While there was adventure in the story most of the story was slow moving and a bit boring, and only slightly humorous, the characters were very bland, and despite all they went through in the book, the characters had very little emotion. I can understand being in the positions they hold, not showing emotion on the outside, but there was very little emotion shown on the inside as well, which made them hard for me to relate to.

I dunno man, everyone who's a SF fan digs this but I was quite disappointed. She's [seemingly] written a Heinlein-style novel, and it's just dull and boring.

Resulto ser un libro menos complejo de lo que esperaba, pero me ha gustado, sobre todo los personajes. Cordelia es una mujer con mucho valor y no es simplona ni se deja llevar por las emociones y Vorkosigan un hombre extraño, serio y bastante directo.
El romance no es muy elaborado, pero pareciera que la historia girara alrededor de eso. Aunque realmente todo se basa en política y en ese enredo que crean para cumplir con sus planes.
Es un libro entretenido, pero creo que le falto emoción y acción. Ademas no se complica mucho con las descripciones de naves y toda esa ambientación tecnológica, lo que lo hace un buen libro para los que quieran por primera vez leer este genero. Seguro continuare con la saga.

Really enjoyed this space opera. Strong female protagonist and interested world building.

Good, solid stuff. I'm beginning to understand why is the Vorkosigan saga so popular. My next read... Barrayar.

Read at least three times throughout the years. The last time is the one in the read dates.

This has always been one of my favourites of the Vorkosigan saga, though I hadn't read it in years (and had completely forgotten the final chapter, of the woman recovering the body of her daughter). I really really like Cordelia.

I'm finding it hard to pin down a rating for this book. I'm going with 3 stars, although I think it's more like 3.5 if I could have half stars.

Let's start with the good... I found the writing style enjoyable and easy to read, so when I picked it up I tended to get through a good chunk at a time. The universe was interesting and engaging, and I liked that the author didn't spoon-feed everything to the reader. New things/concepts were often thrown in with minimal explanation, but the context was often enough so you understood what was being talked about. A deft authorial skill.

Despite my issue below with some aspects of Cordelia's character, I felt the characters were generally very well portrayed. Intricate and complex interactions or emotional journeys were powerfully portrayed without leaving you feeling like you'd been beaten over the head with it. To pick out a few highlights:

Spoiler

The initial awkward interactions between Cordelia and Vorkosigan; Cordelia's return home to a parade for something she didn't do and subsequent horrific experiences with her psychiatrist; Bothari's horrendous treatment at the hands of Vorrutyer and subsequent semi-rehabilitation with Vorkosigan.

On the downside I found the characterisation a little odd, especially of Cordelia. The way she acted often didn't gel for me with the background she was described as having.

Spoiler

Betans are apparently much more peaceful and less military than the Barrayarans and yet when Cordelia gets imprisoned, tortured and almost raped she copes surprisingly well and reacts with a very clear mind, for someone who's "just" from a Survey team and not serious military. She also managed to single-handedly plan and execute an amazing distraction/rescue/escape plan on a large and complex space ship where a tricky coup was taking place. And escaped her own home by torturing a completely innocent woman.

This all struck me as inconsistent with what I'd interpreted as her background and character. Especially as all her conversations with and observations of Vorkosigan always come back to how different/more military Barrayaran* culture is.

*Note to the author - it took me many readings of the word Barrayaran to get my head around how many syllables it had and how it should probably be pronounced. Somehow I kept wanting to put an 'i' or 'y' after the final 'r', adding another syllable that isn't actually there (in fact I still do it in my head sometimes and keep tripping myself up on it). I read plenty of fantasy and sci-fi with weird names for everything so I don't generally have any trouble with "made up" names, but if one of the major races in your book is going to be mentioned by name repeatedly and it's that hard to get your head round, it might be worth reconsidering whether it's the right name. Or maybe that's just me! But it did pull me out of the story on plenty of occasions.

The development of the relationship between Cordelia and Vorkosigan just didn't quite sit right with me either.

Spoiler

It seemed awfully fast for her to go from fear and disgust of the so called Butcher of Komarr, to finding him rather sexy, to being head over heels in love with him. And he apparently wanting to propose to some injured, vomiting, Survey captain the minute he met her in the mud? Eh, I didn't buy it.

Finally, I felt a bit awash in the political and military wranglings both prior to the events of the book and those that happened during. I think the problem was a lot of exposition, the reader is told a lot of stuff (via Vorkosigan telling it to Cordelia) rather than being shown it. That info-dump style never sinks in with me, it tends to just slide off and I get lost in a mire of names and allegiances swimming round my ankles.

I dunno, somehow despite all the above niggles I did find it enjoyable in a pulpy kind of way and I may well put the next one on my speculative To Read list.