The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold has been recommended to me for over three decades. Well, I finally read one, and it is time for a review.

The best Vorkosigan starting point and the reading order debate

I said Shards of Honor is probably the best book to start with, and after some research, it was the one I went with. What complicates matters is that Bujold wrote a ton of these books, and some short stories, that take place at different times.

Shards of Honor was the first Vorkosigan book that was written. However, Falling Free is set a couple of hundred years before. This chronology is what sparked the debate – publishing order or chronological. You can read about what people recommend on this Reddit thread.

The author herself has said:

“The debate now wrestles with some fourteen or so volumes and counting, and mainly revolves around publication order versus internal-chronological order. I favor internal chronological, with a few caveats.”

Lois McMaster Bujold on her blog

So, technically Falling Free is the first, even though on Amazon, it is described as book four. The vast majority of people seem to think reading Shard of Honor, followed by Barrayar, is the best starting point. That is what I went with, as Falling Free is hundreds of years before and clearly isn’t necessary until a couple of books into the series.

Shards of Honor review

First off, here is the blurb:

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. 

That all sounds kind of vague and romantic, and it is. But it doesn’t matter. Shards of Honor is essentially introducing the reader to the Vorkosigan world while also telling a cracking adventure space tale.

The universe consists of just humans when it comes to intelligent life. Planets and systems are linked by wormholes. There is a ton of politics, intrigue, and people shooting each other.

The first book has the two main characters – Aral Vorkosigan and Cordelia Naismith – who meet up, overcome their differences and survive on a hostile planet. Then they have to overcome some baddies.

I really don’t want to give too much away.

What makes Shards of Honor so good is the two protagonists. They are tough, badass, and really likeable. We also get an insight into the dangerous political and warlike worlds in which they operate.

I read the book in a couple of days, as it really isn’t long and is downright gripping. To me, Shards of Honor feels like a fun action scifi story that is designed to tantalise you into reading more. Structurally, it is a little disjointed and doesn’t flow quite as well as the rest (according to everyone on the web), but that is all forgivable.

The second book, Barrayar, continues the story even though it is often listed as book 7. It won a ton of awards and is considered the better book. I loved the first, so can’t wait to read the second.

These days, the first two books – Shards of Honor and Barrayar – would be released as one bigger story. And in fact, there is a compendium of the two called Cordelia’s Honor. I told you the reading order is confusing.

Shards of Honor is a lot of fun. It isn’t perfect, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and am aware of how much this series is loved. If this is a slightly weaker book than the rest (it was Bujold’s first novel), then I can’t wait to explore more.

You can get Shards of Honor here.

(This post has affiliate links that will cost you nothing but help me buy coffee. Thanks.)