth, where things like FTL travel, genetic manipulation and other things are quite common. The title character comes from the planet Barrayar which has gone through a time of isolation and technological regression, a period of being conquered by the nearest power, a bloody rebellion, the formation of a multi-planet empire, and a civil war all in the last few centuries before Miles was born. There are parts of the planet that are reasonably modern and parts where things like electricity and running water aren't.
This also means that Barrayar has a number of backwards attitudes -- women still aren't allowed in the military and people born with birth defects and mutations face a life of discrimination -- if they aren't born in the back country, where infanticide is still practiced. Things are changing, but slowly. That is one of the things many of the characters are working for -- not just the ability to go off and have adventures and save the planet from invaders, but changing how their own planet works.
Characters
Lord Miles Vorkosigan: The series' main character. Thanks to an assassination attempt on his parents, Miles was lucky to be born. He was born with severe bone problems -- they break easily -- and a number of other things that meant he spent most of his early childhood getting surgery. He also is shorter than Edward Elric.
Miles survives by being smart, determined and hella manipulative. Which is why I like him. He is the type of character to jump straight into trouble and then has to think his way out of it. The books cover about twelve years at this point, and he goes from trying out for the officer's academy at the beginning of the first book to attending the birth of his first two children at the end of the most recent. In between, he's lead an interesting life.
Count Aral Vorkosigan and Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan: Miles's parents. He's a decorated military officer who is also nobility and formerly regent for the Barrayarian Empire. She's a captain from the Betan Astronomical Survey. They met on an newly-charted planet, and had to survive the wilderness, treason and the fact their planets had declared war on one another. Together... they fight crime!
But, seriously, I was already fond of Miles's parents before I read the books Cordelia narrates. Both are incredibly perceptive and intelligent people. Plus... well, I adore Cordelia. There's something about a woman who goes from ultra-modern ultra-liberal Beta Colony to backwater Barrayar for love... then decides that since she loves Aral, and Aral can't leave to be with her, and she won't leave him, she'll just have to make the planet a better place while she's there. She didn't ask to be a reformer, but she's darn good at it.
Ivan Vorpatril: Miles's second cousin, and usually playing his sidekick. Ivan is good-looking and a bit of a womanizer, but generally seen as clueless (at least next to Miles -- but this is not hard).
Dammit, this is hard... there's really an ensemble cast, from the Barrayarans to the mercenaries that Miles ends up tricking into accepting him as their leader. Suffice to say, there are many characters and I like most of them.
I can't speak much for the overarching plot, as most of the books are at least somewhat stand alone or in small arcs. Reading in sequence can be helpful, though, and there are a few that really go together -- Shards of Honor/Barrayar, The Warrior's Apprentice/The Vor Game, Brothers in Arms/Mirror Dance and Komarr/A Civil Campaign. A lot of the books are sold in anthology form nowadays, which makes things helpful. Cetagandia is probably the closest of the Miles books to a stand-alone, not counting the two that aren't about Miles himself, or his parents.
On Amazon
On B&N
I think we kidded
eiviiaru a bit, since between Mark and a halfling, she was playing two out of the three shortest characters in the game -- the third being the Ewok lasafara was playing.
