Lois McMaster Bujold

Infobox Science Fiction Writer
name=Lois McMaster Bujold


birth_date = Birth date and age|1949|11|2|mf=y
birth_place = Columbus, Ohio
occupation = novelist
nationality = USA
genre = science fiction, fantasy
debut_works = "Shards of Honor"
website = http://www.dendarii.com/

Lois McMaster Bujold (born November 2, 1949, Columbus, Ohio) is an American author of science fiction and fantasy works. Bujold is one of the most acclaimed writers in her field, having won the prestigious Hugo Award for best novel four times, matching Robert A. Heinlein's record. Her novella "The Mountains of Mourning" won both the Hugo and Nebula Award. In the fantasy sphere, "The Curse of Chalion" won the Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature and was nominated for the 2002 World Fantasy Award for best novel, and both her fourth Hugo and second Nebula were for "Paladin of Souls".

Bujold is best known for her series of novels featuring Miles Vorkosigan, a physically-impaired interstellar spy and mercenary admiral from the planet Barrayar, set approximately 1000 years in our future. The series demonstrates Bujold's mastery of various science fiction genres and sub-genres. Earlier titles are generally firmly in the space opera tradition with no shortage of battles, conspiracies, and wild twists, while in more recent volumes Miles becomes more of a detective. In "A Civil Campaign", Bujold explores yet another genre: a high-society romance with a plot that pays tribute to Regency romance novelist Georgette Heyer (as acknowledged in the dedication). It centers on a catastrophic dinner party, with misunderstandings and dialogue justifying the subtitle "A Comedy of Biology and Manners". Her psychological insights and creation of complex characters are particularly appreciated by many readers.

There is considerable debate among readers as the best order to read the Vorkosigan series. Some favor reading in publication order, some in order of internal chronology, and some prefer other orders. This illustrates the widely held view that this series consists of independent works which nonetheless gain from their inter-relations.

The author has stated that her Miles Naismith Vorkosigan series structure is modeled after the Horatio Hornblower books documenting the life of a single person. In themes and echoes, they also reflect Dorothy L. Sayers' mystery character Lord Peter Wimsey. Bujold has also said that part of the challenge of writing a series is that many readers will encounter the stories in "utterly random order", so she must provide sufficient background in each of them without being excessively repetitious. Most recent printings of her Vorkosigan tales do include an appendix at the end summarizing the internal chronology of the series.

Bujold is the daughter of Robert Charles McMaster and attributes her early interest in science fiction, as well as certain aspects of the Vorkosigan saga, to his influence. He was editor of the monumental "Nondestructive Testing Handbook" generally referred to as "McMaster on Materials".

Bujold currently lives in Minnesota. She is divorced and has two children.

cience fiction and fantasy

Lois Bujold wrote three books ("Shards of Honor", "Ethan of Athos" and "The Warrior's Apprentice") before "The Warrior's Apprentice" was accepted after four rejections. On the strength of "The Warrior's Apprentice", Baen Books agreed to a three-book deal to include the two prior novels. Thus began Bujold's career in science fiction.

She also wanted to break into the fantasy genre, but met with early setbacks. Her first foray into fantasy was "The Spirit Ring". She wrote the book "on spec", shopped it around, and found very low offers, forcing her to go back to Baen Books, where Jim Baen bought it for a fair price in exchange for the promise of more Vorkosigan books. Bujold called this experience, combined with the mediocre sales and lack of critical acclaim of that book, very educational.Fact|date=July 2008

She would not attempt to break into the fantasy market again for almost another decade, with "The Curse of Chalion". This book was also written on spec and offered up to a book auction. This time, she met with considerable critical and commercial success by tapping into a crossover market of fantasy and romance genre fans.

elected works

The Vorkosigan Saga

Listed in series order:

