Miles Vorkosigan
by Lois McMaster Bujold · first published 1999
80% recommend20% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Character-driven space opera with a strong sense of humor and flair. Its protagonist Miles and the series' warmth stand out, making it a good fit for sci-fi that puts characterization first.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Just finished CryoBurn by Lois McMaster Bujold, probably the last in her Miles Vorkosigan series. Any of her works are excellent, but she's (rightfully) best-known for her Miles books.
on “Ask HN: What are you reading right now?” ↗…book, while The Mathematical Experience is the one that mathematicians have. Lots of people gave sci-fi recommends for you. To those I'll add Peter Hamilton's Reality Dysfunction series and Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series. Furthermore if you haven't seen it yet, go to an IMAX and see Hubble 3D. If you ever dreamed of space, you need to see it. Really. For random science fact, I like Jared Diamond. I like virtually…
on “Ask HN: Interesting (Non software) books?” ↗City - Clifford D Simack All of Miles Vorkosigan books by Lois Bujold Downbelow Station by CJ Cherryh Stand in Zanzibar John Bruner Adiamante - LE Modesitt Jr Souls in the Great Machine by Sean McMullen Known Space series by Larry Niven and ALL…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite sci-fi books?” ↗I almost posted this last night. (I was too busy reading it, though.) I get the same feeling of open-mouthed joy from it that I get from any other Miles Vorkosigan story. It's just that this is the first Vorkosigan story I've ever read that had that Vorkosigan flair while not being written by Bujold. And, OK, not being about Miles Vorkosigan. Or so he says. This…
on “Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality - Eliezer Yudkowsky” ↗…The Ethshar books - to parapharse EY, the author creates the world and the characters, then he throws them together and watches what happens. Vorkosigan Saga - if EY's Harry has an inspiration, it's Miles Vorkosigan.
on “Rational fiction” ↗…Ann McCaffrey's Pern books, but those are really fantasies with a thin SF veneer. Getting more modern yet, I agree that characterization is the norm rather than the exception. My favorite is probably Miles Vorkosigan. I have no idea how that series could win so many Hugos and Nebulas and still seem to be relatively unknown.
on “Memorable SF Characters of the Essential Authors” ↗…http://www.webscription.net/ They also include CDs with some p-books that have the complete collection of a given series, which you can download for free here: http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/ (Check out the Miles Vorkosigan series and the Honorverse series, if you're looking for some good reading.) All Tor/Macmillan ebooks are available DRM free from Google, Amazon, and everywhere else they are sold. Where are your favorite…
on “The Danger of E-Books” ↗…to imply it's sf in name only but really fantasy with search & replace. It's a bit hard to pick a single first book to suggest, because while most of the series centers around a particular character Miles Vorkosigan, the first book I would suggest takes place a bit earlier and centers around his parents. And then yet another difficulty is that book is a sequel to another, and it's hard to recommend not reading those…
on “Metals Fuse Together in Space” ↗Science fiction is becoming medical practice. In Lois Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan books, the main character is killed by a grenade to the chest. The emergency medical procedure was to dump the lower-ranking dead body already in the portable body freezer, exsanguinate the corpse by…
on “Gunshot victims to be suspended between life and death” ↗I would think that Kvothe is every bit as flawed as Miles Vorkosigan. They both end up in sticky situations because they're more than just a little arrogant, which results in them biting off more than they can chew. Kvothe is not the best swordsman, he get's beaten up…
on “Sci-Fi Novels You Should Read” ↗