Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Shards of Honor  By  cover art

Shards of Honor

By: Lois McMaster Bujold
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $13.22

Buy for $13.22

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

It was the wrong war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons. And Captain Cordelia Naismith of the Betan Expeditionary Force would be forced into a separate peace with her enemy, Lord Vorkosigan.

Shards of Honor is the novel in which Lois McMaster Bujold introduced the science-fiction world to Barrayar and Aral Vorkosigan, Beta Colony and Cordelia Naismith. From this beginning the author has created a multigenerational saga spanning time as well as space.

Bujold is generally recognized as the current exemplar of the character-based science-fiction adventure story.

©1986 Lois McMaster Bujold (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"[Bujold] gives [her] characters enough emotional depth, and enough sense, to raise their story beyond cliché." ( Locus)

Featured Article: 12 of the Best Sci-Fi Series in Audio


From the furthest reaches of space to the microbiology of pandemics and gene manipulation, to the future implications of technology for societies similar to our own, science fiction is a fascinating genre that offers listeners a wide variety of ways to access its themes. In looking for the best sci-fi audiobook series, it can be difficult to know where to start due to the genre's sheer number of iterations and variations. But what these series have in common is an acute devotion to telling a good story, as well as fully building out the worlds therein. The writing is enhanced by the creative and impassioned narration.

What listeners say about Shards of Honor

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,567
  • 4 Stars
    1,270
  • 3 Stars
    464
  • 2 Stars
    105
  • 1 Stars
    42
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,270
  • 4 Stars
    947
  • 3 Stars
    326
  • 2 Stars
    50
  • 1 Stars
    19
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,155
  • 4 Stars
    975
  • 3 Stars
    372
  • 2 Stars
    93
  • 1 Stars
    30

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Best Series EVER!

This series (Vorkosigan) is so well written. It has the best character development of any science fiction I've ever read.
#witty #characterdevelopment #tagsgiving #sweepstakes

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of Lois's best works!

One of Lois's first books and yet one of her Best! Who says S.F. can't have a believable female protagonist?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

LOVE this book and author

It’s been many years since I found this audio through my library’s Overdrive app and then purchased a copy through that other company. After I wised up and switched to Audible, I purchased another copy and the ebook. Yes, it’s that good. Also the series. And LMB’s writing - from the storyline to the characters to the words used.
And Barrayar, book 2 of Cordelia Naismith and Aral Vorkosigan is as good.
Grover Gardner reading this book and series is pure gold.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Disjointed Story line

Too many holes and uneven flow from scene to scene. Simple love story set in SciFi world. interesting enough politically to finish the listen. Performance actually saved it in this case.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Captivating story

Great story overall I recommend the rest of the vorkosigan saga as well. Great performance by the narrator as well

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Loved this heroine

Would you listen to Shards of Honor again? Why?

Yes. It is a space story without being alien. The terms used for advanced objects was self explanatory and did not wast time to describe futuristic technology. Is was all about the story and characters.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Shards of Honor?

I enjoyed all the cuts with Cordelia. She is what I want in a heroine. Calm under pressure, realistic, intelligent with a sens of humor.

What does Grover Gardner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I appreciate that he did not try to do female voices, it is not necessary. His pace and emotional variation was perfect.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I relay enjoyed the story and characters.

Any additional comments?

I would listen to the next in the series.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Wonderful characters

This adventure in the areas explored kept my attention and the characters have more intelligence and depth than I expected. The people from all the planets had depth of reason based on their cultures . Tolerance becomes friendship. I never lost interest in the story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Reads like a draft for a generic 1950s TV series

This is the second book in the series I’ve read, thinking that maybe I didn’t “get” the first one because I read it out of order. Well, this is the recommended first book. And I still don’t get it. Sci-fi is a coincidental setting, rather than a condition for the anything that happens within the story. It could easily be set in classical Greece or Ancient Rome or even contemporary England. The characters and dialogue feel distant, a bit cookie cutter. Add to that the narrator, it sounds very much like a mass-produced 1950s TV series. Which is entertaining in is own right. But hardly the kind of sci-fi that will make you think.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

very tame romance

great sci Fi adventure and romance story. I enjoy the writing of this author and recommend her books.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The place to start for the Vorkosigan saga.

Prose very good.
Characters excellent.
Plot hard to find.
Settings barely there.
Space Romance

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!