Lois’s answer to “Dear Lois. I just finished Gentleman Jole and I was delighted by it. I really appreciate you develo…” > Likes and Comments
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Greetings, O favorite author! I want to wildly affirm your cultural filter-feeding while you let the well back fill. In the meantime, it occurs to me that the 20% of your readers who were less enthusiastic that one might hope about GJRD are misguided. Willingness to travel the road to maturity with characters as well fleshed as yours should be a given. We love them because they are so multi dimensional. just like in life, they have insights years later about unresolved issues from their earlier lives. When Miles realized as he attempted to lift Ekaterin out of the pond that if he HAD grasped Beatrice's hand he'd have died too...well, a reader gets that kind of detail and continuity in so few books that it's tempting to build you a shrine. So while 20% might want Miles to stay 30 forever so that the hijinks may ensue endlessly, I celebrate your willingness to let your characters grow into themselves in rich and unanticipated adventures that spring from the mind of Bujold!
Loved Gentleman Jole and teh Red Queen - and so did my husband and our 32-yr-old son. So it's not just the older than dirt crowd who enjoy seeing characters mature and deal with loss and staying creative later in life.
I will join the general piffling at readers who want to go back to Miles at 30. I love every book you've ever written, but the first two and last six of the Vorkosigan saga are significantly more dog-eared and worn in my collection than the middle, "Miles as a hyperactive, insensitive git" period. Cordelia is my favorite character in all of fiction—nothing could have delighted me more than a book from her perspective.
https://www.quora.com/Who-is-the-grea...
Came back to this discussion to find a gladness in not being alone! Drisanna, many thanks for the offer to go halfsies!
Another older-than-dirt reader here who has read the Vorkosigan series multiple times. I love the fact that the characters keep evolving (although I was sad to see Aral go - I loved him.) As for the wish to go back to Miles at 30 - you have covered all that pretty thoroughly already. I enjoyed all the books, but the young Miles occasionally got a bit frustrating. Rather like the kid in that TV SF show long ago who could be counted on to get into something he shouldn't and cause trouble and have to be rescued by someone. Now that I think about it, there may be several kids like that on TV SF - I'm not even sure which one(s) I'm thinking of now. Anyway, I was happy when Miles finally started growing up and dealing with some of his problems instead of letting them run away with them. (Must admit the stories made good reading, though!)
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Kim
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Mar 01, 2016 06:27PM
Greetings, O favorite author! I want to wildly affirm your cultural filter-feeding while you let the well back fill. In the meantime, it occurs to me that the 20% of your readers who were less enthusiastic that one might hope about GJRD are misguided. Willingness to travel the road to maturity with characters as well fleshed as yours should be a given. We love them because they are so multi dimensional. just like in life, they have insights years later about unresolved issues from their earlier lives. When Miles realized as he attempted to lift Ekaterin out of the pond that if he HAD grasped Beatrice's hand he'd have died too...well, a reader gets that kind of detail and continuity in so few books that it's tempting to build you a shrine. So while 20% might want Miles to stay 30 forever so that the hijinks may ensue endlessly, I celebrate your willingness to let your characters grow into themselves in rich and unanticipated adventures that spring from the mind of Bujold!
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Loved Gentleman Jole and teh Red Queen - and so did my husband and our 32-yr-old son. So it's not just the older than dirt crowd who enjoy seeing characters mature and deal with loss and staying creative later in life.
I will join the general piffling at readers who want to go back to Miles at 30. I love every book you've ever written, but the first two and last six of the Vorkosigan saga are significantly more dog-eared and worn in my collection than the middle, "Miles as a hyperactive, insensitive git" period. Cordelia is my favorite character in all of fiction—nothing could have delighted me more than a book from her perspective. https://www.quora.com/Who-is-the-grea...
Came back to this discussion to find a gladness in not being alone! Drisanna, many thanks for the offer to go halfsies!
Another older-than-dirt reader here who has read the Vorkosigan series multiple times. I love the fact that the characters keep evolving (although I was sad to see Aral go - I loved him.) As for the wish to go back to Miles at 30 - you have covered all that pretty thoroughly already. I enjoyed all the books, but the young Miles occasionally got a bit frustrating. Rather like the kid in that TV SF show long ago who could be counted on to get into something he shouldn't and cause trouble and have to be rescued by someone. Now that I think about it, there may be several kids like that on TV SF - I'm not even sure which one(s) I'm thinking of now. Anyway, I was happy when Miles finally started growing up and dealing with some of his problems instead of letting them run away with them. (Must admit the stories made good reading, though!)
