• The Warrior's Apprentice

  • A Miles Vorkosigan Novel
  • By: Lois McMaster Bujold
  • Narrated by: Grover Gardner
  • Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (4,129 ratings)

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The Warrior's Apprentice  By  cover art

The Warrior's Apprentice

By: Lois McMaster Bujold
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
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Publisher's summary

Miles Vorkosigan makes his debut in this frenetic coming-of-age tale. At age 17, Miles is allowed to take the entrance exams to the elite military academy; he passes the written but manages, through miscalculation in a moment of anger, to break both his legs on the obstacle course, washing out before he begins. His aged grandfather dies in his sleep shortly after, for which Miles blames himself. Miles is sent to visit his grandmother Naismith on distant Beta Colony, accompanied by his bodyguard, Sergeant Bothari and Bothari's daughter, Elena. Miles passes himself off as a mercenary leader as he picks up a ragtag crew, and soon Miles' father Aral is under political attack back home as garbled rumors of Miles' mercenary operations trickle back. Miles must abandon his new fleet and dash back to Barrayar to stop the plot.
©1986 Lois McMaster Bujold (P)2005 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"The pace is breathless, the characterization thoughtful and emotionally powerful....Highly recommended." (Booklist)

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


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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

What a great character!

The author creates a futuristic world based on a medieval class structure filled with fully developed and very likable characters. Miles is a character you laugh with, empathize with and become his friend. The series captured my imagination and kept me listening for hours at a time. If you are looking for a series that you can become engrossed in, then start here. Have fun! JWP

Here are the Miles' books in audible in order (MY thanks to other reviewers!):

- The Warrior's Apprentice
- The Vor Game
- Cetaganda
- Brothers in Arms
- Mirror Dance (1994)
- Memory (1996)
- Komarr (1998)
- A Civil Campaign
- Winterfair Gifts
- Diplomatic Immunity




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74 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

worth it!

The warrior's Apprentice is the start of the Vorkosigan Saga in audio. Louis McMaster Bujold has created a fasinating new universe of diverse worlds and an endearing character in Miles Vorkosigan. I have listened to all the audio books in this series and found each to be very entertaining.Each book is complete, not like some series books where you have to wait for the next book to see what happens. Yet, I found I couldn't wait to listen to the next one. At first, I questioned the tone narrator, Grover Gardner used to portray Miles, but as you learn about Miles, Grover Gardner's narration is spot on; He truly is one of the great narrators. This is one of the best sci-fi series ever written.

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

You are in for a treat!

Oh these books are so damn good! So funny that I find myself laughing out loud, and at times so touching that I have to listen to passages over a few times. Bujolds' character development is just fabulous, rich, realistic, and so alive you think you know them.

The other great thing about these books is the amazing plot development, I often scratch my head and wonder how Bujold comes up with this stuff, just great! You can tell the author really had fun writing these books!

The science fiction is fun, but not really the main feature of these books. They are just great stories, incredibly well thought out, and so well written!

You are in for a fun read for sure, and the great thing is, there are more of them!

Enjoy!

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Miles @ 17 - His real adventures begin

This Miles adventure takes place just before The Vor Game, which is also available on this site.
If you have not yet purchased The Vor Game, get this one, The Warrior’s Apprentice, first. No doubt you will rush to get The Vor Game soon after hearing the Audible signoff from this one. If, however, you previously purchased The Vor Game I would recommend you re-listen to it immediately after you listen to this one.

You do not need to listen to these adventures in order, you will enjoy each one.

There are many books in this series about the VorKosigan family by Lois McMaster Bujold and each of them stands on its own merit. I sincerely hope Audible will continue to stock up on Ms. McMaster Bujold’s large library of work. Science Fiction is not the central theme of her works; it is only a happenstance (a really well written and smart one.) These books are actually based on men and women of honor, loyalty, family, and character.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A wonderous talent!

Lois Mcmaster Bujold is a wonderous talent and should be on everyone's to-read list. Her charater developement is superb and the way she pulls things together from what first appears to be a hopelessly tangles skien of yarn simply enjoyable.
"Miles" is a boy born into a fuedal system of government that abhoars mutation of any kind. It just so happens that his father and mother and he in his mother's womb were victims in an attack by a rival faction in a bid to kill his father, the then Prime Minister of the planet Barrayar.
After the attack he is rushed from his mother's womb to a Uterine Replicator where the doctors can do what they can to save the baby.
The result is a boy with chauk for bones who is severly stunted in height. Whoever, he is gifted with a superior intellect.
After breaking both of his legs in the first 2 minutes of the physical trials for entrance to Emperial service he goes to his mother's homeworld of Beta colony to visit his Grandmother Naismith.
Mixed with his desire to serve "something", his abnormal sense of curiosity and eagerness to solve problems he frist becomes a captain owner of a freighter and goes on to the rank of Admiral in a Mercinary fleet where he ends a planetary civil war. After "winning all the marbles", as his cousin Ivan phases it, he realizes that for him to have all the marbles could spell death for him and civil war on his home planet.
Trust me, Bujold is a fabulous talent and her stories flow like water downhill. I wish she would write more and that Audible would get the rest of her titles.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Delightful and engaging

I was not sure what to expect from this book. I read some of the reviews which I always find helpful. This book is a delightful blend of science fiction and fantasy. I think everyone can identify with the young Baron as he struggles to find his place and purpose in life. He has delusions of granduer but no real prospects of accomplishing them. He has real physical problems but his strength of character and sense of humor bring him the recognition and respect he seeks. He blunders and bungles his way successfully and has you cheering him on for his guts and personal values. Would that we all were so endowed. A great read for young and old.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

it's okay

This book was okay. It is one of her first books and it does feel that way. A bit more trite than clever. A bit too much "telling" and not enough "showing." She does have interesting characters and an interesting world. I will listen to one of her later books to see if she has developed as a writer. I hope to see later books with more complexity, depth, and wit.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic Series

The Miles Vorkosikan (sp?) series is one of the most delightful listening (reading?) experiences I have had in years. Bujold delivers an incredible balance of light-hearted humor, exploration of the soul, and self-discovery. I have listened to the entire series and only wish there were 10 more volumes. Miles is an amazingly accessible character, flawed to his brittle bones. Yet, Bujold creates a sense of hope for even the most "challenged." Yes, it is science-fiction/fantasy, but it is a story that a reader of any genre can relate to.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this.

I really wanted to like this book. I liked the characters a lot. I liked the narrator. I liked the beginning, I liked the end. It was just everything in between that I hated. It was so boring! I just could care less about all the mercenary stuff. What a waste of interesting characters. I won't be listening to any more of this series.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Wanted to like it but....

I just could not get into this. The narration was very good and the characters interesting. But the story was either jumping around too quickly or dragging. There was no good medium. I ended up stopping it about 2/3 because it hit a slow part and lost me.

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5 people found this helpful