Jackson's Whole is a planet in the science fiction series "The Vorkosigan Saga" by Lois McMaster Bujold; its name comes from Jackson Hole, a valley in Wyoming originally called Jackson's Hole. Originally a hijacker base, Jackson's Whole evolved into a government by a series of interlocking crime syndicates known as Houses Major and Houses Minor, the distinction being based on wealth and influence. The heads of the Houses Major claim the title of "Baron". The wife of a Jacksonian Baron is styled a "Baronne", in the French usage, not a Baroness. Presumably, the female leader of a House Major would also be a Baronne.
Science fiction is a genre of speculative fiction that has been called the "literature of ideas". It typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, time travel, parallel universes, fictional worlds, space exploration, and extraterrestrial life. It often explores the potential consequences of scientific innovations.
The Vorkosigan Saga is a series of science fiction novels and short stories set in a common fictional universe by American author Lois McMaster Bujold. The first of these was published in 1986 and the most recent in May 2018. Works in the series have received numerous awards and nominations, including five Hugo award wins including one for Best Series.
Lois McMaster Bujold is an American speculative fiction writer. She is one of the most acclaimed writers in her field, having won the Hugo Award for best novel four times, matching Robert A. Heinlein's record. Her novella "The Mountains of Mourning" won both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award. In the fantasy genre, The Curse of Chalion won the Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature and was nominated for the 2002 World Fantasy Award for best novel, and both her fourth Hugo Award and second Nebula Award were for Paladin of Souls. In 2011 she was awarded the Skylark Award. In 2013 she was awarded the Forry Award for Lifetime Achievement, named for Forrest J. Ackerman, by the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society. She has won two Hugo Awards for Best Series, in 2017 for the Vorkosigan Saga and in 2018 for the Chalion series.
Conventional morality does not appear to matter to the planet's power brokers. Anything and everything is for sale on no other consideration than price. Nothing is illegal, provided one can pay for it. Furthermore, the judicial system in Jackson's Whole is based on a system of "bids" where anyone can purchase justice on a strictly offer-and-demand basis: any party can purchase an arrest form for any individual. The accused party is then forced to outbid the prosecutor in order to get either bail or an acquittal.
Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they comply with the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required.
Jackson's Whole is ultra-capitalism at work. Ordinary people are valued by their usefulness. There are no rights except those one can purchase. An individual who does not live under the protection of one of the Houses has little survival prospects. The society's closest thing to a sacred institution is "The Deal": agreements, even handshake deals and verbal agreements are honored as written contracts.
An oral contract is a contract, the terms of which have been agreed by spoken communication. This is in contrast to a written contract, where the contract is a written document. There may be written, or other physical evidence, of an oral contract – for example where the parties write down what they have agreed – but the contract itself is not a written one.
A contract is a legally binding agreement which recognises and governs the rights and duties of the parties to the agreement. A contract is legally enforceable because it meets the requirements and approval of the law. An agreement typically involves the exchange of goods, services, money, or promises of any of those. In the event of breach of contract, the law awards the injured party access to legal remedies such as damages and cancellation.
The planet seems to be colder than most inhabited planets in the Nexus. Although there is an Earth-like atmosphere and thus plenty of photosynthetic life, the typical weather involves snow and ice. This is another reason individuals do not do well on the planet, as they need a sturdy, heated structure in which to live.
Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that can later be released to fuel the organisms' activities. This chemical energy is stored in carbohydrate molecules, such as sugars, which are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water – hence the name photosynthesis, from the Greek φῶς, phōs, "light", and σύνθεσις, synthesis, "putting together". In most cases, oxygen is also released as a waste product. Most plants, most algae, and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis; such organisms are called photoautotrophs. Photosynthesis is largely responsible for producing and maintaining the oxygen content of the Earth's atmosphere, and supplies all of the organic compounds and most of the energy necessary for life on Earth.
Another Bharaputra creation, an 8-foot-tall (2.4m) prototype for a super-soldier with tremendous strength and deadly claws and teeth. The project was cancelled and all the prototypes (except Taura) soon died of premature aging, as a long lifespan was not considered a useful trait. She was rescued from captivity and joined the Dendarii Mercenaries. Her life was prolonged as much as possible, but she still died when she was only around 30.
