• 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 (4,131 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


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 The Warrior's Apprentice

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  • Overall
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    4 out of 5 stars

We finally meet Miles

In The Warrior’s Apprentice, we finally get to meet Miles Vorkosigan, one of the most famous characters in all of science fiction. He’s not the kind of hero you’d expect, but he’s tons of fun. Always trying to compensate for his deficiencies makes him little manic and that creates chaos….

The audio here is superb. I love Grover Gardner in this role.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
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Great Book

This series is great. Highly recommend.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Great fun!

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook and am about to buy the sequel. The plot is original as is the main character. Miles is bright--probably a tactical genius (but hardly a nerd), and obviously charismatic despite his disabilities. The book is witty and funny. I enjoyed listening to it with my 12 going on 13 year old, and there are only small parts that are inappropriate for a child (a truthful accusation against Miles' bodyguard of past wartime rape and torture, apparently at the behest of superior officers). The reader does a good job as well.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Space Opera w/ a bit of the Stainless Steel Rat

Highly enjoyable and a good narrator. I had been a bit concerned after reading a review talking about the author's philosophy of honor that the book would be preachy and overly serious. But it is actually filled with a lot of humor as the hero flies by the seat of his pants through a series of improbable adventures. Somewhat evocative of Stainless Steel Rat novels that I read and enjoyed long ago. Recommended.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great adventure

This is a great book. Well-written, excellent narration. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait to hear the next in the series!

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Tidy, nail biting plots

Any additional comments?

In this installment of the Vorkosigan Saga, we really meet Miles Naismith Vorkosigan for the first time, and boy, is it an introduction. In this book, Miles accidentally becomes an admiral in a mercenary fleet. As I listened to this book, I felt like Lois McMaster Bujold was committing fully to the quality of this story, because she was. Furthermore, that is how all of her books feel. They are fully realized achievements of sci fi. Don't miss out.

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great entertainment

Sci-fi at its best: Fast paced plot, well-developed characters and an original universe though not too otherworldly. The book is so well received with good reason. Also, the narration is perfect.

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You'll get wrapped up in Vorkosigan

If you're like me, you may typically listen to "Harder" Sci-Fi, but while the harder Sci-Fi is my fave, once I started listening to the Vorkosigan series on the suggestion of some close friends, I couldn't stop until I had listened to ALL of the available books in the series!

The underlying message in the entire series is one that many Sci-Fi Fans are familiar with, and that many may have experienced in real life in some form at some time... "The weaker, smaller, person having to struggle harder to accomplish their goals, and make up for a lack of 'brawn' with the application of brains and an indomitable will to succeed".

An assassination attempt on his family before he was born leaves Miles Vorkosigan stunted, deformed, and suffering with extremely fragile bones. On a planet that regressed after colonization and only recently reconnected with other colonized worlds, Miles would have been killed at birth even one generation earlier for being too weak to be "Vor". Miles not only has to learn to hold his own, he must learn to excel, in an intensely militaristic society that has no sympathy for 'weakness'.

I have several friends that have named their sons "Miles" because of this series; with that kind of praise, in my circle of friends, I decided that at least the first book was "Required Reading"... After the first book in the series, I was hooked!

Be sure to look at the suggestions in the "Series Section" to find the best order in which to listen to the books, since the order in which they were written/published isn't chronological with Miles' life throughout the series as a whole.

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Entertained the whole way through

I love finding a good new series of books and an author I can appreciate. This book was a pleasant surprise and felt much like the Prince Rogers series by John Ringo and David Weber. Miles although partially crippled is incredibly intelligent and can come up with brilliant plans at the ready. We are swept from one situation to the next as Miles learns what it means to be a commander and come up with plans to manipulate those that accompany him. I would have liked to see a little more of the battle school training. Although the ending explained everything I still felt it could have gone on further, or perhaps, better ended after Miles gives ceramony to his friend. Lastly, I don't think the title of this book is a real good fit. But I guess that really isn't very important. Overall, the characters were very enjoyable and the narrator did a good job with the voices.

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Fast Paced Space Opera. First Miles Novel

This is the first of the series which focuses on Miles. Miles is a futuristic genius who overcompensates for his physical disability by trying to become a member of the military set. Miles is one of my favourite characters in literature.

This is a fast paced, character driven book, with witty/intelligent dialogue. It does have its dark moments. Has occasional reliance on coincidence and less than clever actions of others, but on the whole this excellently written book has everything: romance (some unrequited), action adventure, politics, intrigue, death, humour, drama.

Not my favourite book in the series but well worth the credit!

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