Kirshy

Kirshy asked Lois McMaster Bujold:

I just finished the Sharing Knife series and was wondering if you plan on revisiting the world again in the (near) future? Also, what are the malices? Any chance we will get an idea of their true origin?

Lois McMaster Bujold I don't have any plans at this time for visiting the deep backstory of that world. Other things, well, never say never, but I have nothing to report at this time. The malices were a kind of magical-scientific accident, possibly during some pursuit of powering up mage-craft and pursuing immortality; they partake of something human crossed with something nonhuman. They do seem to have something insectoid in their makeup, but it may also include theft of aspects from the now-absent gods. (If there ever were gods.) Howsoever the individual elements that went into them were healthy enough in their original forms, the amalgam was a disaster.

Ta, L.

More Answered Questions

Christi Bell

Christi Bell asked Lois McMaster Bujold:

Hi. As so many I am very grateful for your books. Cordelia was something of a role model for me. Her pragmatism about government, about God, about life, and about parenting helped shape the way I view many of those things. I believe I am a better mother, a better social worker and even a better government employee because of how you wrote her. I hope there are more Vorkosigan/Barrayar stories to come?

Richard

Richard asked Lois McMaster Bujold:

Iroki is a wonderful character. Is there much chance we'll see him again in the future?

Catherine Nemeth

Catherine Nemeth asked Lois McMaster Bujold:

If two malices meet, they will fight until one completely “consumes” the other. What about unhatched malices? Will it get drained by a mobile malice that encounters it? Or get passively drained if it’s in an area getting blighted? Or are they not really alive until they hatch and start consuming ground? Wondering if the Great Blight would be considered cleared once it recovers however many thousands of years later.

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Lois McMaster Bujold

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