I liked this novel very much, along with its sequel, Barrayar. Science fiction space warfare, done with cleverness and style. Its been a while since I read it, its past time for a re-read. ( )

Sets the stage for the rest of the series: Rating System:
1 star = abysmal; some books deserve to be forgotten
2 star = poor; a total waste of time
3 star = good; worth the effort
4 star = very good; what writing should be
5 star = fantastic; must own it and share it with othersSTORY: Cordelia Naismith meets Lord Aral Vorkosaigan while on opposite sides of the war. In the midst of political pressures and physical dangers, they dare to fall in love with each other while trying to avoid their destiny.MY FEEDBACK:
I picked this up because so many other books in this series have won the Hugo and/or Nebula. This book definitely sets the stage for what is to come: high political intrigue and assassinations; dangers that require bravery and courage; and events to challenge friendships and loyalty; and of course some romance. This book has all these in one sense or another. The friendship and loyalty of characters really stands out and makes you really love the character of Aral Vorkosaigan. This is also an intelligent story, where solutions are not only resolved by chance or brute force but clever use of what resources are at hand. It gave me the grand and subtle pleasantness I had when reading Asimov's Foundation series. It had just enough science in the fiction to be appreciated and it had just the right touch of romance so as not to turn some of us testosterone males off to the story. I really enjoyed this story and found it a very easy read.

http://tinyurl.com/lcgn33

Why is it that I had to resort to ILL from my public library to get this highly-lauded first novel from a respected sci-fi author? For shame, for shame. All copies must have been stolen by eager fans.

I've read one other book by Bujold: The Curse of Chalion, and did not have the same problems with her pushy feminist approach in this novel. A female starship captain may not have been commonplace in this universe, but even her enemy scoffing that women could even be considered for rank in the army didn't bother me. Bujold made this fit without creating way too obvious a place for it.

Our female captain has her own set of balls, of course, falls in love with the only man who would do for her, and both of them are so full of honor and loyalty as to make you gag in sections. The intelligent writing, scenic descriptions, and complex characterizations more than make up for any failure there.

I was enamored enough that I plan on reading more of her Vorkosigan saga. Even though there will be no appearances of any of the characters from this novel. The universe itself is drawn so deftly, I'm sure not to miss them. ( )

Audio book review - being a fan of LMB's later fantasy work I was keen to listen to some earlier sci-fi. The reviews were all good for this audio book but I can't agree. The dialog was stilted, you couldn't get into the characters the story was all over the place and didn't flow - I can't see how a long series was started from this. I love sci-fi but this was only average. ( )

Based upon an argument (outside LT), I decided to re-read the bulk of Bujold's Vorkosigan books in roughly series order; Shards of Honor is first up. I first read this book about 20 years ago and remembered thinking it wasn't the most shining component of the series. Unfortunately, a re-read has done nothing to change that opinion…if anything, it has made it stronger. It's one of her earlier works and it shows.

This book introduces us to Cordelia Naismith and Aral Vorkosigan, the eventual parents of the main character of the series, Miles Vorkosigan. The plot is pretty simple. Their planets are going to war with each other; they fall in love; he rescues her from a sadist when she's captured; once repatriated, she realizes she doesn't fit into her own world anymore; they get married. If that seems a bit simplistic it's because going into it any further exposes how trite and slight the plot really is.

Just as an example: the book opens with his troops attacking her non-combatant exploration party on a neutral world, killing one of her friends and almost killing her; she recovers consciousness as his prisoner. Nonetheless, 30 pages into the book she's eyeing him thinking, "Even if the shape of his square strong hands was a dream…" Wow, Stockholm Syndrome on steroids! Of course, in this, she's way behind him since he later confesses he fell for her when he first found her lying unconscious in a gully.

At this point in the series, the world-building is extremely sketchy, the writing a bit stiff, and the characters quite flat. Though his series later falls off, Weber did the introduction of a strong female lead much better in his Honor Harrington books. Basically, this introduces the universe and a couple of the characters to the reader.

This is not the book to start with if you want to see what this popular series is about (unless you're re-reading). Barrayar, which won the Hugo, is probably the right point and, coincidentally, is up next. ( )