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Authors: Lois McMaster Bujold

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The short story collection
Proto Zoa
contains five very early tales—three (1980s) contemporary fantasy, two science fiction—all previously published but not in this handy format. The novelette “Dreamweaver’s Dilemma” may be of interest to Vorkosigan completists, as it is the first story in which that proto-universe began, mentioning Beta Colony but before Barrayar was even thought of.

Sidelines: Talks and Essays
is just what it says on the tin—a collection of three decades of my nonfiction writings, including convention speeches, essays, travelogues, introductions, and some less formal pieces. I hope it will prove an interesting companion piece to my fiction.

The Vorkosigan Stories

Many pixels have been expended debating the ‘best’ order in which to read what have come to be known as the Vorkosigan Books (or Saga), the Vorkosiverse, the Miles books, and other names. The debate mainly revolves around publication order versus internal-chronological order. I favor internal chronological, with a few caveats.

It was always my intention to write each book as a stand-alone so that the reader could theoretically jump in anywhere, yes, with that book that’s in your hand
right now
, don’t put it back on the shelf! While still somewhat true, as the series developed it acquired a number of sub-arcs, closely related tales that were richer for each other. I will list the sub-arcs, and then the books, and then the caveats.

Shards of Honor
and
Barrayar.
The first two books in the series proper, they detail the adventures of Cordelia Naismith of Beta Colony and Aral Vorkosigan of Barrayar.
Shards
was my very first novel ever;
Barrayar
was actually my eighth, but continues the tale the next day after the end of
Shards
. For readers who want to be sure of beginning at the beginning, or who are very spoiler-sensitive, start with these two.

The Warrior’s Apprentice
and
The Vor Game
(with, perhaps, the novella “The Mountains of Mourning” tucked in between.)
The Warrior’s Apprentice
introduces the character who became the series’ linchpin, Miles Vorkosigan; the first book tells how he created a space mercenary fleet by accident; the second how he fixed his mistakes from the first round. Space opera and military-esque adventure (and a number of other things one can best discover for oneself),
The Warrior’s Apprentice
makes another good place to jump into the series for readers who prefer a young male protagonist.

After that:
Brothers in Arms
should be read before
Mirror Dance
, and both, ideally, before
Memory.

Komarr
makes another alternate entry point for the series, picking up Miles’s second career at its start. It should be read before
A Civil Campaign
.

Borders of Infinity
, a collection of three of the five currently extant novellas, makes a good Miles Vorkosigan early-adventure sampler platter, I always thought, for readers who don’t want to commit themselves to length. (But it may make more sense if read after
The Warrior’s Apprentice
.) Take care not to confuse the collection-as-a-whole with its title story, “The Borders of Infinity”.

Falling Free
takes place 200 years earlier in the timeline and does not share settings or characters with the main body of the series. Most readers recommend picking up this story later. It should likely be read before
Diplomatic Immunity
, however, which revisits the “quaddies”, a bioengineered race of free-fall dwellers, in Miles’s time.

The novels in the internal-chronological list below appear in italics; the novellas (officially defined as a story between 17,500 words and 40,000 words) in quote marks.

Falling Free

Shards of Honor

Barrayar

The Warrior’s Apprentice

“The Mountains of Mourning”

“Weatherman”

The Vor Game

Cetaganda

Ethan of Athos

Borders of Infinity

“Labyrinth”

“The Borders of Infinity”
 

Brothers in Arms

Mirror Dance

Memory

Komarr

A Civil Campaign

“Winterfair Gifts”

Diplomatic Immunity

Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance

CryoBurn

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen
(published 2016)

Caveats:

The novella “Weatherman” is an out-take from the beginning of the novel
The Vor Game
. If you already have
The Vor Game
, you likely don’t need this.

The original ‘novel’
Borders of Infinity
was a fix-up collection containing the three novellas “The Mountains of Mourning”, “Labyrinth”, and “The Borders of Infinity”, together with a frame to tie the pieces together. Again, beware duplication. The frame story does not stand alone.

Happy reading!

— Lois McMaster Bujold.

Lois McMaster Bujold

Photo by Carol Collins

www.goodreads.com

www.spectrumliteraryagency.com/bujold.htm

www.dendarii.com

Lois McMaster Bujold was born in 1949, the daughter of an engineering professor at Ohio State University, from whom she picked up her early interest in science fiction.  She now lives in Minneapolis, and has two grown children.  She began writing with the aim of professional publication in 1982.  She wrote three novels in three years; in October of 1985, all three sold to Baen Books, launching her career. Bujold went on to write many other books for Baen, mostly featuring her popular character Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, his family, friends, and enemies.  Her books have been translated into twenty-one languages.  Her fantasy from Eos includes the award-winning Chalion series and the Sharing Knife series.

Books by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Vorkosigan Series
 

Falling Free
 

Shards of Honor
 

Barrayar
 

The Warrior's Apprentice
 

The Vor Game

Cetaganda
 

Ethan of Athos

Borders of Infinity
 

Brothers in Arms
 

Mirror Dance
 

Memory
 

Komarr
 

A Civil Campaign
 

Diplomatic Immunity
 

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance

CryoBurn

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen (published 2016)

The Chalion Series

The Curse of Chalion
 

Paladin of Souls
 

The Hallowed Hunt
 

“Penric’s Demon”

The Sharing Knife Tetralogy

Volume One: Beguilement

Volume Two: Legacy

Volume Three: Passage

Volume Four: Horizon

Other Fantasy

The Spirit Ring

Short Stories

Proto Zoa

Nonfiction

Sidelines: Talks and Essays

Table of Contents

Title Page

Penric’s Demon

Author’s Note: A Bujold Reading Order Guide

About the Author

Books by Lois McMaster Bujold

BOOK: Penric's Demon
13.56Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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