215:
can deliver a devastating new Betan weapon to the defenders. She is captured by the sadistic
Admiral Vorrutyer, who orders Sergeant Bothari to rape her. Bothari refuses, calling her "Admiral Vorkosigan's prisoner". Vorrutyer, Vorkosigan's embittered ex-lover, decides to do the job himself. As she fills a profound psychological need of his, Bothari kills Vorrutyer before he can do anything. Vorkosigan, having heard Vorrutyer is holding Cordelia captive, comes to kill him himself, only to find the deed already done. He hides Cordelia and Bothari in his cabin. In disgrace, he has been assigned a minor role in the invasion under the watchful eye of Imperial Security Lieutenant Simon Illyan, who has a brain implant that gives him total recall of all he sees and hears. However, he is required to report only to the Emperor, so he does nothing when Vorkosigan concocts a story that Cordelia killed Vorrutyer and escaped.
219:
entire invasion was orchestrated by the dying
Emperor to remove his unstable son (via an honorable death in battle) and discredit the war party in order to avert a civil war after his death. When Vorkosigan no longer needs to hide her in his cabin, she is placed in the brig. When the ship is attacked, Cordelia is injured when the violent maneuvers toss her around her cell.
211:
Vorkosigan's rivals to "rescue" her. Cordelia helps defeat the resulting mutiny before returning with her crew to Beta Colony. During her captivity, she realizes that the
Barrayarans seized the planet because the system it is in provides a way to reach Escobar. Escobar is a rich system with many "wormhole" access points and thus control over a lot of interstellar trade.
277:"couldn’t be less like a standard first novel in a series" in that it takes place before the main character of the saga is even born. Praising the "emotional depth" and "genuine ethical dilemmas" Bujold weaves into the narrative, Walton calls the protagonist Cordelia "what totally grabbed me about on first reading and on every subsequent read."
203:
injured Betan ensign and
Captain Lord Aral Vorkosigan of Barrayar, notorious as the "Butcher of Komarr", who has been left for dead by a treacherous rival. During their five-day hike to a secret Barrayaran cache, she finds Vorkosigan not at all the monster his reputation suggests, and she is strongly attracted to him.
222:
Cordelia recovers in a prison camp on the same planet where she first met
Vorkosigan. The camp inmates, mostly women, have been mistreated and in some cases raped by their captors. When Vorkosigan finds out, he summarily executes the commanding officer. Cordelia assumes command of the POWs by virtue
202:
Cordelia
Naismith, the captain of a Betan Astronomical Survey ship, is exploring a newly discovered planet when her base camp is attacked. While investigating, she is surprised by a soldier, hits her head on a rock, and awakens to find that, while most of her crew has escaped, she is marooned with an
27:
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The invasion of
Escobar is led by Crown Prince Serg Vorbarra, the vicious son and heir of Emperor Ezar. Now a captain in the Betan Expeditionary Force, Cordelia goes to Escobar in command of a decoy ship that distracts the Barrayaran ships on picket duty at the wormhole exit so that transport ships
226:
When the war ends, prisoners are exchanged. Vorkosigan has to deal with some uterine replicators – artificial wombs, each containing a fetus from a prisoner raped by a
Barrayaran soldier; one of the fetuses is Bothari's. The Escobarans refuse to take them, so Vorkosigan arranges for their care and
218:
The new weapons enable the
Escobarans to drive the Barrayarans back with heavy losses. Crown Prince Serg and his flagship are lost, as are all officers senior to Vorkosigan, leaving him in charge. He commands his fleet's retreat under fire. Cordelia overhears one critical fact and deduces that the
210:
Vorkosigan informs
Cordelia that upon their arrival on Barrayar, she will be free to return to Beta Colony; however, he asks her to marry him and remain on Barrayar as Lady Vorkosigan. Before she can consider his request, the crew of her ship, who have returned against her orders, join forces with
254:
In 1996 Christian Weisgerber wrote: "Enriching the standard space opera there is a plethora of intrigues, chicanery, and betrayal, but also Bujold's mild-mannered humor, good characterization, and the tender love affair between the protagonists. Shards of Honor is an eminently readable novel but
206:
When the trio reaches the base camp, Vorkosigan regains command of his crew. He returns to his ship with Cordelia and her crewman as his nominal prisoners. She meets Sergeant Bothari, a career soldier with mental problems which he controls through adherence to rules and an attachment to a strong
230:
On her way back to Beta Colony, Cordelia is unable to convince a psychiatrist that her injuries are not the result of being tortured by Vorkosigan, and her fervent denials only make it seem she has been psychologically tampered with; she is suspected of being an unwitting Barrayaran
317:
before being seriously injured, an injury which defines him for the rest of his life. Simon Illyan also becomes a major character, while the baby Elena becomes a hostage, with the as yet unborn Miles Vorkosigan, in the hands of Vorkosigan's enemies.
223:
of her rank and spends much of her time dealing directly with Vorkosigan. She informs him she knows the real reason for the Escobar campaign. She again rejects his marriage proposal because she sees what Barrayaran society does to people.
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She escapes to Barrayar and marries Vorkosigan. She also encounters Bothari, now one of Vorkosigan's father's personal guards and somewhat saner, thanks to better medical care. Bothari's daughter Elena is cared for by a local woman.
