Mary
Mary asked Lois McMaster Bujold:

If you could live anywhere in the Vorkosigan universe, where would it be and why? What are your favourite places to write about/set stories in the Vorkosigan universe? A last and somewhat related question, why aren't there more space stations? It seems like most everyone lives on planets and stationers like Elli are somewhat rare. Is this intentional or are there a lot more out there we haven't encountered yet?

Lois McMaster Bujold
At this stage of my life, I think I'd pick somewhere advanced with really good medical care. But probably not Beta Colony, because I like the outdoors too much. The less advanced planets, clearly, are easier to set stories on -- more goes horribly wrong.

The place is littered with space stations -- every advanced planet maintains them, civilian or military, by their wormholes and in orbit, and sometimes for several systems beyond. They all tend to be rather alike, due to technological constraints -- even less tolerance for things going wrong than downside. That said, it seems to me I've featured a lot of them in the tales -- Elli's home, Quaddiespace, the Hegen Hub, the factory one Miles captures in WA, the one at the climax of Komarr, a dozen transfer points in the Miles stories. Mirror Dance starts on one, CryoBurn ends on one... the list goes on.

Stations and ships do require highly self-controlled populations. Planets, in addition to offering free air and gravity and all that attractive space, have more elbow room for erratic behavior.

Ta, L.

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