Barrayar (Vorkosigan) [Paperback]

Barrayar is, chronologically, the second book in the Miles Vorkosigan series, though it was written after the first few books of that series came out. It continues the story of Miles' mother, Cordelia Naismith (though now she's married, so it's really Cordelia Vorkosigan). It ends with a very young Miles, neatly tying into the beginning of Miles' story (which is what the rest of the series is about). Barrayar won a Hugo award, one of the highest awards in science fiction writing, and I will have to say that it was well-deserved. This is a fabulous book.

After leaving her home planet of Beta to marry Aral Vorkosigan on his home planet of Barrayar, Cordelia tries to settle into a Barrayaran retired nobles' life. Aral has retired from politics and wants to lead a quiet life with his new wife. Cordelia is pregnant with their son, and he just wants to live a happy life with her. Unfortunately, events transpire to make that impossible. The Emperor is dying and his grandson (the son died in Shards of Honor, the first book) is only four years old. A regent must be appointed, and Vorkosigan is the only one who would be agreeable to the majority of Counts. Thus, Cordelia and Aral's life is turned upside down when he assumes his new duties. There is plenty of political intrigue as other Counts scheme for power because Vorkosigan wants to bring Barrayar into the current century while the conservatives want things to stay as they are. These events even go so far as to really affect the unborn Miles in ways that will be familiar to long-time Vorkosigan fans, but which I won't spoil in case you've never read a Vorkosigan book.

This book is fascinating in many ways. First, as a fan of the series already (I've only got two books to go, not counting the new one that's coming out this summer), it was very interesting to see the characters I've known and loved for so long before they became the characters I've known. It is interesting to see them develop the attitudes that I'm familiar with. Simon Illyan (the head of Imperial Security in the series) starts out as captain of Aral's personal security force. Emperor Gregor, who we've only seen since he was seventeen, is now a four-year old child, aware of what's going on around him but not really understanding the political situation. A lot of the nobility would like to control him, especially through his mother.

Not only the characters, but there's also many events that have been referred to in the series that we finally get to see happen on screen. Biggest of these, of course, is what happens to Miles. We have been told many times what happened, but it's interesting to finally see it. Of course, there has also been a lot that hasn't been mentioned before, and those events are intriguing too. A lot of what we know is now coloured a different way now that we know the events that surrounded it. Some people have suggested that you should read this series chronologically, starting with Shards of Honor. I'm almost of the opinion that you should have a few Miles books under your belt before tackling these, just because it makes these books even more interesting than they already are.

The second reason the book is fascinating is because of the view of Barrayaran politics that we get. Cordelia is an outsider, and some of the practices on Barrayar are almost barbaric to her. There is very little genetic manipulation of offspring, for one. Mutants are killed as soon as they are born so they don't affect the gene pool. Some other political aspects are so different than what she's used to that she needs some coaching in how to deal with them. Thankfully, Aral's family is up to the task. It's interesting to see these from an outsider's point of view. I don't think the story would be nearly as effective if it was just a political tale told from within Barrayaran society. Some of the most priceless scenes come from this weird dichotomy.

For fans of romance, though, there is definitely some of that in here. This book continues to develop the relationship between Aral and Cordelia, showing how strong their love is as it withstands the pressures that politics places on it. Again, as with Shards of Honor, this is a mature romance, though because they are actually together now (unlike Shards), there are some playful moments as well. These are two character that the reader cares deeply about.

I couldn't put this book down. It has everything: action, romance, explosions, intrigue, great characters. This one is certainly worth a pick up. It also stands alone, as you don't need to read any of the other books to enjoy it. It helps to read the others (especially Shards of Honor), but it's not mandatory. Wonderful book.

To start with, if you haven't yet read Shards of Honor, the first novel in the tales of Miles Vorkosigan (even though it doesn't actually feature Miles, it's about how his parents met), STOP, go back and read it before approaching Barrayar. You'll be glad you did. These two novels, written seven years apart, tell one complete story arc. How that came to be is an interesting story.

