Shards of Honour (Vorkosigan Saga, #1)

by Lois McMaster Bujold

“From spaceman to caveman in three days,” she meditated aloud. “How we imagine our civilization is in ourselves, when it’s really in our things.”

She took the story in like some strange, spiked gift, too fragile to drop, too painful to hold.

Most days it’s just stumbling around in the dark with the rest of creation, smashing into things and wondering why it hurts.”