Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga: A Thematic Concordance and Chronology
Sep 06 '06 (Updated May 14 '07) Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Everything I couldn't fit in my reviews of the books, including potential spoilers.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Suggested Reading Order
Internal Chronology
Publishing Chronology
Omnibus Editions
Classification by Genre
Thematic Concordance
Favorite Quotes
How Should the Saga End?
Links to My Reviews
Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga: A Miles-Centric Introduction
The Vorkosigan science fiction series is set in a distant future when humanity has spread through wormhole nexuses to colonize the galaxy. One planet, Barrayar, suffered a period of isolation when its wormhole failed. This isolation, and a subsequent prolonged guerilla war against Cetagandan invaders, led to a harsh culture dominated by a warrior caste. Now Barrayar has reemerged as a growing empire, its contact with more sophisticated planets causing tension with its highly traditional culture.
Miles Vorkosigan's father is the Prime Minister, and when in his mother's womb Miles was exposed to poisons during an assassination attempt. As a result his growth was stunted and his bones are brittle. Because of this he is a pariah on Barrayar, with its deep inhibitions against mutants. This, and the burden of living up to the family name, instills in Miles a drive to prove himself. But despite his remarkable intelligence and boundless energy he is physically unfit for military service.
Rather than give up, through a series of misadventures Miles assumes a persona as Admiral Naismith and acquires a military of his own, the Dendarii Free Mercenaries. He remains loyal to Barrayar, however, and unbeknownst to the Dendarii, places the mercenaries at the disposal of the Empire. Imperial Security is only too happy to have a small fleet with which it can achieve strategic objectives anonymously, and Miles and the Dendarii begin a career of conducting secret missions for Barrayar.
The first Vorkosigan books were published in 1986. Fourteen books later Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga has received four Hugo Awards and two Nebulas, reflecting the adoration of her fans and the respect of her peers. I myself find her fantasy more impressive, but Bujold's sprawling space opera is a rollicking good read. It often features elements of military SF, some installments feature mysteries, and hard SF concepts occasionally intrude. But her focus is always her excellent characters.
SUGGESTED READING ORDER
The most popular reading order follows the internal chronology, reproduced below. The books can be divided into three groups: Cordelia as protagonist, Miles as protagonist, and other protagonists. The great majority fall within the Miles group. Shards of Honor and Barrayar comprise the Cordelia group. She is a wonderful character and the books are well-written and provide important background for Miles's character. "Dreamweaver's Dilemma," Falling Free, and Ethan of Athos comprise the other group. Of these three the first two are entirely optional, the last is a somewhat unusual case, as the protagonist is a non-recurring character, but a recurring character from the Miles group is included and events from the Miles group are alluded to.
I recommend beginning with the Cordelia group and including Ethan of Athos when reading the Miles group. An alternative reading order would follow the publishing chronology. Having a particular interest in the craft of writing, in the ways Bujold's art and storytelling have developed, and in the ways the Vorkosigan characters and storylines have evolved, this is the reading order I prefer.
Which is my favorite Vorkosigan book? I thought Cetaganda was great fun, Mirror Dance was darkly fascinating, Barrayar was rich and exciting, and my opinion of The Warrior's Apprentice keeps raising in retrospect. But the first book is still the best for me. The characters of Cordelia Naismith and Aral Vorkosigan, and the tension between them and between their worlds and them, make Shards of Honor, rough edges and all, my favorite. My least favorite? Brothers in Arms.
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INTERNAL CHRONOLOGY
The novels and shorter works arranged according to the internal chronology, with links to my reviews provided.
1. "Dreamweaver's Dilemma"
This novelette is set in the Vorkosigan universe, but far before the events of the series proper. It was published in a collection of the same name.
2. Falling Free: "Like a Woman's Dream of a Perfect Society"
Several centuries before the events of the Vorkosigan series proper, an interstellar corporation engineers humans with a second set of arms in place of legs. Received the Nebula Award. 3 stars.
3. Shards of Honor: Theology and the Emperor's Death Bed
Cordelia Naismith and Lord Aral Vorkosigan meet and are both entangled in a Barrayaran war of aggression. 4 stars.
4. Barrayar: "By this act, I bring one death into the world"
Aral is made regent of Barrayar but his political enemies soon mount a coup. Cordelia and their unborn child are caught in the crossfire. Received the Hugo Award. 5 stars.
