Julie > Status Update

Judging from what I've heard from friends who've read them more recently, Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga is starting to feel increasingly dated. But they (especially the middle books, the whole arc around Mirror Dance and Memory) are still at the apex of the genre for me.

eee, good pick! Vorkosigan's been on my list for ages because people always sing its praises, but I've been deeply stuck on whether to tackle it in publication order, chronological order, or omnibus order. WHY IS READING LIFE SO HAAAARD...

Julie wrote: "I've been deeply stuck on whether to tackle it in publication order, chronological order, or omnibus order."

I think you can start at either Shards of Honor/Barrayar (the omnibus Cordelia's Honor) or The Warrior's Apprentice/The Vor Game (omnibus Young Miles). I started with Warrior's Apprentice and went back to the Cordelia books later, and that worked for me! But in general, I think following Miles' main thread through with internal chronology (not pub order) is best. Spinoffy books like Falling Free and Ethan of Athos can be read whenever.

Also, I guess it depends on how/if she eventually follows it up, but I'd stop before Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen (currently the final book in the series). It's a real let down/bummer, IMO.

Tanya Huff's Valor series (you can also get the first two books in an omnibus called A Confederation of Valor), Rachel Bach's Honor's Knight, Elizabeth Bonesteel's The Cold Between. And if you don't mind YA, Beth Revis' Across the Universe and Phoebe North's Starglass are both generation-ship stories that I adored.

Agreed that Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen was a letdown. I couldn't even finish it.