Lois McMaster Bujold

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by bjones6416

It was probably me. I started a Bujold thread a couple of months ago. She is oh-so-high on my list of favorite authors.

Yep... You were one of the culprits..

[Solicitous]

Ok, hypothetically if someone was a glutton for punishment and starting to get sucked into starting ANOTHER book series, which order would you recommend they read the Miles Vorkosigan Saga in from the Cryoburn CD?

[Gaurnim]

Count me in too in the Bujold fans.
I had most of her books (except Cryoburn) in french but I bought all of them in ebooks when Cryoburn became available.

[ATDrake]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

Ok, hypothetically if someone was a glutton for punishment and starting to get sucked into starting ANOTHER book series, which order would you recommend they read the Miles Vorkosigan Saga in from the Cryoburn CD?

Chronological, though mind you, I read the early books almost entirely out of order as I came across them in the library, and it didn't seem to have harmed my understanding or enjoyment of things. Of course, I've reread them enough that I've picked up on all the references and in-jokes that I probably missed the first time around.

But since you've got the luxury of having everything in one place, you might as well start at the beginning for which you've also got the option of starting directly with Miles' adventures, or with the backstory established with Aral and Cordelia first.

The Omnibus editions on the Cryoburn CD are arranged slightly out of order (Miles in Love should be before MMMicrobes), and of course you'll have to obtain Memory (only $6 from Baen, less bundled into the monthly Webscription).

Here's what contains which books to read when:

Cordelia's Honor

• Shards of Honor
• Barrayar
• Aftermaths short story

These are the core of Miles' parents' backstory and a great place to start. Shards can be a little slow and romance-y for some peoples' tastes, but don't let that put you off. Barrayar was written years later and is a step up in both skill and style, imho.

Alternatively, if you want to kick off with some faster-paced action/adventure and find out how Miles' parents got together and produced him later, you can start with

Young Miles

• The Warrior's Apprentice
• The Mountains of Mourning (novella)
• The Vor Game

This is the beginning of Miles' establishing his dual persona and all his adventures.

From there, you have a choice of going straight to Miles' further Naismith adventures, or backtracking to an early Vorkosigan adventure that was written and slotted in later.

You should read these books roughly about the same time, but it doesn't really matter exactly which set you get to first, although after the first book you choose, you kind of have to read the intervening stuff in order.

Miles, Mystery & Mayhem

• Cetaganda
• Ethan of Athos
• Labyrinth novella

Miles Errant

• Borders of Infinity novella
• Brothers in Arms
• Mirror Dance

Either start with Cetaganda and/or Ethan or go straight to Borders of Infinity/Brothers in Arms.

Cetaganda has a minor tie into Ethan of Athos, so you can read those roughly contemporaneously. It was in fact written much later to slot in an extra tale about what Miles was doing at the time of the Ethan action and provide a bit more insight into that planet's culture. And also some bonus Ivan.

And Ethan gives you insight into Elli Quinn's character (it's kind of a spinoff where Miles doesn't directly appear), who becomes important in Brothers in Arms, so again, those two books should be read closely to each other, though there's no particular desirable order.

Both novellas were also written as backstory-explaining fillers, so you can read them either before or after the main action.

For bonus points, you can even track down the framing story which has Miles in hospital, recounting all his recent adventures to Gregor (not available directly via Baen anymore, but included when you buy any version of the novellas n Fictionwise and in the original Borders of Infinity anthology paperback).

However, strictly speaking, the chronology runs Cetaganda/Ethan, Labyrinth, then Borders of Infinity/Brothers in Arms, but Cetaganda/Ethan are relatively tangential "sidequels" to the main storyline action.

It's at this point that the reading order becomes a bit more fixed.

Brothers in Arms *must* be read before Mirror Dance, and you should read Labyrinth before Mirror Dance as well, as Sergeant Taura who's introduced in the novella plays a supporting role and there's a key plot point introduced with the Jackson's Whole situation.

Now, at any point up to Mirror Dance, you can delay reading Cordelia's Honor if you want to start with the action stuff first. But the stuff in Aral and Cordelia's backstory really comes into play in Mirror Dance, so it definitely helps to read it before.

So long story short (too late!). The reading order of everything between The Vor Game and Mirror Dance is up to you, but you've got to finish it all before you start on Mirror Dance.

After that, it's Memory (not included on CD), then the next few bits of Miles' life are fairly straightforward.

Miles in Love

• Komarr
• A Civil Campaign
• Winterfair Gifts novella

Miles, Mutants and Microbes

• Falling Free
• Diplomatic Immunity
• (repeat of Labyrinth novella)

Falling Free is actually completely standalone (happens centuries before the rest of the Vorkosiverse) and you can read it at any time you like as long as you do it before Diplomatic Immunity, which builds upon the backstory established there.

And finally, Cryoburn.

Hope this helps, and happy reading!

[Solicitous]

ATDrake, thank you very much for providing that info for me. I am adding the series to calibre as we speak (and as such if I enjoy the first book I'll buy Cryoburn as that is the book that the CD came with).

They are on my TBR list (and thanks to Baen it is getting bigger).

[jehane]

Wow, very comprehensive ATDrake. FWIW, I always recommend starting with The Warrior's Apprentice, as I think it's the most representative of the early novels. Then going back and reading Shards, Barrayar and Apprentice - yes, again, there are some sections that reference Shards, though it's not necessary on the first reading.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by BlackVoid

"The Warriors Apprentice" - where Miles single-handedly conquers an entire star system? It is not military SF, it is young adult fiction.

Young Adult doesn't exist. You are either a teenager or an adult. There is no in between.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Young Adult doesn't exist. You are either a teenager or an adult. There is no in between.

Being a "teenager" is merely a numerical value, and has nothing at all to do with whether or not someone is an adult, which is a legal definition. Eg, two people who are thirteen and nineteen respectively are both teenagers, but in most cultures the first will be legally a child, but the second an adult.