I just finished reading the latest Vorkosigan book (science fiction), and find myself unwilling to do anything more than think about what I just read. I love her characterization - they're so strong, vivid, and well rounded. I also love that she puts the 'science' in science fiction. Science fiction is wonderful for imagining what might be. For example - what would it be like if you could decide to have children at the age of 76, after the death of your spouse? And what would it do to your already grown, adult children?
There are times where I honestly wish I were a writer, and could create such interesting worlds.
But that's not what has me unwilling to start reading another book, or to start my Saturday errands.
Lois McMaster Bujold has this great ability to touch on the darkest aspects of life, and make it somehow come into the light, and humanize us. I just re-read the entire series, you see. The earlier books were more action oriented, which is part of what drew me to them when I was younger, I think. When she wrote Memory I remember being shocked at first. The pacing was so slow, it was less-action packed. And then it turned around and became my favorite Vorkosigan book so far. (Re-reading them all, now, makes me realize how much I was anxious to get through those previous action-packed adventures and get on to the more recent stuff.)
Memory became a favorite in part because that's when the main character truly came into his own. Took all the skills he'd been learning in the previous books and brought them into the world he belonged to...the one with family, friends, and acquaintances. The one he was making his home. It wasn't fast-paced, it wasn't action packed. Most of the action was taking place internally, inside his own head. It was - growth.
There are times I wish the real world were more like a book, because that sort of incandescent fulfillment of yourself seems so rare. Or maybe it's just that authors can skip through the long and boring slow bits, so that all we really notice are the moments where things come to fruition.
It's the kind of thing that makes me wonder. If God created such amazing people - and I think we all are amazing, in a way - why is it so hard to create a world where we can all reach our full potential?
There are times where I honestly wish I were a writer, and could create such interesting worlds.
But that's not what has me unwilling to start reading another book, or to start my Saturday errands.
Lois McMaster Bujold has this great ability to touch on the darkest aspects of life, and make it somehow come into the light, and humanize us. I just re-read the entire series, you see. The earlier books were more action oriented, which is part of what drew me to them when I was younger, I think. When she wrote Memory I remember being shocked at first. The pacing was so slow, it was less-action packed. And then it turned around and became my favorite Vorkosigan book so far. (Re-reading them all, now, makes me realize how much I was anxious to get through those previous action-packed adventures and get on to the more recent stuff.)
Memory became a favorite in part because that's when the main character truly came into his own. Took all the skills he'd been learning in the previous books and brought them into the world he belonged to...the one with family, friends, and acquaintances. The one he was making his home. It wasn't fast-paced, it wasn't action packed. Most of the action was taking place internally, inside his own head. It was - growth.
There are times I wish the real world were more like a book, because that sort of incandescent fulfillment of yourself seems so rare. Or maybe it's just that authors can skip through the long and boring slow bits, so that all we really notice are the moments where things come to fruition.
It's the kind of thing that makes me wonder. If God created such amazing people - and I think we all are amazing, in a way - why is it so hard to create a world where we can all reach our full potential?
