Lois McMaster Bujold: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively ← Previous edit Next edit →Content deleted Content addedVisual WikitextInline

Revision as of 20:11, 25 October 2011 editXLinkBot (talk \| contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers719,079 edits BOT--Reverting link addition(s) by 64.131.49.33 to revision 455552708 (http://www.myspace.com/loismcmasterbujold/blog#!/loismcmasterbujold/blog/543224694)← Previous edit		Revision as of 20:16, 25 October 2011 edit undoSarekOfVulcan (talk \| contribs)Autopatrolled, Administrators51,782 edits Undid revision 457372924 by XLinkBot (talk) legitimate author blogNext edit →
Line 30:		Line 30:

	The author has stated that the series structure is modeled after the ] books, documenting the life of a single person. In themes and echoes, they also reflect ]' mystery character ]. Bujold has also said that part of the challenge of writing a series is that many readers will encounter the stories in "utterly random order", so she must provide sufficient background in each of them without being excessively repetitious. Most recent printings of her Vorkosigan tales do include an appendix at the end summarizing the internal chronology of the series.		The author has stated that the series structure is modeled after the ] books, documenting the life of a single person. In themes and echoes, they also reflect ]' mystery character ]. Bujold has also said that part of the challenge of writing a series is that many readers will encounter the stories in "utterly random order", so she must provide sufficient background in each of them without being excessively repetitious. Most recent printings of her Vorkosigan tales do include an appendix at the end summarizing the internal chronology of the series.

			Bujold's own views on the optimum reading order for the Vorkosigan series are here: http://www.myspace.com/loismcmasterbujold/blog#!/loismcmasterbujold/blog/543224694

	==Fantasy==		==Fantasy==

Revision as of 20:16, 25 October 2011

This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please help improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (September 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Lois McMaster Bujold

Born	(1949-11-02) November 2, 1949 (age 75) Columbus, Ohio
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	American
Genre	science fiction, fantasy
Website
http://www.dendarii.com/

Lois McMaster Bujold (born November 2, 1949, Columbus, Ohio) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy works. Bujold is one of the most acclaimed writers in her field, having won the prestigious Hugo Award for best novel four times, matching Robert A. Heinlein's record. Her novella The Mountains of Mourning won both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award. In the fantasy genre, The Curse of Chalion won the Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature and was nominated for the 2002 World Fantasy Award for best novel, and both her fourth Hugo Award and second Nebula Award were for Paladin of Souls. In 2011 she was awarded the Skylark Award.

The bulk of Bujold's works are part of three separate book series: the Vorkosigan Saga, the Chalion Series, and the Sharing Knife series.

Biography

Bujold is the daughter of Robert Charles McMaster and attributes her early interest in science fiction, as well as certain aspects of the Vorkosigan Saga, to his influence. He was editor of the monumental Nondestructive Testing Handbook generally referred to as McMaster on Materials.

Bujold writes that her experience growing up with a world-famous father is reflected in the same experience that her characters (Miles, Fiametta) have of growing up in the shadow of a "Great Man". Having observed this tendency in both genders, she wonders why it is always called "great man's son syndrome", and never "great man's daughter's syndrome."

Her brother, like her father, is also an engineer. Her brother helped provide technical details to support her writing of Falling Free.

Bujold currently lives in Minnesota. She is divorced and has two children.

Science fiction

Lois Bujold wrote three books (Shards of Honor, The Warrior's Apprentice and Ethan of Athos) before The Warrior's Apprentice was accepted after four rejections. The Warrior's Apprentice was the first book purchased, though not the first Vorkosigan book written, nor would it be the first one to be published. On the strength of The Warrior's Apprentice, Baen Books agreed to a three-book deal to include the two bracketing novels. Thus began her career in writing in science fiction.

