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njyx's review against another edition
4.0
Great story which mixes palace intrigue with some bigger dilemmas about honor and life. The characters are like-able and it's pretty fast paced. Will definitely check out some of the others in the series!
skampa's review
adventurous
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This was a fun love story. The characters were great. It was refreshing to read a love story about middle age people who actually feel/act like they are middle age.
The plot was a bit repetitive, but the third act was really frustrating in a good way.
Minor downsides was the aforementioned plot. Some of the world building felt dry and infodumped, and maybe there was too much SA (even if it was offscreen).
The plot was a bit repetitive, but the third act was really frustrating in a good way.
Minor downsides was the aforementioned plot. Some of the world building felt dry and infodumped, and maybe there was too much SA (even if it was offscreen).
fell4's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I don't know why I liked this book so much - something about the complexity of the characters - they're so real, in their mistakes and beliefs. And the view of women is so interesting - that they are strong and should be more valued - and also that the view of motherhood as a job. But there are some older tendances in this feminism that harkens from the pre-2000s that I can't pinpoint right now since I'm listening to the audiobook. There is something soothing about it though.
neaify's review against another edition
4.25
This left me deeply conflicted in a way that only SFF from the eighties ever does. I did have fun reading it, but I did not want to read more.
abananaquit's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
aneton's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
rhrousu's review against another edition
5.0
Well done space-politics with a female protagonist and just the right amount of world building. Highly recommended.
april_does_feral_sometimes's review against another edition
4.0
'Shards of Honor' is the first novel in the Vorkosigan series. At this point some of the starring characters in the following books in the series, especially future main character Miles Vorkosigan, are but a glimmer in this introduction to Bujold's and Mile's science-fiction universe.
Barrayaran Captain Aral Vorkosigan, from an aristocratic warrior planet, and the Betan Commander Cordelia Naismith, from a progressive scientific world, begin the saga with a Romeo/Juliet pairing. It is clear such a couple are fated to have interesting adventures, as most certainly will anybody connected with them!
As the novel begins, the two main protagonists are about to meet cute. Sort of. Barrayaran politics being what they are - vicious and murderous - the two seasoned commanders meet fighting on opposite sides in the middle of a war AND a mutiny.
The Barrayaran Emperor Ezar Vorbarra is dying, but he inexplicably decides to begin a number of hostile military activities. He sends out various military troops to different planets, including to the nameless one the Betan Astronomical Survey is exploring.
Cordelia is leading the survey expedition to the newly discovered planet. Her team consists of all scientists and non-combatants. Cordelia is an Astrocartographer as well as the commander. They innocently explore the verdant world, full of excitement at being the first sentients to land there. Pleasantly tired from collecting plant samples in the forest, she and her botanist Ensign Dubauer are horrified to discover the base camp has been slagged. The rest of her team was there!
Captain Vorkosigan is not only a really great leader, his family is close to Emperor Ezar Vorbarra. A group of jealous Barrayaran warriors hate Captain Vorkosigan for his honorable family and connections but they have been assigned under his command. So when Vorkosigan is ordered to the planet to intern Cordelia's expedition for violation of Barrayaran space, the dissident soldiers go rogue and attack Vorkosigan. He gets away for the moment, and while escaping, he captures Cordelia. Although they are enemies, unless they decide to work together neither of them might survive. This becomes the pattern for the rest of the book. Cordelia and Vorkosigan continuously need to work together while working against each other.
Gentle reader, their frenemy dance of attraction and strategy is fraught and fun! I enjoyed the book very much. The plot is intricate and suspenseful. However, since politics shares star billing with the war the Barrayaran emperor ultimately wages against the planet Escobar in order to apparently shut down their wormhole, an important trade route for the Betans, I think some readers will find the story less of a military adventure or love story than they expected. The book is written in the style popular among writers with a 1970's/1980’s baby boomer audience, so it is complex and it has more dialogue than to which younger 21st-century science fiction readers are accustomed. Just saying.
Barrayaran Captain Aral Vorkosigan, from an aristocratic warrior planet, and the Betan Commander Cordelia Naismith, from a progressive scientific world, begin the saga with a Romeo/Juliet pairing. It is clear such a couple are fated to have interesting adventures, as most certainly will anybody connected with them!
As the novel begins, the two main protagonists are about to meet cute. Sort of. Barrayaran politics being what they are - vicious and murderous - the two seasoned commanders meet fighting on opposite sides in the middle of a war AND a mutiny.
The Barrayaran Emperor Ezar Vorbarra is dying, but he inexplicably decides to begin a number of hostile military activities. He sends out various military troops to different planets, including to the nameless one the Betan Astronomical Survey is exploring.
Cordelia is leading the survey expedition to the newly discovered planet. Her team consists of all scientists and non-combatants. Cordelia is an Astrocartographer as well as the commander. They innocently explore the verdant world, full of excitement at being the first sentients to land there. Pleasantly tired from collecting plant samples in the forest, she and her botanist Ensign Dubauer are horrified to discover the base camp has been slagged. The rest of her team was there!
Captain Vorkosigan is not only a really great leader, his family is close to Emperor Ezar Vorbarra. A group of jealous Barrayaran warriors hate Captain Vorkosigan for his honorable family and connections but they have been assigned under his command. So when Vorkosigan is ordered to the planet to intern Cordelia's expedition for violation of Barrayaran space, the dissident soldiers go rogue and attack Vorkosigan. He gets away for the moment, and while escaping, he captures Cordelia. Although they are enemies, unless they decide to work together neither of them might survive. This becomes the pattern for the rest of the book. Cordelia and Vorkosigan continuously need to work together while working against each other.
Gentle reader, their frenemy dance of attraction and strategy is fraught and fun! I enjoyed the book very much. The plot is intricate and suspenseful. However, since politics shares star billing with the war the Barrayaran emperor ultimately wages against the planet Escobar in order to apparently shut down their wormhole, an important trade route for the Betans, I think some readers will find the story less of a military adventure or love story than they expected. The book is written in the style popular among writers with a 1970's/1980’s baby boomer audience, so it is complex and it has more dialogue than to which younger 21st-century science fiction readers are accustomed. Just saying.