Outside of a Dog: Bujold, Lois McMaster: (114) Diplomatic Immunity

Kate

Kate wrote on May 3, 2002 at 3:19 PM:

I also posted this to rec.arts.sf.written.

Dan Blum

Dan Blum wrote on June 5, 2002 at 1:35 PM:

Miles didn't deliberately go old-Vor on the son's
name - the first two sons in the primary male line
have their names predetermined.

Kate

Kate wrote on June 5, 2002 at 2:11 PM:

That's an optional custom, otherwise Gregor would be named Ezar.

Dan Blum

Dan Blum wrote on June 8, 2002 at 2:29 PM:

It sure didn't sound optional the times it was
mentioned. As for Gregor, it's possible that
the custom only applies to Counts' heirs (admittedly
a shaky rationale, since the Emperor is also
Count Vorbarra), but it's also possible that Gregor
wasn't Serg and Kareen's first son.

Kate

Kate wrote on June 8, 2002 at 3:07 PM:

This is a case of the Author Having a Better Idea; Bujold says so in the "Inconsistences" section of the Bujold Mailing List Plot FAQ.

Juan Suros

Juan Suros wrote on June 27, 2002 at 8:53 PM:

I'd always thought Gregor was the eldest surviving grandson of Mad Yuri rather than the first born (who would have Yuri's name). Ezar was sort of forced into being a usurper of Yuri's throne by that spate of unpleasantness in the family, yes? One suspects there were few complaints of repetitive names in that generation.

I'm certain naming the first two children is NOT optional:

Shards of Honor(Aral to Cordelia): "the Vor don't get to choose their names..."

Brother's in Arms(Miles to Mark): "Did you know you have a name? ..."

Kate

Kate wrote on June 28, 2002 at 11:40 PM:

Again--earlier books may have indicated that it wasn't optional, but The Author Has Had A Better Idea and has *said* it's optional. Yes, it's an inconsistency, but it's one the author has resolved by fiat.

Sarah

Sarah wrote on July 16, 2002 at 2:25 PM:

Like the reviewer, I think I was expecting something else for this book. I'm not sure what exactly but I felt a kind of let down at the end. Also spoiler; read rest elsewhere.

Kate

Kate wrote on July 16, 2002 at 3:00 PM:

The rest of the previous post has been moved to a separate page, since it contains a spoiler for the book.

--The Management