Bujold is best known for her Vorkosigan saga, a series of novels featuring Miles Vorkosigan, a physically impaired interstellar spy and mercenary admiral from the planet Barrayar, set approximately 1000 years in the future. Earlier titles are generally firmly in the space opera tradition with no shortage of battles, conspiracies, and wild twists, while in more recent volumes, Miles becomes more of a detective. In A Civil Campaign, Bujold explores yet another genre: a high-society romance with a plot that pays tribute to Regency romance novelist Georgette Heyer (as acknowledged in the dedication). It centers on a catastrophic dinner party, with misunderstandings and dialogue justifying the subtitle "A Comedy of Biology and Manners".

The author has stated that the series structure is modeled after the Horatio Hornblower books, documenting the life of a single person. In themes and echoes, they also reflect Dorothy L. Sayers' mystery character Lord Peter Wimsey. Bujold has also said that part of the challenge of writing a series is that many readers will encounter the stories in "utterly random order", so she must provide sufficient background in each of them without being excessively repetitious. Most recent printings of her Vorkosigan tales do include an appendix at the end summarizing the internal chronology of the series.

Bujold's own views on the optimum reading order for the Vorkosigan series are here: http://www.myspace.com/loismcmasterbujold/blog#!/loismcmasterbujold/blog/543224694

Fantasy

Bujold also wanted to break into the fantasy genre, but met with early setbacks. Her first foray into fantasy was The Spirit Ring. She wrote the book "on spec", shopped it around, and found low offers, sending her back to Baen Books, where Jim Baen bought it for a fair price in exchange for the promise of more Vorkosigan books. Bujold called this experience, combined with the mediocre sales and lack of critical acclaim of that book, very educational.

She would not attempt to break into the fantasy market again for almost another decade, with The Curse of Chalion. This book was also written on spec and offered up to a book auction. This time, she met with considerable critical and commercial success by tapping into a crossover market of fantasy and romance genre fans. The fantasy world of Chalion was first conceived as a result of a University of Minnesota course she was taking about Medieval Spain in her spare time.

The next fantasy world she created was the tetralogy set in the universe of The Sharing Knife borrowing inspiration for its landscapes from ones she grew up with in central Ohio. She writes that her first readers who helped proof-read it said she got it exactly right and they could recognize Ohio features in the descriptions and dialects. She states that the dialect of the "farmers" is one she grew up around.

Selected works

Vorkosigan Saga

Main article: Vorkosigan Saga

Cordelia Naismith

Shards of Honor (1986)
Barrayar (1991)—Hugo Award winner, Locus Award winner, 1992, Nebula Award nominee, 1991
Cordelia's Honor (1996)—Combined edition of Shards of Honor and Barrayar with an afterword by the author.

Miles Vorkosigan

The Warrior's Apprentice (1986)
Borders of Infinity (1989)
Brothers in Arms (1989)
The Vor Game (1990)
Barrayar (1991)
Vorkosigan's Game (omnibus: The Vor Game, Borders of Infinity) (1992)
Mirror Dance (1994)
Cetaganda (1995)
Memory (1996)
Young Miles (omnibus: The Warrior's Apprentice, The Mountains of Mourning, and The Vor Game) (1997)
Komarr (1998)
A Civil Campaign (1999)
Miles, Mystery and Mayhem (omnibus: Cetaganda, Ethan of Athos, and Labyrinth) (2001)
Diplomatic Immunity (2002)
Miles Errant (omnibus: Borders of Infinity, Brothers in Arms, and Mirror Dance) (2002)
Miles, Mutants and Microbes (omnibus: Falling Free, Labyrinth and Diplomatic Immunity) (2007)
Miles in Love (omnibus: Komarr, A Civil Campaign and Winterfair Gifts) (2008)
Winterfair Gifts (2008)
Cryoburn (2010)

Other

Ethan of Athos (1986)
Falling Free (1988)
Dreamweaver's Dilemma (1995)

