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crack_van2006-03-14 08:43 pm
raveninthewind.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2006-03-14 08:43 pm
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Vorkosigan Universe: An Overview
Many thanks to the two individuals who are responsible for the majority of this overview, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
thefourthvine and quietann. My contribution was as editor and supplier of Web links. My collaborators graciously did the heavy lifting. I apologize to them if I changed their comments too much as I merged their writings. Further changes were made by beatrice_otter in 2011.
So, really, why not give one of the books a try, because the publisher has made most of them available for free in ebook format (Cryoburn CD 2010 - the entire works except Memory). Many people start with Warrior's Apprentice, the first book about Miles, but if you're mostly a romance novel reader, you'll want to start with Shards of Honor, which is the story of how Miles’ parents met. Slash fans might enjoy Ethan of Athos, which features m/m relationships on an all-male world.
If people are interested in checking out Lois McMaster Bujold's writing, it is worth noting that one of her novellas is available free online: "The Mountains of Mourning" (plus one can download Cryoburn CD 2010 - the entire works (except Memory) free online). "The Mountains of Mourning" in particular is an excellent introduction to the series--it is set fairly early in the timeline and Raveninthewind thinks it gives a sense of what Miles, arguably the main focus of the Vorkosigan series as a whole, is about (although it's very light on the spaceships and military fleets because it is set in a rural planetary backwater).
Barrayar It's sort of like a bunch of pre-Communism Russians got dumped on a distant planet and then spent the next two hundred years fighting each other. They had no contact with the rest of the galaxy because the wormhole they came through collapsed, and they didn’t have all the people and technology they needed to be self-sufficient with technology, so they devolved to a horse and sword level of technology. The other three ethnic groups are the French, English, and Greeks (“greekie hicks”), and there are definitely cultural and socioeconomic differences between groups. Barrayar is ruled by an Emperor, and a military caste who form a nobility (the Vor); it’s a very feudal political system. Within the last three generations a civilian bureaucracy (the Ministries) was added, which is open to non-Vor. It's an intensely military culture - all little boys want to grow up to be soldiers. There doesn’t seem to be much religion on Barrayar besides ancestor worship. While the Barrayarans have many prejudices - they're sexist, racist, class-bound, etc. - they reserve their big hatred for mutants, because of some little experiments they did with nuclear bombs over those two hundred years of war. This mutant phobia will become more important later.
(There was a discussion on the Bujold mailing list recently about whether the mutations came from the use of nuclear weapons, or severe inbreeding amongst the Firsters (a large number of whom would have perished at the start of the Time of Isolation. The nuclear weapons are relatively recent: ~60 to 70 years before Miles’ birth, and members of the mailing list debated whether that was enough time for this fear of mutants and all the surrounding ritual to arise. There are also references to the Vor marrying close cousins and so forth during the Time of Isolation. The list conclusion was that inbreeding was as much of an issue as anything. Bujold herself has implied that it may have something to do, also, with radiation the First Settlers received when the wormhole that brought them to Barrayar died a fiery death.)
Komarr A formerly independent planet that Barrayar captured. The Barrayarans would say that was totally justified; Komarr is the only way from Barrayar to the rest of the known worlds, and the Komarrans let the Cetagandans pass through when they were on their (ultimately unsuccessful) way to take over Barrayar. The native Komarrans think otherwise, and are inclined to rebellions and plotting, both overt and secret, against Barrayar. However, cross-marriage (by the end of the series) is diminishing the barriers between Komarrans and Barrayarans.
Beta Colony Think California, but taken to an extreme. This is the land of technology and freedom, or at least civil rights (except reproductive rights and, under certain circumstances, mental health rights); Betans have an inherent belief that all persons are created equal, and they don't (or aren't supposed to) have castes or inherited positions of any kind. They’re also very firm believers in the efficacy of therapy to resolve mental health issues; and sometimes, they help you whether you want to be helped or not … It's a desert planet, so, without much in the way of local resources, Beta Colony depends mostly on its research and development department; they tend not to get involved in wars if they can help it, but they'll happily sell all parties their third-latest military tech. (They keep the best stuff for themselves.) There’s also a third sex on Beta Colony, hermaphrodites, whose existence is disturbing for a number of non-Betans.
Cetaganda The Big Bads for Barrayarans. Barrayar was completely cut off from all other planets during the Time of Isolation because their one and only wormhole vanished, and then when another wormhole opened, the Cetagandans took advantage of Barrayar’s relative weakness and invaded. Barrayar kicked the bastards out and rebuilt, and now Cetaganda serves mostly as a deus ex machina - they're a genocracy, with rule through superior genetics, and they do a heck of a lot of genetic manipulation. The results of some of their experiments are running around the 'verse. They have a military caste like the Barrayarans do, and that eventually forms a basis for a wary mutual respect. The haut (the genetic manipulators) are the rulers of Cetaganda, with the ghem (the military caste) as their subordinates, and everyone else as strictly third-class citizens.
Jackson's Whole Think of it like pirates smugglers mad scientists mercenaries. You can get anything you want somewhere on this planet, provided you can pay for it.
