17. Lois McMaster Bujold Discussion

[Philip Overby]

Haven't posted one of these in a while, so here's number 17, Lois McMaster Bujold, who is known for both SF and fantasy. I've been recommended her work several times over the years. I'd say she is best known for her SF series the Vorkosigan Saga and her fantasy series The Sharing Knife. I believe she was on my "to buy list" a while back, but I couldn't decide which series to try. I've heard lots of good things about the Vorkosigan Saga so maybe that's what I'll go with ultimately.

Too many books, so little time!

Anyone have thoughts about Lois McMaster Bujold?

 

[Feo Takahari]

I view The Sharing Knife as the absolute best series that can be written in a Twilight-style framework without making any attempt to subvert it*. You've got the foreign and mysterious male lead, who's cool and handsome and a natural leader and a great fighter, and you've got the female lead who's supposedly the protagonist but can't compare to him in any way, and she never really shows him up or even does something better than he could do it, but she's still an active character and she still has a personality of her own. It's not something I'd ever reread, but I enjoyed it the first time through.

* Compare Alien Dice and Parasyte, both of which can be read as part of this framework, and both of which take it in a very odd direction. Parasyte isn't even a romance, casting the Edward type as a reluctant ally and eventual friend.

 

[Steerpike]

I read her book The Curse of Chalion. I thought it was OK, but nothing special. I made it party through one of the Vorkosigan books and ended up putting it down and never got back to it. Doubt I'll pick up any more of her work, but you never know.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Her Vorkosigan books are a series I re-read every few years, just because I periodically need a Miles fix. The character himself is brilliantly insane (kinda) and the rest of her cast is fulfilling and memorable. I believe she also won a Hugo for Mirror Dance, one in the series. Her dialogue, with Miles especially, is spectacular, and in her second to last book she absolutely guts the reader with two words.

 

[Ophiucha]

I've only read her three Chalion books. The first and the third ones are both good, the first moreso than the last, but it was really the second book - Paladin of Souls - that caught my attention. The story is less epic in scale, more personal, and it is supported by a fantastic cast. Ista, the main character, is among my favourite leading ladies in the genre. It's basically a coming-of-age story for a forty year old woman. Fantastic stuff. I also liked the development of the religion from the first book.