Wednesday, April 06, 2011

Cordelia's Honor - Lois McMaster Bujold

I've just read Cordelia's Honor and discovered the Miles Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. All I can say is - what took me so long?! 

While very much science fiction, Cordelia's Honor also has a strong and compelling romantic thread between two fantastic protagonists. I utterly loved this book (which is actually an omnibus that contains two novels - Shards of Honor and Barrayar) and can't wait to read the rest of the series.  
  
If you'd like to read a detailed review, there's a wonderful one over at Dear Author.

The question of course is whether I glom the series in one big bite, or whether I spread out the books so they last. What would you do?

26 comments :

Jyothsna said...

Oooh..!I envy anyone starting on a great series.Bujold is awesome.Do give her "The Curse Of the Chalion" a try too

Gina G said...

Life was put on hold - while I devoured every single one of her books - when I originally discovered LMB. Second time around - I took it nice & slow. Either way - she's amazing.

FiveAcres said...

I can still remember the day I found Shards of Honor on a dealers table at a Disclave SF Con right after it was released. I think I read it twice by the end of the weekend. I can't imagine finding the series in its present form.

I'd spread out the reading of Mirror Dance then Memory. They can be a bit intense.

Anonymous said...

Glom it! I didn't discover your Psy-Changeling series till the fifth book was out, and that's what I did. :)

-Sarah M.

Diane M. said...

You will love Miles.

Unknown said...

Spread it out one by one, of course if I got them at the same time I'd probably have them done in a couple of days ^-^ (it's always been a problem for christmas or my birthday any books I get are read normally the day after I get them. I haven't tries this series, looks like I should give it a shot

Sabina said...

I usually devour my books the first time I read them, the second (and third, fourth...) I read them much slower and enjoy them that more ;-)

Aurian said...

Glom as much as possible of course, then hunt the net for the ones not available in online bookstores as new books.

ElizabethN said...

I read them as they came out, but that would be a hard choice to make now. (not showing my age or anything)

Other than Cordelia's books, Cetaganda and the Baen freebie Mountains of Mourning, the ones in the series that I read over & over start at Memory (re-set of Miles) and go through to the current book. But part of the enjoyment of Memory et al is having read through his earlier years.

Pay attention to Ivan as well, LMB's trying to make him the main character in the next book. Ivan, being Ivan, is resisting.

Her 4 book Sharing Knife series is wonderful as well.

Don't you love it when you find a "new" author and they have a large backlist.

Perivayne said...

It's just best to give into the inevitable, Lois' work is some of the best in SF Opera style and remains some of my most re-read books. I was lucky enough to be able to read the original serialization of Barrayar in Analog when I was in college. :)

Madhura said...

Glom it! Thats what I would do. There is no point in waiting out and then getting accidentally spoilered.

Thats a good review - will check it out. Thanks, Nalini!

Anonymous said...

Read them in a row, as the time-line goes on, there are references to past events that stun you (green-silk rooms for example, or what happens when Lady Vorkosigan goes shopping).

One of my favorite quotes of all times comes from 'Cordelia's Honor' -
"Somewhere in a quiet, green silk room, where a great choreographer designed a dance of death, and the honor of a man of honor was broken on the wheel of his service."

Anonymous said...

Okay, you should definitely spread it out! I recently discovered the Rachel Vincent werecat series and read them all so fast and furiously that it was over to quick. I'm so disappointed that I raced to read them so fast :(

Soraya

PeppyPilotGirl said...

I'd totally glom - at least that's what I did with the Psy-Changling series! And then I went back and re-read the whole thing more slowly to get more of the details.

Kerry said...

Have you read any of Sharon Lee and Steve Miller's Liaden series? They're different, but if you're enjoying the Vorkosigan books, there's a good chance you'd like these too.

I'd glom.

I went on a rapid reread last year and absolutely loved it.

Anna said...

Glom, gorge, devour, obsessively read...Anyway, that's what I do. When you find an incredible series it's hard to merely nibble.

Although I did do this with the In Death series. The voracious book binge ended at book 19.

Sotheara said...

OMG! I recently discovered this series as well. My BORDERS is closing so I happenend to buy the Young Miles omnibus (containing Warrior's Apprentice, "The Mountains of Mourning, & The Vor Game), and I am completely hooked. I just ordered the rest of the Omnibus editions and cannot wait to read the rest. . .

Anonymous said...

Hm,well I definitely wouldn´t be able to wait....I mean, I always try to, and in this case I can actually be lucky that I´m still student and therefore never have much money^^, but whenever I discover a new series, I just HAVE to go on reading no matter what so I usually end up buying them all in a really short time......but since I never read a book just once, at least not if I liked it, that´s okay since I´ll be able to enjoy it over and over again =D

Anneela said...

I would spread it out so that it lasts so that you don't go cold turkey when it's done. :) Anyone say Kiss of Snow?

felinewyvern said...

I love that series. You are in for a treat The Vorkosigan Saga is wonderful.

Anonymous said...

I'd say space it out. But make sure you have them all, so you can just slide on to the next one if the fancy hits you.

Definitely try her Sharing Knife series next! And then Chalion.

Anonymous said...

Nalini,
Several years ago I wrote you asking if you had ever considered science fiction instead of fantasy because my husband had picked up your books and actually enjoyed them...he wanted more of the world and technology than you had included. One of his favorite series is the Vorkosigan books and he thought you could actually write as well if you centered less on the romance...
Congratulations on finally finding them.

Anonymous said...

Glommmm it. I literally glommed all 9 books of your Psy-Changeling in a week and a half. NO REGRETS.

May 31st, be here now.

harpergirl said...

It's an amazing series. When I discovered it, I devoured Cordelia's Honor, but it took me a while to get through Young Miles -Cordelia's Honor sneaked through because of the romance, but Young Miles was very military-ish, which is an area I had never ever explored, and I got stuck on that bit for a while. But maybe a year later, I stumbled upon that book again and was captivated. I devoured each book in turn, but was a little bit impatient about getting books in the right order, so I read the nearest Vorkosigan book I found, leading to some few puzzled moments. After finishing the series and rereading it, though, I had some shocking revelations about all the references I'd missed the first round through by reading out of order. I don't think this is a series you can only read once, so glom it now, and enjoy them often :-)

Anonymous said...

I'd glom too! And then you can reread...those books stand up really well to rereading. I don't even know how many times I've reread them. :)

I was going to suggest the Liaden series, but I see someone beat me to it. I agree that if you love Bujold, there's a really good chance you'll love the Liaden books too!

Pippy said...

As another one who had to, perforce, read them spread out, I think you should spread them out. However, also as someone who rereads them every couple of years as a big glom feast, they work well as that. I second the person who mentioned that it is easy to get bogged down in the early miles books -they are not my fave of the series. Also, I would recommend the sharing knife series over the curse of chalion ones.