May the Saga Begin: Lois McMaster Bujold – Cordelia’s Honor

This is possibly the one SF series I have put off for the longest time. First of all, its length and the amount of volumes was daunting, but secondly, the reading order and various omnibuses out there just made the whole endeavour feel like too much work. Cue the Sword & Laser podcast (yes, I’m still a loyal listener, after all these years) and their March Madness, which brought forth the winning book, one omnibus of two Vorkosigan Saga novels, which I then finally proceded to read.

CORDELIA’S HONOR
by Lois McMaster Bujold

Published (as ominbus): Baen, 2000
Ebook: 641 pages
Series: The Vorkosigan Saga #1, #7 or just #1 if you read the ominibuses

Here are the details about the two novels combined therein:

SHARDS OF HONOR
by Lois McMaster Bujold

Published: Baen, 1986
Ebook: 239 pages
Series: The Vorkosigan Saga # 1
My rating: 6/10

Opening line: A sea of mist drifted through the cloud forest: soft, grey, luminescent. 

BARRAYAR
by Lois McMaster Bujold

Published: Baen, 1991
Ebook: 384 pages
Series: The Vorkosigan Saga #7
My rating: 8/10

Opening line: I am afraid. Cordelia’s hand pushed aside the drape in the third-floor parlor window of Vorkosigan House. 

SHARDS OF HONOR

When Cordelia Naismith and her survey crew are attacked by a renegade group from Barrayar, she is taken prisoner by Aral Vorkosigan, commander of the Barrayan ship that has been taken over by an ambitious and ruthless crew member. Aral and Cordelia survive countless mishaps while their mutual admiration and even stronger feelings emerge.

This book is not what I expected. But in order to unpack that, I need to take a deep breath and go into the whole reading order, which book happens when situation.

Shards of Honor was Lois McMaster Bujold’s first book (1986) and the first book in the Vorkosigan Saga. So far, so clear. Except, no. Because Bujold’s original first book would have been longer, including a fair bit of what is now part of Barrayar. For publishing reasons, Shards of Honor was published the way it was published and the bits that were “cut” ended up in the seventh volume of the Vorkosigan Saga, somewhat polished and re-written and with a bit added on extra . The gist of the whole thing is that these two novels contain the story of Cordelia Vorkosigan, née Naismith, so it makes sense to keep them together. Especially considering that the beginning of Barrayar happens literally on the day after Shards of Honor ends. Phew… so now that’s out of the way, onto my thoughts about the very beginning of this long, long saga.

Cordelia Naismith is the captain of an Astronomical Survey ship from Beta Colony, and she is currently out and about on a survey mission with her crew. Unfortunately, they get attacked, some people die, others are gravely wounded, others manage to get away. Cordelia finds herself stranded almost alone on this planet, but also sort-of kidnapped by one Captain Aral Vorkosigan of Barrayar, a place Cordelia’s people consider barbarian and backwater. These two go on a track through the countryside together in order to reach civilization (or at least a way to communicate with their people) and, on that journey, fall in love.

I was told this is military science fiction and, to a fair degree it is, but not the way I expected. Sure, people have ranks and follow orders and all that, they wear uniforms and there’s apparently some sort of war going on, but the story that we get to read, is much smaller and more intimate in scale. It also surprised me a bit how much this book was a romance, with most of the battles and big war stuff happening off stage, while our protagonists simply survive on the ground and grow ever fonder of each other. Now, I didn’t mind that at all, but I did find it surprising that the book was as popular as it was when it came out. Wasn’t that the time the Sad Puppies celebrated, when it was all manly men in space, shooting guns and rescuing damsels? Because this is not that!

I really enjoyed the characters, especially Cordelia who is competent and logical and also considered a spinster. She and honorable Lord Vorkosigan make a great couple and it’s easy to see how they fall for each other. Even if it did happen a bit quick. Seriously, the guy pops out an engagement ring before he even really knows her. But if you don’t let that deter you, their story is a really great one. And although I said most battles happen off stage, there is a part towards the end of the book that can definitely be called exciting or thrilling, even though the excitement is mostly horror at what power can do to some men. Please look up trigger warnings before picking up this book.
It also shows its age in the almost casual use of rape or near-rape as a plot point, but, having read the sequel, even though it may feel like nothing in the first book, there are repercussions for the characters involved that last a lifetime.

Which leads me to the writing style, a part I would have reviewed very differently, had I only read Shards of Honor and not the omnibus version. Because the style here was not my favorite. Things happen super quickly, there are few descriptions of surroundings, I sometimes felt a bit lost as to what was going in the galaxy, and it didn’t really come across how different Vorkosigan and Cordelia’s backgrounds and cultures were. I did like reading Cordelia’s thoughts, often sarcastic or self-deprecating, as asides, but if I had only read this one book, I don’t think I would have continued the series. Or at least not very soon.

As it stands, I did continue, pretending the omnibus was just one large book, and that was a great decision. Not only did I love Barrayar, it also shows how much Bujold has grown as a writer in the years between the publication of these two books.

