Shards of Honor

I haven’t read a lot of pure science fiction, but [Shards of Honor] by Lois McMaster Bujold came highly recommended and so I gave it a try. And although I am still not a full convert to sci-fi, I did really love this book and appreciated that it was light on the technical information and science but did occasionally give me flashbacks to both early Star Trek episodes and the Star Wars movies. A fun, adventurous read featuring a strong, independent woman, Cordelia Naismith, who is the captain of a Betan astronomical survey ship that had the unfortunate luck to cross paths with a military spaceship from the planet Barrayar whose captain, Lord Aral Vorkosigan is to become an important person in her life.

Without delving into the plot too show more deeply, this is a story of two star-crossed lovers kept apart by political plots, as well as ethical and moral conflicts. The book was originally published in 1986 and is as timely today as it was back then as the main characters have to face serious questions as to the worth of a terrible sacrifice, and should one follow their country blindly, and when does personal honor come into alliances and betrayals. As these are mature people, this was never a “bodice-ripper” kind of romance, instead we are given a realistic adult story of practical people with both pasts and flaws that realize they should be together.

[Shards of Honor] is the first book in the Vorkosigan series, and both the story and it’s ending has fully engaged me so that I want to continue on and see what happens to these characters next. show less

This was the first-written Vorkosigan book, and (if you ignore prequels set well before the main series), it's also the first chronologically. Yet I chose to read it third, treating the first two Miles books, The Warrior's Apprentice and The Vor Game, as a duology, and then moving backwards to read the two Cordelia books as a prequel duology.

It certainly was not intended to be read as a prequel, but I found that it worked quite well. Shards of Honor is told from the point-of-view of Cordelia Naismith, the captain of a science vessel from Beta Colony, who becomes entangled with Aral Vorkosigan, commander of a warship from Barrayar; they are the future parents of Miles. Cordelia is an important presence in the first two Miles books, but show more admittedly not much of a presence, in that she plays little role in those books, so it's nice to see her here. It's also good to get a perspective on Aral more sympathetic than the one we usually get from Miles, for whom his father is a principled but stern authority figure. Reading Shards of Honor this way, it does what the best prequels do: fill in and enhance our understanding of the later-set stories. I found a lot of little moments where one could aha! in seeing how Warrior's Apprentice and Vor Game were set up, not just with the characters of Aral and Cordelia, but also with Bothari, the damaged sergeant who comes across as more villainous in Warrior's Apprentice, but who turns out to have been kind of a victim here.

Like previous Vorkosigan books, this reminded me of the Hornblower series by C. S. Forester. Not so much in terms of content (this was much less of a Hornbloweresque military escapade than the Miles books, it's more of a combination survival-thriller-and-romance), but structure: Shards of Honor was originally published as a single novel, but it was clearly written as three novellas, one about Cordelia and Aral's original meeting and survival trek, one about them meeting again in a war zone, and one about the consequences on Beta Colony of Cordelia's adventures. Each (especially the first two) has a clear beginning and end, and clear character arc all of its own, and could be read entirely satisfyingly without the others; the second even contains bits of dropped-in exposition for people who hadn't read the first part! It's a little jarring in that the book doesn't even use something like "Part Two" to make the transition; you turn a page and suddenly you are months later in a different place reading about a different thing. But aside from that, the device worked for me—nothing in this book wears out its welcome, nor does it feel underdeveloped. Instead you get three solid stories for the price of one!

In terms of series chronology, Shards of Honor is followed by a short story called "Aftermaths" which is available in Cordelia's Honor, the Baen omnibus of Shards of Honor and Barrayar. I was prepared to track it down (it is, for example, available as a free episode of the Escape Pod podcast), but was pleasantly surprised to find it was included in my NESFA Press edition of Shards, a fact completely unmentioned on the NESFA website or the cover or in the introduction of my actual book! I'm glad it was; it's not essential to the ongoing story, but it is an effectively written story of those left behind by war. show less

Shards Of Honour" is Science Fiction at its best, using the conflict between two cultures and the attraction between two strong, independent, action-oriented leaders both to tell an exciting tale and to spark insights into the nature of power, honour, personal courage, leadership and personal and institutional evil.