Internal chronology

"Dreamweaver's Dilemma" (1995)—Set in the Vorkosigan universe long before the rest of the series (included in the collection Dreamweaver's Dilemma) NESFA Press
Falling Free (1988)—Set approximately 200 years before the birth of Miles Vorkosigan—Nebula Award winner, 1988, Hugo Award nominee, 1989
Shards of Honor (1986)—Set approximately one year before the birth of Miles Vorkosigan
Barrayar (1991)—Hugo Award winner, Locus Award winner, 1992, Nebula Award nominee, 1991
The Warrior's Apprentice (1986); available online from the Baen Free Library.
The Mountains of Mourning (1989)—Hugo Award winner, Nebula Award winner. First published in Analog magazine; included in Borders of Infinity; available online from the Baen Free Library.
The Vor Game (1990)—Hugo Award winner, Locus Award nominee, 1991
Cetaganda (1995) Locus Award nominee, 1997
Ethan of Athos (1986)—Miles Vorkosigan is referred to, but does not actually appear, in this novel.
Labyrinth (1989)—First published in Analog magazine; included in Borders of Infinity.
The Borders of Infinity (1987)—First published in Freelancers; included in Borders of Infinity; available online via Baen's Webscriptions.
Brothers in Arms (1989)
Borders of Infinity (1989)—Collection of The Mountains of Mourning, Labyrinth and The Borders of Infinity, tied together with an original frame story interspliced between them, which is set shortly after Brothers in Arms.
Mirror Dance (1994)—Hugo Award winner, Locus Award winner, 1995
Memory (1996)—Hugo Award nominee, Nebula Award nominee, Locus Award nominee, 1997
Komarr (1998)
A Civil Campaign (2000)—Hugo Award nominee, Nebula Award nominee, Locus Award nominee, 2000
Winterfair Gifts (2002 in Croatian, as Zimoslavni darovi, 2003 in Russian, 2004 in English)—First published in Irresistible Forces, a science fiction/romance genre crossover anthology edited by Catherine Asaro. Also in the omnibus Miles in Love. The Winterfair Gifts novella is also available as a standalone ebook from Fictionwise.
Diplomatic Immunity (2002)—Nebula Award nominee, 2003
Cryoburn (2010)—Hugo Award nominee, 2011

Omnibus volumes

Cordelia's Honor—contains Shards of Honor and Barrayar
Young Miles—contains The Warrior's Apprentice, The Mountains of Mourning, and The Vor Game
Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem—Cetaganda, Ethan of Athos, and Labyrinth
Miles Errant—The Borders of Infinity, Brothers in Arms, and Mirror Dance
Miles in Love—Komarr, A Civil Campaign, and Winterfair Gifts
Miles, Mutants and Microbes—Falling Free, Diplomatic Immunity, and Labyrinth
Test of Honor—out of print; contains Shards of Honor and The Warrior's Apprentice
Vorkosigan's Game—out of print; contains The Vor Game, The Mountains of Mourning, Labyrinth, and The Borders of Infinity, with the framing story for the collection Borders of Infinity

Audiobooks

Cassette tape and CD versions of Falling Free, Shards of Honor, Barrayar, The Warrior's Apprentice, The Vor Game, Cetaganda, Ethan of Athos, Borders of Infinity, and Brothers in Arms were produced by The Reader's Chair. This company is no longer in business.

Currently, unabridged audio CD editions are available (retail and library), via iPhone/iPod Touch apps using the Folium enhancedAudio player, MP3, Playaway and cassette versions through Blackstone Audio for Falling Free, Shards of Honor, Barrayar, The Warrior's Apprentice, The Vor Game, Cetaganda, Ethan of Athos, Brothers in Arms, Mirror Dance, Memory, Komarr, A Civil Campaign, Winterfair Gifts, and Diplomatic Immunity.

Most titles produced by Blackstone Audio are also available for download on Audible.com and from the websites of several public libraries via overdrive.com. The enhancedAudio app versions are available via the Apple iTunes Store and can be previewed at the BlackstoneAudioApps.com website.

