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Barrayar (3) (Vorkosigan Saga) Paperback – January 5, 2016

by Lois McMaster Bujold (Author)

4.6 2,269 ratings

Book 7 of 16: Miles Vorkosigan

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THIRD ENTRY IN A BELOVED SERIES.The Vorkosigan Saga spans over a dozen novels and has won multiple awards and sold 1.8 million copies.

Sick of combat and betrayal, Cordelia Vorkosigan is ready to settle down to a quiet life. But when the Emperor dies, her husband Aral becomes guardian of the infant heir to the imperial throne of Barrayar and the target of high-tech assassins in a dynastic civil war. But neither Aral nor Cordelia can guess the part that their cell-damaged unborn will play in Barrayar's bloody legacy. Winner of the Hugo Award.

About Lois McMaster Bujold:
“. . . all the virtues we have come to expect from Bujold, including more and more prose that sings.”—The Chicago Sun Times

“Bujold continues to prove what marvels genius can create out of basic space operatics.”—Library Journal

“Bujold is not just a master of plot, she is a master of emotion.”—SF Site

“Bujold is one of the best writers of SF adventure to come along in years.”—Locus Magazine

The Vorkosigan Series in Story-based Chronological Order
Falling Free
Shards of Honor
Barrayar
The Warrior's Apprentice
The Vor Game
Cetaganda
Ethan of Athos
Borders of Infinity
Brothers in Arms
Mirror Dance
Memory
Komarr
A Civil Campaign
Diplomatic Immunity
Captain Vorpatril's Alliance
CryoBurn

Omnibus Editions
MILES, MYSTERY & MAYHEM
contains Cetaganda, Ethan of Athos

YOUNG MILES
contains The Warrior's Apprentice + stories

CORDELIA’S HONOR
contains Shards of Honor, Barayarr

MILES, MUTANTS & MICROBES
contains Falling Free, Diplomatic Immunity

MILES IN LOVE
contains Komarr, A Civil Campaign

MILES ERRANT
contains Brothers in Arms, Mirror Dance

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A science fiction and fantasy legend, Lois McMaster Bujold has won seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards. Her Miles Vorkosigan saga is a massively popular science fiction mainstay. Her many New York Times bestsellers include series entries Cryoburn, Diplomatic Immunity, and Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance. In 2020, Ms. Bujold was named the 36th Damon Knight Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Baen; Reissue edition (January 5, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1476781117
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1476781112
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.3 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.13 x 1 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #613,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,616 in Galactic Empire Science Fiction
- #8,377 in Space Operas
- #13,150 in Science Fiction Adventures

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4.6 2,269 ratings

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Lois McMaster Bujold

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A science fiction legend, Lois McMaster Bujold is one of the most highly regarded speculative fiction writers of all time. She has won three Nebula Awards and six Hugo Awards, four for best novel, which matches Robert A. Heinlein's record. Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan saga is a massively popular science fiction mainstay. The mother of two, Ms. Bujold lives in Minneapolis.

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Tomasthanes

"With all this manure around, there's got to be a pony someplace."

Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2023

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Even though this is "Book #7", according to the author, this is the second book in the "series proper" (refer to the Author's Note at the end of the book - gratefully, the same Author's Note is at the end of Book #1 and Book #7 - I expect this consistency across all of the Vorkosigan books).

This book picks up where the first book left off with the formation of the Miles Vorkosigan family after the marriage of Miles and Cordelia, a citizen of Barrayar and Beta Colony, respectively.

Again, I compliment the graphic artist (Ron Miller) who did the minimalist cover showing the new family (though the baby doesn't appear until the very end of the book and you're amazed that the baby made it through alive at all).

The bulk of the story focuses on Vordarian's War and I won't say any more so as to not give away any spoilers.

The author tells a very good story made even more enjoyable by her choice of words. If my TBR pile wasn't growing faster than the number of novels read this year, I'd proceed into the next book in the series, "The Warrior's Apprentice".

Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2012

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A lot of people think that Barrayar is the superior of the two books chronicling the adventures of Aral and Cordelia Vorkosigan (the other, and first, being Shards of Honor - the two book should not be read out of order). And Barrayar is really good. But it includes a lot of plot elements that do not appeal to me personally, and regardless of the book's objective quality made it less fun for me to read.

For example: I have a really strong, totally irrational phobia about pregnancy. I'd explain but nobody wants to hear about all the ways that fetuses remind me of parasites. Cordelia spends most of this book pregnant, defending her baby's right to live, and just generally being a mama bear. It's well done but...not my thing.

And also: I get really grumpy when a character like Cordelia, who's introduced as this pants-wearing, career-first badass, shows up in a second book married, playing second fiddle the husband, and wearing skirts all the time. Admittedly, Cordelia's not a warrior. And in Shards of Honor she spent a fair amount of time as a prisoner of war - not exactly a position of strength, though Cordelia seems to do best when she's got her back up against the wall. But she and Aral were united by their professionalism, their dedication to the highest ideals of their careers.

In Barrayar, she's a sort of sci-fi First Lady and she's restricted, mostly, to the activities of a Barrayaran female. She buys presents, socializes with other powerful women, and gestates. And, yes, that's called assimilation and exactly what she ought to be doing, and yes, she does have a few opportunities to break out the badass, but...I'm just not as riveted by the life of a political wife as I was by the adventures of a scientist spaceship captain.

That being said - the book is deeper and more complex than Shards of Honor. In Barrayar Aral and Cordelia no longer have to worry about obeying orders - Aral is the highest authority. Instead, he and Cordelia falter under the weight of responsibility, and let guilt weaken them. They aren't separated by loyalty to country; they're married, and settled on Barrayar. This time around, Aral's responsibilities take up almost all his time and the hard choices he makes reduce him to a shadow of his former self, while Cordelia's fierce protectiveness of her baby puts her at odds with Aral's family and, in fact, the entire nobility of Barrayar.

If Shards of Honor ultimately led to one horrible decision that nearly broke Aral, Barrayar is the Chinese water torture version, the slow erosion of character version, as messy as Shards was clear.

It's still highly quotable - "You should have fallen in love with a happy man, if you wanted happiness. But no, you had to fall for the breathtaking beauty of pain", for example, or "Cordelia's own soul felt lik an exhausted snail, shelled in a glassy numbness." And it's still about good people struggling to do the right thing in a world that smashes everything right and good about a person to a million tiny pieces. In a way, it's the Aaron Sorkin version of sci-fi, with these heroic characters who lead you through the most gruesome situations.

Really, if you read Shards of Honor you'll know whether or not you want to continue with the series. I did, and I think I'll be moving on to read at least a little about Miles Vorkosigan, Aral and Cordelia's son.

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icdbeez

Space Opera as an Artform with a Moral

Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2012

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Bujorld has done it again! The second fabulous novel about Cordelia and Aral, except this time she deceives him - but it's for a good cause.

THE PLOT: Cordelia and Aral are now married and living on Barrayar. He becomes Regent for Gregor who is only a child. He will be regent for at least 16 years until Gregor comes into his majority, unless something else happens. Well, something else does happen in this novel, someone tries to take away the Regency. Unfortunately, Cordelia and Aral's fetus is trapped in the area controlled by the ursurper. Remember never get between a mother tiger and her cub. Many things happen in this book. Running and hiding, much propaganda on both sides, murder, when there seems no other option, Cordelia goes commando, helped by some household staff without Aral's knowledge or permission. After all, she was a Captain on Beta, and had her own experience in the military, so she knows what she is doing. You would never expect what happens in this book. The plot is twistier than a hedge maze. At the end, it all comes together in a coherent fashion, though quite unexpectedly. There is surprise everywhere, especially in Aral's staff.

