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The Vorkosigan Saga

 



The Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold is one that every die-hard science fiction fan should read. It contains a fascinating hero, Miles Vorkosigan, who reminds me a bit of Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones. This piqued my curiosity enough to look up which one came first. For the record, Miles came first as The Warrior’s Apprentice was published in 1986 and Game of Thrones was published in 1996. Not that I think George R.R. Martin stole from Bujold. The two characters and situations are unique enough from each other that they are just two fine examples of great character building. Due to an incident during pregnancy, Miles was born with brittle bones and his growth was forever stunted. His body is weak and fragile, but there is nothing wrong with his mind. He was determined to join the Barayaran military and prove himself. Physical realities thwart him from time to time. He gets discouraged, but he doesn’t give up.

The world-building by Bujold should be an example for everyone who wants to write speculative fiction. Barrayar, the world that Miles is from, is a planet that was isolated from the rest of human civilization for 1000 years due to a collapsed wormhole. As we join the story, Barrayar has been reunited with humanity for the past hundred years or so. They have climbed out of their own dark age and now avail themselves with the technology that others have. It was not an easy reunion. The first thing that happened was that they were invaded and nearly conquered by another human empire. They paid the invaders back in their own coin. The memory of that war colors everything that the Barrayarans do. You might say that Barrayar’s history parallels Miles’. Both were damaged but never gave up, were never defeated.

I say that Miles is not defeated, but of course he has lots of problems. As brilliant as his mind is when it comes to military strategy and tactics, he does not do so well with interpersonal relations. For one thing, he tends to have problems with those in command over him. He also has problems in love. He is very conscious of his physical shortcomings and that tends to sap his confidence around women.

Another favorite character from the series is Miles’ cousin Ivan. Ivan is not in every book (neither is Miles), but when Ivan makes an appearance, he is like finding a special prize baked into the dessert. Ivan is tall, good-looking, personable, and he doesn’t have half the ambition nor the intellect of his cousin Miles (he knows it too and is happy that way). Ivan makes for good comic relief. Whenever Ivan appears in a book, at some point someone will inevitably deliver the line, “Ivan, you idiot!” But Ivan may not be as big a fool as he appears. Due to family connections, Ivan is something like third in line for the crown of Emperor of Barrayar. Ivan is content for people to not take him seriously, so he avoids political machinations. Political machinations tend to get rather messy on Barrayar.

There are so many memorable characters in the series that they would be hard to innumerate. In fact, there are very few characters that are not memorable. Miles father and mother meet in the first book, Shards of Honor. His mother, Cordelia, is the protagonist of that story. Miles parents are formidable people in their own right. It’s not just me who think this series is great. Several of the books have won the Hugo awards for best science fiction novel.

1991- The Vor Game

1992- Barrayar

1995- Mirror Dance

Also, in 1988 Bujold’s novel Falling Free won the Nebula award for best science fiction novel. Falling Free is not a Vorkosigan book, but it is set in the same universe, and it does have an impact in some of the later books in the series.

I started reading this series with Mirror Dance which is like the sixth book in the chronology of the series. It did me no harm to start there, but I don’t recommend it as a starting point. I recommend people start with The Warrior’s Apprentice which is the first book to feature Miles as a main character. Or you could start at the very beginning with Shards of Honor. If you are like me, you will soon become obsessed with reading every novel, novella, and short story associated with the series. And it is not just the Vorkosigan series; Bujold is superb at everything she tries her hand at. It’s all good.

 

(My science fiction novel Star Liner, is now available in paperback or as an e-book through Amazon and other online sources).

Star Liner

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