5. The Warrior's Apprentice: Napoleon Was a Megalomaniacal Runt Too, But Never This Lucky
Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, his growth stunted and his bones made brittle by exposure in-utero to poison gases, fails to gain entry to the Imperial Service Academy. Dejected, he takes a vacation and stumbles into what will become the Dendarii Free Mercenaries. 4 stars.
6. "The Mountains of Mourning"
Miles must investigate and decide a murder case in the backwoods of his home province on Barrayar. Received the Hugo and Nebula Awards. 4.5 stars. This novella was later included in Borders of Infinity (see below, number 13).
7. The Vor Game: What If Miles Was Female. And Evil. Or Lived in Beverly Hills?
After graduating from the Academy Miles is assigned to a weather station in Barrayar's frozen north. After some misadventure he is reassigned, in his role as Admiral Naismith of the Dendarii Mercenaries, to investigate an arms race in the Hegen Hub. Received the Hugo Award. 3 stars.
8. Cetaganda: "The Barrayaran Art of Love"
Miles and his cousin Ivan attend the dowager empress of Cetaganda's funeral and become embroiled in a plot to topple the Cetagandan empire. 4 stars.
9. Ethan of Athos: There are easier ways to access an ovary
Athos is a planet without women, and Ethan, an obstetrician, has been sent to procure new ovarian cultures for their uterine replicators. He meets Dendarii agent Elli Quinn on Kline Station and they discover that the Cetagandan Empire is the cause of both their problems. 4 stars.
10. "Labyrinth"
Miles and the Dendarii are assigned to help a geneticist defect from Jackson's Whole. 2.5 stars. This novella was later included in Borders of Infinity (see below, number 13).
11. "The Borders of Infinity"
Miles inserts himself into a Cetagandan prison of war camp. 4.5 stars. This novella was later included in Borders of Infinity (see below, number 13).
12. Brothers in Arms: Caveat Doppelgänger: My Life Isn't Worth Stealing
On Earth Miles discovers he has been cloned for a nefarious purpose. 2 stars.
13. Borders of Infinity: "Hopelessly Monosexual"
Contains the novellas "The Mountains of Mourning," "Labyrinth" and "The Borders of Infinity," and some framing passages. 4 stars.
14. Mirror Dance: The Monkey on my Back is Me
Miles’s brother Mark tricks the Dendarii into rescuing clones from Jackson’s Whole. He almost pulls it off, but to his chagrin Miles has to come to the rescue. In the confusion Miles is lost, and Mark has to return to Barrayar, the home he’s never known, to tell the parents he’s never met the bad news. Received the Hugo Award. 5 stars.
15. Memory: Will the Real Miles Vorkosigan Please Stand Up
As a side-effect of having been killed and resurrected, Miles suffers embarrassing seizures at the most inopportune moments. The possibility of a medical discharge throws Miles into a mid-life crisis, but he has to put his personal concerns aside when the Chief of Imperial Security, Simon Illyan, begins to lose his mind. 4 stars.
16. Komarr: Trust Is Always Right, Even If Mistaken
The conquered planet of Komarr remains a tinderbox. When a suspicious accident threatens to destabilize the situation Miles, now an Imperial Auditor, is sent to investigate. He promptly develops a crush on a married woman and gets entangled in her domestic problems. The two crises couldn’t be related could they? 4 stars.
17. A Civil Campaign: I'm sorry for your loss. Are you free Friday night?
Miles is doing his best to woo Ekaterin in a dignified manner. Without letting her know he’s doing it. Meanwhile, Mark, Duv, Gregor, Ivan, and just about everyone else also seems to be suffering romantic conundrums. Havoc breaks out in Vorkosigan House, along with Mark’s experimental insects, but like all good comedies, this one ends in marriage (after no little embarrassment). 4 stars.
18. "Winterfair Gifts"
Miles gets married. Included in Irresistible Forces.
19. Diplomatic Immunity: It's not a proper honeymoon if you haven't been shot at.
Miles and Ekaterin's honeymoon is interrupted when he must rescue a Barrayaran fleet impounded in Quaddiespace. As Miles unravels the convoluted circumstances he discovers more is at risk than just his honeymoon.
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PUBLISHING CHRONOLOGY
The novels and novellas arranged according to the date first published.
