greenlady
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I just saw that the Sharing Knife universe is not, as I had always assumed, a (very) post-apocalyptic descendant of our own. Certain cultural details, like the birthday cake (complete with candles) as well a the plants and animals made it feel like it was closely related to our Earth. Do you see it as an alternative history version of Earth, and if so, when did the timelines split? Or has it always been its own place?
Lois McMaster Bujold
The Sharing Knife (or the Wide Green World) has always been its own world, not descended from our own.
It is, however, a source-riff on Midwestern US in parallel, or contrast, to the many, many cod-Europe fantasies out there. If Tolkien can do it with England, and Pratchett with The Chalk, I don't see why my home should be excluded from the game. (Aragorn gets Eagles, Dag gets... turkey buzzards. :-)
Ta, L.
The Sharing Knife (or the Wide Green World) has always been its own world, not descended from our own.
It is, however, a source-riff on Midwestern US in parallel, or contrast, to the many, many cod-Europe fantasies out there. If Tolkien can do it with England, and Pratchett with The Chalk, I don't see why my home should be excluded from the game. (Aragorn gets Eagles, Dag gets... turkey buzzards. :-)
Ta, L.
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Rick York
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Lois McMaster Bujold:
I haven't seen the question here recently, so I'll go ahead and ask it: are there any more Vorkosigan books coming? I love the series and the characters, but there are not enough of them. Have you ever thought about possibly encouraging fan fiction or a collaborator along the lines of the late Marion Zimmerman Bradley. The barraar universe seems icy in both plots and characters.
alison
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Lois McMaster Bujold:
Hello! A couple of questions ago you mentioned A Warrior's Apprentice as one of your evergreens, having never won awards (among some other criteria), which I'm so shocked by! I read it in high school and one of its lines is now memorialized as my senior year quote (too embarrassed to say which one). I've now graduated from college and still go back to it every year. Thanks for writing it all those years ago <3 [?]
Mitali
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Lois McMaster Bujold:
Does the Duchy of Orbas correspond to a specific real-world place? I have asssumed it to be vaguely based on the various Balkan countries, positioned as it is to the south of Cedonia, which appears to be based on Greece (in your inverted version of Europe). Do you have a more specific inspiration for Orbas? And ditto for the city of Vilnoc?
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