Vorkosigan series (Sci-fi)

[republic]

Have any of you read any of the Vorkosigan Series?  I just finished the last published book...  Probably my favorite sci-fi along with Alan Dean Foster's Pip and Flinx.

[Longdan]

I found them to be a great series from beginning to the latest.
Some can be a little silly in places as it is a very human series
with romance and humour mixed with Imperial politics and
interstellar intrigue and war and family politics as well.
I am glad you like ADF.  Somebody has to I guess.

[republic]

The Pip and Flinx series had its ups and downs.  I mostly enjoyed Truzenzuzex and Bran Tse-Mallory  "Up the universe!"  Did you read the series?  The final book was a huge letdown.  :(

[Longdan]

No I did not read it because I was so totally scarred by "Splinter of the Mind's Eye"
that I have been in some kind of therapy ever since.  I could never pick up another
one of his books without going into convulsions and compulsively drinking a case
of cheap beer in one sitting.

[republic]

Somehow I missed that Star Wars book.  I started at Thrawn...I can't remember how far I got.  Pip and Flinx is a good adventure series...but the ending is pretty anti-climactic.

[Longdan]

Can't say I am surprised.  Whatever you do just don't read the one I mentioned.

[airboy]

I have read one of the compendiums (Miles, Myth & Mayhem).

I got three of the books on audio when there was a big sale from audible.com.  The audio versions of the books were very well done.

They are a fun, light reading.  She uses outlandish coincidences as plot devices, but the books are enjoyable

[Longdan]

I forgive her the outlandish plot devices since some of the
stories are "mysteries".  I think it is kind of hard to set a
SF mystery in a time and place unfamiliar to the reader without
fudging things a bit since we can't always second guess an
unknown world.

[mirth]

I thought Splinter of the Mind's Eye was decent enough. It was written right after the original SW and was intended as the basis for a low-budget sequel if SW failed at the box office. A lot of it doesn't fit with canon established by the sequels, but it's an interesting story in it's own right. I read it when it was first released, so there was no other Star Wars material to contradict.

There were a number of Del Rey SW paperbacks done in the late 70s and early 80s. Some of them were quite good. There were a couple focused on Han Solo that I really enjoyed.

[Longdan]

I must have been unlucky and just got the bad ones.

[mirth]

The Lando Calrissian novels from back then were dreadful. The others not so bad. To me, most of the modern SW novels are junk. I'm not a fan at all of the Zahn stuff, but I know that a lot of people love his SW novels.

PS - Sorry, don't mean to hijack this thread. I'll move along.

[republic]

Until I got into "real" science fiction (that is...non established TV/movie based novels) I thought the Star Wars books were great.  However, having read the Vorkosigan saga, Pip and Flinx, Enders Game, Hyperion, etc.  I see how how silly most of the Trek and Wars based books were.

Still fun though, but more like light reading.  "Beer and pretzels" sci-fi.  :)

[mirth]

I used to read all the Trek books. Most of them are terrible too. However, there are several written by Diane Duane that are excellent - The Wounded Sky, My Enemy My Ally, The Romulan Way, Spock's World, and Doctor's Orders. I still own them and reread them every few years.

[Longdan]

Short story "Space Weed".   There were some SW things by, I think, Brian Daly?
That kinda ended up tacked to the sh*house wall.