1. Shards of Honor (1986)
2. The Warrior's Apprentice (1986)
3. Ethan of Athos (1986)
4. "The Borders of Infinity" (1987, included in 1989's Borders of Infinity)
5. Falling Free (1988)
6. Brothers in Arms (1989)
7. "The Mountains of Mourning" (1989, included in 1989's Borders of Infinity)
8. "Labyrinth" (1989, included in 1989's Borders of Infinity)
9. Borders of Infinity (1989)
10. The Vor Game (1990)
11. Barrayar (1991)
12. Mirror Dance (1994)
13. Cetaganda (1996)
14. "Dreamweaver's Dilemma" (1996)
15. Memory (1996)
16. Komarr (1998)
17. A Civil Campaign (1999)
18. Diplomatic Immunity (2002)
19. "Winterfair Gifts" (2004)
Saving Money by Taking the Omnibus
Note that there are a number of omnibus editions that combine two novels and sometimes a novella. These editions can save you money, but there is some overlap between them. The best path is as follows:
1. Cordelia's Honor: Includes Shards of Honor and Barrayar
2. Young Miles: Includes The Warrior's Apprentice, "The Mountains of Mourning" and The Vor Game
3. Miles, Mystery and Mayhem: Includes Cetaganda, Ethan of Athos and "Labyrinth"
4. Miles Errant: Includes "The Borders of Infinity," Brothers in Arms and Mirror Dance
5. Miles, Mutants and Microbes: Includes Falling Free, "Labyrinth" and Diplomatic Immunity
Together these five editions comprise all but three of the novels. Other omnibus editions are Test of Honor, which includes Shards of Honor and The Warrior's Apprentice, and Vorkosigan's Game, which includes The Vor Game and Borders of Infinity.
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CLASSIFICATION BY GENRE
As mentioned earlier, the single unifying characteristic of Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga is her focus on her characters, with the great majority of her books tracing the long evolution of Miles Vorkosigan and his family and friends. Of course, the books are also science fiction, and are typically classified as space opera in light of the grand scale of their action, their romantic imperial setting, and the larger-than-life protagonist. For those for whom the term space opera continues to carry negative baggage, the series is its own best defense.
Beyond the obvious science fiction and space opera, many of the novels and novellas can be classified according to other generic elements:
Comedy of Manners
• A Civil Campaign
Hard Science Fiction
• Falling Free
Military Science Fiction
• The Warrior's Apprentice
• "The Borders of Infinity"
• "Labyrinth"
• The Vor Game
• Mirror Dance
Mystery/Detective
• Cetaganda
• Memory
• Komarr
• Diplomatic Immunity
Regency
• Barrayar
Romance
• Shards of Honor
• Komarr
• A Civil Campaign
Spy Thriller
• Ethan of Athos
• Brothers in Arms
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THEMATIC CONCORDANCE
Reference to titles will be given, but not page numbers due to variation between editions.
Abortion: The fictional technology of uterine replicators leads to several occasions where the concept of abortion can be examined from a unique perspective: where the fetus is physically independent of the mother. (It should be noted that Bujold does not in the slightest assume a didactic pose in treating this issue.) In Shards of Honor women who become pregnant via the rape of enemy soldiers have their fetuses placed in uterine replicators and sent to the vanquished enemy. This functions both as a rebuke and as a way for the mothers to place the onus of the men's crimes squarely on the men. In this instance, Cordelia Naismith argues against terminating the fetuses. Later, in Barrayar, her own child must be placed in a uterine replicator in order to receive medical treatment. She must then protect it from those who would abort its life because of its deformations. Infanticide receives a similar treatment in "The Mountains of Mourning," and uterine replicators, if not the issue of abortion, also feature prominently in Ethan of Athos.
Censorship: GalacTech strictly controls the education of the Quaddies in Falling Free, ensuring that they remain malleable servants. Ethan of Athos depicts an all-male planet where women are bogeymen and their depictions are forbidden.
Cloning: Cloning is usually portrayed in a negative light, with clones serving as experiments or as organ farms or as a route to immortality. Cetaganda and "Labyrinth" feature these themes, as do Brothers in Arms and Mirror Dance, which explore the identity crisis of Mark, Miles's clone brother.
