Reading Order

September 11, 2018 2:41 PM

If you're a Vorkosigan Saga fan, you are probably aware that the publishing order of the stories does not match the in-universe chronological order. If you have a proposed reading order and/or reason for that order you'd like to talk about, please do so! ATTENTION: Spoilers will be present in this thread, and posting in FanFare Main about any story regardless of order is encouraged.
posted by infinitewindow to Vor Club (1 comment total)

I picked up Diplomatic Immunity idly a few weeks ago and enjoyed the competence porn, but felt left behind as characters mentioned Miles's previous mishaps. I decided to read the series chronologically in-universe (but I forgot about Falling Free, oops).

It's been strange because Bujold's later novels feel much more polished and with smoother technique than her 80s novels, but I'm reading them back-to-back. It's disorienting to read something polished like Cetaganda and continue with the much clunkier Ethan of Athos. It's even stranger to me to read Barrayar, which started like an appendix for Shards of Honor and then became something far, far better.

But if it's disorienting for me in terms of author skill and technique, imagine how it must have been for the poor folk who had to read these one-by-one, never knowing where they were in the overall narrative, over the last thirty years!
posted by infinitewindow at 3:10 PM on September 11, 2018