I've been gradually reading Bujold's works in the wrong order, which eventually brings me to this one. Knowing that this was her first novel, I wasn't expecting too much, but in fact it makes a pretty good start to the Vorkosigan saga, and I read the whole thing in one afternoon, which I did routinely when I was younger but don't tend to do these days. It's a good story.

The one criticism that occurs to me at this point is that it features a case of mutual love-at-first-sight, which I suppose must happen to some people, but I still find it rather implausible. The non-mutual kind is easier to believe.

Although Aral and Cordelia make a good hero/heroine pair, with some weaknesses to make them more believable, this story makes neither of their home worlds (Barrayar and Beta Colony respectively) seem attractive. It wasn't written to encourage tourism. ( )

Be warned: the jacket blurb describes only a minor portion of the story.

My version, you ask?

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Love in the background of space opera! Female captain leads research team investigating exotic planet. Expedition is attacked and a researcher is killed. Hostile man takes woman prisoner, and they fall in love while death-marching across alien planet. Alas! Woman and man are soon to be adversaries in an interstellar war, and are torn apart by loyalties to their commands. Then woman volunteers to captain a near-suicide mission and is taken captive again, but this time by Marquis de Sade Junior. Will she escape? Will she reunite with her love? Will they overcome obscure political maneuvers and overzealous patriots to ultimately consummate their love?

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Complete cheese, right? But it's American-style cheese that does so well melted and grilled into a comfort-food delight. Shards is not particularly subtle or unusual, but it manages to be an engaging read. While I can't say that I found the same sophistication and characterization that I read in [b:The Curse of Chalion|61886|The Curse of Chalion (World of the Five Gods, #1)|Lois McMaster Bujold|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1322571773l/61886._SY75_.jpg|1129349], it still had melty goodness. For instance, there were vampire balloons and giant crabs--hard to go wrong there. Dialogue was engaging, and I find her writing style is a nice balance between world-building and action, and pleasantly sophisticated in wording and ideas. Her characters have nice flashes of humor in the midst of struggle.

Plot wasn't particularly remarkable, but managed an unexpected twist or two. The first part of the book, the march across the alien world, was enjoyable, but I found the plot seriously disintegrating towards the end, especially when Cordelia's people start to suspect her of being brain-washed. She talks her way onto a freighter? And draws on enough funds to cross a galaxy despite being on the run? But we gloss over those challenges As an ship captain, Cordelia displays a surprising amount of both political knowledge and naivete, and she wasn't perhaps as fleshed out as Lord Vorkosigan, despite the story being told from her perspective. There's an interesting supporting role was given to a seriously mentally damaged soldier. I've been hearing that the Vorkosigan series is some of Bujold's best writing, and it turns out that this is a prequel centered on the meeting and connection of his parents. As such, it might be a little more oriented towards fans than new readers. For seriously good writing and world-building, I'd recommend her Curse/Paladin books.

Fun line: "Koudelka puzzled over this attempted readjustment of his point of view, then let it bounce harmlessly off his impermeable habits of thought."

Trigger warning: rapey stuff.

Cross posted at http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/shards-of-honor-by-lois-mcmaster-bujol... ( )

Enjoyable story, likable characters, leaves you wanting to read the next in the series. ( )

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 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. ( )

This my was first taste of [a:Lois McMaster Bujold|16094|Lois McMaster Bujold|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1199059582p2/16094.jpg] and I'm happy that we will be reading lots of her books over the coming months.

[b:Shards of Honour|61903|Shards of Honour (Vorkosigan)|Lois McMaster Bujold|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170597853s/61903.jpg|2138060] grabbed my interest right away and never let go. I found myself caring about both Cordelia and Aral. At first glimpse, Cordelia is a simpler character and Aral more multi-layered and complex, but she proved to have more depth as the story progressed.

Looking forward to more books in this series!! ( )