Comic books

The Vorkosigan Saga has also been made into a comic book in France:

La saga Vorkosigan volume 1 : L'apprentissage du guerrier (The Warrior's Apprentice), written by Dominique Latil (scenario) and José Maria Beroy (drawings and colors) (2010).

Chalion series

In the fantasy-genre Chalion universe:

The Curse of Chalion (2001) Hugo, Locus Fantasy, and World Fantasy Awards nominee, 2002
Paladin of Souls (2003) (sequel to The Curse of Chalion) Hugo, Nebula and Locus Fantasy Awards winner, 2004
The Hallowed Hunt (2005) Locus Fantasy Award nominee, 2006

Sharing Knife series

The Sharing Knife is another fantasy-genre series:

Beguilement (2006)
Legacy (2007)
Passage (2008)
Horizon (2009)

Other titles

The Spirit Ring (1993) Locus Fantasy Award nominee, 1993

Audiobooks

Blackstone Audio produces CD editions, MP3, Playaway, and cassette versions of The Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls, The Hallowed Hunt, The Sharing Knife Vol 1: Beguilement, The Sharing Knife Vol 2: Legacy, The Sharing Knife Vol 3: Passage and The Sharing Knife Vol 4: Horizon. All of these titles are also available from Audible.com and emusic.com.

Notes

References

BFN; Strickland, Diane; Slusser, Linda S.; O'Neil, James Francis; Tyson, Edith S.; Wehmann, Claudia J.; King, Richard L. (October 1993). "Booksearch: Favorite Writers of Science Fiction and Fantasy" (PDF). English Journal. 82 (6). National Council of Teachers of English: 83–85. doi:10.2307/820174. JSTOR 820174. Retrieved 2008-07-27. {{cite journal}}: More than one of |author1= and |last= specified (help)
Carl, Lillian Stewart, & Helfers, John (2008). The Vorkosigan Companion: The Universe of Lois McMaster Bujold. Riverdale, NY: Baen Books. ISBN 978-1-4165-5603-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Haehl, Anne L. (Fall 1996). "Miles Vorkosigan and the Power of Words: A Study of Lois McMaster Bujold's Unlikely Hero". Extrapolation. 37 (3). Kent State University Press: 224–233. ISSN 0014-5483. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
Kelso, Sylvia (Winter 1998). "Lois McMaster Bujold: Feminism and 'The Gernsback Continuum' in Recent Women's SF". Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts (JFA). 10 (1 ): 17–29. ISSN 0897-0521. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
Kelso, Sylvia (2009). "Loud Achievements: Lois McMaster Bujold's Science Fiction". In Sylvia Kelso (ed.). Three Observations and a Dialogue: Round and About SF. Seattle: Acqueduct Press. ISBN 9781933500287. OCLC 430954881.
Lennard, John (2010). "Of Marriage and Mutations: Lois McMaster Bujold and the Several Lives of Miles Naismith Vorkosigan". In John Lennard (ed.). Of Sex and Faerie: Further essays on Genre Fiction. Tirril: Humanities-Ebooks. pp. 70–111. ISBN 978-1-84760-171-1.
Lindow, Sandra J. (Autumn 2001). "The Influence of Family and Moral Development in Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Series". Foundation: the International Review of Science Fiction (Foundation). 30 (83): 25–34. ISSN 0306-4964. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
Wehrmann, Jürgen (2007). "Jane Eyre in Outer Space: Victorian Motifs in Post-Feminist Science Fiction". In Margarete Rubik and Elke Mettinger-Schartmann (ed.). A Breath of Fresh Eyre: Intertextual and Intermedial Reworkings of Jane Eyre. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Rodopi. pp. 149–165. ISBN 9789042022126. OCLC 144615405. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |chapterurl= (help)
Yung, Regina (2007). Reading Her Machine Flesh: Permutations of the Cyborg Body (M.A. thesis). University of Alberta (Canada). OCLC 261212307.

