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I actually got quite a large say, but it was challenging to do so effectively.
Ta, L.

So I hope!
More on the contents of the book later, closer to, at least, the release of the eARC.
Ta, L.


(SPOILER ALERT) The image of DNA combined with 'red queen' in the title finally clicked in my head as to what the book is likely about. It's not just a reference to Cordelia's hair! I'm somewhat curious how you'll explain the molecular workings of the kind of ATGC replacements that can form the pictured tri-part bonds, not that it will matter next to your characters and plot. Oh anticipation!

The geneticists of the Vorkosiverse can make DNA sit up and beg, to be sure -- Guppy, herms, quaddies, kitten trees, poisons that can dissolve bones, etc. -- though in general I find it best not to try to specify the practical details too closely based on current tech, as it goes out of date too fast. Although this book won't be getting into the most exotic side of things, at least from Cordelia's galactic point of view. Barrayaran Jole still has some catching up to do.
Note that the cover shows three strands of standard double-helix DNA, not any strands of triple-helix DNA, so don't get too carried away. Symbolic visual icon, not textbook illustration.
Interestingly, according to geneticist and SF writer Dr. Joan Slonczewski, triple-stranded DNA does occur in our real-life world; I unfortunately don't remember exactly what she told me about it. Not where I'm going this time, though.
I quite like the transparent font in the title. I think it refreshes the bland (but, it turns out, compressible) block type, and is certainly classier than the gold foil mooted at one stage.
Ta, L.

Triple stranded DNA would be a good form of error checking and might even cure cancer! But also would slow down evolution.
The transparent font is fine. I was just making fun. Agree gold foil is declassé - rainbow sparkle foil is where it's at! :)

You'll have to give me a link?
Ta, L.

Glad you got (at least most of) what you wanted on the cover.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorkosi..."
Ah.
Well, not wrong exactly, but wildly incomplete. Sort of like that legendary TV guide description of The Wizard of Oz: “Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first woman
she meets, then teams up with three complete strangers to kill again.”
Spoilerific indeed, although only for the first chapter. I very strongly recommend waiting and getting Cordelia's version. It will all make much more sense then. At least for as long as she's talking... (Miles didn't only inherit his charisma-field from his Da. Double dominant, the world doesn't have a chance.)
Ta, L.

(I was reminded of this book recently when GoodReads popped it up on my Recommendations page. I'd call it a blast from the past.)






Baen is pretty good about getting their e-editions out promptly, and of course the eARC will be out sooner than that.
I can hardly wait, either.
While of course we hope the cover will be attractive to new (and old) readers, I have no idea what a new reader will make of this book, frankly. I think it will be readable as a stand-alone, but, as Gandalf once said, "Against some, I have not yet been tested."
Ta, L.


Most of the people who admire Miles' tactical brilliance seem to think that it was inherited from his father. That always makes me laugh because, at least to me, most look more like Cordelia's strategies.

You can get quite a bit more if you go to http://vorkosigan.wikia.com/wiki/New_...

You can get quite a bit more if you go to http://vorkosigan.wikia.com/wiki/New_..."
You might want to add the publisher's book description to that, as seen ferex on the Amazon page, following the header "Future Imperfect"... It will also likely be, perhaps with a little tweaking, the dust jacket copy.
I'd thought of posting that here, though it seemed premature, although if it's up on the booksellers' sites, I suppose it's public fodder now.
Ta, L.

You can get quite a bit more if you go to http://vorkosigan.wikia.com/wiki/New_..."
You might want to..."
THANK YOU!
I´ll breathe deeply and wait for the release :)

You can get quite a bit more if you go to http://vorkosigan.wikia.com/wiki/New_..."
You might want to..."
I'll see what I can do! Thanks,
Karen


I was embarrassed to be seen with that one. My wife gave me strange looks every time she saw me with it.
I was very quick to get an ebook of it just to hide THAT cover.
I like this one, even though it doesn't look much like the OTHER book covers in this series.

I was embarrassed to be seen with that one. My wife gave me strange looks every time she saw me with it.
I was very quic..."
I was offered a -- non-embarrassing, actually -- cover in the style of the immediate two predecessors, in this case a well-painted landscape-with-aircar, but I was quite set on this iconic idea. I now have to pray that it also will work in the marketplace.
Over 30 years, my cover treatments have varied wildly, even from the same publisher. It would be very hard to maintain a "series look" over such a span of time.
Ta, L.


Hi Jill --
The spoiler thread has been bumped down to the second screen, here:
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...
Final corrections have already gone in, and the file to the printer, so any more corrections are going to have to wait for another edition. I think I did actually catch that thing about the fur myself, though I don't remember offhand what I did about it. The "him" refers to the engineer Kareen has in tow. Which is what C. would have said, but I agree it would have been clearer to say, "The engineer, rather."
Anyway, you're most welcome to go to the spoiler thread and burble all you want.
I think I may start a fresh such thread when the hardcover releases, as this one is getting a bit unwieldy, though it's also slowing down.
bests, Lois.
I suppose no one should mention the short military genius comparisons here, especially not his brother Mark.