Line #17 Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lmb.jpg]]
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3	->''"Boy, can she write!"''
4	-->--'''Creator/AnneMcCaffrey'''[[note]]the blurb that appeared on the front of most of Bujold's early ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' books[[/note]]
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6	Lois [=McMaster=] Bujold is a modern American writer of SpeculativeFiction. She was early categorised as a writer of MilitaryScienceFiction due to her early books, but her books generally pick up elements of romance, detection, PlanetaryRomance, and many other types of genres.
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8	She has won the MediaNotes/HugoAward for Best Novel four times[[note]]''The Vor Game'', ''Barrayar'', ''Mirror Dance'', and ''Paladin of Souls''[[/note]], second only to Creator/RobertAHeinlein, and the MediaNotes/NebulaAward for Best Novel twice[[note]]''Falling Free'' and ''Paladin of Souls''[[/note]]. She won the Hugo Award for Best Series the first two times it was awarded, for the ''Vorkosigan Saga'' and ''World of the Five Gods'' series. She was awarded the MediaNotes/DamonKnightMemorialGrandMasterAward by the SFWA in 2020.
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10	!!Major works of hers include:
11	* The ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga''
12	* The ''Literature/WorldOfTheFiveGods'' series
13	* ''Literature/TheSharingKnife'' series
14	* ''Literature/TheSpiritRing'', a standalone novel based on the legend of The Grateful Dead. (No, not [[Music/TheGratefulDead the band]], which took its name from the same legend.)
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16	!!Some tropes common to Lois Bujold's works are:
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18	* AnachronicOrder: Individual works tend to be in order internally, but she has a tendency to insert books into gaps in existing series, such as adding ''Barrayar'', ''The Vor Game'' and ''Cetaganda'' into the timeline of the Vorkosigan books, or inserting ''Penric's Fox'' and ''Masquerade in Lodi'' into the Penric stories.
19	* AuthorAppeal
20	** The angsty, experienced older man/spunky but naive young woman pairing shows up in a number of Bujold's works, Most prominently in ''Literature/TheSharingKnife'' but also in ''[[Literature/VorkosiganSaga Falling Free]]'', ''[[Literature/WorldOfTheFiveGods The Curse of Chalion]]'', and ''[[Literature/WorldOfTheFiveGods The Hallowed Hunt]]''.
21	** Weddings in general. Many of her works have someone getting married in them.
22	** Bujold is one of the few authors who portrays {{Uterine Replicator}}s as being clearly better for the baby, the mother, and society in general, and not as a symptom of a dehumanizing dystopia. She's also had two kids. (She also makes sure to note that Cordelia and Fawn have access to the ''good'' anti-nausea medication during their pregnancies.)
23	** More minor than the others, but she also seems to like the name 'Dag', using it for the hero of ''Literature/TheSharingKnife'', Miles' Cetagandan opposite number Ghem-Colonel Benin, and a minor character mentioned in passing in ''[[Literature/VorkosiganSaga Ethan of Athos]]''.
24	** A number of her books revolve around engineering; her father was one, with protagonist Leo Graf loosely based on him.
25	** Hair, long hair in particular, is often a symbol of status and beauty. {{Traumatic Haircut}}s often appear because of this, with the Barrayaran custom of burning locks DueToTheDead being a base for it.
26	* BigBeautifulWoman: While not all Bujold love interests are portrayed this way, there are several whose attractiveness to their partners is due to their size and not in spite of it; Laisa (Emperor Gregor's wife in the ''Vorkosigan Saga'') and Nikys (Penric's wife in ''World of the Five Gods'') are the most prominent examples.
27	* {{Polyamory}}: The notion that one can be sincerely in love with more than one person at a time shows up at least once per series:
28	** Literature/VorkosiganSaga:
29	*** Cordelia mentions an Armsman who has one wife in the city and one in the country, is chronically stressed by the expense and the secrecy, but can't bear to choose between them and seems to truly love both.
30	*** Not to mention that [[spoiler:an essential spoiler for the entire plot of ''Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen'' was that Oliver had been the invisible third person in Aral and Cordelia's marriage for ''years'']].
31	** ''Literature/WorldOfTheFiveGods'':
32	*** Dowager Royina Ista tells of the close but non-romantic relationship she had with her husband's male lover, and how much her husband loved them both.
33	*** Adelis and Nikys's mothers were the wife and concubine of a Cedonian general, respectively. The two women became fast friends and their children treated each other as full siblings.
34	** Literature/TheSharingKnife: A Lakewalker woman is married to two men. The original couple couldn't have children--all-important in Lakewalker culture--but they didn't want to split up, so they just brought in an extra husband. The husbands are also married to each other.
35	* RomancingTheWidow: Miles Vorkosigan and Penric both end up HappilyMarried to widows; Ista is the widow who gets romanced in ''Paladin of Souls''.

Context Creator / LoisMcMasterBujold