The Duronas
A collective of clones whose progenitor, Dr. Lilly Durona, was created by the father of Baron Ryoval and Baron Fell, to be a brilliant, and completely controlled and faithful, scientist to work in his House's labs as a body modification expert. Upon the death of the Baron, Lilly teamed up with Baron Fell and together the two escaped and set up the Durona Research Group to provide biomedical services and biological weapons research to House Fell. To fill the ranks of the group, she created about 30-40 clones of herself, all named after flowers, plus a number of male near-clones, all named after birds. However, the Duronas worried about their uncertain future and plotted their escape. During Mirror Dance, when Mark Vorkosigan kills the rival Baron Ryoval, Mark makes a Deal with Baron Fell, exchanging time-critical key information about House Ryoval for a substantial amount of cash and the Duronas' freedom. They begin a new life on Escobar with their own lab, the Durona Group, which is jointly owned by Lilly Durona and Mark Vorkosigan, with Lilly in charge of the lab and Mark running the business side of the enterprise. One of their chief goals is to create an alternative to the Jackson's Whole business of transplanting the brain of an elderly client into their cloned body, discarding the clone's brain. Lilly Durona becomes the first human trial for an experimental rejuvenation technique when her extreme age causes her death to approach. Mark Vorkosigan later orders Raven Durona to head up a new branch of the Durona Group on New Hope II/Kibou-daini, to start a new cryo-revival business and use the planet's store of millions of frozen patients for a larger test sample of the youth-rejuvenation drug used on Lilly Durona.
Hugo Canaba
Canaba is a brilliant genetic engineer and Taura's creator. The Dendarii Mercenaries were hired to help him defect from House Bharaputra to work for Barrayar. He also provided them with information about a secret Cetagandan project. Dr. Vaughn Weddell is his cover identity on Barrayar. He resurfaces in Memory, where Miles makes use of his expertise in proving that Simon Illyan was deliberately infected with a memory-chip–eating virus.
Memory is a science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, first published in October 1996. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the eleventh full-length novel in publication order.
Terrence Cee
Product (originally labelled as L-X-10-Terran-C) of a Cetagandan genetic project to create telepaths; the project was contracted to House Bharaputra. His story is told in Ethan of Athos.
Tej and Rish
These sisters are major characters in Captain Vorpatril's Alliance. They were part of the ruling family of House Cordonah, but became refugees after a coup.
Russo Gupta
A genetically engineered amphibian person, originally created as part of the crew of an aquatic ballet, he is cast aside when the House that created him is acquired by force by House Ryoval. He plays a key role in helping Miles Vorksigan unravelling the central mystery in Diplomatic Immunity.
Barons of Jackson's Whole
Baron Fell
A notorious arms dealer, whose given name is Georish Stauber. He prefers to live on a space station near a jumppoint. Despite being a dealer in many horrifying weapons, he is considered to be one of the most reliable and least problematic Barons. He is the half-brother of Baron Ryoval. He narrowly escaped Ryoval's purge of his family, in which Ryoval killed his other brothers and turned his sisters into sex slaves in his own brothels. Fell then went to work for another house, eventually working his way to the top position. He refuses to undertake the brain transplant procedure, fearing he will die due to sabotage by a rival.
Baron Bharaputra
Genetics and Medical Specialist. Notorious for performing the "Brain Transplant Procedure" involving the raising of a clone to young adulthood, followed by the transplant of the progenitor's brain into the clone, killing the young individual, and 50 percent of the time, the progenitor as well. The procedure is banned on all other planets in the Nexus. The Baron's wife, Baronne Lotus, is a renegade Durona who was scheduled to have her brain transplanted into a clone when circumstance, in the form of Miles and Mark Vorkosigan, intervened, taking her clone away with the rest of the Duronas.
Baron Ryoval
Sick and twisted, this minor House Baron develops custom made slaves for the sex trade. In attempting to carry out revenge on Miles Naismith for something done by the Dendarii Mercenaries, he abducts Mark Vorkosigan by mistake. Mark, a trained assassin, is eventually able to kill Ryoval, literally with both hands tied behind his back and stark naked to boot, but not before Ryoval has inflicted terrible psychological damage that causes Mark's psyche to split into multiple personalities.
Ryoval's assets were taken over by House Fell, with Mark holding Ryoval's personal code ring as hostage in the Deal that allows him to negotiate freedom for the Duronas.
Baron and Baronne Cordonah
House Cordonah controls one of Jackson's Whole's jumppoints. The Baronne is half-Cetagandan and the Baron is Komarran. They have 10 children. The House was traditionally regarded as an unofficial Cetagandan ally until the Cordonahs were ousted from power by another House. They receive Barrayaran support in retaking control and become a covert Barrayaran ally. One of their children marries Lord Ivan Vorpatril (Captain Vorpatril's Alliance).
