Cordelia's Honor (Vorkosigan Omnibus, #1)

Cordelia's Honor (Vorkosigan Saga (Publication order) omnibus #1)

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4.34 of 5 stars 4.34  ·  rating details  ·  5,788 ratings  ·  325 reviews
In her first trial by fire, Cordelia Naismith captained a throwaway ship of the Betan Expeditionary Force on a mission to destroy an enemy armada. Discovering deception within deception, treachery within treachery, she was forced into a separate peace with her chief opponent, Lord Aral Vorkosigan - he who was called "The Butcher of Komarr" - and would consequently become a...more
Paperback, 600 pages
Published September 7th 1999 by Baen (first published 1986)
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Community Reviews

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Jonathan

4.5 Stars

Cordelia's Honor is a fascinating novel, or rather a fascinating omnibus, having been split down the middle. Well not the precise middle but that middle we mortals all mean when we say middle. The middle that's a little to the left. However either way this novel was split into two novels, a sort of conjunctive novel, and as such I will discuss my reaction to the two different stories.

Shards of Honor
4 Stars

This novel flings its readers directly into the action, causing the two romant...more
Jon
Sep 05, 2009 Jon rated it 4 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition
Recommended to Jon by: Beyond Reality Book Club Series Miles Vorkosigan
Since this is an omnibus edition of two separate books, I reviewed each book on it's own merits.

My review of Shards of Honour contains spoilers so you are warned before you click on this link: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

My review of the Hugo winning Barrayar avoids spoilers so no warning necessary before clicking on this link: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Taken together, Cordelia's Honor encompasses the entire story arc of Miles' parents from their unlikely introduction...more
Elizabeth
Edit: April, 2010. I went back and wrote reviews of the two individual books because I just can't do them justice in this combined review. So. Here is Shards of Honor and Barrayar

----------------Original Review--------------------------

Cordelia's Honor is actually two books: Shards of Honor and Barrayar. The first is the story of two career officers, on different sides of a possible war and from very different cultures, who are thrown together in the wilderness of a new world and must make their...more
Christy
5 stars for the omnibus edition, because these books really belong together, and because of her insightful afterword. I can tell this will be a volume I re-read multiple times.

4 stars for Shards of Honor
Cordelia is a wonderful character, and watching her relationship with Aral develop is a real pleasure. The contrast between Barryan and Betan world-views is a major element, with the awful price of honor the major theme. My only complaints are that in telling this story, Bujold is a little too e...more
Jared Millet
Shards of Honor

The first of the Vorkosigan books surprised me by being more of a romance novel than I was expecting, but I don't begrudge it. It was actually refreshing to read a romance plot that didn't fall into the overused "Pride and Prejudice" formula. Bujold doesn't waste any time trying to make us think her heroine despises the hero, and he doesn't waste the whole novel bending heaven and earth to impress her. They both have their own lives and their own problems - namely that they're mi...more
Stephanie
Feb 19, 2009 Stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Science Fiction Fans, Women
Recommended to Stephanie by: Lisa, Idahospud
I like science fiction. I read a lot of it. Cordelia’s Honor, on the surface, seems a standard science fiction novel with just a dash of romance. It has the customary interstellar war, political intrigue, and, of course, high-tech gadgets that we’ve come to expect from our sci-fi. What makes this book special is its title character, Cordelia Naismith.

Cordelia is not the clichéd woman you see in most science fiction. She doesn’t just cling to the arm of her leading man (which would be easy to do,...more
Ron
Hardly great literature, but a fun read.

Almost not science fiction. Bujold sets most of his tale(s) on the planet whose "backward" culture and technology reads a lot like contemporary earth, maybe even overlaid with nineteenth century attitudes.
Elijah Kinch Spector
Every now and then a certain thing that I haven't yet read, watched, or otherwise experienced at all, will suddenly get itself lodged in my brain by way of a hook that I cannot even identify, and stay there, forcing me to get around to it very soon.

I can't say what it was, beyond the normal "I haven't read any Bujold" thing, that suddenly drew me to the Vorkosigan series, nor what it was that makes me especially interested in the two books combined here, when a lot of people say they're inferior...more
Anne
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Estara
Jun 04, 2011 Estara rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: character-driven sf who enjoy strong females
Recommended to Estara by: auto-buy author
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Ratforce
Try the Vorkosigan adventure novels by Lois McMaster Bujold for a series that offers strong female characters, a romantic tone and a strongly built setting similar to works by Anne McCaffrey. Shards of Honor is the first in the series, and can be found in Cordelia's Honor.