Feminism: Few who have read Bujold would describe her as a feminist in the sense of having a cause or purpose of rectifying inequalities forced on women. Some might even argue she perpetuates some of the stereotypical science fiction portrayals of women. However, she is certainly a feminist in the sense that she depicts competent, charismatic and confident females, often in assertive and authoritative roles. Cordelia Naismith is the best example, as shown in Shards of Honor and Barrayar. Elli Quinn is another, especially in Ethan of Athos, the premise of which, an all-male planet, raises many interesting issues. Later, Elli Quinn chooses her career over Miles’s marriage proposals in Brothers in Arms and Memory. Komarr depicts a woman downtrodden in a horrible marriage. Ekaterin’s rise from the ashes of this emotionally abusive relationship is almost a rallying cry, and by A Civil Campaign she becomes every bit Miles’s match in force of personality. In A Civil Campaign she must also fend off suitors, impertinent family, and a chauvinist legal system that denies her maternal rights. A Civil Campaign also depicts Kareen Koudelka struggling to reconcile the liberal sexual outlook she acquires on Beta with the conservative traditions of her Barrayaran family. The uniquely female power exercised by the haut women of Cetaganda is intriguing, while Lady Donna’s sex change to Lord Dono is satiric in A Civil Campaign. Also, Bujold's attention to issues such as rape, abortion and motherhood can also be interpreted through a feminist lens. In Mirror Dance Cordelia briefly discourses on the way technology, specifically uterine replicators, will liberate women from the negative aspects of childbearing, with more gender equality resulting.
Gender: see Feminism; Homosexuality
Genetic Engineering: see The "Other"
Guilt: see Savior Complex
Homosexuality: Ethan of Athos depicts an all-male planet where homosexuality and a form of same-sex marriage are the norm. Unfortunately, this thorny concept is taken for granted, and the book instead focuses on Ethan's difficulty adjusting to a universe that includes women. Shards of Honor includes references to Aral Vorkosigan having a homosexual relationship earlier in life. Barrayar makes clear Cordelia's acceptance of her husband's past sexuality, and in Mirror Dance she analyzes Aral’s preferences for the benefit of Mark, who has been imbued with a subliminal homophobia. Bel Thorne, a recurring Dendarii captain, is a bisexual hermaphrodite. A secondary character, she features most prominently in The Warrior's Apprentice, "Labyrinth," Mirror Dance, and Diplomatic Immunity. Both Bel and Lady Donna/Lord Dono (A Civil Campaign) provide for amusing moments of discomfort for devoutly monosexual Miles and Ivan.
Honor: Aral Vorkosigan's defining characteristic is his honor. He is ruthless in defending it and willing to sacrifice much to uphold it. His word is inviolable. In this he represents an idealized Vor lord, though it does not make him a simplistic character. This aspect receives great attention in Shards of Honor, where it is contrasted with Cordelia's own sense of honor. In later books Aral’s sense of honor features less prominently and feels muted. Miles inherits a strong feeling for honor from Aral, though of a less harsh variety, and this contributes both to his loyalty to Barrayar (cf. "The Mountains of Mourning" and Memory) and his savior complex (see Savior Complex). In a brief but apt speech in A Civil Campaign Aral makes explicit to Miles the distinction between honor and reputation.
Insanity: The fascinating character of Sergeant Bothari is dangerously insane. His odd combination of hatred and loyalty to Aral, his well-founded obsession with Cordelia, and his hauntingly complex relationship with his daughter Elena are portrayed in Shards of Honor, Barrayar, and The Warrior's Apprentice. His character and the loyalty the Vorkosigans feel for him--my monster, as Cordelia calls him--are strange and wonderful. Many other characters exhibit insanity. Admiral Vorrutyer is a first-rate sadist in Shards of Honor. He is later evoked by Baron Ryoval in Mirror Dance. Arde Mayhew is skirting insanity when he becomes Miles’s first mercenary recruit in The Warrior's Apprentice. Suegar’s mysticism appears to be insanity in "The Borders of Infinity." Mark’s identity crisis and generally abnormal psychology feature throughout Mirror Dance, running the gamut from a binge eating disorder to multiple sadistic, masochistic, and homicidal personalities. Insanity runs in the Barrayaran royal family, and also in the Vorkosigan family. As Cordelia explains in Mirror Dance: Mark wrestles with an anxiety of influence; Miles expresses multiple personalities outwardly to prevent them from becoming inward realities; Aral struggles with a sexual inclination for men in uniform and a murderous obsession with honor. Other than a tendency to overanalyze her family, what is Cordelia’s madness? Simply that she loves them all. Cordelia also often comments on the general insanity of Barrayaran civilization. With the exceptions of Vorrutyer and Ryoval, insanity is usually presented as a complex phenomenon, often with surprisingly positive overtones. For example, Simon Illyan’s breakdown in Memory proves to be more liberating than damaging.
