stoutfellow

I don't actively try to get people to read Bujold's stories; if they ask for recommendations, yeah, she's high on the list, but I only spontaneously evangelize if I'm pretty sure they fit the person's tastes (as with my sister E). Sometimes, though, inadvertent recruitment occurs.

This past semester, the department interviewed several people for a tenure-track opening. The in-person interviews always include lunch at the university restaurant, attended by the candidate, the search committee, and as many department members as can be rounded up. Discussion at those meals is free and wide-ranging. At one of those lunches, for some reason, I found myself explaining that I had written a number of Bujold-centered filksongs, which necessitated an explanation of "filksong" and a brief discussion of some of the salient features of the Vorkosigan Saga.

This morning, I received an e-mail from that candidate, telling me that even though we didn't hire him, something good had still come of it: he's been reading through the entire (new to him) Vorkosigan Saga - currently, he's on Diplomatic Immunity. He expressed wonder that he had never encountered LMB's work before.

(I haven't responded yet; I'm thinking about just how to recommend the Sharing Knife and Five Gods series....)

If you're a Bujold fan but not on the LMB list, here's a head's-up. This article is one of the finest tributes to Lois I've yet seen.