Lois McMaster Bujold recommendations please

[greylin]

top 10 novels of all time

1 - From the corner of his eye - Dean Koontz
2 - Hyperion Cantos - Dan Simmons
3 - Sword of Truth - Terry Goodkind
4 - Harry Potter - JK Rowling
5 - The Curse of Chalion - Lois Mcmaster Bujold
6 - Farseer & Tawny Man - Robin Hobb
7 - Strangers - Dean Koontz
8 - Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
9 - A Song of Ice and Fire - GRRM
10 - Desperation - Stephen King

I agree with some of these (Robin Hobb, for example) and some others are new to me so I'll look them up. But I have to strongly disagree about Pillars of the Earth. I'm reading it right now and am really not enjoying it. Follett's style is banal, his characters are one-dimensional and the only reason I'm persisting with it is because I want to find out if they ever finish the cathedral.

 

[Pyan]

And if I was being pedantic, (perish the thought!), I'd point out that JK Rowling has never published a novel called Harry Potter....

Also, this is a thread about Bujold's books.
If you want a discussion about the best books of all time, why not start a new thread?

 

[Pyan]

Oh, and Conn: Congratulations on reaching 2000 posts!

 

[kauldron26]

no need to be a smartass, i posted my top 10 to show where curse of chalion placed on my favorite books. also if ur pedantic mind didnt notice there were single novels like FTCOHE and series like farseer included in the list. thus "harry potter" by rowling. at the end of the day we come to forums and sites like these to talk about books we love. not to establish forum posting hierarchies.

 

[murphy]

No, it's not, though it does have shared characters, Conn.




The chronological order of Miles' books after Shards is:

• The Warrior’s Apprentice
• "Mountains of Mourning" (short story)
• The Vor Game
• Cetaganda
• Ethan of Athos
• "Labyrinth" (short story)
• "Borders of Infinity" (short story)
• Brothers in Arms
• Borders of Infinity (book)
• Mirror Dance
• Memory
• Komarr
• A Civil Campaign
• "Winterfair Gifts"
• Diplomatic Immunity

And it can be difficult reading them out of order, because there are frequent references to events from the books before, but it is possible. You can even miss out the short stories if you like - they're interesting, but not essential to the main story covered by the novels.

Hope this helps.....

But it's a long short story. I was sitting here wondering if it could be considered:

a novella
a novellette
(any other name for a long short story?)



Also, after Shards comes Barrayar which tells how Miles was affected physically.

 

[Anthony G Williams]

The chronological order of Miles' books after Shards is:

• The Warrior’s Apprentice
• "Mountains of Mourning" (short story)
• The Vor Game
• Cetaganda
• Ethan of Athos
• "Labyrinth" (short story)
• "Borders of Infinity" (short story)
• Brothers in Arms
• Borders of Infinity (book)
• Mirror Dance
• Memory
• Komarr
• A Civil Campaign
• "Winterfair Gifts"
• Diplomatic Immunity

Haven't you missed out Barrayar between Shards and Warrior's Apprentice?

Miles makes an appearance right at the end, as a boy. The story is basically about Aral and Cordelia's attempt to live together on Barrayar and, for me, was like an historical romance with a bit of SF tacked on at the end.

I greatly admire LMB's writing ability but not her sfnal imagination. As I wrote in a review of Warrior's Apprentice (which I must get around to posting on my SFF blog soon, to join the first two):

"she is for me a great writer who happens to set her stories in an SF context, which is not quite the same thing as a great SF writer"
​

 

[Connavar]

Haven't you missed out Barrayar between Shards and Warrior's Apprentice?

Miles makes an appearance right at the end, as a boy. The story is basically about Aral and Cordelia's attempt to live together on Barrayar and, for me, was like an historical romance with a bit of SF tacked on at the end.

I greatly admire LMB's writing ability but not her sfnal imagination. As I wrote in a review of Warrior's Apprentice (which I must get around to posting on my SFF blog soon, to join the first two):

"she is for me a great writer who happens to set her stories in an SF context, which is not quite the same thing as a great SF writer"
​

Which is what worries me and making me not sure if she is worth reading or not.

I will read any kind of SF book but the book of her im reading is exactly as you say. Im wondering if SF will be used in the story other than just a setting and context.


I will judge her by WA, if its a real SF, i will read more of her if not i will avoid her just like i avoid any romance story.

 

[greylin]

I will judge her by WA, if its a real SF, i will read more of her if not i will avoid her just like i avoid any romance story.

There is plenty more SF once you get on to the books about Miles, and, actually, the circumstances surrounding his birth in Barrayar are the very stuff of SF. Throughout the entire series the exploration of genetics is particularly interesting and Bujold's background in medicine and biology - and her father's in engineering - add a great deal to her books. But her plots and characterisation are also excellent, so the books are also about people and relationships (not necessarily romantic) not to mention action, space and politics. Her imagination is incredible and I couldn't put any of them down.

 

[Pyan]

Haven't you missed out Barrayar between Shards and Warrior's Apprentice?

Shards is a compilation of Cordelia's Honour and Barrayar, AGW - that's why it's not on that list.

 

[murphy]

Actually the compilation is Cordelia's Honor, a combination of Shards & Barrayar.

 

[Pyan]

Whoops, of course it is...if I turn my head to the right slightly I can see the damn thing!

Sorry, AGW, thanks, murphy....

 

[Connavar]

Oh, and Conn: Congratulations on reaching 2000 posts!

Thanks i didnt see that i had 2000 until your post

 

[williamjm]

How is the balance of Romance and SF in the other books? Im wondering that. That will break or make the series for me. That book you mention, heh the titel is promising.

I wouldn't say the other books really have much Romance in them apart from A Civil Campaign. Incidentally, I thought Shards of Honours was the weakest novel in the series, the later books (including the direct sequel Barrayar and Warrior's Apprentice) were better, so it might be worth persisting with the series even if you're not that keen on SoH.

Ethan of Athos sounds too much like Shards of Honor. It doesnt even appear to be about Miles.

I wouldn't really say it is much like SoH (as far as I can remember there's no romance in it at all, if that's what you're worried about). It is a bit peripheral since Miles and the rest of the Vorkoskigans don't appear in it at all.

 

[Connavar]

About Ethan of Athos i meant the story sounded almost a copy of SH. Not the romance.


I know SH not being the best in series, i have read people say that.

Which is why i will be getting Warrior's Apprentice from the library and see if its something i like. Im not that much of newbie that i will let a book like SH scare me away when its a sorts of prequal and its not even about the main character of most of the books in the series.

Plus its promsing that the books that is actually about Miles and his time sound much more SF like having read some of the synopsis of the early books.

 

[shadow9d9]

About Ethan of Athos i meant the story sounded almost a copy of SH. Not the romance.


I know SH not being the best in series, i have read people say that.

Which is why i will be getting Warrior's Apprentice from the library and see if its something i like. Im not that much of newbie that i will let a book like SH scare me away when its a sorts of prequal and its not even about the main character of most of the books in the series.

Plus its promsing that the books that is actually about Miles and his time sound much more SF like having read some of the synopsis of the early books.

The 2 prequels and the sidestories should be avoided until you become a big fan. I'd also skip the Vor Game... it was the most disappointing in the actual series... but WA and all the others are amazing. My favorite series.

And romance? Very very minor... pretty much nonexistant in a majority of the stories.