External links

The Bujold Nexus
Interview at Clarkesworld Magazine (11/2010)
Fantastic Fiction Author Page
Official forum (to which the author regularly contributes) at IBDoF
Complete list of sci-fi award wins and nominations by novel
Lois McMaster Bujold at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
Lillian Stewart Carl's web page, where the Vorkosigan Companion is discussed
A Reader's Companion to A Civil Campaign—Compiled by members of the Bujold chat-list and freely available at the Bujold Nexus

Lois McMaster Bujold

Vorkosigan Saga

Works

Novels

Shards of Honor (1986)
The Warrior's Apprentice (1986)
Ethan of Athos (1986)
Falling Free (1988)
Brothers in Arms (1989)
The Vor Game (1990)
Barrayar (1991)
Mirror Dance (1994)
Cetaganda (1995)
Memory (1996)
Komarr (1998)
A Civil Campaign (1999)
Diplomatic Immunity (2002)
Cryoburn (2010)
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance (2012)
Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen (2016)

Novellas

Characters

Vorkosigan family	Miles Vorkosigan

Fantasy

Works

Standalone	The Spirit Ring (1992)
World of the Five Gods	The Curse of Chalion (2001) Paladin of Souls (2003) The Hallowed Hunt (2005) "Penric's Demon" (2015) "Penric and the Shaman" (2016) "Penric's Fox" (2018) "Masquerade in Lodi" (2020) "Penric's Mission" (2016) "Mira's Last Dance" (2017) "The Prisoner of Limnos" (2017) "The Orphans of Raspay" (2019) "The Physicians of Vilnoc" (2020) "The Assassins of Thasalon" (2021) "Knot of Shadows" (2021) "Demon Daughter" (2024) "Penric and the Bandit" (2024)
The Sharing Knife	Beguilement (2006) Legacy (2007) Passage (2008) Horizon (2009) Knife Children (2019)

Science fiction

Outline

Subgenres

Cyberpunk derivatives

Culture

Region

Awards

Cinematic	Jules Verne Saturn
Literary, art, and audio	Astounding Aurealis BSFA Campbell Memorial Chesley Clarke Crook Deutscher Dick Ditmar Endeavor FantLab Galaxy Gaughan Geffen Golden Duck Grand Master Grand Prix Harland Heinlein Ignotus Kitschies Lambda Laßwitz Locus Nautilus Nebula Nommo Norton Parsec Prometheus Rhysling SFERA Sidewise Skylark Sturgeon Sunburst Tähtivaeltaja TBD Tiptree Tour-Apollo Translation Urania Vogel Writers and Illustrators of the Future Zajdel
Multimedia	Aurora Chandler Dragon Hugo Seiun Spectrum

Media

Film	Film history Films Indian Japanese Anime Tokusatsu
Literature	Comics Magazines Novels Publishers Short stories
Stage	Opera Theatre
Television	List of TV shows Australasian British Canadian European Japanese Anime Live-action U.S.

Themes

Architectural	Colonization Dyson sphere Matrioshka brain Space stations and habitats Stellar engine Terraforming Topopolis
Biological	Biological warfare Energy being Evolution Extraterrestrials List Gender Genetic engineering Invisibility Nanotechnology Organ transplantation Parasites Prosthetics Sex and sexuality Symbiosis
Physical	Ansible Black holes Extrasolar planets Force field Hyperspace Inertialess Multiverse Parallel universes Portable hole Space travel Stargate Stars Teleportation Time travel (Viewer) Warp drive Wormhole
Psychological	Group mind Mind uploading Psionics Simulated consciousness
Social	Africanfuturism Afrofuturism Alien invasion Alien language Ancient astronauts Black Evil corporation First contact Frankenstein complex Galactic empire LGBT Message from space Transhumanism Uplift Xenoarchaeology
Technological	Artificial intelligence AI takeover Astroengineering Holography Robots and Cyborgs Self-replicating machines Simulated reality Spacecraft Tachyons Weapons
Religious	Christian science fiction

Template:Persondata

Categories: