OK, I have wrapped back around to Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen and that was absolutely worthwhile. I think I need to circle back once again and hit the Borders of Infinity (because the description in the timeline of the framing story is an itch in my brain even though I have read the individual novellas) and Barrayar (because I need recheck any references to Abelard, I'm sure I'm forgetting something and it is driving me up a wall).

I have really enjoyed immersing myself in this 'verse. One of the things I love are the casual references to Baba Yaga and magicians who keep their hearts in boxes and whatnot, but it wasn't until this read-through that I made a connection between Ivan-that-idiot and the Ivan the Idiot subgenre of fairy tales. More of a reference than a parallel, but a nice sharp click for the slavic brainstem. Barrayar is good for that, I find.

It's been interesting seeing what I remember. I read most of the stories as they came out, although there were one or two books that I know I decided not to read because of where my head was at the time, and a few more that I think I missed because I was confused by the publication of the omnibuses. There are also some that I am sure I read when they came out but remember only pieces of and/or remember wrong (interspersed with virtual word-forward recall some scenes). It's weird. And educational? Maybe. Miles has aged literarily as I have in reality in the same way that Harry Potter did more famously for younger folk. It makes for a ...thoughtful reread.

Also, there is a set of stories wherein the hero gets saddled with some hangers-on who always hungry or always thirst or some other problematic thing but then when the hero is in the midst of his three-impossible-things quest those guys come in handy. Mark reminds me of those.

Poor Mark. I worry about him still.

And I'm still on The Vor Game! I should step up my reading, apparently.

I kind of neglected everything else I had going on for a while to read. I don't exactly regret it, but I can't responsibly recommend it.

I wouldn't mind getting a little more detail about what Mark is up to and how he's doing these days. Although I also wouldn't mind if the next book jumps 10-20 years into the future with an entirely new POV. There are a lot of threads that could get super interesting down the road if she picks them up again.

Just finished Kate Atkinson's Life After Life. I'm in love with Ursula Todd and Atkinson's incredible voice. Going to reserve A God in Ruins at the library today.

I had to hold off on reading some of the later Vor books, because of plot points that rubbed a bit too close to things that were happening in my own life. But I think I've developed enough of an emotional callus that I can pick them up and then enjoy the Red Queen now.

Although I also wouldn't mind if the next book jumps 10-20 years into the future with an entirely new POV. There are a lot of threads that could get super interesting down the road if she picks them up again.

My friend was thinking that we could get stories about all the babies (as grownups) next.

Mostly, I just think Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen is such a perfect bookend with Shards of Honor/Barrayar that I don't need anything more.

I had to hold off on reading some of the later Vor books, because of plot points that rubbed a bit too close to things that were happening in my own life.

I'm a little scared to re-read Memory.

I could see that, Jesse. There are certainly enough of them. After rereading Ethan of Athos I'm pretty curious how that little experiment all turned out, also, and What Are the Cetagandans Actually Up To is always intriguing for me. But, yeah, it's a good ending if she wants to stop.

I found the ones that hit close to home to be, hm, almost supportive of my emotional state? It's the ones that were too happy that I skipped when they came out (on purpose, that is, there were a few that I skipped accidentally). But I am a wallower and cathartic cryer.

Have you tried the Chalion novels? The Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls, and the Hallowed Hunt. Similar voice, although I think the third is less ... enjoyable? interesting? ... than the other two.

Oh, yes, love that world! And Penric's Demons, that might be a novella? Short story? I forget.

Have not read all the Sharing Knife books. I think I read the first one but was kind of meh on it. And I have Proto Zoa waiting in the wings - I read Dreamweavers Dilemma because it came up on the Vorkosigan timeline but the rest of the collection will, I think, be new to me.