Vorkosigan Saga

Background

Humanity has colonized a galaxy with no competing intelligent species, with dozens of planets developing divergent cultures over at least 400 years before Falling Free or 600 years before Shards of Honor. Barrayar was colonized and then lost contact with the rest of the galaxy during a Time of Isolation, after which it was reconnected. Nuclear warfare left large areas radioactive, and low genetic diversity combined with mutagenic compounds in native plants created a cultural phobia about mutation and high xenophobia.

Exploration and colonization of new planets continues, notably on Sergyar. Interstellar travel uses wormholes that create tunnels in five-dimensional space, typically bracketed by space stations. Barrayar's original wormhole collapsed, leading to the Time of Isolation; it was later rediscovered via a wormhole jump from Komarr. Komarr allowed the Cetagandan empire to use its wormhole to conquer Barrayar, and was later conquered when Barrayar defeated the Cetagandans.

Planetary systems have various political organizations, including corporate democracy, rule by criminal corporations, monarchies, empires, and direct democracies. Most planets have a single government, except Jackson's Whole and Earth. Cetaganda and Barrayar have empires acquired by conquering other planets via wormholes. Bujold devised a standard universal timekeeping system as a storytelling convenience.

Reception

Falling Free won the Nebula Award for Best Novel of 1988 and was inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction in 2014, and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1989. The Mountains of Mourning won the 1990 Hugo and Nebula awards for best novella. Weatherman was nominated for the 1991 Nebula award for best novella. The Vor Game won the Hugo for Best Novel in 1991 and was nominated for the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel that same year.

Barrayar won the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1992 and was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel of 1991. Mirror Dance won the Hugo and Locus Awards for Best Novel in 1995. Cetaganda was nominated for the Locus Award in 1997. Memory was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards in 1997.

A Civil Campaign was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards in 2000. Diplomatic Immunity was nominated for the Nebula Award in 2002. Winterfair Gifts was nominated for the 2005 Hugo for best novella. Cryoburn was nominated for the Hugo Award and Locus Award in 2011.

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance was nominated for the Hugo Award in 2013. The entire series won the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2017. Three novels made the New York Times Bestseller List in hardback: A Civil Campaign at #26, Diplomatic Immunity at #25, and Cryoburn at #32.

Works

The order in which the Vorkosigan books were written differs from their internal timeline. Bujold has suggested reading them in chronological order, though with some exceptions. Most works published before 2004, except for the novel Memory and the short story "Dreamweaver's Dilemma," were collected into omnibus editions. The first such omnibus, Vorkosigan's Game, came out in September 1990 and combined The Vor Game with the three novellas from the Borders of Infinity anthology.

Today, all novels and novellas are available as ebooks, and in the United States they are sold as omnibus editions. The saga began with Bujold's early collection Dreamweaver's Dilemma, whose title story is set on Beta Colony and another story introduces a character named Cordelia Naismith, possibly a distant relative of the main Vorkosigan character. Shards of Honor and Barrayar focus on Miles' parents, Ethan of Athos features minor characters from other books, and Falling Free has no connection to Miles or his family, though later stories involve descendants of its cast.

Key omnibus editions include Cordelia's Honor (November 1996), Young Miles (June 1997), Miles, Mystery and Mayhem (December 2001), and Miles Errant (September 2002).

Did You Know?

• Point of view characters include women (Cordelia, Ekaterin), a gay man (Ethan of Athos), a pair of brothers (Miles and Mark Vorkosigan), and their cousin (Ivan Vorpatril).
• Miles Vorkosigan has an atypical reaction to the truth serum 'fast-penta', which he uses to thwart enemies.