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Summary: Not just a female hero, but a pregnant female hero!
Review: Captain Cordelia Naismith is a strong female hero, and the second part of this two-novel repackaging is particularly noteworthy in giving us a science fiction adventure with a pregnant hero. I first read this book when I didn't realize I was pregnant, and it was the perfect way to start into that great 9-month adventure.The first novel in the volume, Shards of Honor, is a space-adventure-romance which might be described as military science fiction as it might have been written by Jane Austen: two mature, intelligent, and principled characters overcoming differences (rooted in complex social situations) to find a way to be together without compromising their sense of honor. In the second novel, Barrayar, the pregnant Cordelia must use all her courage and ingenuity to bring her baby, the future Lord Miles Vorkosigan, through a planetary civil war alive. She concludes that the only thing to do is to change the world to make it fit for her child -- and all children. I recommend this book (and Cordelia's conclusion) to fans of romantic science fiction & female action heroes. Especially if they happen to be pregnant!
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Summary: characters you can't help but care about
Review: Cordelia and Aran, a love story with a few wars thrown it to make their lives difficult. Contrary to the synopsis their marriage in NOT unwanted, by them at least.
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Summary: Grand start of series
Review: Cordelia is leading a scientific expedition to another planet when their group is treacherously attacked. By necessity she hooks up with Vorkosigan, a member of the attacking group, also stranded. From different ends of the galaxy and with diametrically opposed world views, two good people find they have more in common with each other than with their ignorant or evil brothers. Of course, too much separates them for anything to ever come of their mutual admiration and sympathy - neither would be acceptable in the other's world. The rest of the story is what they gain - and its costs to them. What a thrill to find Bujold! Her view of the human condition speaks to me.
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Summary: great books, but who wrote this synopsis???
Review: CORDELIA'S HONOR is a compilation of two of Bujold's novels: SHARDS OF HONOR and BARRAYAR. The main character in both is Cordelia Naismith. These are wonderful books, although I thought BARRAYAR is the better written of the two. I suspect, however, that the person who wrote the above "synopsis" did not read this book at all. Cordelia is not forced into marriage, he is not her arch-enemy, and her husband is made Regent for the young Emperor, who is 5 years old. If you have not read Lois McMaster Bujold, and you enjoy well-written, thoughtful novels with good characterizations and well-thought-out plots the READ this book. I envy you the opportunity to read her books for the first time.
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Summary: Loving the Enemy
Review: Cordelia's Honor starts off fast-paced; the story of Cordelia Naismith who's on a survey expedition on a new planet. When her crew and equipment are destroyed, she quickly realises that there is danger and she and an ensign escape. Until, they are attacked by Barrayarans. Cordelia falls of a cliff and is knocked unconscious - upon awakening, she realises she has become the captive of an enemy of hers who's also known as the Butcher of Komarr. Whilst in his company, Cordelia learns that he's not a butcher at all, but a rather sensitive man in his forties who has enemies among Cordelia's enemies. Cordelia begins to learn of the political intricacies that surround Barrayara, and also realises that she has fallen in love with her captor, a Lord Vorkosigan - next in line to the emperor. In the first part of the book, Cordelia still feels a tug of returning "home" to her own planet, and sets herself free of Vorkosigan whilst eliminating a large part of his enemies. The second book starst with Cordelia's home-coming - a terrifying ordeal which requires her to undergo severe psychological counseling. Unfortunately, her actions and thoughts are misinterpreted, and she realises that "home" is no longer that for her. Cordelia decides to join her love and runs away to the enemy planet. There, she becomes Lady Vorkosigan, and eventually a very powerful figure within the political intricacies of the world. A stunning book, with powerful emotion and beautifully written. In her afterwrod, the author says she had trouble putting this prequel to the Vorkosigan series together. At times, we feel her struggle, but the book is never boring, and sets the stage for the story of Miles - the handicapped son of the Vorkosigans.
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Summary: Don't read it first!
Review: Everyone recommends that you read this book first if you're going to read the whole series. I don't. If you do you'll miss going "Oh so thats what he meant" and "So thats what really happened...". This was the best part of leaving these books for last for me. You'll also miss a cameo appearance of a character from Miles' time, someone you'll never suspect. ( I'll give you a hint he appears only in Warrior's Apprentice, but is mentioned in later books) His cameo in got me thinking about how his actions greatly affected Cordelias' and Miles' life(and thus the life of all the main characters) and he is not the least bit important in the book universe. It feels as if Bujold meant for me to find out this way, it kinda left me in awe. its kinda hard to explain but if you read the books in the order I did I think you would get it.
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Summary: Great Two Books In One
Review: Fast paced and fun Sci-fci that does not forget a little things like character development and the human factor. Wish there were more like em!
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Summary: Simply the Best
Review: For every ADULT who wishes a great read. This is how a space heroine should be portrayed. There is no better story worth reading and it kicks off one of the greatest series of all times. Buy it.
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Summary: Omnibus and a great start
Review: For those of you just starting out on Bujold, or looking for new books, be forewarned that this is an omnibus of 'Shards of Honor' and "Barryar". However, other than that fact, this book is great stuff. Even if you aren't a "sci-fi" fan, the characterization is amazing. The people are strong and interesting, but at the same time flawed and human. They have problems that Bujold allows for. Even the hero can't have everything his/her way. And knowing Miles' parents makes for a better appreciation of Miles and the rest of the Vorkosgian series.