"Shards Of Honour" doesn't have a particularly strong plot. The story is linear and mostly unsurprising. On the surface, this seems to be a love-on-the-battlefield meets culture clash between a hierarchical male-dominated militaristic culture and a less obviously hierarchical, more sexually egalitarian, science and commerce based culture. If it had been a "Star Trek" episode it would have been cheesy but fun.

Two things lift show more "Shards of Honour" beyond level of cheesy romantic space romp and make it into science fiction that continues to be relevant and challenging.

The first is that the two characters at the heart of the story are richly drawn. They both decline to be what others expect them to be. They both struggle to define and do the honourable thing. They both succeed in being both lionised and rejected by their home cultures and neither of them defaults to the simplest understanding of a individuals or the circumstances that drive their behaviour.

Cordelia Naismith is calm, courageous, resourceful, leans heavily on humour to keep threats at a manageable distance and driven almost entirely by have values and her curiosity.

Aral Vorkosigan is a born strategist, prone to both anger and violence but who seeks to control both in the name of honour. He serves loyally but not uncritically and he leads because he cannot help it.

The second is the depth of political and moral thought in the novel. "Shards Of Honour" was published in 1986 but the political commentary is perhaps even more relevant now than it was in those, in retrospect, optimistic times.

The need for personal honour is shown by its lack in a sadistic senior officer who uses his power over women prisoners to break them for his pleasure using rape and torture. After an up close and very personal encounter with this man, our Cordelia describes him as "the ultimate in evil".

I agreed with her but Aral, the strategist, the man who commands fleets of warships sees a greater evil. He describes the sadistic rapist as:

"...just a little villain. An old-fashioned craftsman making crimes one-off. The really unforgivable acts are committed by calm men in beautiful green-silk rooms who deal death wholesale, by the shipload, without lust or anger or desire or any redeeming emotion to excuse them but cold fear of some pretended future. But the crime they hope to prevent in that future are imaginary. The ones they commit in the present, they are real."

In this time of Brexit, we need reminders that the now is real and the future just an imagined thins we ask others to sacrifice themselves to protect.

In this time of Trump, this quote resonated with me:

"A Caligula or a Yuri Vorbarra can rule a long time while the best men hesitate to do what is necessary to stop him and the worst ones take advantage."

In another lesson that seems more relevant than ever today, we are shown how we create false but appealing narratives to feed our own desires. At one point, her own people hail Cordelia as a hero and attribute actions and attributes to her that she knows to be false. I was fascinated by the explanation of Cordelia's inability to get the truth across. Again it, seems relevant to today's politics. Cordelia, being carried on the shoulders of an excited crowd says:

"It's not true. Stop this."

It was like trying to turn back the tide with a teacup. The story had too much innate appeal to the battered prisoners, too much wish-fulfilment come to life. They took it in like balm for their wounded spirits and made it their own vicarious revenge. The story was passed around elaborated, built up, sea changed, until within twenty-four hours it was as rich and unkillable as legend. After a few days, she gave up trying. The truth was too complicated and ambiguous to appeal to them..."


To my mild embarrassment, as someone who has been an avid reader of Science fiction for nearly fifty years, I failed to notice Lois McMaster Bujold until 2017 when a number of people recommended her to me and her "Vorkosigan Saga" won a Hugo for Best Series.

I bought "Shards of Honour", the first book in the series, and then let it sit on my TBR pile for seventeen months. I've only picked up now because I set myself a"Thirty Firsts TBR Challenge". Now that I've finally read it, I'm kicking myself for my inattention.

Lois McMaster Bujold is now on my "read everything she's ever written" list. I'll start with the rest of the Vorkosigan Saga and go from there. show less

SHARDS OF HONOR introduces Captain Cordelia Naismith of the Betan Survey and Captain Aral Vorkosigan of the Barrayaran military. They meet when Cordelia's survey team is exploring a newly discovered planet and stumble on the Barrayarans who had found it earlier and were using it as a staging ground for an attack on Escobar.

Cordelia is from a planet that is technologically and scientifically advanced; Aran is from a planet that was only recently rediscovered when Cetaganda decided to conquer it and which had regressed to a sort of feudal state. He's from the privileged military caste.

