Reviews with content warning for Murder - Shards of Honour

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Shards of Honour by Lois McMaster Bujold

13 reviews

cedowell1's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

4.5

A reread. It’s been several years since I last read it and I enjoyed it just as much this time. This book made me start reading sci-fi again when I read it the first time. The rest of the series is just as entertaining.

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jhbandcats's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is the third time I’ve read this book. I absolutely love it. It’s gripping and lively, with a lot of action tempered by discussions of honor (of course), soldiering, deception, mental illness, and the senseless deaths of wartime. The bad guys are really pretty bad and the good guys are fabulous.

After two books with the main characters of Cordelia Naismith and Aral Vorkosigan, this and Barrayar, the story moves eighteen years in the future where their son Miles is the main character and his parents have become bit players. I love both Cordelia and Aral, and I wish there had been more books written about them. Miles is a lot of fun, but he’s an agent of chaos - he moves from one disaster to another - and it’s exciting but tiring. There’s lots of chaos here, too, but … um …. maybe more controlled? I’m not sure how to describe it.

In any case, this is probably my favorite sci-fi series of all.

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davidsonrachel6's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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galaxywitch's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? No

3.25

Overall I enjoyed this book. It was a fun read, and has humor throughout that is funny without being over the top or feeling forced. Even though I did enjoy this book, there are some things about it I didn’t enjoy very much which made me rate this as a 3 instead of a higher rating.

This was published ~40 years ago and in some ways it does feel dated. The biggest issue I had while reading is that there were a lot more references to (and/or threats of) rape than I was expecting. To me it feels like this is included so frequently because rape is what Bad Guys do, which is not something I enjoy reading. Also, because the writing style is on the more lighthearted and humorous side, serious topics (ex. Rape, murder, war, etc) were handled in a way that felt casual, dismissive, or humorous at times, which felt weird. I think most of this is just that it was written in a different time so I am not holding these flaws against it too harshly - but it is something to note if this will be a problem for you.

That being said, if you can look past these complaints, I did find it enjoyable. It was not especially deep, and was not very focused on the sci-fi elements, but it was fun. The main characters felt somewhat flat but were likable.

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unsuccessfulbookclub's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Fast paced and complex, a great mix of harder science fiction themes (interplanetary politics, war, space travel, medical advancements) and more relationship focused themes. I enjoyed the depth of character portrayal and commentary on politics, military service, humanity, leadership, trust and just… people. Excited to read more of this series!!

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obviousthings's review against another edition

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I wasn't finding the romance all that romantic to begin with, and then at the end of Chapter 14 Vorkosigan mentioned something heinous that he essentially just... let happen?? If it was meant to be a huge red flag I'd keep reading, but it seems like the book is really pushing the narrative that he's a good guy in spite of what people say, and I just can't stomach that at this point.

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