* "Dreamweaver's Dilemma" [set in the Vorkosigan universe long before the rest of the series] (1995) (included in collection "Dreamweaver's Dilemma") NESFA Press
* "Falling Free" [set approximately 200 years before the birth of Miles Vorkosigan] (1988) -- Nebula Award
* "Shards of Honor" [set approximately 1 year before the birth of Miles Vorkosigan] (1986)
* "Barrayar" (1991) -- Hugo Award
* "The Warrior's Apprentice" (1986)
* "The Mountains of Mourning" (1989) (included in "Borders of Infinity") -- Hugo Award, Nebula Award. First published in "Analog "magazine. Available online via [http://www.baen.com/library/ the Baen Free Library]
* "The Vor Game" (1990) -- Hugo Award
* "Cetaganda" (1995)
* "Ethan of Athos" [Miles Vorkosigan is referred to, but does not actually appear, in this novel] (1986)
* "Labyrinth" (1989) (included in "Borders of Infinity") --First published in Analog magazine.
* "The Borders of Infinity" (1987) (included in "Borders of Infinity") -- First published in Freelancers. Available online via [http://www.baen.com/chapters/W200308/0743435583.htm Baen Webscription]
* "Borders of Infinity" (1989) (Collection of "The Mountains of Mourning", "Labyrinth" and "The Borders of Infinity", tied together with an original frame story interspliced between them, which is set shortly after "Brothers in Arms".)
* "Brothers in Arms" (1989)
* "Mirror Dance" (1994) -- Hugo Award winner
* "Memory" (1996) (unavailable in any omnibus volume)
* "Komarr" (1998)
* "A Civil Campaign" (2000)
* "Winterfair Gifts" (2003 in Croatian (as a "Zimoslavni darovi") and Russian, 2004 in English) -- First published in "Irresistible Forces", a Science Fiction/Romance genre crossover anthology edited by Catherine Asaro. Also in the omnibus "Miles in Love". The "Winterfair Gifts" novella is also available as a standalone ebook from Fictionwise.
* "Diplomatic Immunity" (2002)
* A new Vorkosigan novel is presently (Mid-2008) being written. It is, as yet, un-named and is scheduled for publication in 2010. Bujold (the GoH) read the first two chapters at Denvention 3 in August 2008.

Omnibus volumes:
* "Cordelia's Honor" (contains "Shards of Honor", "Barrayar")
* "Young Miles" (contains "The Warrior's Apprentice", "The Mountains of Mourning", "The Vor Game")
* "Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem" (contains "Cetaganda", "Ethan of Athos", "Labyrinth")
* "Miles Errant" (contains "The Borders of Infinity", "Brothers in Arms", "Mirror Dance")
* "Miles, Mutants and Microbes" (contains "Falling Free", "Diplomatic Immunity", "Labyrinth")
* "Miles in Love" (contains "Komarr", "A Civil Campaign", "Winterfair Gifts")

* "Vorkosigan's Game" (Out of Print - contained "The Vor Game", "The Mountains of Mourning", "Labyrinth", and "The Borders of Infinity" including the framing story for the collection "Borders of Infinity")

Audiobooks:

"Books-on-tape/CD" versions of "Falling Free", "Shards of Honor", "Barrayar", "The Warrior's Apprentice", "The Vor Game", "Cetaganda", "Ethan of Athos", "Borders of Infinity", and "Brothers in Arms" were produced by The Reader's Chair.

"Books-on-tape/CD/MP3 downloads" versions of "The Warrior's Apprentice", "The Vor Game", "Cetaganda", "Brothers in Arms", "Mirror Dance", "Memory", "Komarr" and "A Civil Campaign" are produced by Blackstone Audio and are also available from Audible.com.