Other planets of less importance (that is, important in only one or two of the books) include Escobar, Sergyar, Pol, Vervain, and Athos, plus others. Quaddies are people who are genetically engineered to be adapted to zero-g; they live in an asteroid belt in their own system.
~Spoiler warning~
(Roughly in order of appearance, and just the major ones.)
Cordelia Naismith Cordelia was born on Beta Colony and captained a research spaceship; during the course of her research, she ran into Aral Vorkosigan. A long hike later, they were in love, but it took another war, an unfortunate incident with a sadist, and several daring escapes for them to get together. They've been happily married on Barrayar, ever since, even when larger events caused a little too much excitement to call their life peaceful. Cordelia’s Betan ways have had a profound influence on Barrayaran society,
Aral Vorkosigan Aral is a high-ranking Vor (a count and an admiral) who ruled as Regent while the latest Emperor was underage. He's also a military genius. He's intelligent, honorable, and conflicted in the best romantic hero way, and he was the main love interest in the first two books. Mary Sue? No. He's a compelling, balanced character with a vicious temper when driven to extremes. Characterization is Bujold's major strength as a writer. Aral is canonically bisexual, with an attraction to soldiers, which sucked for him until he encountered a female enemy soldier. His sexual orientation is also a problem because it’s not acceptable in the Barrayaran culture, but is nice for slash writers. He is also, due to his role in the conquest of Komarr (and one of his subordinates’ deciding to massacre the leadership of Komarr after they surrendered) known throughout the galaxy as the Butcher of Komarr, because very few people believe him when he says he didn’t order the massacre.
Serg Vorbarra is the son of Emperor Ezar and father of Emperor Gregor. He died before ascending the throne, which is a blessing since he was a vile, sadistic bastard who surrounded himself with people whose goal in life was power through any means possible, including encouraging him in ever worse atrocities. After his death and the death of his faction in the attempted conquest of Escobar, Serg quietly became a topic that No One Spoke About. He only appeared in one scene, in canon, but he casts a long shadow.
Alys Vorpatril Lady Alys is the widow of Aral’s only surviving cousin, Lord Padma Vorpatril, and the mother of Lord Ivan Vorpatril. She is the arbiter of good taste and propriety on Barrayar, serving as Gregor’s social hostess for virtually all of his reign and as Cordelia’s advisor on Barrayaran culture and mores. She is sharply intelligent and allied to Aral and Cordelia’s progressive agenda, though generally far more conservative. Her political and social influence among the High Vor cannot be overstated, though (as a woman) she holds no formal position and most Vor Lords consistently underestimate her.
Simon Illyan is the head of ImpSec, Imperial Security, the Barrayaran Empire’s military secret police. He had a computer chip implanted in his head as a young man which gave him perfect recall of anything he saw or heard. He is intensely loyal to both Aral and Gregor, and had no personal life at all for the years he was head of ImpSec. After he retired, he and Lady Alys became lovers.
Miles Vorkosigan Cordelia and Aral's only child. Sort of. (It's a complicated universe, okay?) Cordelia was the victim of a terrorist attack when she was pregnant, so Miles was born dwarfed, with incredibly brittle bones that break if you look at them funny. This is not such a joy for him, living on Barrayar and all, since he looks like a mutant. Miles is also brilliant, and in his youth was prey to wild schemes which he then had to salvage by wit and fast-talking alone. If he ever had a mental health evaluation he would probably be classed as bipolar; he’s a bundle of fun on the upswing, but watch out on the down. (He does calm down over time.) His first bout of wit and fast-talking brought the Dendarii Mercenaries into existence (and Miles, of course, is their leader, as Admiral Naismith); most of his adventures in his twenties come in the company of the Dendarii, who, to everyone's surprise, grow and thrive (with a few, um, setbacks) with or without Naismith. The later books find Miles coming to terms with his Barrayaran identity and duties.
Ivan Vorpatril Miles's cousin. Ivan is, in appearance, the Perfect Vor lord: tall, dark, handsome, and wearing a military uniform. Aral calls him "That Idiot Ivan," which is kind of unfair; Ivan just looks dumb compared to Miles, and considering the plots and counter-plots swirling around the society he lives in, and his mother’s pressure to marry, have kids, and make something of himself, making himself seem stupider than he is is actually a pretty good survival strategy. Ivan's the master at not getting into trouble or, if he does stumble, sliding sideways out of it. His goal is to get laid a lot, have some fun, advance in his career as much as necessary, stay out of the spotlight, and generally maintain a peaceful, easy life. Pity for him, then, that he's related to Miles, because he’s forever getting drawn into Miles’ schemes.
Gregor Vorbarra Note the surname. Gregor is the current Emperor of Barrayar. He has been since he was orphaned at five; Aral was his Regent and held the empire together until he was ready to rule. Cordelia served as his foster mother; her offworlder’s perspective shines through in Gregor. Even after he was nominally ready to rule, he wasn't sure he wanted to, but he is very, very good at it.
