Today is all about the Vorkosigan Saga, the ongoing book series written by Lois McMaster Bujold.

The Saga was first published in 1986 and features the character Miles Vorkosigan and his parents. Though described as a space opera, the books are said to incorporate a myriad of genres like comedy, tragedy, romance, mystery, and adventure.

A fic rec post from 2011 praises Bujold for creating character-centered works that function well on the literary level with deeply moving and relevant themes and “some of the most beautiful prose I’ve ever seen.”

The fandom was nominated and accepted into Yuletide until 2010, when the number of extant fics had grown too large for it to be considered a “rare” fandom (a decision that has since been reversed). This led to the fandom making their own gift exchange and creating “Winterfair”, an exchange that integrated the English and Russian language sides of the fandom into one event.

The saga has a huge following within the Russian community, but not a lot of information on its page. Check out Fanlore, where we’re looking for help to expand the page with international and/or non-English perspectives!

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For those unfamiliar, @fandomtrumpshate is a fandom charity auction that attempts to counteract some of the harms of the current presidential administration. (And lord knows there's a lot of harm to redress!)

I'm offering Vorkosigan fic!

I'm offering shipping and gen for the parental generation. Aral, Cordelia, Jole, Bothari, Illyan, Alys, Ges Vorrutyer, and/or Count Vorhalas, in any combination. Please inquire if you'd like to see one of that group with someone not listed.

Supported causes include trans rights, disability rights, immigrant rights, voting rights, libraries, Gaza, and more. Please see the complete list of supported organizations, including which nonprofits accept international donations.

$15 minimum bid for 2K words $50 minimum bid for 7K words

Sanguinity's auction listing

Bidding opens Tuesday March 3rd, and closes Saturday March 7th.

If there's a particular story you've been hoping to see from me, please consider bidding! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions; my email is on the listing, but I'm also happy to answer replies, asks, and dms here on tumblr.

Signal boosts are very much appreciated!

Thanks so much for asking! Genuinely, you can read this series in mostly any order and it would be fine. The publication order is wildly unchronological. I started with Memory of all places and while that's not optimal at all, it was still fine. That does mean that post-Naismith Miles is rather a lot more real to me though. If you absolutely can't stand Warrior's Apprentice, try Shards of Honor.

Sword's Bespoke Vorkosigan Saga Reading Order Recommendation

The Warrior’s Apprentice The Vor Game Cetaganda Ethan of Athos Borders of Infinity (Makes sure to get the novel version, not just the short story) Brothers in Arms Mirror Dance Memory Shards of Honor Barrayar Komarr A Civil Campaign “Winterfair Gifts” Falling Free Diplomatic Immunity Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance “The Flowers of Vashnoi” CryoBurn Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen

This reading order is mostly chronological with a few exceptions. The vast majority of the series is about Miles Vorkosigan, and I think it's good to meet the little shit at his shittiest right off the bat. I'm burying the lede with this ordering, and making you wait for my absolute favorite moment in any book ever. But it's worth it to watch him grow.

Shards of Honor and Barrayar are prequels to The Warrior's Apprentice and are about how his parents met and ended a couple wars together. Waiting to read these nicely follows Miles' youthful solipsism giving way to a more mature understanding of his parents as actual human beings instead of impossible towering examples of perfection to imulate. This will also make all the severed heads jokes in A Civil Campaign land nice and hard. They are deeply messy and profoundly driven people. Captain Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan is The Character of all time for me. Miles, especially young Miles, pales in comparison. He truly can't live up to her glory, but he does get close a few times. Let him shine on his own a bit before you see what he's trying to live up to.

Falling Free takes place 300 years before the main series, and is about the founding of a space colony for a group of people who were bioengineered to live in freefall. We meet one of these people in The Borders of Infinity and then follow her home decades later in Diplomatic Immunity. I think it's better to be as ignorant of her history as the pov characters for that first meeting, and as aware of her people's rich history and unique perspective as possible for that second encounter.

Gonna tag @vocifersaurus on this because she will vocally disagree with me and offer another perspective.

more life advice from ultimate daddy Aral Vorkosigan the man that you are

I often read fics that are in fandoms foreign to me with the help of TV Tropes - I do not know if that's a viable option for this one.

But the story! The story is so gooooooooood!

The opening, which is one of my favourite openings ever:

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The less said about the Vormercier debriefing, the better. Of course, Byerly Vorrutyer wasn’t really a man of few words, so he would have told you about it in a fair amount of detail anyway.

He’d been arrested at the shuttleport – which he’d expected, since that was a standard ruse for getting undercover operatives into ImpSec discreetly. You could generally tell whether your handler was in a good mood by how gently, or not, the arresting officers handled you. Captain Eugene McSorley, it seemed, was pissed.

“McSorley, my love, I know you couldn’t wait to get the cuffs on me again, but don’t you think they’re a little intimate for shuttleport wear?”

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Also Chapter 7 is titled "The Disadvantages of Fast-Penta as a Party Drug". Fast-penta is the in-universe truth serum. Disadvantages include Shakespeare quotes. It's fantastic.

- Lois McMaster Bujold, Shards of Honor