The Greatest
In the world of science fiction, there is one author who stands head and shoulders above all her contemporaries
Star Wars and Star Trek are television/film creations, not novels. I appreciate them, but they don’t count. Frank Herbert’s Dune stories—one very fine book, a less fine sequel, and more and more less and less fine sequels—a very long-running flash in the pan.
Asimov? I give him great credit as a master and I read all of the Foundation books. After a while, it became tedious. Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders got my attention. They didn’t keep it for all that long. Very good stuff. A solid B in my grade book.
David Weber? I thought that On Basilisk Station (highly recommended) was a masterpiece of military sci-fi. Great story. Great writing. Honor Harrington (the Horatio Hornblower simulacrum) engaged me. The sequels kept my interest for a whaile. And then, my opinion of Weber began to shift. As the books grew longer and longer, I thought that Weber was evolving into less of a great writer and more of a great typist.
There was only one character in the world of world-building sci-fi writers who created a great central figure, a fine supporting cast, and a fascinating and consistent universe from one book to the next. One author who continud to reach the pinnacle of my expectations. (One author I was checking on regularly. Would a new book be coming soon?) One author who I believe is the best of this generation.
The Vorkosigan Saga
Ms. Bujold did not appear to have a grand vision when she started down the path that led to a grand, galactic, science fiction empire. She just threw two unlikely characters together on an unfriendly world in Shards of Honor. What happened, logically enough, was that an extraordinarily capable woman earned the grudging admiration of an extraordinarily competent man. That she was from the sophisticated, egalitarian world of Beta Colony and the he was from a backwater, chauvinistic planet called Barryar—well that’s what storytelling is all about . Big differences that ultimately become the warp and weft of a respectful relationship.
Then along comes the little git: Miles Vorkosigan, a character with the soul of a hero, the wiles of the sneakiest anti-hero, and a body damaged by an in-utero assault on his mother.
Miles Vorkosigan is an unstoppable force of nature. Yes, he was damaged goods, born with issues that required all kinds of painful corrective medical treatment. And still, he has an indomitable spirit that drives him forward to complete any task he is assigned, to overcome impossible odds along the way, and ultimately, to please his father and mother. At its heart, the Vorkosigan saga is a family drama.
Miles In Love
I’m thinking about Bujold and Miles because I was looking for a good, enjoyable read and decided to re-read A Civil Campaign—my favorite of all the Vorkosigan novels. It is, quite simply, a comedy of matters. It’s about courtship where the fellow trying to do the courting is awkward. It’s about odd relatives such as a clone brother/entrepreneur, who is deeply involved in a scheme to genetically engineer insects that will produce useful food: butter bugs. Throughout the book. romantic relationships are being established hither and yon. Characters who evolve dramatically and the book winds up with a terrific courtroom drama that astonishes everyone.
Back to Miles
I think the Vorkosigan saga could be produced in the modern television mini-series format (like The Sopranos, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, etc.) and be a smash hit. And whenever you think about turning a novel into a film, the mind turns to the question: what actor would be perfect for the role?
So, the thing about Miles is that he is a brilliant intellect, a quick thinking, a man of action, and all of those hero-ish things. But he was damaged as a child and hardly looks like a heroic sort of character. What actor could we cast for the role?
He’s not a perfect fit for Bujold’s descriptions of Miles Vorkosigan; but he is close; short enough, head appearing a little too large; a person who due to his size and physique, is easy to underestimate.
If any of you, dear readers, happen to have the number of Mr. Dinklage or his representatives, please give them a shout. “The Vorkosigan Saga,” you can say. “Read it. It’s a story that was written just for you.”
But Wait, There's More
After 20 novels, Ms. Bujold looked for other areas to explore. She has created a couple of fantasy series; The Sharing Knife (five novels and a novella) and Penric and Desdemona (a dozen novellas).
I’ve read four of The Sharing Knife novels. They didn’t seize my attention the way the Vorkosigan books did, but I’m planning to give the first novels in each series a re-read. Maybe I missed something. Maybe I was just too stuck back in the universe of Miles and the Vorkosigans. It’s all wonderful, escapist fiction. And highly recommended.
Anon.
Ridge