Duv Galeni was born David Galen, shortly before Komarr was conquered. His aunt was killed in the Massacre, and his father became a terrorist, using young David as an operative. After Galen Sr was believed killed by one of his own bombs, David was finally free and decided that terrorist violence was no better than a conqueror’s violence. He became a history professor, and once the Imperial Service (the military) was open to Komarrans he was one of the first to enlist, in order to better work for integration between Barrayarans and Komarrans. (The military being one of the most important institutions on Barrayar, and one of the most profound sources of social change.) He changed his name to a more Barrayaran form to make life easier.
Mark Vorkosigan is Miles’ clone (brother!) born six years after Miles was. He was the product of a Komarran plot by Duv Galeni’s father to replace Miles, create a coup, and incite a Barrayaran civil war, to give Komarr space for a revolt. Because Miles’ physical deformities are not genetic, Mark had lots of really unpleasant medical treatments from childhood onward to make him look like Miles. He also underwent a lot of really nasty emotional, mental, and other physical abuse. Eventually he escaped and was welcomed into the Vorkosigan family with open arms. He’s spent a lot of time on Beta Colony going to school and getting therapy for his various problems, and he is most emphatically not interested in the military—that’s Miles’ dream. Mark is a very successful businessman.
Ekaterin Nile Vorvayne Vorsoisson Vorkosigan. Ekaterin was born a Vor, but low Vor; in other words, not anywhere near the social class of the Vorkosigans. The traditional duty of a Vor woman is to marry and bear sons, so she married young. Unfortunately, her husband turned out to be emotionally abusive and slightly unstable, and the marriage was hellish for Ekaterin, who tried to tough it out because it was the honorable thing to do. We meet Ekaterin as her first marriage is crumbling, and as she is learning to be strong and stand on her own two feet (and boy, does she ever!). Ekaterin’s arc is all about her growth as a person—in self-confidence, in education, in skill, in just about all the ways a person can grow. Miles falls in love with her the minute he meets her; it takes her a bit longer (and even longer than that to heal enough to be willing to think about marriage again), but eventually the two end up together. Ekaterin has a son from her first marriage, Nikolai Vorsoisson.
Bujold likes to explore technology, and the way it affects people, and the way different cultures respond to the same technology. She tends to handwave the “hard” science bits; don’t ask for specs or plausibility on ship propulsion systems, though her Welding Engineering stuff in Falling Free is pretty good and she does pay at least some attention to radio lag time across the vastness of space. Where she shines, however, is in the realm of biotechnology, and though the major pieces of technology were in place when she started writing almost thirty years ago now, they are still plausible and relevant. Her handling of the issues surrounding them, such as cloning, is delicate and realistic and a lot of the discussion surrounding such ideas in the real world would probably be better informed and more ethical were the people involved to read some of her books.
Uterine replicators are just what they sound like—artificial wombs in which babies can be grown. Most commonly, doctors take genetic samples of the two parents, screen for diseases and such, create an embryo, implant it in the uterine replicator, and nine months later you take out a baby. Not all people choose to use them, for various reasons; some women still have “body births.” But if there is a medical emergency, and a pregnant woman can no longer carry her baby, the baby can be transferred to a uterine replicator to be carried to term there. This technology also lends itself to use in genetic manipulation, which various cultures in the Vorkosiverse do for a variety of reasons.
Cloning is relatively simple, though not common for whole people; on Jackson’s Whole, cloning is used to grow bodies for elderly rich people to have their brains transplanted into so they can be young again—thus killing the clone, of course, when its own brain is taken out and discarded, to be replaced by the rich person’s. (This is only one of the many reasons why Jacksonians are considered the scum of the universe.) More commonly, it’s used to grow meat to eat; pieces of animal tissue, instead of a whole animal. It’s also used to grow replacement organs; if you need a new heart, a clone of your own heart is grown for you, so there’s no danger of rejection.
Cryochambers are devices in which a person who dies can be frozen for later revival. It is a complicated process, though it can be done as emergency first-aid to save someone who can be fixed but not with the immediate resources at hand. Reviving someone who’s been frozen is an even more complicated process, and depending on a variety of factors (how much damage there was to begin with, how good the croyprep was) is sometimes extremely successful and sometimes less so.
Vorkosiverse FAQ
Lois Mcmaster Bujold Mailing list
The Dendarii Nexus, the official site
An essay by LMB about fanfic
Interview with LMB by S. Lewis
Meta in English and Russian by various authors
Wiki articles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorkosigan_Saga
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Vorkosigan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_McMaster_Bujold
Galactic Tourist Bureau
LMB Fan Art
The Bujold Nexus - Merchandise, Filk, FanFic, FanArt, Book Covers inspired by LMB’s books
More fan art
There is a great deal of gen written in this fandom, plus some het stories, mainly because much of what has been written focuses on filling in some blanks in the novels. LMB often gives one or two sentences that hint at some fascinating background material, and a lot of writers have worked on filling that in (such as the story about Ivan/Miles/Elena finding a tank,quietann ’s story about how and what Gregor finds out about his father, a story about Aral and his first wife, who died by suicide, and so forth.) There is still a lot to be written in this fandom, and it would be wonderful if interest in the Vorkosigan 'verse grew.
