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

Awesome

Great author love the humanity of the characters and Cordila is my favorite she is awesome. Great story

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

Character development supreme

I caught this book after accidentally coming across “The Vor game” and learning it was a series. Ms. Bujold does a masterful job of intertwining characters and story in a natural flowing way that’s easy to listen to or read. It was satisfying to see the beginnings of Errol and Cordelia and see how their son, Miles, became the person he is. Grover Gardners vibrant voice is wonderful to listen to and he does a great job of switching between characters; old and young, male and female, etc.
He’s definitely the voice of the Vorkosrgan saga. This and all the other books are worth every credit.

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

Really enjoyed finding out how they met

I have been reading about Miles Vorkosigan, and loving all the books. Some more than others. None were ever a disappointment. I truly enjoyed getting background on Miles parents, and I would love to see another book about Miles early childhood. Bujould finds a way to put humor in almost every book she writes. I found this very enjoyable

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

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

Meh. High hopes, but no follow through.

What did you like best about Shards of Honor? What did you like least?

Story is not bad, but it's not great Sci-Fi. I tend to like more meat with my fluff, but I fell for the high ratings.

If you’ve listened to books by Lois McMaster Bujold before, how does this one compare?

I listened to this and the second novel: Barrayar (sp?). Again, 'ok'. I probably won't finish the second one...

Was Shards of Honor worth the listening time?

no.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

3 in 1

I liked this book a lot. It's cool to see how Mile's parents got together, but the format was a bit strange. It really felt like 3 books put into one binding. I don't think it suffers much for it, but it was a bit distracting. Plus the epilogue seemed really out of place and only seemed to serve the purpose of saying "war sucks!"

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

Loved it.

Bujold is in my top two favorite authors. The Vorkosigan saga is addictive and lovable. Read and repeat!

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

Amazing Book

Amazing book and a real kicker of a story from start to stop. There are some very have implications throughout.

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

What fun!

I read this and Barrayar after having read the rest of the series. What fun! I really enjoyed finding Miles' mannerisms evident in his mom and dad. I'm not sure I would have caught the inheritance without having Miles' behavior ingrained from all the subsequent books.

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

Too much of a romance novel for my taste

Definitely a female author. A little too "touchy-feely" for me. Story has a lot of dangling threads - unfulfilling, incomplete. My overall opinion of the book is, "Meh."

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

Fun but meaningful

Bujold has an amazing way of being lighthearted but still encourages the reader to grapple with deep philosophical issues.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!