Book Review Lois Mcmaster Bujold Shards of Honour

BOOK REVIEW – LOIS MCMASTER BUJOLD – SHARDS OF HONOUR 1986 IN CORDELIA’S HONOUR BAEN BOOKS

The adventures of the mother of Miles Vorkosigan, later hero of other Bujold adventures, beginning with her involvement in a viscous, treacherous war between Barrayar and her own Betan World.

As war begins, Cordelia is on a seemingly peaceful botanical and medical science field trip on a Betan colonial World, when Barrayanan forces kill most of her team, leaving her and a severely wounded colleague alone behind enemy lines.

The leader of her attackers, Lord Aral Vorkosigan has been betrayed and abandoned by his own men, who conspire to take power on his own World. Aral finds himself forced into an uneasy alliance with his enemy as they struggle to survive on a hostile world, complete with poisonous flying jellyfish.  Their ‘Enemy Mine’ style friendship bonds down into a love affair, and Cordelia helps Aral to recapture his command, and then finds herself a prisoner of more ruthless Vor Lords, one of who brainwashes his men into raping his prisoners, but Cordelia helps break one man, Sergeant Bothari, free of his conditioning, and they kill the deranged leader. Aral arrives to assist in disposing of the body and giving them a convincing cover story.

When the Betans win the war, Cordelia finds herself unable to convince them that she is not a victim of Stockholm Syndrome, or suppressing horror stories at the hands of Aral Vorkosigan, who’s reputation as a war criminal is grossly exaggerated.  Cordelia abandons her people to marry Vorkosigan.  It’s a powerful story of two stubborn worlds, blinded by their dogmas and traditions, and carries a very human, humane sense of the horrors of war.

Arthur Chappell