Today we are going back to a character from Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan saga, Elli Quinn.
The Vorkosigan saga is a space opera series, centred around Miles Vorkosigan, son of Count Aral Vorkosigan and his wife Cordelia, on the planet Barrayar. The Vor are a military caste, as Miles has to keep explaining to people who think they are the aristocracy. Early on in the series, Miles founds the Dendarii Free Mercenaries, or, rather, he takes over an existing mercenary corps, by bullshitting them into believing he is an Admiral, Admiral Naismith. All this while he is only seventeen years old!
Elli Quinn is Miles Vorkosigan’s second in command when he is with the Dendarii.
In one novel, Ethan of Athos, he has sent her on a mission to Kline Station, a space station where she was born and grew up. There, she meets Dr Ethan Urquhart, who is from Athos, a planet whose population is only men. They have ovarian cultures to produce children(all boys) in uterine replicators, but their ovaries need replacement. Ethan has never met a woman before and Elli needs to look after him while carrying out her mission. Miles is not in this novel at all. In fact, this takes place while he and his cousin Ivan are on the planet Cetaganda, at an Empress’s funeral, in another novel, Cetaganda.
Elli is one of Miles’s romantic interests over the series, and he proposes marriage to her before he leaves the Dendarii. She loves him, but is not interested in leaving the fleet and moving to Barrayar. For one thing, she has been living in space all her life. Living on a planet doesn’t appeal to her. For another thing, if she was willing to settle down on a planet, Barrayar wouldn’t be it. It’s improving in many ways, but it’s still behind where its treatment of women is concerned. She couldn’t join its military. It’s ironic, because Miles’s mother was a spaceship captain in her time, but fell in love with Aral, and had to flee her own world, Beta Colony for her own reasons. She had saved Barrayar during a civil war.
Elli tells Miles she might consider marrying him if he wasn’t leaving the fleet, but he can’t stay. (Check out the novel Memory to find out why).
When he leaves, Miles appoints her as the new Admiral, something for which he feels she is more than ready.
Elli is only mentioned in “Winterfair Gifts”, a novella in which Miles finally gets married, but she can’t get to the wedding. But she plays an important role without being there.
I must admit, Elli is one of my favourite characters.
All the books in this series are easily available, in print, ebook and audiobook.
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