Lois McMaster Bujold recommendations please

greylin

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I'd like to read something by Bujold but what's the best book/series to start with?
 
Chalion for Fantasy: Chanur for Science Fiction:D
 
For Science Fiction, start with either Shards of Honor or Cordelia's Honor. Cordelia's Honor includes Shards of Honor, but adds more to the story. It's two books in one.
 
Thanks for the recommendations. I've just finished Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls - wow! Ista rocks. What a great heroine. I'm now half way through The Hallowed Hunt and even though it's only loosely connected I'm very glad that it's going to develop Bujold's intriguing ideas about gods, demons etc. Are there any more in this series? I have the Vorkosigans all lined up and ready to go if there aren't.
 
Thanks for the recommendations. I've just finished Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls - wow! Ista rocks. What a great heroine. I'm now half way through The Hallowed Hunt and even though it's only loosely connected I'm very glad that it's going to develop Bujold's intriguing ideas about gods, demons etc. Are there any more in this series? I have the Vorkosigans all lined up and ready to go if there aren't.

Not at this time. She started something new. The Sharing Knife: Beguilement and The Sharing Knife: Legacy. Somewhat of a love story.
 
Warrior's apprentice, then Cetaganda, Brothers in Arms, etc. Just skip the Vor Game and the prequels.
 
Warrior's apprentice, then Cetaganda, Brothers in Arms, etc. Just skip the Vor Game and the prequels.

Definitely a difference of opinion here. I loved Shards of Honor and Cordelia's Honor (omnibus containing Shards of Honor and what followed after). The books you mentioned give background information on the later books.
 
Definitely a difference of opinion here. I loved Shards of Honor and Cordelia's Honor (omnibus containing Shards of Honor and what followed after). The books you mentioned give background information on the later books.

Yes, but not necessary, and while decent, were not her best books. I remember that one was good and one was slow... can't remember which was which though.
 
Oh dear, I'm confused now. What is the correct order in which to read all the Vorkosigan books?
 
The chronilogical order begins with Shards of Honor. That tells the story of how Miles parents met and got together. I liked it very much. Shadow9d9 didn't and says that it isn't necessary to get the rest of the story. It's your choice.
 
Thanks - much clearer now. :) And since I finished The Hallowed Hunt within the past hour, it won't be long before I start on the Vorkosigans.
 
Well, I've finished Warrior's Apprentice, Shards of Honour and Barrayar. I'm well and truly hooked. :)

However, I'm kicking myself for reading Warrior's Apprentice first, as I found it difficult to connect with Miles and felt as if I was always running to catch up on the politics and history with Elena, Bothari, Escobar, Cetagandans etc. In the end I had to ignore quite a lot of the back story, or I never would have finished the book. I've skimmed through it again since finishing Barrayar and realise that I would have enjoyed it much more if I had read it third instead of first. Let me give one example:

In Shards of Honour, as Vorkosigan digs Rosemont's grave he tells Cordelia, "Could have done that in five seconds with a plasma arc." Two books and twenty (or so) years later in Warrior's Apprentice as Miles is digging Bothari's grave Cordelia says to him, "You could do that in five seconds with a plasma arc." Because I read Warrior's Apprentice first, the significance of her remark was completely lost on me.

So I'm going to start Warrior's Apprentice again now that I've finished Barrayar (which I loved). Vorkosigan is maybe a little too good to be true, but Cordelia is a delight. She has much in common with Ista, I think!
 
I'm slowly working through the Vorkosigan series (I've managed the first two so far: reviews are on my SFF blog). Bujold is an excellent writer and I have only one criticism; for SF books, they don't contain much SF. Barrayar in particular is simply an historical romance with a few SF trimmings for the first third of the story.
 
I'm reading them because they're by Lois McMaster Bujold rather than because they belong to one genre or another. Perhaps it would help if you thought of them as speculative fiction rather than science fiction.

Some of the books are hard to find here in the UK. I'm looking for Vor's Game but can only find a rather expensive used copy on amazon.uk. If they're still in print in the US I might look there.
 

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