Travels with Miles

Cordelia's Honor, Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen Books, 2000, ISBN 0-671-57828-6, cover by Gary Ruddell).

Young Miles, Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen Books, 2003, ISBN 0-7434-3616-4, cover by Gary Ruddell).

The Mountains of Mourning, Lois McMaster Bujold (Baen Books, 1989, ISBN 978-10-1125-0004, cover artist not indicated).

Cordelia's Honor is an omnibus edition made up of Shards of Honor and Barrayar. Young Miles is an omnibus edition made up of The Warrior's Apprentice, the short work The Mountains of Mourning and The Vor Game. The Mountains of Mourning is also available as an independent work from Baen's Webscription service.

Read in 2008...

Miles, Mystery and Mayhem (Lois McMaster Bujold, Baen Books, 2003, ISBN 0-671-31858-6, cover by Patrick Turner) is an omnibus made up of Cetaganda, Ethan of Athos and the shorter work Labyrinth. It also contains an introduction by the author and a timeline.

As I am hoping that the new year (or maybe the year after that) will bring a new Miles Vorkosigan book (I know that a new omnibus is coming, that's almost as good), I decided it was high time to start re-reading the series. I've read the tales, both in serial form (in Analog) and book form (in various editions from Baen Books) over the years, but never in a rapid installment fashion such as this.

(2008 Update: I've continued to read the books in the cycle and will list books completed. A new omnibus has been released: Miles In Love, made up of Komarr, A Civil Campaign and the short work Winterfair Gifts. Still no word if the muse has bitten Bujold and will be bringing us a new story set in this universe.)

So how do you keep a series going when you've got more than a dozen books and stories in it? How do you keep it fresh?

Interesting characters, for one. In the first two books of the series, you have two characters with wildly different backgrounds. Put together and mix well. Next you have Miles. Between his physical characteristics and his mental agility and toughness, he is usually a "fish out of the water" no matter what environment he is in. Then to liven things up, we get a cousin (Ivan), a "brother" (Mark), and a host of interesting secondary characters (take the enigma of Sergeant Bothari, for example...a force of evil or a force of good?).

Interesting settings, for a second. A planet of men. A planet devoted to biological technology. A planet of warriors. And more. Maybe it is not as wide as, say, the galaxy of Star Trek, but it is a lot better realized.

Interesting plots, for a third. The tales range from straight adventure or space opera to romance to mystery to political intrigue to war. As with another favorite series, the "formula" for the series seems to be...avoid formula.

If you haven't read these, give them a try. Especially if you "don't like science fiction". Baen makes it easy to stary with their omnibus packages and Webscription releases. Come on, you won't be sorry!