8.6 /10 1 Votes
Audio read by Grover Gardner Country United States Series Vorkosigan Saga Originally published July 1991 Preceded by The Warrior's Apprentice Page count 386 | 4.3/5 Goodreads Cover artist Stephen Hickman Language English Publisher Baen Books Followed by The Warrior's Apprentice Genre Science Fiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Similar Works by Lois McMaster Bujold, Vorkosigan Saga books, Hugo Award for Best Novel winners | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Barrayar is a science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold. It was first published as four installments in Analog in July–October 1991, and then published in book form by Baen Books in October 1991. Barrayar won both the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 1992. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the seventh full-length novel of the series, in publication order. Barrayar is a direct sequel to Bujold's first novel, Shards of Honor (1986), and the two are paired in the 1996 omnibus Cordelia's Honor.
Contents
Plot summary
Cordelia and Aral Vorkosigan are expecting their first child. When the crafty old Emperor Ezar Vorbarra dies, Aral reluctantly takes over as regent for Ezar's grandson Gregor. A plot to assassinate the Vorkosigans with poison gas fails, but the antidote, while effective, is also a powerful teratogen that poses a grave threat to the bone development of their unborn son. In a desperate attempt to save the fetus, Cordelia has it transferred to a uterine replicator — an artificial womb — to undergo experimental treatment that may partially combat the otherwise-fatal bone damage. Barrayar, due to its harsh environment, has fostered a deep loathing for mutations, and babies with even minor birth defects are routinely euthanized. Aral's father, Count Piotr Vorkosigan, seeks to abort the fetus rather than have the Vorkosigan name and title passed on to a "deformed mutant." A furious Cordelia keeps him at bay.
When Count Vidal Vordarian attempts a coup, five-year-old Emperor Gregor is rescued by his loyal security chief, Captain Negri, and reunited with the Vorkosigans. Cordelia, Gregor and bodyguard Bothari hide from Vordarian's men in the hills, while Aral and his father organize the resistance.
After Cordelia rejoins Aral, they learn that the replicator containing their child, whom they have named Miles, has been captured. Without proper maintenance, the fetus will succumb within six days, but Aral refuses to attempt a rescue when there are far greater concerns. However, Cordelia's personal bodyguard, Droushnakovi, was previously stationed at the palace and knows several top-secret exit routes, which can be used to get in undetected. Cordelia, Droushnakovi and Bothari set out to rescue the replicator and hopefully Gregor's mother, Princess Kareen. When one of Aral's officers, Koudelka, finds out, they kidnap him. Once in the palace, Cordelia and her party are caught. They manage to overpower their captors, but not before Kareen is killed. Bothari beheads Vordarian at Cordelia's order, and they escape with the replicator. Without its leader, the coup falls apart.
Miles is born, fragile and deformed. Five years later, he has very brittle bones, but is very active, rambunctious and intelligent, capturing even Piotr's affection.
Reception
Barrayar won both the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 1992.
It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1991.
In the New York Review of Science Fiction (October 1998, number 122), Barrayar is summarized as follows:
Barrayar opens the later stage of Bujold's oeuvre, most obviously because of its quantum jump in power, complexity and originality, such as the handling of Bothari, and its excursions into women's territory previously untravelled in SF, but also because it initiates a kind of second, deeper pass over the landscape of the earlier books.