Guilty Pleasures

Guilty pleasures…chocolate…definitely chocolate. A glass of fancy wine, not the table stuff…the good stuff…a new outfit, shoes maybe and yes, ice cream…with a rich fudge topping and cherry on top.

And a really good science fiction novel.

Sometimes on Sunday morning, my mother would line us all up for church and count noses. She had three girls and a boy to get ready, so it was quite an undertaking. We’d be standing there at the door ready to go and dad would be missing. He had the car keys, so she would go searching, only to find him in the bathroom hunkered down, avidly reading some science fiction book.

He’d look up and blink. A guilty pleasure.

She wanted him out and about DOING something useful. He just wanted the excitement of strange worlds and exotic creatures.

I am my father’s daughter.

One of my favorite authors has a new book coming out November 6. Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance by Lois McMasters Bujold. I thought I would give you a heads up, since this is the latest in a long series, and you might need a running start.

One of the things that older series best selling science fiction authors are doing is combining several books, repackaging them and reselling them with a new title and new cover. Lois is doing this, so be aware that what might look like a new book could be just two novels combined with maybe a novella or short story added in. I know she had some issues with the covers when some of the earlier books first came out, particularly Mirror Dance, but the latest covers are really nice.

In traditional publishing, authors have no say over how their covers look. Some can be pretty awful and the Mirror Dance cover was grim. Lois even said so.

I bought it anyway.

The new ebooks also are allowing, nay encouraging, authors to put out short stories and novellas since shelf space is not an issue with them. So she has sprinkled a few of those on Amazon.

Now I have met Lois and was amazed at how natural and down to Earth she was. She was really nice, and not weird like some scifi authors can be. She was a guest author at Orycon back in 1998 and I had her sign several of my books by her.

Her series centers on Mile Vorkosigan, who is handicapped by a birth accident and his bones are very brittle. He is also extremely short. However, what his body lacks, his mind makes up for and he gets into unbelievable situations with his manic behavior and wild schemes. Lois has a wicked sense of humor, which I  enjoy very much. Miles has a clone brother, and a cousin Ivan. This newest book is supposed to be about Ivan and his escapades and I am eager to check it out. I’ll read it and let you know down the road how I liked it.

Before you read the newest one, you might start with the earlier books. Barrayar (won a Hugo1992), Shards of Honor, The Warrior’s Apprentice, The Vor Game (won Hugo 1991), Brothers in Arms, Borders of Infinity, Falling Free (won Nebula 1988) Ethan of Athos, Mirror Dance,(Hugo 1995) Young Miles, A Civil Affair, Cyroburn (latest out 9/2011) and others repackaged. She also has two fantasy series you can look into if you like fantasy, or just a good read. Paladin of Souls (won both Hugo and Nebula 2004).

She has quite dominated these prestigious awards, so I’m not the only one who likes her. You might too.

A guilty pleasure.

Currently, I’m reading several series books that I recommended earlier.  Mad Ship by Robin Hobbs is an older novel while Sisterhood of Dune is just out by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert. I’m enjoying both.

I’ll report on them soon, so stay tuned.

Enjoy what’s left of summer. Enjoy a guilty pleasure…or two.