Up until that point, I stayed afloat thanks to the masterful plotting even though the characterzation wasn’t satisfying me. For the most part, however, Cordelia spends a lot of time confused by Barrayan customs and going to boring parties.įortunately, Lois McMaster Bujold turns it all around in the third act. Examples of her agency and will are few and far between-though, to be fair, they are certainly present. In Barrayar, though, Cordelia at first seems like her strings have been cut.

She escapes the slightly-oppressive psychiatric regime imposed upon her by the authorities of Beta Colony and ends up with Aral, whom she has developed an affinity and, yes, love for. In the first book, Cordelia is this super-capable survey ship captain. However, there is a lot about Barrayar that gives me reservations. I can say for certain that I liked this book better than the first one. Pretty much, Cordelia and Aral have a very busy year. Things are complicated: she’s pregnant and has very progressive ideas about raising kids Aral gets named the regent of the new child emperor when the old emperor dies and not a week goes by without some kind of assassination attempt. Cordelia has married Aral Vorkosigan and left everything she knows behind to live with him on Barrayar, capital planet of the interstellar empire of the same name. Both novels are good-but this is where it gets really interesting. I’d say this is the payoff to Shards of Honour, but that might give you the wrong idea. Immediately after finishing Shards of Honour, I jumped into Barrayar with gusto.