THE CHARACTERIZATION: Again, Ms. Bujold has used her magic to make every single character seem astonishingly real. Even the secondary and tertiary characters have attributes and details that are common in the main players in other books. I do believe that she has a rule, that if she sets a character in a novel, that they have to be fully three dimensional, no matter what their parts are. This makes the novel much richer for the reader and is the hallmark of a great writer. Aral and Cordelia are both such fully fleshed out characters that they seem like they could be neighbors or relatives. Their staff's are the same - fully human in only the way Bujold can write them. Especially Bothari who's so troubled yet so loyal to Cordelia he'd so anything for her. He's almost an enigma, and yet he's so faithful and only sometimes scary, considering his past life as a torturer for the Prince who had some seriously nasty habits.

WORLDBUILDING: This time the whole book stayed on Barrayar. We got to explore more of the customs, the planet, the countryside, the people, the everyday living, the Counts and their place in the aristrocracy. It was all simply fascinating. This was the part of the detailed worldbuilding that Bujold seems to excel at. From the way the black market works to the look and layout of the palace, she puts in all sorts of details that make up one gigantic jigsaw puzzle where all the pieces fit together to form one gigantic whole. They all make sense. They all work together to form a cohesive picture of a society that's transitioning from isolation into a galatic milieu. A lot of their traditions go back hundreds of years - some make sense, some do not, and it is Arals's job to lead the planet forth into a future of prosperity, which is why he is with the progressive party. Some traditions die hard, just as people do. Bujold understands all this, and has included all the details into forming the world of Barrayar. It is a masterpiece of worldbuilding.

THE DIALOGUE: Bujold is a master of this too. The Counts are formal when they are together, or in formal situations. When at home, they are cranky and demanding. The formality is always demanded at Court and at the Council of Counts, as well as at social function such as balls and other get togethers. When they are home, unless there are visitors, the dialogue is informal, unless it is between the Counts and the staff, then we're are back to formal again. In the Vorosigan household, they tend to be a little more lax then some Counts. I think this has happened because of Cordelia's Betan attitudes. She just doesn't believe in aristocracy. It is a myth - a fiction built out of thin air. so they are less formal with their staff at home. But all the dialogue rings true in every circumstance - not a note out of place. As an example: when Gregor gets bored in the Council of Counts, he may start to fidget or yawn, wanting to be anywhere but there. He may make some comment to try to end the session, but they know what he is doing, so they placate him, and go on.

THE ENDING: The ending of the book came as quite a surprise. Remember what I said in the beginning, you never come in between a mother tiger and her cub. Just remember that when you read this book. Maternal instincts are strong. They can override any risk to yourself. In the end carnage results. Bad things happen and Bothari is along for the ride. Will Cordelia be able to get her fetus in time? Will Bothari flip out and kill everyone in sight? Will Aral find Corderlia before she can do anything and bring her back home? Will the Ursurper take her prisoner, demanding ransom for her and the fetus, making Aral's position untenable? Will Cordelia be shot in her attempt to get the fetus and die trying, killing the fetus in the process? All these questions will be answered in the book.

The upshot is, that I would recommend this book to anyone who can read English. It is a study of a planet that is in the stages of transition, between on old fashioned traditional aristocracy, to a galactic democracy. Of course, there is trouble along the way - but it makes for fascinating reading. If you like politics, military reading, thrillers, science fiction, historical fiction then this book is for you. It may take place in outer space, but change the details and it could be Earth if we had been contacted in our own history by aliens. Think about it that way. This could be Earth in the past, trying to cope with coming up to speed with the fact that there was a whole galaxy out there that had technology way beyond us. Meanwhile, we had just transitioned away from cavalry in the military and had a long way to go. There would not only be an arms race, but transportation would be a big factor on the ground and from planet to planet. There is a lot in this book to think about. I suggest you buy it and read it. This is such a treat.