The major divide in pairings in Vorkosiverse fic is not slash/het, but rather canon compliant/compatible or not. And then there's Miles/Bel, which is neither slash nor het because Bel is a Betan hermaphrodite.
The major slash pairings:
Gregor/Miles
Ivan/Dono; Ivan/Byerly; Dono/Byerly (These pairings are grouped together because the three characters tend to appear together in fanfic.)
Aral/Simon
Aral/Ges; Ges/Serg
Major het pairings:
Aral/Cordelia
Miles/Ekaterin
Miles/Elli
Miles/Taura
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bujold_fic (For stories and art, including ficathons, not discussion)
2010 Fest Master List: http://community.livejournal.com/bujold_fic/164072.html
2011 Winterfair Master List: http://community.livejournal.com/bujold_fic/239028.html
lmbujold (For discussion)
Vorkosigan Saga's section at AO3
Yuletide Treasure Archive:
http://yuletidetreasure.org/archive/fandom_lois_mcmaster_bujold__vorkosigan_series.html
Search results on FanFiction.net
Crossovers
Crack Van crossover rec for Ekphugion by Shaye/fourteenlines (Battlestar Galactica/Vorkosigan)
Crack Van crossover rec for Refuge by Elizabeth Ann Lewis/lizbetann (Firefly/Vorkosigan)
Crack Van crossover rec for Creeping Ambition by Mara Greengrass/marag (Firefly/Vorkosigan)
Crack Van crossover rec for Marks and Scars Series by E.H. Smith (Harry Potter/Vorkosigan)
Crack Van crossover rec for Time Shall Not Mend by A.J. Hall/ajhalluk (Harry Potter/Vorkosigan)
More Vorkosigan Universe Recs in the Crack Van Memories index
There is an active Russian fandom. The main slash archive is http://barrayar.slashfiction.ru/. However, the Cyrillic encoding there is nonstandard, so people might have trouble with it. It hasn't been updated in a little over a year.
Current fandom activity is centered on jetta-e's journal (http://www.diary.ru/~jetta-e/).
The most prominent work in the Russian fandom is probably the slash novel "Победивший платит" (http://barrayar.slashfiction.ru/pp.htm or http://barrayar.slashfiction.ru/pp.zip), set just after the First Cetagandan War, in the Cetagandan Empire, starring OCs.
For people interested in reading translations of Russian fic into English, there's a good selection on the Winterfair master list. Some other translations have been done as well.
thefourthvine and quietann. My contribution was as editor and supplier of Web links. My collaborators graciously did the heavy lifting. I apologize to them if I changed their comments too much as I merged their writings. Further changes were made by beatrice_otter in 2011. The Vorkosigan Universe
The Vorkosigan chronicles are space opera—but space opera with a twist. Lois McMaster Bujold, the author, is quite adept at drawing from and blending a variety of genres: comedy, tragedy, romance, mystery, adventure, coming-of-age, military SF, you name it, you’ll find it somewhere in the series. Bujold is a woman of wit and intelligence, and a sharp knowledge of human nature; her works are character-centered, full of vibrant and real-seeming people and places. You can read her works as adventure novels, and enjoy them immensely; they function equally as well on the “literary” level, with deeply moving and relevant themes and some of the most beautiful prose I’ve ever seen. Also, her explorations of biotechnology and its implications are well-thought-out and get more relevant with time, not less, which is something few SF writers can say about their technology.So, really, why not give one of the books a try, because the publisher has made most of them available for free in ebook format (Cryoburn CD 2010 - the entire works except Memory). Many people start with Warrior's Apprentice, the first book about Miles, but if you're mostly a romance novel reader, you'll want to start with Shards of Honor, which is the story of how Miles’ parents met. Slash fans might enjoy Ethan of Athos, which features m/m relationships on an all-male world.
If people are interested in checking out Lois McMaster Bujold's writing, it is worth noting that one of her novellas is available free online: "The Mountains of Mourning" (plus one can download Cryoburn CD 2010 - the entire works (except Memory) free online). "The Mountains of Mourning" in particular is an excellent introduction to the series--it is set fairly early in the timeline and Raveninthewind thinks it gives a sense of what Miles, arguably the main focus of the Vorkosigan series as a whole, is about (although it's very light on the spaceships and military fleets because it is set in a rural planetary backwater).
The Planets
The Vorkosigan universe is based around a little corner of the universe occupied mostly by three major planetary human cultures, with a lot of little ones to fill in the gaps. No aliens in this universe! (Note that Baen is republishing the books as compendia, so people should be careful not to assume that there are more books than actually exist. You can order the books here, but most bookstores carry the titles.)Barrayar It's sort of like a bunch of pre-Communism Russians got dumped on a distant planet and then spent the next two hundred years fighting each other. They had no contact with the rest of the galaxy because the wormhole they came through collapsed, and they didn’t have all the people and technology they needed to be self-sufficient with technology, so they devolved to a horse and sword level of technology. The other three ethnic groups are the French, English, and Greeks (“greekie hicks”), and there are definitely cultural and socioeconomic differences between groups. Barrayar is ruled by an Emperor, and a military caste who form a nobility (the Vor); it’s a very feudal political system. Within the last three generations a civilian bureaucracy (the Ministries) was added, which is open to non-Vor. It's an intensely military culture - all little boys want to grow up to be soldiers. There doesn’t seem to be much religion on Barrayar besides ancestor worship. While the Barrayarans have many prejudices - they're sexist, racist, class-bound, etc. - they reserve their big hatred for mutants, because of some little experiments they did with nuclear bombs over those two hundred years of war. This mutant phobia will become more important later.