Ethan of Athos is a 1986 science fiction novel by American author Lois McMaster Bujold. The title character is Dr. Ethan Urquhart, Chief of Biology at the Severin District Reproduction Centre on the planet Athos, who is sent to find out what happened to a shipment of vital ovarian tissue cultures. Set in the fictional universe of Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga, the novel mentions but does not feature her usual protagonist Miles Vorkosigan. To date, Bujold has never revisited the settings of Athos or Kline Station in her many subsequent novels, but the events of Ethan of Athos are later referred to indirectly in the novels Borders of Infinity (1989) and Cetaganda (1995).
Miles Naismith Vorkosigan is a protagonist of a series of science fiction novels and short stories, known as the Vorkosigan Saga, written by American author Lois McMaster Bujold.
Captain Lord Ivan Vorpatril, also known as "That Idiot Ivan" or "Ivan, You Idiot", is a fictional character in American writer Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga series of science fiction novels. He is Miles Vorkosigan's second cousin, foil, burden, workhorse, and - before Miles has children - his formal heir. He is everything Miles is not - tall, handsome, and athletic. He waltzed into the military academy and waltzed right back out into one plum posting after another. He inhabits any uniform - even the Dendarii's - like a second skin.
Cetaganda is the collective name for an 8-planet empire in the Wormhole Nexus of the Vorkosigan Saga novels of Lois McMaster Bujold. Cetaganda contrasts with the empire of Barrayar, Beta Colony, and Jackson's Whole. It features heavily in the novel Cetaganda.
Komarr is a fictional planet in Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga series of novels and stories.
Aral Vorkosigan is a fictional character appearing in American writer Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga series of science fiction books. Known throughout this universe as "The Butcher of Komarr", he dominates the imagination of the two main point-of-view characters in the Vorkosigan Saga, Cordelia, who becomes his wife, and their son Miles. He appears, at least briefly or as an important if absent figure, in all the novels of the series except Cetaganda, Ethan of Athos and Falling Free. He also provides the narrative framework for the presentation of three short stories in Borders of Infinity.
Simon Illyan is a fictional character in the Vorkosigan Saga science fiction novels by Lois McMaster Bujold.
Diplomatic Immunity is a 2002 science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, part of the Vorkosigan Saga. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 2003.
The Dendarii Mercenaries are a mercenary organisation appearing in American writer Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga series of science fiction works. They were founded by Miles Vorkosigan in The Warrior's Apprentice.
Cordelia Naismith is the name of two fictional characters by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold. One is from the science fiction series the Vorkosigan Saga. The other is the title character of the Victorian era Sherlock Holmes short story "The Adventure of the Lady on the Embankment" included in her anthology Dreamweaver's Dilemma.
Gregor Vorbarra is the Emperor of the Barrayaran Imperium in the science fiction series Vorkosigan Saga by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold.
Koudelka is the last name of several secondary characters in Lois McMaster Bujold's science fiction series, the Vorkosigan Saga.
The Warrior's Apprentice is an English language science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold, part of the Vorkosigan Saga. It was the second book published in the series, and is the fifth story, including novellas, in the internal chronology of the series. The Warrior's Apprentice was first published by Baen Books in 1986, and was included in the 1997 omnibus Young Miles.
A Civil Campaign: A Comedy of Biology and Manners is a science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, first published in September 1999. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the thirteenth full-length novel in publication order. It is included in the 2008 omnibus Miles in Love. The title is an homage to the Georgette Heyer novel A Civil Contract and, like Heyer's historical romances, the novel focuses on romance, comedy, and courtship. It is dedicated to "Jane, Charlotte, Georgette, and Dorothy", likely the novelists Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Georgette Heyer, and Dorothy L. Sayers or Dorothy Dunnett.
Mirror Dance is a Hugo- and Locus-award-winning science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold. Part of the Vorkosigan Saga, it was first published by Baen Books in March 1994, and is included in the 2002 omnibus Miles Errant.
Brothers in Arms is a science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, part of the Vorkosigan Saga. It was the fifth book published in the series, and is the twelfth story, including novellas, in the internal chronology of the series. Brothers in Arms was first published by Baen Books in January 1989, and is included in the 2002 omnibus Miles Errant.
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance is a science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, part of the Vorkosigan Saga. The action centers on Miles Vorkosigan's cousin Ivan Vorpatril, now a captain, and a Jackson's Whole refugee called Tej. By internal chronology, the book is set a year or so after Diplomatic Immunity (2002), about four years before Cryoburn (2010).
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