Carmen
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
In Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, where Morozov explains Ivan's relation to the Barrayaran throne*camp stool--can't puzzle out why Prince Xav wasn't next in line for the throne after Emperor Yuri, rather than going over to whatever branch led to Ezar? I know in the past it's been referenced that Salic descent was important for disqualifying Miles, but isn't that related to descent thru Olivia Vorbarra etc?
Lois McMaster Bujold
Xav was a half brother of Yuri, of different mothers. He was born well before Yuri's mother died, Dorca finally married his significant other, and Xav was legitimated. So Xav's legitimacy was always a bit dodgy.
More critically, Mad Yuri had Xav's only son murdered (his daughters survived) so Xav had no successor when Yuri was brought down and they had to figure out a new emperor. He was also old and grieving and very, very tired. Piotr was in a similar state, having just lost his favored heir. The two put their heads together and decided to headhunt Ezar instead of putting too-young Aral in the hot seat.
Good question for historical speculators whether things would have gone differently if Piotr's older son had lived.
Ta, L.
Xav was a half brother of Yuri, of different mothers. He was born well before Yuri's mother died, Dorca finally married his significant other, and Xav was legitimated. So Xav's legitimacy was always a bit dodgy.
More critically, Mad Yuri had Xav's only son murdered (his daughters survived) so Xav had no successor when Yuri was brought down and they had to figure out a new emperor. He was also old and grieving and very, very tired. Piotr was in a similar state, having just lost his favored heir. The two put their heads together and decided to headhunt Ezar instead of putting too-young Aral in the hot seat.
Good question for historical speculators whether things would have gone differently if Piotr's older son had lived.
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
SvetlanaP
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Did you come up with the line "I'll trade you one Mark for the Commodore's 18 million" before or after you named the character himself? It's always been one of my favourite lines in the series because of the coincidence & brilliance needed for it to work, so I've always wondered how much of a coincidence it really was. Either way, thank you for writing books with such awesome & quotable lines!
Allison Strandberg
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I just finished Andrew Roberts' excellent biography of Napoleon. I kept thinking, "This guy sure reminds me of Miles Vorkosigan." I was tickled by one detail: Miles' opinion that a shower is as good as three hours' sleep (from Cryoburn, I think?) is shared by Napoleon, although his quote is about a bath and four hours. I'm curious about the extent to which biographical details about Napoleon inspired Miles.
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