(There was a discussion on the Bujold mailing list recently about whether the mutations came from the use of nuclear weapons, or severe inbreeding amongst the Firsters (a large number of whom would have perished at the start of the Time of Isolation. The nuclear weapons are relatively recent: ~60 to 70 years before Miles’ birth, and members of the mailing list debated whether that was enough time for this fear of mutants and all the surrounding ritual to arise. There are also references to the Vor marrying close cousins and so forth during the Time of Isolation. The list conclusion was that inbreeding was as much of an issue as anything. Bujold herself has implied that it may have something to do, also, with radiation the First Settlers received when the wormhole that brought them to Barrayar died a fiery death.)
Komarr A formerly independent planet that Barrayar captured. The Barrayarans would say that was totally justified; Komarr is the only way from Barrayar to the rest of the known worlds, and the Komarrans let the Cetagandans pass through when they were on their (ultimately unsuccessful) way to take over Barrayar. The native Komarrans think otherwise, and are inclined to rebellions and plotting, both overt and secret, against Barrayar. However, cross-marriage (by the end of the series) is diminishing the barriers between Komarrans and Barrayarans.
Beta Colony Think California, but taken to an extreme. This is the land of technology and freedom, or at least civil rights (except reproductive rights and, under certain circumstances, mental health rights); Betans have an inherent belief that all persons are created equal, and they don't (or aren't supposed to) have castes or inherited positions of any kind. They’re also very firm believers in the efficacy of therapy to resolve mental health issues; and sometimes, they help you whether you want to be helped or not … It's a desert planet, so, without much in the way of local resources, Beta Colony depends mostly on its research and development department; they tend not to get involved in wars if they can help it, but they'll happily sell all parties their third-latest military tech. (They keep the best stuff for themselves.) There’s also a third sex on Beta Colony, hermaphrodites, whose existence is disturbing for a number of non-Betans.
Cetaganda The Big Bads for Barrayarans. Barrayar was completely cut off from all other planets during the Time of Isolation because their one and only wormhole vanished, and then when another wormhole opened, the Cetagandans took advantage of Barrayar’s relative weakness and invaded. Barrayar kicked the bastards out and rebuilt, and now Cetaganda serves mostly as a deus ex machina - they're a genocracy, with rule through superior genetics, and they do a heck of a lot of genetic manipulation. The results of some of their experiments are running around the 'verse. They have a military caste like the Barrayarans do, and that eventually forms a basis for a wary mutual respect. The haut (the genetic manipulators) are the rulers of Cetaganda, with the ghem (the military caste) as their subordinates, and everyone else as strictly third-class citizens.
Jackson's Whole Think of it like pirates smugglers mad scientists mercenaries. You can get anything you want somewhere on this planet, provided you can pay for it.
Other planets of less importance (that is, important in only one or two of the books) include Escobar, Sergyar, Pol, Vervain, and Athos, plus others. Quaddies are people who are genetically engineered to be adapted to zero-g; they live in an asteroid belt in their own system.
The Characters
~Spoiler warning~
(Roughly in order of appearance, and just the major ones.)
Cordelia Naismith Cordelia was born on Beta Colony and captained a research spaceship; during the course of her research, she ran into Aral Vorkosigan. A long hike later, they were in love, but it took another war, an unfortunate incident with a sadist, and several daring escapes for them to get together. They've been happily married on Barrayar, ever since, even when larger events caused a little too much excitement to call their life peaceful. Cordelia’s Betan ways have had a profound influence on Barrayaran society,
Aral Vorkosigan Aral is a high-ranking Vor (a count and an admiral) who ruled as Regent while the latest Emperor was underage. He's also a military genius. He's intelligent, honorable, and conflicted in the best romantic hero way, and he was the main love interest in the first two books. Mary Sue? No. He's a compelling, balanced character with a vicious temper when driven to extremes. Characterization is Bujold's major strength as a writer. Aral is canonically bisexual, with an attraction to soldiers, which sucked for him until he encountered a female enemy soldier. His sexual orientation is also a problem because it’s not acceptable in the Barrayaran culture, but is nice for slash writers. He is also, due to his role in the conquest of Komarr (and one of his subordinates’ deciding to massacre the leadership of Komarr after they surrendered) known throughout the galaxy as the Butcher of Komarr, because very few people believe him when he says he didn’t order the massacre.
