Books: Shards of Honor / Barrayar

Author: Lois McMaster Bujold

Details: (c) 1986 – 1991 Lois McMaster Bujold; Pub 2006 Baen; ISBN 0-671-57828-6

Verdict: Shards of honor is a charming romance with a fun space opera background; Barrayar is a delightful yarn.

Reasons for reading it: I got on well with The curse of Chalion, and there was a big discussion in the comments recommending me more Bujold, and rysmiel mentioned that Shards of honor as the only romance-shaped plot I have ever liked (because of how credible the people in it are, and how grown-up), which sounded like an excellent recommendation. But I read it when I was travelling and didn't have time to write it up. So now I've read the sequel, Barrayar, and it is too annoying to discuss my reaction to that without being able to refer to my opinion of the prequel, so I'm going to break my usual rule and review both at once.

How it came into my hands: cartesiandaemon lent me an omnibus edition with both novels, plus another volume of three that I haven't got to yet.

( detailed review )