Fans of David Weber’s Honor Harrington series should definitely take a look at Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan Saga. Both series are chock full of space adventure, military action, and a touch of romance. The first book in t...more
Darbus
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Andy Love
I recently read this (having read the two novels that it is composed of several years ago) and was delighted to find that I could fall right back into the story without hesitation. I've enjoyed all of the Vorkosigan novels, but haven't reread these earliest two (earliest by internal chronology - "Shards of Honor" is Bujold's first novel, but "Barrayar" is her seventh) in some time; I was happy to see that they fit so well with the later books in the series (I saw many examples of items and issue...more
Pepper Thorn
I am a long time fan of both Bujold and her most popular character, Miles Vorkosigan, so I enjoyed this book immensely. It's the surprising backstory to the rest of the series. It tells the story of how Miles' parents got together despite being literally world apart and how Miles ended up with his unusual condition. And I found it surprising for several non-story reasons.

First, being backstory I assumed that Cordelia's Honor had been written after the series became popular, as a sort of fill in...more
Mirka
I picked this up because the series seems to be everyone's favourite and because I can never say no to scifi with a female protagonist, but unfortunately both Shards of Honor and Barrayar ended up being disappointing.

There was some intresting worldbuilding in the books, but as a whole the focus was too much on the romance and relationships between flat and one-dimensional characters with confusingly similar names. I had to periodically check Wikipedia to see which character Cordelia was currentl...more
Lc
Enjoyable, though I greatly preferred Barrayar to Shards of Honor (this book is actually two novels in one volume). Shards of Honor certainly wasn't bad, and I was drawn quickly through the entire story, but I felt like it was mis-sold by the description on the back--here I was expecting the exciting adventure of a heroine thrown into a situation she must take charge of and overcome, and instead I found myself mostly reading a romance between Cordelia and Aral. She spends most of her time onscre...more
Alisa
Contains Shards of Honor and Barrayar - the two books together tell the story of Miles Vorkosigan's parents and how Miles came to be. The rest of the series is about Miles. It's not necessary to read these first -- Miles' books stand on their own and some people don't like these as much as the rest of the series -- but at some point in time, it'd be good to give them a whirl. Personally, I loved them, but I tend to warn people that Miles' parents fall in love with each other /very/ quickly witho...more
Janine Southard
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Amber Millter
Perhaps it's just the books I've been grabbing lately, but I've had a hard time finding lead female characters I like. They're either whiny, weak, and wishy washy or they're buttkicking Alpha females that make Demi Moore's GI Jane look like a pushover (I don't know many people like that in real life, and the ones I do... I can't stand. I'm not sure why there are so many proliferating the pages of fiction).

Cordelia is a strong competent character without being able to beat the snot out of platoon...more
Pam
Do not judge this book by the cover!!!! It is so lame (the cover not the book). Surprisingly this book containing two separate published books was fantastic (it won a Hugo - I should not be amazed). The author takes an unusual but entertaining approach to her characters: "So what's the worst possible thing I can do to this guy? And then (I) do it." Over and over again the characters are put into awful circumstances and left to act in a way consistent with his/her values.

This book has an amazing...more
Carl
An enjoyable start to Lois McMaster Bujold's space opera series, but not as engaging as her Miles books which followed. This particular book is a collection of two novels about Miles' parents. The second book in particular (Barrayar) dragged for me through most of it, but both are very credible bits of sci-fi which are very character heavy despite being labeled "military S-F" by many. And so far, with these books, I'm enjoying the fact that they engage with the military side of things in an ente...more
g
May 27, 2010 g rated it 2 of 5 stars
Shelves: redheads
I only read Shards of Honour . I probably would have loved this book ten years ago (especially since the heroine is a redhead), but now...eh. It reminds me of what I remember about Margaret Weis's Star of the Guardians series (which I loooved at the time), though the romance is not as dramatic and desperate--it's actually rather appealingly understated. But I'm more of a fantasy girl than a sci-fi one, with one or two notable exceptions ( Dune , Ender's Saga ). Anyway, an entertaining, two- or t...more
Chris
It is a good thing that these two books are joined in one volume. The first book, Shards of Honor is by far the weaker book; however, when taken with Barrayar, it works.