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L. Jones

Book 2, not book 7

Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2024

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Great follow-up to Shards of Honor, continuing the story of Cordelia and Aral Vorkosigan. Not just a well-written adventure, but also about the risks a mother will brave to save her child. The back story of many of the character who show up in the Miles books are fleshed out here, adding depth to their stories. Note: Amazon lists this as Book 7 of the VorKosigan Saga; according to Lois McMaster Bujold, this should be read between Shards o Honor and The Warrior’s Apprentice.

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Kincade W.

Bujold is so wonderful

Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2023

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This book should be read right after Shards of Honor. It’s really part two of Cordelia’s story arc. Enjoy both!

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Alyssia Cooke

Beautiful, complex and fascinating

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 21, 2020

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Barrayar is one of the earliest books in the Vorkosigan saga written by Louis Bujold and I will warn you now that once you start this saga you won’t be able to stop until you’ve reached the last page on the last book. Bujold is one of the best writers I have had the pleasure of reading, and having originally read her novels as a teenager I have since come back to them many, many times and devoured them in much the same fashion as the first. There’s a wit, a charm and an exceptionally dry humour that keeps you engaged on top of plotlines that twist, turn, spiral, duck and dive at every possible moment. But possibly most importantly, Bujold hasn’t just created a 2D world for you to enjoy from a distance, no. Bujold creates and unholds a completely 3D universe, warts and all, at the same time as focussing in on the individuals of her own story.

Barrayar is a technologically underdeveloped world, having been plunged into the Time of Isolation when the wormhole that connected them to the rest of the galaxy closed up, they haven’t yet recovered a lot of what they lost. It’s also a deeply conservative world, set up around the Vor caste as the warrior lords each owning and running their districts as they see fit. The final say lies in the hands of the Emperor, or it would if the Emperor were not a five year old child, his father having been blown up in a previous storyline and his grandfather, the previous Emperor, finally having shuffled off his mortal coil. Into the breach steps Lord Aral Vorkosigan, a man who never wanted to become Emperor and therefore the one man Ezar trusts not only to hold power for over a decade, but also to hand it back to Gregor on his majority.

Cordelia however is Betan, a far more technologically advanced and fair world, although far more utilitarian in its rules and regulations. What passes as normal on Barrayar would never be stood for on Beta Colony, but Cordelia is no longer in Beta. After the last war, Cordelia skipped her country in order to marry the enemy commander she had been captured by and has been in Barrayar ever since. Barrayar is now her home, strange and brutal though it can be. There are no uterine replicators on Barrayar yet, her first child will have to be born from a body birth. But of course, nothing could ever be that simple and there are far more challenges for both Aral and Cordelia to face than a pregnancy and a Regency alone. Their lives are about to become far more complicated by far. Who said motherhood would be simple?

The Vorkosigan saga is billed as science fiction but you mustn’t let that put you off, even in the later books where there is far more science fiction involved it’s never off-putting in its detail or overwhelming with technical jargon. There is certainly an element of science fiction yes, particularly in how Bujold has portrayed and reflected the differing cultures across the universe, but this novel, this set of novels is so much more than that alone. Barrayar in particular could also be counted as a deep political commentary, a war novel, a romance, a fantasy and a tragedy all in one. It’s a story of impending motherhood, of family drama and of just how far a mother will go to protect her child, even unborn. The tales of so many individuals weave into one beautifully narrated story with interlinking tragedies, comedies, farces and romances.

The narrative is stunning as it winds and weaves in an ever changing flow, never quite going where you expect it to, but always managing to keep you interested and needing to know what happens next. One simple action reverberates through, creating new actions and reactions all spiralling off each other and what starts simply ends in chaos. But Bujold writes chaotic action scenes as well as she writes moving dialogue or political drama, and she writes them very, very, very well. The novel completely engrosses you and compels you through it, never wanting to lose the pace of the action, frantic to know what happens next. Her writing style is also engrossing; never too bogged down in details and yet never skipping over anything you might need or want to know. And she never patronises the reader; Bujold books are one of the few occasions that I find words I’ve never heard of and have to look them up.

