You’ll rapidly note that the order in the subject line has nothing to do with the order in which I write about the books:
Spirit Ring is, as far as I know, the only fantasy novel that bujold has ever written. It’s good. The characterization and POV is crisp and clear. The characters are likeable, and the plot is well paced. lots of anticipation, without falling into a lack of activity.
I did hope for something with a deeper meaning/larger scope to it though. The action really is confined to the small geographic area, and the small number of participants. There is a geopolitical landscape involved, but it is a largely static backdrop, with a single major change introduced, then effectively erased at the end of the novel. Further, the end tends to be a bit too tidy for my taste about wrapping events up. And there don’t seem to be any terribly profound statements made. I contrast this with Octavia Butler, where the action does get slow at times, no major character is completely absent character flaws that will make one’s teeth grind (obstinancy being chief among them), and the feel is dark, gritty, and depressing. But she makes some very interesting statements about human nature, and what it means to be human, not human, and human-but-better, and how, in many of her novels, the settings evolve. I guess this is largely a question for
Secondly, there was something I saw reading Tuf Voyaging followed shortly by Ethan of Athos. The similarities are almost as remarkable as the differences between these two novels. (Tuf Voyaging is actually an anthology of works by the same author, in the same universe, about the same character, with similar scenarios and themes, so, kinda like “oathbound” by mercedes lackey. Not quite a novel, but anthology doesn’t seem right either. Both end with the revelation of an impending, sweeping biological change to a planet, specifically to the human ecology on a planet, deliberately introduced by man, in fact, by a small set of people making a decision for the entire planet’s population, the implications of which are not spelled out, but left to the reader’s imagination. I like that.
There’s also The Curse of Chalion, which I liked a lot. The sequel to it, Paladin of Souls, is due out later this month.
She’s also written “The Curse of Chalion”, which likes a lot – I haven’t read it myself, as fantasy and I rarely get along. The sequel to it is coming out this month or next.
sdflkdsj I need to make sure Nat hasn’t answered before I post, eh?
Anyway, on the other question: I haven’t read “Spirit Ring”, but I find that generally Bujold is more about personal change than world-change. Sometimes her characters change worlds, but it’s all wrapped into their personal changes.
Butler has a number of characters who are out to change the world, or who are made into agents of worldchange through some connection to something outside themselves. Lilith Iyapo’s difficult and painful absorption into an alien race as the first step towards a rebuilding of Earth, Lauren Olamina’s religion…etc.
Damn. Now I want to re-read Dawn.
You’ve read the two most standalone novels Bujold has. You’ve also read two of the earliest.
In my opinion, Bujold’s best work came from her mid/later Miles books – my favs are Mirror Dance, Memory, and A Civil Campaign. Her strength is her characterization-oriented plots, and her willingness to let bad things happen to her characters to make them grow. Her earlier books are fun romps, perhaps with a bit of an inconsequential feel, but it’s really where you see how she takes Miles through his late 20s that you see what people are raving about.