Laure Reminick
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
There's a story I don't think I've ever found. In the list of Miles' stories, it's when he's 25. And the blurb says it involves Simon, changing bones for Miles and in a hospital, and foiling a plot against his father. Supposedly, the title is Borders of Infinity, but that story is about a Cetagandan prison camp, according to the collection Miles Errant. Am I missing something?
Lois McMaster Bujold
Ah, this is a frequent confusion, engendered by that old Baen timeline, I think.
Back when I was putting together the three Miles novellas for the fix-up collection Borders of Infinity (note the absence of the "The" -- and of quote marks, which signify a short story), Jim Baen asked me to write a frame in which to embed the three tales to make the volume look more like a novel, as collections didn't sell well. Which I dutifully did, making it a sort of little story, because that's what I do. It does not in any way stand alone. I have Miles remembering or telling the three episodes to Illyan while in hospital after a mission, plausible reasons for asking or remembering supplied by the frame.
The three novellas plus the original frame may be found in the collection (or novel) Borders of Infinity, currently available as a direct-placement e-book and in other formats. The frame was dropped when we broke up the novellas to fit in the chronology of the omnibus volumes, as it would have made no sense in that context.
If I had realized back in the 80s how much confusion it would make in the future, I would have titled the collection something very different from the title story! Too late now, so I just have to keep explaining to people.
Ta, L.
Back when I was putting together the three Miles novellas for the fix-up collection Borders of Infinity (note the absence of the "The" -- and of quote marks, which signify a short story), Jim Baen asked me to write a frame in which to embed the three tales to make the volume look more like a novel, as collections didn't sell well. Which I dutifully did, making it a sort of little story, because that's what I do. It does not in any way stand alone. I have Miles remembering or telling the three episodes to Illyan while in hospital after a mission, plausible reasons for asking or remembering supplied by the frame.
The three novellas plus the original frame may be found in the collection (or novel) Borders of Infinity, currently available as a direct-placement e-book and in other formats. The frame was dropped when we broke up the novellas to fit in the chronology of the omnibus volumes, as it would have made no sense in that context.
If I had realized back in the 80s how much confusion it would make in the future, I would have titled the collection something very different from the title story! Too late now, so I just have to keep explaining to people.
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
Stephanie Hill
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Hi, Lois! I just wanted to reach out to thank you so much for your amazing books. I read Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls back in high school, and I liked them, but I'm rereading them now as an adult and fully appreciating them in ways that are new. Thank you for writing books that stand the test of time. Curse of Chalion is magnificent and a breath of fresh air! Hope you don't mind me thanking in your questions?
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