Reading the Lois McMaster Bujold books in order means checking out her several sci-fi and fantasy series, which she regularly keeps updating. She is a well-known science-fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction writer, with series like the Vorkosigan Saga and World of the Five Gods. The Vorkosigan Saga is probably Lois McMaster Bujold’s most popular sci-fi series.
The first book I have read by her was The Curse of Chalion several years ago, but back then I didn’t realize that it was part of the Chalion series.
Here are the Lois McMaster Bujold books in order of reading and chronological order for her science fiction and fantasy series. The publication year is listed next to the titles. If you prefer to read the books in publication order, follow the dates listed next to the book titles.
Lois McMaster Bujold New Books
The Physicians of Vilnoc (Penric & Desdemona #8), 2020
Vorkosigan Saga Order of Reading
This is the actual reading order of the Vorkosigan Saga as given by the author herself. Here the books are not in publication order.
- Dreamweaver’s Dilemma, 1996 (short stories)
- Falling Free (Vorkosigan Saga #1), 1987
- Shards of Honor (Vorkosigan Saga #2), 1986
- Barrayar (Vorkosigan Saga #3), 1991
- The Warrior’s Apprentice (Vorkosigan Saga #4), 1986
- The Mountains of Mourning, 1989 (short story included in Borders of Infinity)
- Weatherman, 1990 (short story included in The Vor Game)
- The Vor Game (Vorkosigan Saga #5), 1990
- Cetaganda (Vorkosigan Saga #6), 1995
- Ethan of Athos (Vorkosigan Saga #7), 1986
- Labyrinth, 1989 (short story included in Borders of Infinity)
- Borders of Infinity, 1989 (short story collection)
- Brothers in Arms (Vorkosigan Saga #8), 1990
- Mirror Dance (Vorkosigan Saga #9), 1994
- Memory (Vorkosigan Saga #10), 1996
- Komarr (Vorkosigan Saga #11), 1998
- A Civil Campaign (Vorkosigan Saga #12), 1999
- Winterfair Gifts, 2002 (short story)
- Diplomatic Immunity (Vorkosigan Saga #13), 1999
- Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance (Vorkosigan Saga #14), 2012
- The Flowers of Vashnoi, 2018 (short story)
- Cryoburn (Vorkosigan Saga #15), 2010
- Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen (Vorkosigan Saga #16), 2016
Vorkosigan Saga Publication Order
The list is the publication order
- Shards of Honor (Vorkosigan Saga #2), 1986
- The Warrior’s Apprentice (Vorkosigan Saga #4), 1986
- Ethan of Athos (Vorkosigan Saga #7), 1986
- Falling Free (Vorkosigan Saga #1), 1987
- The Mountains of Mourning, 1989 (short story included in Borders of Infinity)
- Labyrinth, 1989 (short story included in Borders of Infinity)
- Borders of Infinity, 1989 (short story collection)
- Weatherman, 1990 (short story included in The Vor Game)
- Brothers in Arms (Vorkosigan Saga #8), 1990
- Barrayar (Vorkosigan Saga #3), 1991
- Mirror Dance (Vorkosigan Saga #9), 1994
- Cetaganda (Vorkosigan Saga #6), 1995
- Dreamweaver’s Dilemma, 1996 (short stories)
- Memory (Vorkosigan Saga #10), 1996
- Komarr (Vorkosigan Saga #11), 1998
- A Civil Campaign (Vorkosigan Saga #12), 1999
- Diplomatic Immunity (Vorkosigan Saga #13), 1999
- Winterfair Gifts, 2002 (short story)
- Cryoburn (Vorkosigan Saga #15), 2010
- Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance (Vorkosigan Saga #14), 2012
- Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen (Vorkosigan Saga #16), 2016
- The Flowers of Vashnoi, 2018 (short story)
World of the Five Gods Series in Order
The book list is in chronological reading order and not in publication order.