Love: Romance features in every Vorkosigan book, to varying degrees. Love with the "other" (see The "Other") is addressed on a shallow level in Falling Free and "Labyrinth." It is an issue in Aral Vorkosigan and Cordelia Naismith's relationship in Shards of Honor and Barrayar, affects Koudelka and Droushnakovi in Barrayar, and is always an issue in Miles's relationships. Love and sexual attraction involving Miles and his peculiar romantic obstacles feature largely in The Warrior's Apprentice, The Vor Game, Cetaganda, and Borders of Infinity. Miles's fascination with dangerous women is central to "Labyrinth" and referenced in Mirror Dance, where his brother Mark dubs the women of Miles's life the "harrowing harem." It is also made clear in Mirror Dance that Elli Quinn is a sort of substitute for Elena Bothari. Miles develops a maturing desire for a more domestic love in Memory. This yearning finds a target in Komarr and fruition in A Civil Campaign and "Winterfair Gifts". Homosexual love is raised in Ethan of Athos (see Homosexuality). Maternal love drives much of Barrayar and is embodied in Cordelia whenever she appears in later novels, also being manifest in Ekaterin. Miles’s brother Mark suffers his own peculiar sexual dysfunctions and appetites, as shown in Mirror Dance. Love on a more basic, romantic level is the central theme in A Civil Campaign, with its widely contrasting but complementary several relationships.
Mutation: see The "Other"
Obesity: In Mirror Dance Bujold takes a novel approach to the topic of obesity. Part of Mark’s mental difficulties is wrapped up in his need to distinguish himself as separate from Miles. One way he achieves this is by gaining weight, thereby lessening the physical resemblance to his brother. In this way his gaining weight is an avowal of self and self-determination. He does not end there, however, and it soon becomes clear that his overeating is also a manifestation of his need to self-flagellate. This complex is integral to the climax of Mirror Dance and the definition of Mark’s character. By the time of A Civil Campaign he has brought these issues under control. He remains happily corpulent, finally at ease with himself. At this point Miles also puts on a little weight, which is accepted without remonstrance. It is taken as a sign of maturity, as in the case of the aging Aral Vorkosigan.
The "Other": Perhaps the great overarching theme of the Vorkosigan Saga is that of the Other, specifically, those who lie outside the mainstream of society, especially due to physical differences. In science fiction aliens are often used to address similar themes, but Bujold's approach is more humanist and immediate. Miles Vorkosigan himself is the central example, as his coping with his teratogenic handicaps and the prejudice they incite on Barrayar shapes his personality and lies near the core of his motivations. As Miles comes to terms with these issues, his clone brother Mark is introduced (Brothers in Arms and Mirror Dance) and suffers his own alienations. The Quaddies of Falling Free and Taura of "Labyrinth" also address this theme, from the angle of exploitive genetic or bioengineering. Eugenics is central to Cetagandan culture, where achieving the Other is a goal. Barrayaran intolerance for mutation and weakness is further explored in Barrayar and "The Mountains of Mourning," and troubles the Vorsoisson family in Komarr. The mutual distrust of Quaddies and Barrayarans in Diplomatic Immunity is symptomatic. The theme of the Other is also explored on a social level, with Cordelia Naismith, Droushnakovi, and Koudelka as outsiders in Barrayaran society in Barrayar, and through the motley crew Miles gathers in The Warrior's Apprentice. Minorities in the Barrayaran empire, those of Greek descent (The Vor Game), and especially Komarrans like Duv Galeni (Brothers in Arms and Memory), are traditionally discriminated against. Count Vorbretten’s Cetagandan parentage and Lady Donna’s sex change in A Civil Campaign are the final blows to Barrayaran inhibitions against the Other.
