Clio
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Bit of an odd question, but, what was the inspiration behind the name of the planet Escobar?
Lois McMaster Bujold
I pulled it out of the air, having seen it I-don't-remember where (this would have been in 1983), for something sounding vaguely Spanish-y not-Anglo-Saxon. Trying to indicate, despite the books being written in then-20th. C. English, that all the other major languages and peoples were still Out There.
I don't care to salt my prose with SF or fantasy neologisms to the point of making it indigestible, so the reader may take this thousand-years-from-now English, which ought to be profoundly altered by then, as being translated back for them by the narrative, just like the Penric tales where the people are all speaking Wealdean or Cedonian.
Ta, L.
I pulled it out of the air, having seen it I-don't-remember where (this would have been in 1983), for something sounding vaguely Spanish-y not-Anglo-Saxon. Trying to indicate, despite the books being written in then-20th. C. English, that all the other major languages and peoples were still Out There.
I don't care to salt my prose with SF or fantasy neologisms to the point of making it indigestible, so the reader may take this thousand-years-from-now English, which ought to be profoundly altered by then, as being translated back for them by the narrative, just like the Penric tales where the people are all speaking Wealdean or Cedonian.
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Carro
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I was just thinking about Alys Vorpatril - admiring her regal air and outstanding competence - it occurred to me that she first appears as Lady Alys, already married, and I cannot think of any mention of her immediate family. Are there highly competent and scary sisters somewhere else on Barrayar? Also Ivan is related to the Vorrutyers - does that mean her maiden name was Vorrutyer?
SvetlanaP
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
This is a bit of a silly question, but I couldn't help wondering: The Vor Game mentions that Bel's cabin on the Ariel had, among other things, "a small cage housing an exotic pet from Earth Thorne called a hamster." Did you have any idea of how Bel acquired this hamster, or what happened to it, when writing that detail? Or was it just a throwaway line of description to round out the setting & character? :)
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more