Biology and Manners: Essays on the Worlds and Works of Lois McMaster Bujold (Liverpool Science Fiction Texts and Studies LUP)

This volume is a new collection of scholarly essays on the US science fiction and fantasy writer Lois McMaster Bujold. The collection argues for the significant contributions Bujold’s works make to feminist and queer thought, disability studies, and fan studies. In addition, it suggests the importance of Bujold to contemporary American literature. The volume continues the establishment of Bujold as an important author of contemporary science fiction and fantasy. It argues that her corpus spans the distance between two full arcs of US feminism and has anticipated or responded to several of its current concerns in ways that invite or even require theoretical exploration. As well as papers on earlier work in the main series (the Vorkosigan Saga and the ‘Worlds of the Five Gods’ novels The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls), the collection also presents work on recent publications such as The Sharing Knife sequence; the ‘Penric and Desdemona’ novellas; and the recent Vorkosigan Saga novel Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen. The collection deepens feminist research in Bujold studies by incorporating queer and disability studies perspectives; and includes historiographic retracing of scholarship on Bujold’s work. Cover Contents Acknowledgments Editions and Abbreviations Section 1: The Emergence of Bujold Studies Introduction: The Emergence of Bujold Studies The History of Scholarship on Lois McMaster Bujold’s Science Fiction and Fantasy: A Feminist Bibliographic Essay Section 2 : Bujold’s Women Untimely Graces: Gender, Failure, and Sainthood in Lois McMaster Bujold’s Paladin of Souls You Wish to Have the Curse Reversed?: Traditional Narrative Motifs of Gender Reconfigured in Bujold’s Chalion Novels In Quiet Converse: The Intertextual Speaking of Madame Vorsoisson and Miss Price Section 3: Heroes' Journeys The Shape of a Hero’s Soul: Exploring the Paradox of Fate and Free Will in The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls The Road and the River: Genre-Neering a Future in The Sharing Knife Series Pain Made Holy: Narratives of Disability and Pain in The Curse of Chalion Section 4: Potential Futures and Imagined Pasts Queering Barrayar: The Uterine Replicator in Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen ‘What you need is a liege lord’: Futuristic Feudalism in The Warrior’s Apprentice Womb with a View: Ectogenesis in Ethan of Athos and Brave New World Section 5: Holy Families The Holy Family: Divine Queerness in The Curse of Chalion and The Hallowed Hunt The Bastard Balances All: The Essential Other in Bujold’s Queer Theology Section 6: Beyond the Books The Naismith Stratagem: Authenticity and Adaptation in Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga: Sourcebook and Roleplaying Game Canon Compliance and Creative Analysis in Vorkosigan Saga Fan Fiction Appendix 1: Conference Proceedings About the Contributors Index This volume of essays continues the establishment of Lois McMaster Bujold as an important author of contemporary science fiction and fantasy. It argues persuasively that Bujold's corpus spans the distance between two full arcs of US feminism, and has anticipated or responded to several of its current concerns in ways that invite or even require theoretical exploration. The fourteen essays collected here provide wide-ranging scholarly analyses of Bujold's work and worlds so far, covering not only the science fiction and fantasy series, but taking into account the wealth of ancillary material inspired by her works, such as fan fiction and role-playing games. Examining the major series through a range of perspectives, including feminist readings, queer theory, and disability studies, this volume aims to establish beyond doubt the seriousness of intent behind Bujold's various artistic projects and provide a set of rich readings of this engaging, experimental, playful, and popular author. An essay collection that significantly expands previous scholarly writing on award-winning science fiction and fantasy author Lois McMaster Bujold, arguing for the significant contributions her works make to feminist and queer thought, disability studies and fan studies