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Summary: Space Soap Opera
Review: I know that Lois McMaster Bujold has many fans and nothing I can say here would remotely change their opinion. "Cordelia's Honor" is a trade paperback combo of her books "Shards of Honor" ('86) and "Barrayar" ('91); the latter being a Hugo Award winner. Of the two books, "Shards of Honor" is considerably better although both books are badly flawed. For readers under 40, it's helpful to know than in the late 70s/early 80s, there was a real push for more feminism in Sci Fi, women starship captains, active women characters, political correctness...all of which was needed to counteract the old Sci Fi of the 50s and 60s which was written by, for and about men. And don't think I wasn't in favor of all this...I was as rabid on this issue as a Women's Studies professor at Berkeley, LOL! But most books that came out of this political/feminist agenda are just not very good and these two by Lois Bujold are an excellent example of why. For starters, this just barely qualifies as Sci Fi due to the presence of other planets, starships, faster than light travel and so on. Clearly the thrust of the books is the conflict between the modern sterile society of Beta Colony (Cordelia's home planet -- read as "USA") and the backwards, violant society of Barrayar (Vorkosigan's home planet -- read as Russia, pre-Soviet). There is next to nothing about other worlds in this imaginary universe or even how far in the future it is supposed to be taking place. Ms. Bujold is stolidly uninterested in sci fi technology, science or gadgetry (even though Cordelia is nominally a scientist), so there is virtually nothing here that is speculative about a possible future society. In fact, the whole thing reads as more of a New World/Old World clash, and by that I don't mean planets, I mean the words as they define America vs. Europe. Barrayar is impossible to see as anything but a conventional, Old World European society (circa pre-WWI), what with its Emperor, castles, courtiers, and nobility. The WORST thing I feel Ms. Bujold does in this whole series is the adaptation of the pre-fix "Vor" to all the noble Barrayaran surnames. It is all too painfully obvious that this reads as the word "War" as pronounced by someone with a very heavy Eastern European accent -- you know, someone who prounces all the "w's" like "v's". It's just plain embarassing. Furthermore, it makes sorting out the characters -- at least half have "Vor-" names -- unusally difficult. While a good love story in a Sci Fi setting would be very welcome, and Cordelia and Vorkosigan are appealingly written, their romance comes off as a standard Harlequin model. Vorkosigan in particular seems cut from a very familar bolt of cloth...the one marked "Mr. Rochester (Jane Eyre". He's gruff but deeply romantic, and falls in love with the heroine (who is a plain Jane) almost instantly, asking for her hand in marriage before they ever make love or even kiss. Don't forget his flashing grey eyes because they are mentioned every few chapters. While the first book is so clean and non-sexual (with one exception I will get to later) it is suitable for 12 year old readers, in the second book Ms. Bujold attempts to tackle more adult relationships with very weak results. The worst of it is a romance between two servants, called improbably Drou (DROO) and Kou (KOO)...just try saying that aloud. It's full of all kinds of cute misunderstandings right out of a TV sitcom. (And ends happily in a wedding of course.) The descriptions of artificial wombs -- very critical to the plot -- is handled so poorly that you can hardly imagine how they work...and how would you end up having something that sophisticated in a universe where the 33 year old heroine is seriously worried about having a baby because she feels she's "getting too old"? Lots of reproductive tech on one hand...none on the other. That brings me to the factor that annoyed me the most. Ms. Bujold, working in every hip, PC plot thread she could, has the hero Vorkosigan being bisexual...sort of. He has an early arranged marriage, and when his wife cheats on him with two lovers, he challenges the two lovers to duels and kills them. Subsequently, his wife commits suicide (?). But then, very inexplicably, he enters into a long term homosexual relationship with an older, powerful man. Because of his grief over his wife's suicide or his upset over her infidelity or both. Then when he meets the heroine, it's back to heterosexuality for him, without a look back! I can only think that the author felt she was being very cool, sophisticated and up-to-the-minute (in '86) with this detail. It's referenced once in each book and then not really gone into, although I think in REAL LIFE, this would be AWFULLY important. Trust me, people who flip back and forth between sexual preferences are usually confused and very troubled. And there is nothing romantic about that. We hear nothing at all to explain why Vorkosigan wanted a male lover, or what the heck made him decide he liked women better after all (besides how terrific Cordelia is). It also plays into a dangerous and untrue stereotype that homosexuality isn't "real" and all it takes it the "right" woman to put a guy back on the track. Just very, very disturbing and I see that none of the other reviewers here even mention it. Beyond that, despite some decent adventure scenes, you are in familar territory here that has been well mined (one might say "strip mined) by Star Trek, Star Wars, etc. Lots of ball gowns, dinner dances, horseback riding, swords that sounds like light sabers and gibberish about politics. Whenever anyone in any Sci Fi starts talking about "emperors" or "high council meetings", my eyelids get very heavy. I find these books just terribly overrated. There are some good stories still to be told about strong women in Sci Fi -- and these are NOT them. In a couple of decades, this kind of writing will be very dated to the 80s period because of the tired references and sexual attitudes.
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