Recently, in a different thread, several Dopers recommended that I try out the Vorkosigan books, by Lois McMaster Bujold, starting with Shards of Honor:
Well, I’ve finished the first book, and yup, that’s definitely a romance novel in a science-fiction setting. It’s less than a day from when the Heroine meets the Hero to when she starts admiring his manly musculature, and two days after that that he proposes to her. Honestly, I’d like to see a lot more development of relationship over time, rather than that sort of love-at-first-sight, which didn’t do much for me (for starters, Cordelia should really have done more research on the culture of Aral’s people, before metaphorically throwing herself into his arms). And the science fiction part was minimal: Bujold is apparently one of those authors who recognizes that she doesn’t know enough science, and so glosses over all of the science-fiction details (which is not my first preference, but it’s a lot better than the authors who don’t realize how much they don’t know).
On the other hand, the political maneuverings we’re just starting to see in this book look very interesting. I assume there’s a lot more of that in the later books in the series? That’s probably worth continuing with them for.
Yes, they are central to the book series. The Vor make US politics look quaint.
I love romance, and I don’t even think the first book is a particularly well executed romance, though I appreciated some aspects of it (not much melodrama, for instance.) What you just read is a very stripped-down version of a typical romance.
The second book, Barrayar, deals directly with your issue with Cordelia jumping in blindly to a culture she doesn’t understand. Remember, these two people, Aral and Cordelia, aren’t even the main protagonists of the series, this is all laying the groundwork for that guy.
One thing I can promise you is that there’s nothing that happens in the first book (or any of the books) that isn’t relevant later. As a writer it’s one thing about Bujold I admire greatly - she never wastes anything. So it rewards paying attention.
(Also, no, this is not hard science fiction. The real value of these stories to me is in the character development, adventure, and politics, as well as some Big Ideas about the implications of some advanced technologies.)
Although she managed to create a planet with some differences in its ecology, as opposed to just another Earth but with six-legged creatures or polka-dotted lizards. The books are amazingly fun. A few months after I read Shards I had torn through all the rest and was waiting impatiently for the next one
I take it that that includes the epilog about the corpse-recovery patrol? It’s a logical consequence of the events of the book, of course, but it didn’t quite feel narratively connected.
I did appreciate that she didn’t say “the local insects”, but instead “the local small creatures that fill the insect niche”. Alien life is alien. And Cordelia’s annoyance at not getting the chance to finish the ecological survey properly was palpable.
It really goes more romance and less sci fi as it goes along. Mainly due to the authors insistence that every single character no matter how minor must end up paired up with the perfect partner by series end. I enjoyed it, but the romance stuff got a bit silly by the end.
It’s been a long time since I’ve read that one. Don’t remember anything about a corpse recovery patrol. You’ll see what I’m talking about soon enough.
What I liked about it, as a romance, was at some point one of them betrayed the other for their job. In any other romance novel that would have been A Thing. A major point of conflict. In this, they basically shrugged and said, “They were just doing their job.” It’s a more mature love story, less giddy, more they’ve both been around the block and are wanting to get on with things. Aral Vorkosigan is the only book character I have ever fallen in love with. That guy’s totally marriage material, especially when you see how he navigates challenges over the course of his lifetime. He reminds me in some ways of my husband. In fact, the whole Vor thing has more dramatic echoes of my own marriage choices. So Barrayar really resonated with me.
Eventually you will see a very well done, deep-character, slow-burn love story, the first part of which is tender and somber, the second part of which is so funny I fell off my couch laughing.
Try to keep in mind this was Bujold’s first book. The one you’re about to read next was her eighth, and won a Hugo award. As did many of the books in this series. (Also: don’t skip the novellas.)
May I suggest that you read them in publication order, rather than in internal chronologic order. After all her early readers did that. And it follows her thinking about the whole series.
So Sorcerer’s Apprentice next, then Ethan of Athos, rather than Barrayar.
That epilog was actually a separately written short story which was tacked on to the end of the book. The characters in it never show up again in the series, as far as i can remember.
I generally try to read all series in publication order. My philosophy is that if I was supposed to read them in some other order, that’d be the way the author would have written them. Might be a bit of a gap before I read the next one, though: I’ve got some reading I need to do for school coming down the pike.