Religion: Never playing a major role, religion nevertheless makes several interesting interpositions. Cordelia Naismith's apparently Christian faith forms a quiet but essential element of her character. It sometimes plays a more overt role, especially in Shards of Honor, during a pivotal scene with Sergeant Bothari and when she has a brief theological discussion with the atheist Barrayaran emperor. Religion is treated more ironically when Miles poses as an evangelical messiah in "The Borders of Infinity." Miles invokes baptismal imagery during his midlife crisis in Memory. While no specific religious beliefs are connected with the practice, offerings are burned at the gravesites of deceased loved ones.
Savior Complex: Miles Vorkosigan feels a deep responsibility for the men and women who follow him into danger, often under necessarily false pretenses. Because of this he feels a great need to protect them, and when he fails he suffers powerful guilt. The anxiety he suffers when people he feels responsible for are jeopardized plays a significant role in The Warrior's Apprentice, and to a lesser extent in The Vor Game. Miles's savior complex is central to "The Borders of Infinity." It is also manifest in his sense of obligation to his clone brother Mark, in Brothers in Arms and Mirror Dance. Miles also sacrifices his own desires to save Duv Galeni in Memory. In Komarr this issue is highlighted by Miles’s being symbolically crucified while he helplessly watches another’s death. His impulse to adopt Tien’s family after this tragedy could be seen as atonement for this failure.
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SOME FAVORITE QUOTES
• "Were you born inhuman, or did you grow so by degrees—M.S., M.D., Ph.D. . . ." – Leo Graf, Falling Free
• "I am an atheist, myself. A simple faith, but a great comfort to me, in these last days." – Emperor Ezar Vorbarra, Shards of Honor
• "I've always thought tests are a gift. And great tests are a great gift. To fail the test is a misfortune. But to refuse the test is to refuse the gift, and something worse, more irrevocable, than misfortune." – Cordelia Naismith, Shards of Honor
• "By this act, I bring one death into the world." – Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan, Barrayar
• "Pain seems to me an insufficient reason not to embrace life. . . . Question is, what glorious moments can you win from life in addition to the pain?" – Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan, Barrayar
• "You can say a lot in a little time, if you stick to words of one syllable." – Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan, Barrayar
• "Oh, but he's my monster." – Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan, Barrayar
• "I've got forward momentum. There's no virtue in it. It's just a balancing act. I don't dare stop." – Admiral Miles Naismith (Vorkosigan), The Warrior's Apprentice
• "I thought they'd never fall asleep." Ivan paused; a slow smirk displaced the snarl on his face. "But they were smiling, when they finally did." – Ivan Vorpatril, Cetaganda
• "You're so hopelessly monosexual, Miles." – Bel Thorne, Borders of Infinity
• "Mine is not a theology of the elect. I intend to preach to the masses. Even the sinners." – Miles Vorkosigan, Borders of Infinity
• "Is this guy for real?" "He thinks he's faking it, but he's not." – Oliver and Suegar, Borders of Infinity
• "Power is better than revenge. Power is a live thing, by which you reach out to grasp the future. Revenge is a dead thing, reaching out from the past to grasp you." – Miles Vorkosigan, Borders of Infinity
• "Modern warfare wasn't supposed to have this much blood in it. The weapons were supposed to cook everyone neatly, like eggs in their shells." – Mark Vorkosigan, Mirror Dance
• "Mark's own taste in women, if ever he should live to exercise it, ran more to something like that little blonde clone . . . . Somebody short, soft, pink, timid, somebody who wouldn't kill and eat him after they mated." – Mirror Dance
• "All true wealth is biological." – Aral Vorkosigan, Mirror Dance
• "Confusion to the enemy." – Aral Vorkosigan, Mirror Dance
• "Strange mercies, Illyan. You kill me so courteously." – Miles Vorkosigan, Memory
• "The last thing a monster wanted was a fellow to follow him around all day long with a mirror." – Miles Vorkosigan, about Ivan, Memory
• "When you choose an action, you choose the consequences of that action. . . . When you desired a consequence you had damned well better take the action that would create it." – Cordelia Vorkosigan, via Miles, Memory
• "I was never a mercenary, not ever. Not for one single minute." – Miles Vorkosigan, Memory
• "Cynicism did not seem nearly so impressively daring to her now as it had when she was twenty." – Ekaterin, Komarr
• "If suspicion was the deadliest possible insult, then trust was always right, even if it was mistaken." – Ekaterin, Komarr
• "Aim high. You may still miss the target but at least you won’t shoot your foot off." – Elli Quinn
• "Marriage was a lottery, and you drew your lot in late adolescence or early adulthood at a point of maximum idiocy and confusion." – Ekaterin, Komarr
• "It was seldom he found himself in company who made him feel this stupid. It was probably good for his soul." – Miles Vorkosigan, Komarr
• "Eloquence consists of persuading people of things they desperately want to believe. Demagoguery, I suppose, is eloquence sliding to some least moral energy level." – Miles Vorkosigan, Komarr
• "The principle difference between heaven and hell is the company you keep there." – Simon Illyan, A Civil Campaign
• "Reputation is what other people know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself." – Count Aral Vorkosigan, A Civil Campaign
• "There is no more hollow feeling than to stand with your honor shattered at your feet while soaring public reputation wraps you in rewards. That's soul-destroying. The other way around in merely very, very irritating." – Count Aral Vorkosigan, A Civil Campaign
• "If the truth doesn't serve us, what does that say about us?" – Miles Vorkosigan, Diplomatic Immunity
• "The dead cannot cry out for justice; it is a duty of the living to do so for them." – Miles Vorkosigan, Diplomatic Immunity
• "I smell diplomacy." – Miles Vorkosigan, Diplomatic Immunity
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HOW SHOULD THE SAGA END?
