Shards of Honor (Vorkosigan Saga #1) in Audiobook Junkies

Mar 28, 2012 Mogsy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, science-fiction, romance

Being a big fan of Lois McMaster Bujold's fantasy works, I recently decided to give her science fiction a try, starting with, of course, the first book of her Vorkosigan series Shards of Honor. It's most definitely a space opera if I've ever seen one, but I don't use that term pejoratively. I still think I prefer her fantasy, but this was great nonetheless.

As usual, Bujold shines at writing strong female protagonists, but I also very much enjoy the characterizations of her male leads. Aral Vork ...more

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Feb 01, 2016 Tiara rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, science-fiction, z-2016-audiobook-challenge, z-2016-women-of-genre-fiction, z-audio-500, z-narrator-grover-gardner

3 to 3.5 stars

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Oct 04, 2016 Terri rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2021, 2023, favorites, fav-science-fiction, 2023-10-october

Awesome (Audiobook)
My first exposure to the writings of Lois McMaster Bujold was with the absolutely fabulous, thoughtful & endearing Sharing Knife series so I decided to give her Vorkosigan Saga a whirl when this first book went on sale. To say that Shards of Honor met my expectations is a vast understatement especially since as I am writing this review I am downloading the next book in the series, Barrayar.

Bujold spins such a wonderful relationship between two very strong and noble characters ...more

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Aug 03, 2013 Sunny rated it really liked it · review of another edition

It's been a while since I read a sci-fi book. I really enjoyed this one. I became involved instantly. I really loved the imperfect characters and the places this story took me. ...more

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Apr 30, 2019 Lisa rated it liked it · review of another edition

People have been trying to convince me for years to check out the Vorkosigan Saga by Bujold and I haven’t gotten around to it until now. I’m not sure if it’s just because, until the last couple of years, I’ve been more hesitant to pick up science fiction? Because I’ve read some of Bujold’s fantasy works and enjoyed them. Or maybe I just never found time to squeeze in a new series. Either way, I’ve rectified the situation and have now started this fan favorite series, woot!

I’ll be honest and say People have been trying to convince me for years to check out the Vorkosigan Saga by Bujold and I haven’t gotten around to it until now. I’m not sure if it’s just because, until the last couple of years, I’ve been more hesitant to pick up science fiction? Because I’ve read some of Bujold’s fantasy works and enjoyed them. Or maybe I just never found time to squeeze in a new series. Either way, I’ve rectified the situation and have now started this fan favorite series, woot!

I’ll be honest and say that this book felt very average for me, personally. When a book is average to me, I often find it tough to review! So let me just go into the things that I did like about it. The main character, Cordelia, is great. She’s capable, fantastic in a crisis, able to rescue herself (much to some people’s dismay), and able to adapt to changing situations. When her group of scientists comes under attack and the survivors are captured she’s cool under pressure while doing her best to figure a way out of the situation. Aral, on the other hand, feels at first to be very conservative compared to Cordelia. And yet, as the story moves on and we get to know him better we realize that he’s not the sum of his people, and in fact he is kind of a secret progressive such as things go within the context of his culture. And although I liked the characters and felt they are probably the best thing about the story, I did also have some issues being able to connect with them at some points. Sometimes things just felt dry or like the reader was put at a distance from things rather than being in the characters shoes.

Now, because this is Bujold, there is of course a bit of a romantic subplot. At one point near the beginning I was like ‘oh, is this just a romance novel?’ but later the story opens up a bit and it’s definitely about more than just the relationship between Cordelia and Aral. But still, the romance is a major point in the book, because this series is a family saga and we’re seeing the beginnings of things here. I thought the romance was handled well, too, although I wish there had been a little more….feeling put into it. Like, why are you being so matter of fact admitting things each other? Are you also going to seal things with a handshake? Ahahaha.

I didn’t really love the narrator for this in audio, it made everything feel so dry which I know is far from Bujold’s style of writing, so perhaps I would have had more fun with this book if I’d read it instead of listening to it. I don’t think the matter of fact narration did many favors for this story (or maybe it was just me, I can be picky). Or, maybe the style was different than what I’m used to since this is a bit of an older book. Like, there is one scene where a character decides, very matter of fact, to rape another character, and I was like ‘dafuq?’. And then things are handled just as matter of fact regarding the escape from said situation. Well, okay then. As far as other things go, the world building in this was pretty interesting if a bit black and white the way the two different cultures were painted. I really loved all the sci-fi space opera elements though. There’s some great action in this and lots of ordeals our protagonists have to navigate. And some politics of course!

Overall, there were things that I did enjoy about this book and I do plan to continue the series at some point, just to see where things go from here. 3.5/5 stars.

More reviews at www.waytoofantasy.com ...more

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Dec 14, 2020 Kathy Martin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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 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. ...more

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