Fantasy novels

* "The Spirit Ring" (1993)
* in the [http://www.dendarii.com/chalion.html Chalion universe] :
** "The Curse of Chalion" (2001)
** "Paladin of Souls" (2003) (sequel to "The Curse of Chalion") Hugo Award Nebula Award
** "The Hallowed Hunt" (2005)
* "The Sharing Knife":
** "Beguilement" (2006)
** "Legacy" (2007)
** "Passage" (2008)
** "Horizon" (2009)

Audiobooks:

"Books-on-tape/CD/MP3 downloads" versions of "The Curse of Chalion", "Paladin of Souls", "The Hallowed Hunt", "The Sharing Knife": Vol1 "Beguilement", "The Sharing Knife": Vol 2 "Legacy", and "The Sharing Knife": Vol 3 "Passage" are produced by Blackstone Audio and are also available from Audible.com.

See also

The Fivefold Pathway of the Soul, one of the (fictional) primary religious texts for the southern cultures in "The Curse of Chalion" and "Paladin of Souls"

External links

* [http://www.dendarii.com/ The Bujold Nexus]
* [http://www.ibdof.com/viewforum.php?f=1811 Official forum] (to which the author regularly contributes) at IBDoF
*isfdb name|id=Lois_McMaster_Bujold|name=Lois McMaster Bujold

Further reading

*Citation
last =BFN | first =
author-link =
last2 =Strickland | first2 = Diane
author2-link =
last3 =Slusser | first3 = Linda S.
author3-link =
last4 =O'Neil | first4 =James Francis
author4-link =
last5 =Tyson | first5 =Edith S.
author5-link =
last6 =Wehmann | first6 =Claudia J.
author6-link =
last7 =King | first7 = Richard L.
author7-link =
title = Booksearch: Favorite Writers of Science Fiction and Fantasy
journal = English Journal
volume = 82
issue = 6
pages = pages 83-85
date =October, 1993
year =
url = http://libproxy.uta.edu:2055/stable/820174 | format = [PDF]
doi =
id =
issn =
accessdate = 2008-07-27

*Citation
last =Haehl | first =Anne L.
author-link =
last2 = | first2 = | author2-link =
last3 = | first3 = | author3-link =
title =Miles Vorkosigan and the Power of Words: A Study of Lois McMaster Bujold's Unlikely Hero
journal =Extrapolation (Kent State University Press)
volume =37
issue = 3
pages =-224-233
date =Fall, 1996
year =
url = | format =
doi =
id =
issn = 00145483
accessdate = 2008-07-26

*Citation
last =Kelso
first =Sylvia
author-link =
last2 = | first2 = | author2-link =
last3 = | first3 = | author3-link =
title =Lois McMaster Bujold: Feminism and 'The Gernsback Continuum' in Recent Women's SF
journal =Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts (JFA)
volume =10
issue = 1 [37]
pages =17-29
date =Winter, 1998
year =
url = | format =
doi =
id =
issn = 0897-0521
accessdate = 2008-07-26

*Citation
last =Lindow | first = Sandra J.
author-link =
last2 = | first2 =
author2-link =
last3 = | first3 =
author3-link =
title = The Influence of Family and Moral Development in Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Series
journal = Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction (Foundation)
volume =30
issue = 83
pages = pages 25-34
date =
year =Autumn, 2001
url = | format =
doi =
id =
issn = 0306-4964
accessdate = 2008-07-26

*cite book |last=Wehrmann |first=Jürgen |authorlink= |coauthors= |editor=Margarete Rubik and Elke Mettinger-Schartmann |title=A Breath of Fresh Eyre: Intertextual and Intermedial Reworkings of Jane Eyre |edition= |year=2007 |date= |publisher=Rodopi |location=Amsterdam, Netherlands |isbn=9789042022126 |pages=pages 149-165 |chapter=Jane Eyre in Outer Space: Victorian Motifs in Post-Feminist Science Fiction |chapterurl= |url= |doi= |id= |oclc=144615405

*cite paper
first = Regina
last =Yung
author =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Reading Her Machine Flesh: Permutations of the Cyborg Body
version =
publisher = University of Alberta (Canada)
date = 2007, MA
url =
format =
accessdate =