There are those fans who would be content if Bujold continued to spin a Vorkosigan yarn every few years where Miles gets into some scrape of mixed political and interpersonal conflicts which he survives purely by verve and the support of elegantly wise women like Cordelia and Ekaterin. A holding pattern is exactly what these fans want.
But while the Vorkosigan books can be called a series, a formulaic serialization would kill my interest with a slow certainty. In fact, I have felt a certain impatience with Miles, who seems as a character to have been played out as early as Brothers in Arms. Mirror Dance skirted the problem by focusing on Mark. Memory attempted to resolve it by reinventing Miles. But still he held less interest, and Ekaterin carried Komarr and comedy carried A Civil Campaign. Now, after Diplomatic Immunity, I'm left wondering if it wouldn't be better to put Miles to rest.
Of course, the Vorkosigan saga could live on. But I believe it must evolve, in both character and mood. Let's see something completely new in the Vorkosigan universe. Perhaps the stories of Miles's children, in a Barrayar where Gregor has been assassinated and darkness and danger have returned to the stories. Or better yet, let's leave Barrayar and the Vorkosigan family for a while. What I really want is to see a non-Vorkosigan science fiction novel from Bujold, even if it's in the same universe.
Like she needs my advice.
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LINKS TO MY BUJOLD REVIEWS
The Vorkosigan Saga
• Falling Free: "Like a Woman's Dream of a Perfect Society"
• Shards of Honor: "Theology and the Emperor's Death Bed"
• Barrayar: "By this act, I bring one death into the world"
• The Warrior's Apprentice: "Napoleon Was a Megalomaniacal Runt Too, But Never This Lucky"
• The Vor Game: "What If Miles Was Female. And Evil. Or Lived in Beverly Hills?"
• Cetaganda: "The Barrayaran Art of Love"
• Ethan of Athos: "There are easier ways to access an ovary."
• Brothers in Arms: "Caveat Doppelgänger: My Life Isn't Worth Stealing"
• Borders of Infinity: "Hopelessly Monosexual"
• Mirror Dance: "The Monkey on my Back is Me"
• Memory: "Will the Real Miles Vorkosigan Please Stand Up"
• Komarr: "Trust Is Always Right, Even If Mistaken"
• A Civil Campaign: "I'm sorry for your loss. Are you free Friday night?"
• Diplomatic Immunity: "It's not a proper honeymoon if you haven't been shot at."
The Chalion Books
• The Curse of Chalion: "I'd advise against reading this while pregnant."
• Paladin of Souls: "I am the Mouth of Hell"
• The Hallowed Hunt: "Lust For a Woman Who Bludgeons Her Lovers to Death"
The Spirit Ring
The Spirit Ring: "Why didn't anybody read this book?"
A SPECIAL THANKS
Thanks to quasar, who kept after me until I finally started reading the Vorkosigan books, and who first provided a reading order for me. And thanks to hist, who first introduced me to Bujold by recommending her superb fantasy novel The Curse of Chalion.
Corrections and suggestions for this concordance are welcome, but let's try and keep spoilers to a minimum.
– Panguitch
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