MY RATING: 6/10 – Good

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BARRAYAR

Cordelia and Arol Vorkosigan’s plans for a peaceful married life (after all the bloodshed and trials recounted in SHARDS OF HONOR) are soon shattered by the polital tumult on Barrayar. Resisting enormous pressure, they struggle to keep their family alive while while protecting the child Emperor from enemies who would murder him and assume absolute power over all of Barrayar.

It made me so happy that I could read this book – incidentally a Hugo Award Winner – without having to read all six previous volumes (according to original publication order). In the afterword, Lois McMaster Bujold herself explains that she is glad this omnibus exists, and once you’ve read it, you will likely agree that it just makes sense! But apart from continuing, seamlessly, the story of Cordelia Vorkosigan, this book has a lot more to offer.

The first and most glaring difference is the vast improvement in the writing style. And sure, “good” writing is subjective, but there are certain things here that were missing in Shards that most people will agree are just signs of better writing. The writing is much smoother, less hectic, it’s easier to imagine places and people, and the dialogue (which was pretty good to begin with) has improved as well. Even before I got into the plot, this jump in craft made me so glad I had decided to read the omnibus.

The book opens a day after Aral Vorkosigan has accepted the job of being Regent until young Gregor comes of age and can take over governing Barrayar. Finding yourself suddenly at the top of the political food chain may come with influence, but it also comes with dangers. Like assassination attempts, you know, the usual.
And in the middle of it all is Cordelia, just married and still quite new to the planet, trying to come to terms with its culture and norms. Because they are preeeetty different from what she’s experienced on Beta Colony. There’s the lushness of trees, wooden furnishings that Betans would find wasteful, but there’s also an aversion to technologial advances such as the uterine replicators where Betan women can choose to gestate their babies. Oh yes, and let’s not forget how utterly, utterly ableist Barrayarans are. I’m talking leaving a newborn out to die level ableist, if it’s even in the slightest way “deformed” or “not right” according to Barrayaran standards. This theme and the way not only Cordelia but also her husband try to work against society’s views runs through the book like a red thread and I found it fascinating.

Because it turns out all the most interesting characters are “not quite right” for Barrayar, some more obviously so than others. There’s Koudelka, Vorkosigan’s closest advisor, who has been so hurt in the war on Escobaran that large parts of his body have been replace and he walks (limps) with a cane. Koudelka is probably the harshest on himself, but he keeps proving himself over and over, both with his top notch brain and sometimes even in phyiscal situations where he expected to fail.
Then there is the single most fascinating and tragic figure of Bothari. This bodyguard is described as ugly, monstrous, freakishly tall, and we have met him before in Shards where he was forced to do unspeakable things. Things that – despite some memory wiping – follow him to this day. I don’t really want to go too deeply into his character development, but despite the things in his past, he grow on me so much that I was really worried at the end to lose him.
And lastly, I don’t know if this is really a spoiler because if you know what the Vorkosigan Saga in general is about, you kind of know that one fact about Miles Vorkosigan: It’s that he is phyiscally disabled. In this book we learn why.
We also learn just how hard Cordelia has to fight to keep her son alive before he is even born, because as I said. Barrayar and disability… not a good match. On a sidenote, I hope to see this change in the books to come as Barrayar hopefully progresses towards a more empathetic, open society. But I have thus far avoided all spoilers and will go on only with that hope.

The main plot of the book is Vorkosigan becoming Regent and fighting against those who are opposed to this, including wannabe assassins and usurpers. There’s quite a few action scenes in this book that I really enjoyed, even if there was also usually a steep price to pay for coming out of it alive. But I felt that the underlying theme and the heart of the novel is actually parenthood.

Several people are pregnant at the beginning of this book, and several children are born (in different ways and very different circumstances), others have newborn children, yet others slightly older ones. And let’s not forget the much older parent, Lord Vorkosigan’s father Piotr, whose attitude changes dramatically when the male heir he was so excited about will most likely be disabled if he even makes it to term. I hated so much about that part, but because it is so well written that I connected to these characters so well. I wanted the Vorkosigan family to get along, I wanted Piotr to cheer on his unborn grandson and not be a dick about any possible disabilities he might have. Oh well, that’s not how family works.

I was also positively surprised about how much this book had to say about pregnancy and how many details there were that usually get left out of popular media. Like every single birth on TV happens within hours of the first contraction and everyone’s water always breaks in a dramatic burst, etc. Not so here, because McMaster Bujold knows her stuff. 🙂
So I loved those bits as well, simply for being all too real and showing that pregnancy – like most things – are not the same of every person. I also deeply felt alongside Cordelia when she couldn’t drink at a party because she was super pregnant. Damn, did I miss salami during my own pregnancy!

The ending was well-rounded and worked really well. And the prologue was like that cherry on top that made me close the book with a hopeful, happy smile. A well deserved Hugo winner if there ever was one! I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

MY RATING: 8/10 – Excellent!