Shards of Honor and Barrayar form the beginning of the Miles Vorkosigan series. (Bujold's novel Falling Free takes place within the same fictional universe but, being set approximately 200 years before Miles' birth, features none of the series' familiar characters. Eventually you'll want to read Falling Free, but it doesn't matter when; you can insert it into your Bujold reading experience anytime.) Shards of Honor is Bujold's first novel (not merely the first novel she ever sold, but the first she ever wrote, thus disproving the axiom, "All first novels are unsaleable trash"). She begins writing it in December 1982. In mid-'83, having worked through the Shards material and about a third into what would eventually become Barrayar, Bujold realizes her manuscript is becoming too long to submit as one book (the "wisdom" at the time being a thin manuscript is more likely to be picked off the slush pile than a thick one). Bujold finds a logical breaking point for her tale (Cordelia's arrival on Barrayar), puts it in final draft form, and mothballs the partially finished "rest of the story."

Bujold submits Shards and begins working on another book, The Warrior's Apprentice. She's about halfway through that when Shards comes back rejected with an editorial suggestion she tighten it up. She finishes Warrior's, then cuts about 80 pages out of Shards, giving her two good unpublished novels. In 1985, around the time she finishes her third novel, Ethan of Athos, Warrior's makes it over the transom at Baen, and suddenly she goes from unpublished wannabe to successful novelist with three books (Shards, Warrior's, Ethan) SOLD. Shards is published in 1986.

Fastforward to 1989. Bujold has written four more books, Falling Free, Brothers In Arms, Borders of Infinity (a short story collection), and The Vor Game. Then the program-book editor of Philcon, a long-established SF convention in Philadelphia, asks Bujold to do a short story or outtake to donate to their program book. Remembering the unfinished novel fragment of years before, she troops up into her attic, retrieves the pages, reads them and decides to complete it as a novel. After all, it's already a third finished, right? And in 1992, Barrayar won the Hugo Award for Best SF Novel of the Year.

Shards of Honor stars Captain Cordelia Naismith, commander of a survey team for the Betan Expeditionary Force, and Captain Aral Vorkosigan, victim of a mutiny on his Barrayaran warship. Both stranded on an unexplored alien planet, officers on opposite sides of the Betan-Barrayaran War, they reach an agreement of honor: they will trust and rely on each other for survival as they travel across a planet seemingly intent on throwing all its resources into killing them before they can reach Aral's ship. And then there's the little problem of overcoming the mutineers.... In the process of their adventures, Cordelia and Aral fall in love.

Barrayar deals with her first experiences on that planet, leading up to the birth of her and Aral's son Miles (though there is an epilogue showing Miles at age five). Both Shards and Barrayar are told from Cordelia's perspective. Thereafter in this series Miles, with very few exceptions, takes center stage. Never again will Cordelia be the main character. But for these two books she emerges as one of the most well-realized, loving and vulnerable but still tough-as-nails female SF protagonists ever.

The next book in the series you'll want to read is The Warrior's Apprentice, which picks up Miles' life at age 17.

"Barrayar," winner of the Hugo award, is itself out of print, but available in the new paperback, "Cordelia's Honor," which also has "Shards of Honor." Both together are the story of Cordelia Naismith, a survey officer from civilized, polite Beta. She was first captured by, then married, Lord Aral Vorkosigan, "The Butcher of Komarr." "Barrayer" is the story of the incredible effect Cordelia had on Vorkosigan's warrior planet Barrayar, and how she stopped the civil war that threatened to slag down the planet. The heir she bore Vorkosigan was twisted and deformed from an assassination attempt during pregnacy. This son, Miles, Lord Vorkosigan, is the hero of the following 9 books (so far) of the Vorkosigan saga. I am very fond of David Drake's and S.M. Stirling realistic SF war stories. Lois McMaster Bujold's "Barrayar" and the Vorkosigan Saga stories are Drake's and Stirling's equal. "Barrayar" is very highly recommended.