But what she does best is characters, and her characters are utterly human, utterly realistic, their motivations on display almost grotesquely at times. The good, the bad and the ugly. What happens when someone moves beyond rational into a desperate, insane need for vengeance? How does a fair and even-handed man take on issues of the Empire when they come down to executions done in the Emperor’s name? How does a woman, far from home and family, navigate this new world of politics as well as motherhood? How does a simple strife become civil war and what will one man or one woman do to protect their family, their friends, their homes and their lives? From old Count Piotr Vorkosigan, proud and wilful, a General outside his time to Lord Aral Vorkosigan, a fair man lumbered with an extremely unfair burden. And all the characters in between. Bujold sculpts and moulds them delicately and beautifully, creating completely 3D life like and real characters who will get into your head and steal a part of your soul.

Barrayar is a beautifully complicated book which truly is a pleasure and a delight to read. It’s not the first in the series I will admit, and whilst I would usually advocate reading a series from its start this isn’t quite the case here. Shards of Honour is the first in the series, but while enjoyable isn’t as good a book and you don’t need to have read it to understand or follow this one. With that in mind I’d recommend starting with Barrayar and moving either forwards into the Miles books or then reading Shards of Honour for background information. First published in 1991 it certainly isn’t a new book but it doesn’t seem out of date or old fashioned, in fact if not told its publication date then you wouldn’t guess that it’s over two decades old.

Do I Recommend?

Yes, yes, yes and more yes! This really is a stunningly well-written, beautifully choreographed novel which grips you from the first chapter right the way through to the last turn of the page. You won’t regret giving this entire series a read; it’s a series that has stayed with me from the first time I read it. The different planet systems get more complex the further through the novels you go as you are introduced not only to Barrayar and Beta but also Komarr, Jackson’s Whole, Cetaganda and several others. Each has its own complex society and culture and the different worlds collide in interesting and nearly always entertaining fashions, particularly when you add one Miles Vorkosigan into the mix.

“Welcome to Barrayar, son. Here you go: have a world of wealth and poverty, wrenching change and rooted history. Have a birth; have two. Have a name. Miles means "soldier," but don't let the power of suggestion overwhelm you. Have a twisted form in a society that loathes and fears the mutations that have been its deepest agony. Have a title, wealth, power, and all the hatred and envy they will draw. Have your body ripped apart and re-arranged. Inherit an array of friends and enemies you never made. Have a grandfather from hell. Endure pain, find joy, and make your own meaning, because the universe certainly isn't going to supply it. Always be a moving target. Live. Live. Live.”

3 people found this helpful

Folkie

Great moments

Reviewed in Canada on April 1, 2017

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It's definitely not all 5 star reading, lots of somewhat disappointing bits, and slow bits, and clothing description bits, and even a dreadful Cordelia also loves watching hand to hand combat competition bit, but here and there - for me, beginning around the 70% mark - the book became utterly engaging, the sort of work that one always wishes for, but rarely finds in any book. Spoilers: for example, the assassin managing to shoot a cross-bow carrying poison gas through a high security window? BS. And then making him a partially forgivable, angry amateur, instead of deadly professional assassin? Convenient plot devices, both. Eventually though (finally) Cordelia gets a chance to act rather than just endure, and the long setup is proven worthwhile.

Andy McGee

Thinking person’s GOT

Reviewed in Australia on February 17, 2021

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Romantic fantasy adventure with some hard sf. Well written rollicking ride once it gets going. Slow start for a massive series

francesco2303

il secondo della saga

Reviewed in Italy on December 15, 2015

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gli appassionati della saga non possono fare a meno di questo libro, in inglese,con una ottima traduzione sempre disponibile va assolutamente acquistato su kindle

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Client Amazon

trés bien

Reviewed in France on July 24, 2013

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Très bon livre de sf que je conseille a tous. très bien ecrit et l'histoire se suit avec intéret. voila, voila

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