- The Curse of Chalion (World of the Five Gods #1), 2000
- Paladin of Souls (World of the Five Gods #2), 2003
- The Hallowed Hunt (World of the Five Gods #3), 2005
Penric & Desdemona Series in Order
- Penric’s Demon (Penric & Desdemona #1), 2015
- Penric and the Shaman (Penric & Desdemona #2), 2016
- Penric’s Fox (Penric & Desdemona #3), 2017
- Penric’s Mission (Penric & Desdemona #4), 2016
- Mira’s Last Dance (Penric & Desdemona #5), 2017
- The Prisoner of Limnos (Penric & Desdemona #6), 2017
- The Orphans of Raspay (Penric & Desdemona #7), 2019
- The Physicians of Vilnoc (Penric & Desdemona #8), 2020
The Sharing Knife Series in Order
also called The Wide Green World Series
- Beguilement (The Sharing Knife #1), 2003
- Legacy (The Sharing Knife #2), 2007
- Passage (The Sharing Knife #3), 2008
- Horizon (The Sharing Knife #4), 2009
- Knife Children (The Sharing Knife #4.5), 2019
Standalone Lois McMaster Bujold Books
- The Spirit Ring, 1993
- Sidelines: Talks and Essays, 2013
- Conversations From the Edge: The Galaxy’s Edge Interviews, 2019
Lois McMaster Bujold Biography
Lois McMaster Bujold was born in 1949 in Columbus, Ohio. She is the daughter of the famous Robert Charles McMaster, an Ohio State University welding engineer professor who edited the Nondestructive Testing Handbook.
Her love for science fiction and several of the Lois McMaster Bujold books draw inspirations from her growing up in the shadows of a popular person like her father devoted to his field.
She started writing in junior high school, where she would create short stories imitating famous writers. She attended the Upper Arlington High School, from where she graduated in 1967. Next year, in 1968 she enrolled at the Ohio State University, where she remained until 1972.
During her time at the uni, in 1971 she took part in a biology study tour when she traveled to South Africa. There, she had the opportunity to take hundreds of slides of local insects.
After leaving school, she worked as a pharmacy technician at the Ohio State University Hospitals until 1978 when she started her own family.
Now, in her 30s she was at home raising two children and had no steady job. When she saw that her childhood friend, Lillian Stewart Carl, with whom she used to write short stories back in school, was now an established writer, she decided to try writing again as well. Thus, having some time on her hands and being in need of money, she dedicated her time to writing.
She completed her debut novel in 1983 with the title Shards of Honor. Her second book, The Warrior’s Apprentice, came out next year, and her third book, titled Ethan of Athos, came out the year after.
While Ms. Bujold attempted to get her three novels published, she also submitted several short stories that were published in various magazines. In 1985, Baen Books bought her so far completed three novels and published them the next year, in 1986. Thus Lois McMaster Bujold’s career as a real author has begun.
Her next novel, Falling Free, was published as a series at Analog Magazine and it was the first book to win the author a much coveted Nebula award.
In the meantime, many of the Lois McMaster Bujold books have won various awards, including three Nebula awards, five Hugo awards, as well as the Locust award, and the Mythopoeic Award for best adult fantasy.
Her books have been translated into close to 20 languages so far. The author got her latest Hugo Award for Penric and the Shaman, in the category Best Novella in 2017, which was presented in Helsinki, Finland.
The book that made the New York Times Best Seller list is Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance, published in 2012.
Currently, the Vorkosigan Saga books are published by Baen Books, while the Chalion series and the Sharing Knife tetralogy are released by HarperCollins.
For each of her books, Lois McMaster Bujold does a lot of research. For example, before writing Cryoburn, she researched the topic of cryonics quite in-depth. She learned that people who are sick, for example, are frozen, but with the current technology they cannot be unfrozen just yet. Thus, many of these people have to wait for several generations for the technology to be available.