I didn’t know that for sure, but I kind of suspected it. It was harder to find than later books in the series, and it did have something of the feel of an author who hadn’t quite yet completely honed their craft. Also shorter than I expected: I think it would have benefited from another 50-100 pages of character development.
Ah, that would explain why it felt disconnected, then.
I understand it originated as Star Trek fanfic. She obviously changed a lot of details to get it published. Cordelia was a Star Fleet officer and Aral was a Klingon in the first iteration.
As other Dopers who’ve read the Vorkosiganverse novels might guess from the name I use here, I’m a big fan of this series. (Although the post-Diplomatic Immunity books are quite weak, in my opinion.) Anyway, I recommend reading her book Falling Free, set several hundred years before Shards of Honor, about the creation of the Quaddies, a race of genetically engineered humans with four arms instead of two arms and two legs, whom Miles occasionally runs into.
I should probably start recommending people to them that way, because I feel like Shards of Honor is often an obstacle to potential readers getting into the series. Because it’s not that good.
I identify a bit with Cordelia because I married a man who came with a family legacy and a culture I didn’t understand (and twenty years later, still have those moments), a man who was under a lot of pressure but didn’t buckle, and who is wise and kind and careful. It’s his integrity I relate to. And Cordelia doesn’t give a shit about Vor Games any more than I do about my husband’s family politics. We just have to navigate them nonetheless. And we’ve both had to find allies where we could. This is obviously my minor drama writ large; the stakes are not life and death, just people talking shit about you until you die. And then having a child born into that.
So yes, I sort of know this world. Cordelia does it better than me.
I agree about Shards of Honor. I think if I’d started with that one, instead of Borders of Infinity and Other Stories, as my husband suggested, I wouldn’t have read further in the series.
Me too. My son is named Miles. They’re both geniuses but Miles Vorkosigan possesses an uncanny ability to read and manipulate people, and my son… does not. He’s autistic. I think it’s kind of funny that they are diametrically opposite with regard to social acumen. But the idea of playing to your strengths and pushing on despite significant disability is, I think, a universal ideal, and worthy of emulation, and that’s why the boy is so-named.** Miles Vorkosigan is one of the single greatest characters in literature. He manages to be brilliant while also doing reckless things that make you want to wring his neck, not unlike my son.
I think I made a good call there.
**I am reading book 4 of the Expanse right now. I told my son if he’d been born a little later, he might have been named Holden, to which my husband responded ‘‘hell no he wouldn’t,’’ so I guess he picked the right time to be born!
Yeah, that’s one of the nice things about the books - Aral and Cordelia aren’t callow youngsters. They’re both adults, with careers that have had ups and downs, and with romantic baggage.
The thing is Bujold developed as a writer. Her later books are significantly better than her first few. (Barrayer, for example, is a much better book than Shards of Honor. This is because while it’s set immediately after the first book, it was written five years later.)
This is fine if you’re committed to reading her entire body of work. Read them in publication order and you’ll find yourself enjoying them more as you go along.
But somebody who has a more casual interest in checking out Bujold’s work might read one or two of her earliest ones and never move on to her later and better work.
This is why I’m always amused when people comment about Aral and Cordelia mooning all over each other in Shards of Honor. This is so low-key for a romance, you guys.
I think it’s hard to go wrong with her stand-alones, Ethan of Athos and Falling Free, if you want an idea of what she does, because I think both of those books are great. They both exist in the Vorkosigan Saga universe but have nothing to do with the main storyline. They both deal with cool science-fictiony Big Idea stuff and have good characterization.
That said, in my opinion, her best work occurs in the context of the Vorkosigan Saga series, and there’s a run in there mid-series where it feels like she can do no wrong. So the biggest payoff is really committing to the series.
Note there are a few little continuity glitches where Bujold had a better idea inbetween books, and made an alteration. I noticed it in particular between Barrayar and Warrior’s Apprentice (I read in internal order until I caught up with her)
That’s quite possible. I’ll admit I didn’t follow my own recommendation. IIRC (and it’s been 30+ years, so maybe not) I first read Borders of Inifinity. As I remember it, I wanted to get a feel for the author and figured a collection would be better than a novel.