Serg Vorbarra is the son of Emperor Ezar and father of Emperor Gregor. He died before ascending the throne, which is a blessing since he was a vile, sadistic bastard who surrounded himself with people whose goal in life was power through any means possible, including encouraging him in ever worse atrocities. After his death and the death of his faction in the attempted conquest of Escobar, Serg quietly became a topic that No One Spoke About. He only appeared in one scene, in canon, but he casts a long shadow.
Alys Vorpatril Lady Alys is the widow of Aral’s only surviving cousin, Lord Padma Vorpatril, and the mother of Lord Ivan Vorpatril. She is the arbiter of good taste and propriety on Barrayar, serving as Gregor’s social hostess for virtually all of his reign and as Cordelia’s advisor on Barrayaran culture and mores. She is sharply intelligent and allied to Aral and Cordelia’s progressive agenda, though generally far more conservative. Her political and social influence among the High Vor cannot be overstated, though (as a woman) she holds no formal position and most Vor Lords consistently underestimate her.
Simon Illyan is the head of ImpSec, Imperial Security, the Barrayaran Empire’s military secret police. He had a computer chip implanted in his head as a young man which gave him perfect recall of anything he saw or heard. He is intensely loyal to both Aral and Gregor, and had no personal life at all for the years he was head of ImpSec. After he retired, he and Lady Alys became lovers.
Miles Vorkosigan Cordelia and Aral's only child. Sort of. (It's a complicated universe, okay?) Cordelia was the victim of a terrorist attack when she was pregnant, so Miles was born dwarfed, with incredibly brittle bones that break if you look at them funny. This is not such a joy for him, living on Barrayar and all, since he looks like a mutant. Miles is also brilliant, and in his youth was prey to wild schemes which he then had to salvage by wit and fast-talking alone. If he ever had a mental health evaluation he would probably be classed as bipolar; he’s a bundle of fun on the upswing, but watch out on the down. (He does calm down over time.) His first bout of wit and fast-talking brought the Dendarii Mercenaries into existence (and Miles, of course, is their leader, as Admiral Naismith); most of his adventures in his twenties come in the company of the Dendarii, who, to everyone's surprise, grow and thrive (with a few, um, setbacks) with or without Naismith. The later books find Miles coming to terms with his Barrayaran identity and duties.
Ivan Vorpatril Miles's cousin. Ivan is, in appearance, the Perfect Vor lord: tall, dark, handsome, and wearing a military uniform. Aral calls him "That Idiot Ivan," which is kind of unfair; Ivan just looks dumb compared to Miles, and considering the plots and counter-plots swirling around the society he lives in, and his mother’s pressure to marry, have kids, and make something of himself, making himself seem stupider than he is is actually a pretty good survival strategy. Ivan's the master at not getting into trouble or, if he does stumble, sliding sideways out of it. His goal is to get laid a lot, have some fun, advance in his career as much as necessary, stay out of the spotlight, and generally maintain a peaceful, easy life. Pity for him, then, that he's related to Miles, because he’s forever getting drawn into Miles’ schemes.
Gregor Vorbarra Note the surname. Gregor is the current Emperor of Barrayar. He has been since he was orphaned at five; Aral was his Regent and held the empire together until he was ready to rule. Cordelia served as his foster mother; her offworlder’s perspective shines through in Gregor. Even after he was nominally ready to rule, he wasn't sure he wanted to, but he is very, very good at it.
Duv Galeni was born David Galen, shortly before Komarr was conquered. His aunt was killed in the Massacre, and his father became a terrorist, using young David as an operative. After Galen Sr was believed killed by one of his own bombs, David was finally free and decided that terrorist violence was no better than a conqueror’s violence. He became a history professor, and once the Imperial Service (the military) was open to Komarrans he was one of the first to enlist, in order to better work for integration between Barrayarans and Komarrans. (The military being one of the most important institutions on Barrayar, and one of the most profound sources of social change.) He changed his name to a more Barrayaran form to make life easier.
Mark Vorkosigan is Miles’ clone (brother!) born six years after Miles was. He was the product of a Komarran plot by Duv Galeni’s father to replace Miles, create a coup, and incite a Barrayaran civil war, to give Komarr space for a revolt. Because Miles’ physical deformities are not genetic, Mark had lots of really unpleasant medical treatments from childhood onward to make him look like Miles. He also underwent a lot of really nasty emotional, mental, and other physical abuse. Eventually he escaped and was welcomed into the Vorkosigan family with open arms. He’s spent a lot of time on Beta Colony going to school and getting therapy for his various problems, and he is most emphatically not interested in the military—that’s Miles’ dream. Mark is a very successful businessman.
Ekaterin Nile Vorvayne Vorsoisson Vorkosigan. Ekaterin was born a Vor, but low Vor; in other words, not anywhere near the social class of the Vorkosigans. The traditional duty of a Vor woman is to marry and bear sons, so she married young. Unfortunately, her husband turned out to be emotionally abusive and slightly unstable, and the marriage was hellish for Ekaterin, who tried to tough it out because it was the honorable thing to do. We meet Ekaterin as her first marriage is crumbling, and as she is learning to be strong and stand on her own two feet (and boy, does she ever!). Ekaterin’s arc is all about her growth as a person—in self-confidence, in education, in skill, in just about all the ways a person can grow. Miles falls in love with her the minute he meets her; it takes her a bit longer (and even longer than that to heal enough to be willing to think about marriage again), but eventually the two end up together. Ekaterin has a son from her first marriage, Nikolai Vorsoisson.
