#bujold

it's like Game of Thrones meets Star Trek meets The Expanse meets Regency romance. it's incredible.

if you haven't heard of this AMAZING series by Lois McMaster Bujold, run don't walk and go read it immediately!!!!

also, fun fact, Lois Bujold got her start writing fanfic for Star Trek fanzines, which REALLY makes sense when you look at the content of her writing lol

the series wasn't written chronologically but it's definitely best to read it chronologically with one exception (which is to read Falling Free before Diplomatic Immunity).

here's my personal preferred reading order (with some notes):

Shards of Honor - 1986 start here! this book is about 33-year-old Cordelia, an astrocartographer from Beta Colony (Star Trek commie soyboy planet), and how she meets and falls in love with 44-year-old Aral Vorkosigan, a general from Barrayar (military aristocracy feudalism planet)

Barrayar - 1991 continues the story of Cordelia and Aral's romance, with many complications

The Warrior’s Apprentice - 1986 from this book onwards, the protagonist of the series shifts to Miles, Cordelia and Aral's disabled son. I was bracing myself for this switch because I was so attached to Cordelia, but 17-year-old Miles immediately jumps off the page here and quickly became one of my all time favorite literary characters. he's a disabled nepo baby from an extremely prejudiced and ableist society who may or may not have inspired Tyrion Lannister. he's incredible, character of all time, no notes

The Mountains of Mourning (novella) - 1989 this one is a novella that is part of The Borders of Infinity, which is a framing device for 3 novellas. the framing part of the book is set after Brothers in Arms, but I recommend reading each individual novella as it falls chronologically and then going back and reading the framing sections later

The Vor Game - 1990 Miles is 20 now

Cetaganda - 1995 a fun murder mystery starring 22-year-old Miles

Ethan of Athos - 1986 this book is somewhat of a detour because Miles isn't in it, but it heavily features a character who later becomes his girlfriend. it's set concurrently to Cetaganda

Labyrinth (novella) - 1989 another novella from Borders of Infinity which introduces Taura, a character who becomes very important to Miles

The Borders of Infinity (novella) - 1987 the final novella from the Borders of Infinity. it goes here chronologically. the framing device is technically set after Brothers in Arms, but it's fine to read here too if you want

Brothers in Arms - 1989 Miles goes to Earth in this one! kudos to Lois for pulling off one of my least favorite plot devices here (a secret clone) and making it an incredible and heart-breaking exploration of identity and character

Mirror Dance - 1994 this book is probably one of the best in the whole series. Lois was really cooking with this one! split POV between Miles and his clone brother, Mark

Memory - 1996 this book is a little quieter than the previous ones, but in a really good way

Komarr - 1998 introduces Miles primary love interest, Ekaterin, and splits POV between her and Miles. they're both 30 here

A Civil Campaign - 1999 this one is like, a classic Shakespearean comedy in terms of structure. apparently it was inspired by Regency romance. it's absolutely incredible and one of my favorites in the series

Winterfair Gifts (short story) - 2004 Miles and Ekaterin's wedding, told from the POV of one of their armsmen. sort of a Christmas special but in a good way!

Falling Free - 1988 another detour. this book is actually set 200 years before the events of the series, but it tells the origin story of the Quaddies and is relevant to Diplomatic Immunity, hence why I suggest reading it here

Diplomatic Immunity - 2002 32-year-old Miles and his wife untangle a diplomatic crisis with the Quaddies

Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance - 2012 told from the POV of Miles' cousin Ivan

The Flowers of Vashnoi (novella) - 2018 a novella about Ekaterin, Miles' wife

Cryoburn - 2010 get ready to WEEP

Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen - 2016 we're back in Cordelia's POV for this one. lots of spicy revelations about her and Aral's marriage (including a space throuple)!!!! we love to see it!!!

I read this series so insanely fast, like I was quite literally blasting through one book a day (each book is around 300 pages so it's not as crazy as it sounds), but that's honestly how good they are.

every single book has at least one moment that made me stop short and really think about my life. I would say the whole series is kind of a meditation on the concept of honor. and also gender issues and disability politics. some of the gender terminology is dated, but the sentiments are extremely forward-thinking, especially considering when these books were largely written. as I mentioned, the main character is disabled, and there are MANY queer and gender non-conforming characters throughout the series!

if you like Ursula LeGuin, you'll probably enjoy these! honestly surprised Bujold isn't as well-known/highly regarded as LeGuin, because imo they're very similar and very comparable!!!

Cetegandan concept sketches

Wanted to try my hand at Cetegandan clothing. Not sure how Gem differs from Haut, though I'm leaning towards Gem being more flamboyant, space-grabbing and structured (left and right) whereas Haut is flowy-er and layered, with some lab attire with a both aesthetic and practical bent.

In general clothing styles try to evoke imagery of flowers, petals, and delicate layering. I'm playing around with incorporating butterfly shapes in the silhouette. (see swallowtail sleeves on far left). While the garments are light and flowy, very little skin is left showing. The clothing style is an elegant synthesis of Grecian drapery and certain elements from historic Japanese, Chinese, and Korean garments. My muse was also inspired to create a similar feeling to some of my favorite Star Wars costume design sketches I've run across. I also really enjoy having folds radiating out from a central point, or folding out like petals above and below a belt/waistline. Will probably do more studies to further explore the variety of ceta styles I've imagined.

tbh i imagine cetagandan womens clothing is actually a bit less colorful. maybe more whites and creams. But I just had fun messin about with butterfly colors

OH HELL YEAH TIME TO CITE THOSE SOURCES! :::

these specific designs pull from and synthesise shapes I found in

Roberto Cappuci Haute Couture 1987 "angel of god" or "Andgelo d'Oro" (angel of gold) depending on which pinterst image I reference

and

this dress by Issa Hesso from the Rebirth Collection

starwars concept art I enjoy:

like fuck me this guys so good

you can find more by searching: iain mccaig padme amidala concept art

overall pretty happy with how these turned out :D! Feel like I successfully captured the space-elf-fairy vibes I was going for. If you notice any cannon clothing details I left out, or have your own creative ideas on how you imagine cetagandan cloting to look, feel free to leave a comment! I love hearing other people's insights :). Particularly curious how ceta clothing may have changed between occupation time period and modern miles-era ceta clothing. Given their heavily artistic bent I could imagine fashions may change wildly year to year decade to decade. But also given how long they live, perhaps the mainstream styles is actually less malleable? If so what are the common themes that are preseved?

I think it's from Barrayar but could be Shards of Honor.

I strongly recommend ALL of Bujold's fiction. She is my very favorite author. She's the one who wrote the Miles Vorkosigan series - I've started a post about those that gets reshared often.

The Penric stories are generally novella length, although at least one is novel length, as most of her earlier works were. The setting of the Penric books, the World of the Five Gods, starts with three novels. The first is Curse of Chalion. They are delightful. But you can also start with the Penric stories themselves. The first is Penric's Demon.

They are all books that I eagerly await, I make loud squeeing noises when I see they're out, I immediately buy the ebook, and whatever else I was reading gets set aside. I reread the whole series now and then, as with all Bujold, there's more delight to be found on reread.