In the Lois McMaster Bujold Vorkosigan Saga, the author wrote first Shards of Honor and then The Warrior’s Apprentice, but the reading order of the Vorkosigan Saga involves starting with Dreamweaver’s Dilemma, which she wrote 10 years later, in 1996. This allows the author the flexibility of writing the book that wants to be voiced next rather than the one that should follow after the previous one.
Currently, Bujold is living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she is working on her next book. However, the latest Lois McMaster Bujold is not really a novel. Rather, it is a collection of interviews conducted by Joy Ward, and among them, the author had a piece of interview as well.
Lois McMaster Bujold Awards That She Won
The Hugo Awards
- The Mountains of Mourning, 1990
- The Vor Game, 1991
- Barrayar, 1992
- Mirror Dance, 1995
- Paladin of Souls, 2004
- Vorkosigan Saga, 2017
- Chalion series, 2018
Nebula Awards
- Falling Free, 1989
- The Mountains of Mourning, 1990
- Paladin of Souls, 2005
Locus Awards
- Barrayar, 1992
- Mirror Dance, 1995
- Paladin of Souls, 2004
Minnesota Book Award
- Komarr, 1999
Forry Award for Lifetime Achievement in the field of Science Fiction
Praise for Lois McMaster Bujold
Bujold continues to prove what marvels genius can create out of basic space operatics (Library Journal)
Bujold’s “work remains among the most enjoyable and rewarding in contemporary SF. (Publishers Weekly)
Boy, can she write! (Anne McCaffrey)
Bujold is also head and shoulders above the ruck of current fantasists as well as science-fictionists. (Booklist)
Bujold’s delightful latest tale of Penric … is another winner in Bujold’s already strong series. (Publishers Weekly)
References
- The Bujold Nexus author homepage
- Internet forum of fiction where author contributes
- Library of Congres page for Lois McMaster Bujold
Books Reading Order » Science Fiction Authors »
Where my story begins – I had never heard of her or had any idea who she was. Her books were sent to me while in quarantine to help me maintain my sanity, Out of desperation I began reading her work. I found myself enjoying them, which was a surprise. After I was admitted to hospital for fifteen days of the world’s worst food, the little things became the big things. Reading was one of things. Thank you
There are books missing from the Penric and Desdemona series listing on this page. And the other site that I found them on actually lists them out of order. I am unfortunately now listening to earlier books in the series that aren’t even listed on this website. It would be nice to find a side that listed all of them in the correct chronological order of the storyline. That being said I absolutely love the series! The characters are delightful, and the stories are well written.
I listened to Borders of infinity on audible and was so taken away into the story I downloaded the entire series! So we’ll done she brings you into these worlds on par with the greats Asimov, Niven and others well done!
Lois McMaster Bujold’s writings have been and continue to be, to quote another much beloved author, the solace of many a leisure hour. Thank you, Ms. Bujold!
I’ve lived your stories, though I haven’t read any of your books yet. I remember reading a number of your stories about Miles, and a couple about his mother Cordelia, in Analog. I also remember reading “Falling Free” ages ago in Analog or Asimov’s, but never knew until now that it’s was related to the Vorkosigan stories.
I’ll be adding the complete Vorkosigan series to my 2021 reading list.
LOVE THEM ALL!! I’ve been a fan of Miles since the first book. On my third re-reading of them now. Excellent storytelling with realistic characters, good mysteries, and management lessons throughout.
I have been a fan ever since I picked up The Warrior’s Apprentice! A fellow librarian recommended the book back in the early 90’s and couldn’t get my hands on the rest of her books in the series fast enough! I have probably read ALL of the MILES books at least 4-5 times if not more. I have also recommended them to many former students (I was a school librarian) and friends who have a similar liking for sci-fi/fantasy. Of course, I have also read the Penric series and find it delightful. In fact, I am re-reading that series as I write.
Many thanks to Ms Bujold! Your creations have brought so much delight and entertainment to my heart!
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