They get together after his crew has destroyed her crew's base camp and traitors of his crew tried to assassinate him. Her crew, except for now deceased show more Lieutenant Rosemont and injured Ensign Dubauer, managed to escape into space. His crew believes he is dead.

The two have to travel about 200 kilometers to a base he knows about where she can get medical attention for Dubauer and he can attempt to retake control of his own command. She gives her word of honor to cooperate in order to get care for Dubauer. As they travel, with very limited supplies (oatmeal and blue cheese dressing) and both with various injuries, they begin to get to know each other and come to respect each other and even fall in love.

However, they both have loyalties that are doomed to pull them apart. She needs to get back to her own people to stop Barrayar's invasion while he is oath-sworn to conduct it. She is sent back as the Captain of a ship to provide a decoy in order to let advanced Betan weapons through to Escobar and is again captured. This time she falls in with people that Aral had earlier described as the scum of the service. She is slated for rape and torture by an old enemy of Aral's until she is saved by Sargeant Bothari, a useful madman she met during her first capture.

She is front and center for the invasion and soon comes to learn some of Barrayar's secrets that must be kept close. When the invasion fails (see Betan secret weapons), she is again repatriated. But this time both Escobaran and Betan psychiatrists are convinced that she has been programmed to act as some sort of agent for Barrayar when she resists their attempts at a therapy that would reveal Barrayarn secrets.

Cordelia manages to escape Beta and find her way to Barrayar when she finds an Aral whose heart has been broken by what his emperor demanded of him and who is diligently trying to drink himself to death. They marry and are hoping for a quiet life with children when Aral is tapped for a new impossible job - regent for five-year-old Emperor Gregor after his grandfather's death.

The writing is amazing. The characters fully realized and intriguing. The story is filled with moral dilemmas and quests for honor and grace. I have read this book many times since its publication in 1986, but this is the first time that I have listened to the story. The narration was wonderfully done by Grover Gardner. show less

Shards of Honor is a 1986 space opera romance. I'd pitch it as Jane Austen in space, but with some Game of Thrones-esque violence and political intrigue thrown in!

The novel follows Cordelia Naismith, a Betan survey captain, who becomes entangled with Aral Vorkosigan, a notorious Barrayaran commander, after a planetary ambush. What begins as tense captivity evolves into something more as they gradually come to know and trust one another.

Shards of Honor is definitely character-driven storytelling. Cordelia is a standout protagonist - intelligent, principled, and quietly courageous. Vorkosigan is equally complex, navigating the brutal politics of Barrayar with weary integrity.

I loved that the main couple is actually not super young in show more this! Cordelia is 34 and Vorkosigan is 44 at the beginning of the story. And as someone who doesn’t usually like romance novels, I ended up getting really invested in their (very) slow burn romance! I think a huge part of that is because it was based on mutual respect and admiration. They had such a strong, meaningful emotional connection building between the two of them, not just sexual chemistry. If you like Jane Austen’s couples, and you like complex scifi, this is your sort of book!

I’ve gotta throw in a massive trigger warning for attempted rape though. This will be very triggering for some readers.

Though the pacing does occasionally lag in some places, it felt well worth the read by the time I reached the end. Really looking forward to reading further in the series! show less

SHARDS OF HONOR introduces Captain Cordelia Naismith of the Betan Survey and Captain Aral Vorkosigan of the Barrayaran military. They meet when Cordelia's survey team is exploring a newly discovered planet and stumble on the Barrayarans who had found it earlier and were using it as a staging ground for an attack on Escobar.

Cordelia is from a planet that is technologically and scientifically advanced; Aran is from a planet that was only recently rediscovered when Cetaganda decided to conquer it and which had regressed to a sort of feudal state. He's from the privileged military caste.

They get together after his crew has destroyed her crew's base camp and traitors of his crew tried to assassinate him. Her crew, except for now deceased show more Lieutenant Rosemont and injured Ensign Dubauer, managed to escape into space. His crew believes he is dead.