Technology in the Vorkosiverse
Bujold likes to explore technology, and the way it affects people, and the way different cultures respond to the same technology. She tends to handwave the “hard” science bits; don’t ask for specs or plausibility on ship propulsion systems, though her Welding Engineering stuff in Falling Free is pretty good and she does pay at least some attention to radio lag time across the vastness of space. Where she shines, however, is in the realm of biotechnology, and though the major pieces of technology were in place when she started writing almost thirty years ago now, they are still plausible and relevant. Her handling of the issues surrounding them, such as cloning, is delicate and realistic and a lot of the discussion surrounding such ideas in the real world would probably be better informed and more ethical were the people involved to read some of her books.
Uterine replicators are just what they sound like—artificial wombs in which babies can be grown. Most commonly, doctors take genetic samples of the two parents, screen for diseases and such, create an embryo, implant it in the uterine replicator, and nine months later you take out a baby. Not all people choose to use them, for various reasons; some women still have “body births.” But if there is a medical emergency, and a pregnant woman can no longer carry her baby, the baby can be transferred to a uterine replicator to be carried to term there. This technology also lends itself to use in genetic manipulation, which various cultures in the Vorkosiverse do for a variety of reasons.
Cloning is relatively simple, though not common for whole people; on Jackson’s Whole, cloning is used to grow bodies for elderly rich people to have their brains transplanted into so they can be young again—thus killing the clone, of course, when its own brain is taken out and discarded, to be replaced by the rich person’s. (This is only one of the many reasons why Jacksonians are considered the scum of the universe.) More commonly, it’s used to grow meat to eat; pieces of animal tissue, instead of a whole animal. It’s also used to grow replacement organs; if you need a new heart, a clone of your own heart is grown for you, so there’s no danger of rejection.
Cryochambers are devices in which a person who dies can be frozen for later revival. It is a complicated process, though it can be done as emergency first-aid to save someone who can be fixed but not with the immediate resources at hand. Reviving someone who’s been frozen is an even more complicated process, and depending on a variety of factors (how much damage there was to begin with, how good the croyprep was) is sometimes extremely successful and sometimes less so.
The Plot Thus Far
This is a series that has more than a dozen novels/novellas in it so far. It'd be a challenge to summarize even one of them, but encapsulating the whole sweep of the ‘verse is pretty much beyond us. To start off, then, we are going to swipe the timeline that Bujold thoughtfully provides at the back of her books; note that spoilers will abound here.| Chronology | Events | Chronicle |
| Approx. 200 years before Miles' birth | Quaddies are created by genetic engineering. | Falling Free |
| During Beta-Barrayaran War | Cordelia Naismith meets Lord Aral Vorkosigan while on opposite sides of a war. Despite difficulties, they fall in love and are married. | Shards of Honor |
| the Vordarian Pretendership | While Cordelia is pregnant, an attempt to assassinate Aral by poison gas fails, but Cordelia is affected; Miles Vorkosigan is born with bones that will always be brittle and other medical problems. His growth will be stunted. And Cordelia ends the Pretendership rather dramatically. | Barrayar |
| Miles is 17 | Miles fails to pass physical test to get into the Service Academy. On a trip, necessities force him to improvise the Free Dendarii Mercenaries into existence; he has unintended but unavoidable adventures for four months. Leaves the Dendarii in Ky Tung's competent hands and takes Elli Quinn to Beta for rebuilding her damaged face; returns to Barrayar to thwart plot against his father. Emperor Gregor pulls strings to get Miles into the Academy. | The Warrior's Apprentice |
| Miles is 20 | Ensign Miles graduates and immediately has to take on one of the duties of the Barrayaran nobility and act as detective and judge in a murder case. Shortly afterwards, his first military assignment ends with his arrest. Miles has to rejoin the Dendarii to rescue the young Barrayaran emperor. Emperor Gregor accepts Dendarii as his personal secret service force. | "The Mountains of Mourning" in Borders of Infinity The Vor Game |
| Miles is 22 | Miles and his cousin Ivan attend a Cetagandan state funeral and are caught up in Cetagandan internal politics. | Cetaganda |
| Miles sends Commander Elli Quinn on a solo mission to Kline Station. | Ethan of Athos | |
| Miles is 23 | Now a Barrayaran lieutenant, Miles goes with the Dendarii to smuggle a scientist out of Jackson's Whole. Miles's fragile leg bones have been replaced with synthetics. | "Labyrinth" in Borders of Infinity |