Honor sets the stage by introducing the reader to Aral and Cordelia. These two would be lovers are from different, quasi warring, planets - Barrayar (a.k.a. Sparta) and Beta (a.k.a. Athens). I found Honor to be the weaker novel. The major problem I had was I just didn't by the fact that Aral and Cordelia were in love, deeply in l...more
Katie M.
Nov 12, 2011 Katie M. rated it 5 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone, sci-fi fans, female geeks
People had been recommending the Vorkosigan series to me for years, but I kept putting it off. Foolish me. This book is fantastic.

Cordelia Naismith is exactly the sort of heroine I wish we saw more of: brave, resourceful, witty, and generally badass, but not some cardboard cutout drained of the emotions and flaws that make a character human. I adore her. I also like her relationship with Aral Vorkosigan, which is full of romance but very clearly a relationship between equals who respect each oth...more
Greymalkin
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Nancy
um. i'm conflicted about this. i haven't read any of the other Bujold books set in this world. the premise is kind of annoying in itself.. she's a pilot of a technical spaceship who falls for a warring captain and leaves everything she knows to become his consort(not a spoiler.. it's on the cover). in some way this makes sense. she's not fitting in on her world. in another way, i think it does her a disservice that she's a strong and successful woman who suddenly drops it all for love? or you co...more
Stephanie
This is an omnibus edition containing the first two (chronologically speaking) books in the Miles Vorkosigan Sci-Fi series: Shards of Honor and Barrayar. Shards of Honor tells the story of how Miles' parents (Cordelia Naismith and Aral Vorkisigan)meet and through unlikely circumstances fall in love. Barrayar narrates the first year of Aral and Cordelia's marriage, and the birth of Miles in midst of a civil war. Both books are also good inroductions to the planet and culture of Barrayar.

I am emba...more
Ariel
This, Young Miles, and Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem are actually omnibus editions of the first six books of the Vorkosigan Saga, a sci-fi series that actually really lives up to the hype. Her worldbuilding is to die for - the sort of thing where I wonder "how the hell did she come up with that and make it work?" - and the main character, Miles? Okay, he is awesome. Hilarious and clever and sort of a genius Harry Potter minus the Dark Lord, his character alone is enough to make me overlook the slig...more
Jon
Apr 09, 2011 Jon rated it 4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Jon by: Amy Lee
Shards of Honor was a bit oddly structured, feeling like a collection of three related shorts moreso than a novel in its own right (which it wasn't originally intended as, anyhow.) Complicated by "not much of a plot," more of a character study of Cordelia. Still very gripping, a testament both to the quality of the writing and the strength of the character. The key romantic setup felt, not forced exactly, but somewhat nonobvious. So much of that was in subtext, though. Again, weakness and streng...more
Libby
I very much enjoyed these early books in the Vorkosigan saga, despite the fact that there are plenty of new-author moments that occasionally jarred me from the narrative. These human civilizations feel very much designed to showcase the characters rather than showcase the author's world-building. Fortunately, this works very well for these books because the main characters, the titular surveyor-turned-soldier from Beta Colony, Cordelia, and Barrayan soldier-lord Aral Vorkosigan, are utterly enga...more
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Cordelia's Honor (Vorkosigan Omnibus #1)
Cordelia's Honor (Vorkosigan Omnibus, #1)
Cordelia's Honor (Vorkosigan Omnibus #1)
Cordelia Vorkosigan
Cordelia Vorkosigan (Shards of Honor)

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One of the most respected writers in the field of speculative fiction, Lois McMaster Bujold burst on to the scene in 1986 with Shards of Honor, the first of her tremendously popular Vorkosigan Saga novels. She has received numerous accolades and prizes, including two Nebula Awards for Best Novel (Falling Free and Paladin of Souls), four Hugo Awards for Best Novel (Paladin of Souls, The Vor Game, B...more
More about Lois McMaster Bujold...
The Curse of Chalion (Chalion, #1) Barrayar (Vorkosigan Saga, #7) Paladin of Souls (Chalion, #2) The Warrior's Apprentice (Vorkosigan Saga, #2) The Vor Game (Vorkosigan Saga, #6)

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“The rule for finding plots for character-centered novels, which is to ask: 'So what's the worst possible thing I can do to *this* guy?' And then do it.” 19 people liked it
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