The two have to travel about 200 kilometers to a base he knows about where she can get medical attention for Dubauer and he can attempt to retake control of his own command. She gives her word of honor to cooperate in order to get care for Dubauer. As they travel, with very limited supplies (oatmeal and blue cheese dressing) and both with various injuries, they begin to get to know each other and come to respect each other and even fall in love.

However, they both have loyalties that are doomed to pull them apart. She needs to get back to her own people to stop Barrayar's invasion while he is oath-sworn to conduct it. She is sent back as the Captain of a ship to provide a decoy in order to let advanced Betan weapons through to Escobar and is again captured. This time she falls in with people that Aral had earlier described as the scum of the service. She is slated for rape and torture by an old enemy of Aral's until she is saved by Sargeant Bothari, a useful madman she met during her first capture.

She is front and center for the invasion and soon comes to learn some of Barrayar's secrets that must be kept close. When the invasion fails (see Betan secret weapons), she is again repatriated. But this time both Escobaran and Betan psychiatrists are convinced that she has been programmed to act as some sort of agent for Barrayar when she resists their attempts at a therapy that would reveal Barrayarn secrets.

Cordelia manages to escape Beta and find her way to Barrayar when she finds an Aral whose heart has been broken by what his emperor demanded of him and who is diligently trying to drink himself to death. They marry and are hoping for a quiet life with children when Aral is tapped for a new impossible job - regent for five-year-old Emperor Gregor after his grandfather's death.

The writing is amazing. The characters fully realized and intriguing. The story is filled with moral dilemmas and quests for honor and grace. I have read this book many times since its publication in 1986 but this is the first time that I have listened to the story. The narration was wonderfully done by Grover Gardner. show less

This book is combined with the story Barrayar to make the omnibus Cordelia's Honour.

This seems to be the first novel written in the Miles Vorkosigan saga (though in a slightly darker tone than the Miles books), and is the story of how his parents, on opposite sides in an interplanetary war, first met. The majority of the Vorkosigan saga is made up of stories about Miles, but these two books focus on his parents.

Commander Cordelia Naismith, Astrocartographer for the Betan Astronomical Survey, is leading an expeditionary team of scientists, surveying a newly discovered planet, when they are attacked by a Barrayaran military patrol. Most of her team manage to escape, but she and her botanist Dubauer find themselves captured by Aral show more Vorkosigan, the infamous Butcher of Komarr. Although it would seem that, especially given Aral Vorkosigan's terrifying reputation, they should be enemies, they find that they are attracted to each other's sense of honour, and that they do not always share the same point of view as their respective home planets' governments.

Shortly after she finally returns home to Beta Colony, her planet goes to war and Cordelia, now part of the Betan Expeditionary Force, finds herself once again ending up in enemy hands.

Red haired Cordelia (Anne of Green Gables, anyone?), though not an Amazon, is a very capable, resourceful woman and a strong, and honourable, heroine. Even though she works for Survey, rather than a military unit, she can think on her feet in combat situations. As a slightly older (33) heroine, she is well matched with a slightly older (44) hero - sometimes cast as an anti-hero. Vorkosigan is also honourable, although conflicted by duty.

This is probably my favourite book of the saga. This virgin planet has a lush landscape which Bujold describes beautifully. And the gentle romance in the background, between two 'mature' adults doesn't hurt, either. It's amusing to remember that I was younger than Cordelia (who is 33 years; Vorkosigan is 44) when I first read Shards of Honour, and - especially now I'm older - she doesn't seem preposterously old to be falling in love.

I could fall in love with Vorkosigan myself, the way his stern soldierly demeanour is lightened by sudden boyish grins. And the fact that he is very much a man of honour, holding tightly to it in spite of the dishonourable situations he is forced into by men in power.

I wish there were more stories in the Vorkosigan canon which focused on Cordelia and Aral. I rather feel that in the militaristic patriarchal society that Barrayar is, her talents are somewhat wasted.

This story is full of action, space battles, interplanetary politics, intraplanetary politics, honour, humanity - not forgetting romance. Very nicely written. I wouldn't mind seeing more Cordelia / Aral Vorkosigan stories.

I like the way that, throughout Shards of Honour, it's the damsel that inadvertently rescues the knight in military uniform. :0)

5***** show less