| Miles is 24 | Miles plots from within a Cetagandan prison camp on Dagoola IV to free the prisoners. The Dendarii fleet is pursued by the Cetagandans and finally reaches Earth for repairs. Miles has to juggle both his identities at once, raise money for repairs, and defeat a plot to replace him with a double. Ky Tung stays on Earth. Commander Elli Quinn is now Miles's right-hand officer. Miles and the Dendarii depart for Sector IV on a rescue mission. | "The Borders of Infinity" in Borders of Infinity Brothers in Arms |
| Miles is 25 | Hospitalized after a previous mission, Miles's broken arms are replaced by synthetic bones. With Simon Illyan, Miles undoes yet another plot against his father while flat on his back. | Borders of Infinity |
| Miles is 28 | Miles meets his clone brother Mark again, this time on Jackson's Whole. | Mirror Dance |
| Miles is 29 | Miles hits thirty; thirty hits back. Miles is cashiered from ImpSec for cause, investigates an attack on Simon Illyan, and is appointed an Imperial Auditor. | Memory |
| Miles is 30 | Emperor Gregor dispatches Miles to Komarr to investigate a space accident, where he finds old politics and new technology make a deadly mix. | Komarr |
| Miles is 31 | Armsman Roic and Sergeant Taura defeat a plot to unhinge Miles and Ekaterin's midwinter wedding. | "Winterfair Gifts" in Irresistible Forces |
| Miles is 32 | Miles and Ekaterin's honeymoon journey is interrupted by an Auditorial mission to Quaddiespace, where they encounter old friends, new enemies, and a double handful of intrigue. | Diplomatic Immunity |
| Miles is 39 | Miles and Roic go to Kibou-daini. | Cryoburn |
Fandom Information
A multiple winner of Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards, Bujold (familiarly known as LMB to fans) is friendly towards fanfic, but she has to ignore fanfic written in her worlds, for legal reasons.Vorkosiverse FAQ
Lois Mcmaster Bujold Mailing list
The Dendarii Nexus, the official site
An essay by LMB about fanfic
Interview with LMB by S. Lewis
Meta in English and Russian by various authors
Wiki articles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorkosigan_Saga
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Vorkosigan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_McMaster_Bujold
Galactic Tourist Bureau
LMB Fan Art
The Bujold Nexus - Merchandise, Filk, FanFic, FanArt, Book Covers inspired by LMB’s books
More fan art
About the fanfic
There is a great deal of gen written in this fandom, plus some het stories, mainly because much of what has been written focuses on filling in some blanks in the novels. LMB often gives one or two sentences that hint at some fascinating background material, and a lot of writers have worked on filling that in (such as the story about Ivan/Miles/Elena finding a tank,
quietann ’s story about how and what Gregor finds out about his father, a story about Aral and his first wife, who died by suicide, and so forth.) There is still a lot to be written in this fandom, and it would be wonderful if interest in the Vorkosigan 'verse grew.The major divide in pairings in Vorkosiverse fic is not slash/het, but rather canon compliant/compatible or not. And then there's Miles/Bel, which is neither slash nor het because Bel is a Betan hermaphrodite.
The major slash pairings:
Gregor/Miles
Ivan/Dono; Ivan/Byerly; Dono/Byerly (These pairings are grouped together because the three characters tend to appear together in fanfic.)
Aral/Simon
Aral/Ges; Ges/Serg
Major het pairings:
Aral/Cordelia
Miles/Ekaterin
Miles/Elli
Miles/Taura
bujold_fic (For stories and art, including ficathons, not discussion)2010 Fest Master List: http://community.livejournal.com/bujold_fic/164072.html
2011 Winterfair Master List: http://community.livejournal.com/bujold_fic/239028.html
lmbujold (For discussion)Vorkosigan Saga's section at AO3
Yuletide Treasure Archive:
http://yuletidetreasure.org/archive/fandom_lois_mcmaster_bujold__vorkosigan_series.html
Search results on FanFiction.net
Crossovers
Crack Van crossover rec for Ekphugion by Shaye/
fourteenlines (Battlestar Galactica/Vorkosigan)Crack Van crossover rec for Refuge by Elizabeth Ann Lewis/
lizbetann (Firefly/Vorkosigan) Crack Van crossover rec for Creeping Ambition by Mara Greengrass/
marag (Firefly/Vorkosigan) Crack Van crossover rec for Marks and Scars Series by E.H. Smith (Harry Potter/Vorkosigan)
Crack Van crossover rec for Time Shall Not Mend by A.J. Hall/
ajhalluk (Harry Potter/Vorkosigan) More Vorkosigan Universe Recs in the Crack Van Memories index
Russian Fandom links:
There is an active Russian fandom. The main slash archive is http://barrayar.slashfiction.ru/. However, the Cyrillic encoding there is nonstandard, so people might have trouble with it. It hasn't been updated in a little over a year.
Current fandom activity is centered on jetta-e's journal (http://www.diary.ru/~jetta-e/).
The most prominent work in the Russian fandom is probably the slash novel "Победивший платит" (http://barrayar.slashfiction.ru/pp.htm or http://barrayar.slashfiction.ru/pp.zip), set just after the First Cetagandan War, in the Cetagandan Empire, starring OCs.
For people interested in reading translations of Russian fic into English, there's a good selection on the Winterfair master list. Some other translations have been done as well.