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The planet on which Cordelia and Aral Vorkosigan met becomes the Barrayaran colony Sergyar, named for the dead prince. As Count and Lady Vorkosigan they become its
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to his grandson and heir, the four-year-old Prince Gregor Vorbarra. Aral at first refuses, but Cordelia convinces him to take the job.
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in 2004, Thomas M. Wagner took issue with the plausibility of some elements of the novel, but concluded by saying that "
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was the original working title). The rest eventually appeared as the short story
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394:"Interview with Lois McMaster Bujold about writing the Vorkosigan Saga"
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as originally published was a truncated version of a much longer work (
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is, in the end, a fine debut for Bujold (and) a fine space opera".
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and vicereine after the end of Aral Vorkosigan's regency.
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The dying Emperor Ezar Vorbarra wants Aral to become the
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154:, first published in June 1986. It is a part of the
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194:before all three were sold and published in 1986.
364:"Weeping for her enemies: Lois McMaster Bujold's
302:. The three were later re-published together as
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150:is an English language science fiction novel by
560:"The Bujold Nexus - Full English Bibliography"
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489:Bujold, Lois McMaster (1986). "Aftermaths".
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508:Bujold, Lois McMaster (1991). "Barrayar".
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207:commander—in this case, Vorkosigan.
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979:"The Assassins of Thasalon" (2021)
558:Bernardi, Michael (24 June 2012).
328:In Bujold's next published novel,
16:1986 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold
14:
1126:
976:"The Physicians of Vilnoc" (2020)
770:Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen
1105:Novels set on fictional planets
1085:American science fiction novels
970:"The Prisoner of Limnos" (2017)
511:Analog Science Fiction and Fact
197:
1095:Novels by Lois McMaster Bujold
988:"Penric and the Bandit" (2024)
973:"The Orphans of Raspay" (2019)
955:"Penric and the Shaman" (2016)
551:
525:Bujold, Lois McMaster (1996).
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460:Bujold, Lois McMaster (1986).
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1:
392:Walton, Jo (April 20, 2009).
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162:is paired with Bujold's 1991
1090:Debut science fiction novels
762:Captain Vorpatril's Alliance
417:Christian Weisgerber, 1996,
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227:later adoption on Barrayar.
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1080:1986 science fiction novels
961:"Masquerade in Lodi" (2020)
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10:
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967:"Mira's Last Dance" (2017)
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964:"Penric's Mission" (2016)
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796:The Mountains of Mourning
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514:(July–October, 4 issues).
419:Review of Shards of Honor
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24:
1110:Works about women in war
982:"Knot of Shadows" (2021)
658:The Warrior's Apprentice
331:The Warrior's Apprentice
281:Sequel and related works
255:lacks any originality."
185:The Warrior's Apprentice
136:The Warrior's Apprentice
985:"Demon Daughter" (2024)
952:"Penric's Demon" (2015)
789:The Borders of Infinity
430:Wagner, Thomas (2004).
47:Audio read by
920:World of the Five Gods
831:The Flowers of Vashnoi
958:"Penric's Fox" (2018)
817:Dreamweaver's Dilemma
296:and the Hugo-winning
1075:1986 American novels
930:The Curse of Chalion
611:Lois McMaster Bujold
152:Lois McMaster Bujold
41:Lois McMaster Bujold
746:Diplomatic Immunity
188:and the standalone
175:Bujold had written
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362:(March 31, 2009).
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1115:1986 debut novels
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738:A Civil Campaign
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443:. Retrieved
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1008:Beguilement
569:24 December
273:wrote that
1069:Categories
903:Standalone
846:Characters
810:Weatherman
535:Baen Books
466:Baen Books
360:Walton, Jo
342:References
294:Aftermaths
260:SF Reviews
87:Baen Books
803:Labyrinth
714:Cetaganda
497:(Spring).
271:Jo Walton
250:Reception
83:Publisher
826:" (2004)
819:" (1995)
812:" (1990)
805:" (1989)
798:" (1989)
791:" (1987)
781:Novellas
754:Cryoburn
698:Barrayar
336:Barrayar
311:Barrayar
299:Barrayar
269:In 2009
172:(1996).
165:Barrayar
55:Language
1032:Horizon
1024:Passage
886:Fantasy
398:Tor.com
372:Tor.com
323:viceroy
290:Mirrors
58:English
1043:(2019)
1035:(2009)
1027:(2008)
1019:(2007)
1016:Legacy
1011:(2006)
949:(2005)
941:(2003)
933:(2001)
912:(1992)
834:(2018)
773:(2016)
765:(2012)
757:(2010)
749:(2002)
741:(1999)
733:(1998)
730:Komarr
725:(1996)
722:Memory
717:(1995)
709:(1994)
701:(1991)
693:(1990)
685:(1989)
677:(1988)
669:(1986)
661:(1986)
653:(1986)
642:Novels
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472:
244:regent
181:sequel
179:, its
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63:Series
37:Author
896:Works
635:Works
111:Pages
73:Genre
571:2012
539:ISBN
470:ISBN
447:2013
405:2014
379:2014
233:mole
120:ISBN
98:1986
309:In
114:320
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368:"
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