GURPS Vorkosigan PDF released TODAY

[Celjabba]

Good work, as always.

Thanks

Celjabba

[cptbutton]

Originally Posted by philreed

The author of the series approved the map.

If she has ever specifically said there are only two wormhole routes going to Sergyar, I will of course defer to her.

[Jürgen Hubert]

Originally Posted by SCAR

While I have been aware of Vorkosigan since it first appeared on the SJG pages many moons ago, I haven't read any the books.
I'll probably pick up the PDF sometime, but in the meantime if I was to read some of the books,
a) Should I read them in published order, or story chronological order?

I prefer to read them in story chronological order, although the later books are often better. But you are able to appreciate the nuances more if you follow the story.

b) if I was to read only 1 or 2 books, which might best give the feel of the setting?

I recommend reading "Barrayar" for an understanding of the very bloody history the Empire is trying to get away from, and "The Vor Game" for a nice mixture of Barrayaran and Galactic themes, and what happens if they intersect. Plus, Miles does some of his most desperately brilliant improvising in this volume. Not that he gets any less brilliant in later volumes, but then he has a lot more resources to work with. In "The Vor Game", he is mostly bluffing his way through...

[SCAR]

Originally Posted by Jürgen Hubert

I recommend reading "Barrayar" for an understanding of the very bloody history the Empire is trying to get away from, and "The Vor Game" for a nice mixture of Barrayaran and Galactic themes, and what happens if they intersect. Plus, Miles does some of his most desperately brilliant improvising in this volume. Not that he gets any less brilliant in later volumes, but then he has a lot more resources to work with. In "The Vor Game", he is mostly bluffing his way through...

Thanks, "The Vor Game" sounds very interesting, and understanding the history and background can make it much easier to read other books.
After a quick search I note that there are numerous omnibus editions which seem readily available so buying a 'book' can mean getting 2 or 3 stories!

[Jürgen Hubert]

Originally Posted by SCAR

Thanks, "The Vor Game" sounds very interesting, and understanding the history and background can make it much easier to read other books.

"The Vor Game" has some really great scenes.

"I'm not a normal mercenary. I'm being paid by Barrayaran Imperial Security to find and rescue a hostage. On the side I hope to stop a now imminent <fnord> invasion fleet from taking over the Hub. Our second strategic priority will be to hold both sides of the <fnord> wormhole jump and as much else as we can till Barrayaran reinforcements arrive."

"Ah, hostage-rescue does not normally take precedence over fleetwide strategic ops..."

And then there is that ship-to-ship discussion between Miles and <fnord> where he suggests fratricide....



Though my personal favorite books are "Memory", "Komarr", and "A Civil Campaign". But these work better if you know the backstory...

[SCAR]

I have succumbed to the Get yer Vork here! Meme and bought the PDF.
I've only skimmed it, but it looks good, and the custom GURPS Lite and GURPS Spaceships don't just seem like duplication for someone who already has Basic and Spaceships!
I forsee an evening with a comfy seat, my laptop and several mugs of tea.

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by philreed

The author of the series approved the map.

She can't have looked at it closely. For one thing, it does not have Eta Ceta, the planet where the capital of the Cetagandan Empire is located; that's a fairly significant incompleteness. For another, each of the Cetagandan worlds it does have—Rho, Mu, Sigma, and Xi Ceta—is out at the end of a wormhole link (respectively to Komarr, Vervain, Ola III, and Marilac) all by itself, with no other links anywhere; on the map as given it takes a minimum of five wormhole jumps to get from any Cetagandan world to any other. That's a weird setup for an expansionist interstellar empire; it would be comparatively straightforward for anyone objecting to its aggressions to interdict some of those links and isolate its planets from each other.

The simplest inference would be that Eta Ceta is off the top of the map, with one-jump wormhole links to the other four worlds, and possibly to Dagoola. But if the map were complete, we wouldn't have to make that inference.

Bill Stoddard

[whswhs]

Originally Posted by SCAR

a) Should I read them in published order, or story chronological order?
b) if I was to read only 1 or 2 books, which might best give the feel of the setting?

Chronological order would be better. But you could skip over the two novels set prior to Miles's birth, and start with The Warrior's Apprentice and The Vor Game. On the other hand, the second of the pre-Miles novels gives you a very rich feel for Barrayar . . . it's titled simply Barrayar, in fact . . . but you won't get all of the story if you don't read Shards of Honor first. On the third hand, Bujold's depth increased as the series continued. Memory is quite a strong novel, but if you haven't read any of the Dendarii books the motivation won't come through so strongly.

I think I might recommend starting out with Brothers in Arms, which is an "early" Miles novel, and Mirror Dance, which is in a sense its immediate sequel but is the beginning of the "later" Miles novels. But don't start with Mirror Dance; it was the first one I read, and it was compelling, but boy, was I confused in the first half of the book!

Bill Stoddard

[SCAR]

Originally Posted by whswhs

Chronological order would be better. But you could skip over the two novels set prior to Miles's birth, and start with The Warrior's Apprentice and The Vor Game. On the other hand, the second of the pre-Miles novels gives you a very rich feel for Barrayar . . . it's titled simply Barrayar, in fact . . . but you won't get all of the story if you don't read Shards of Honor first. On the third hand, Bujold's depth increased as the series continued. Memory is quite a strong novel, but if you haven't read any of the Dendarii books the motivation won't come through so strongly.

I think I might recommend starting out with Brothers in Arms, which is an "early" Miles novel, and Mirror Dance, which is in a sense its immediate sequel but is the beginning of the "later" Miles novels. But don't start with Mirror Dance; it was the first one I read, and it was compelling, but boy, was I confused in the first half of the book!

Bill Stoddard

In the Bibliography of the PDF it says that the books can be read in any order as they don't require knowledge of earlier books! However, from your and Jürgen's comments I suspect skipping books which at least nominally follow on from each other isn't the best place to start.

After a little research, the omnibus editions seem to collect stories in chronological order, and keep 'associated' books together, so I think I'll see if I can find Coredlia's Honor, Young Miles or Miles Errant which include the thus far recommended titles, and I'll read whichever one I can find!

Thanks!

[safisher]

Originally Posted by sir-talen

Any English major will tell you that the author is the last person who's opinion one should consult while making criticisms. ;p

Haha! That's exactly right.