I have read very little scifi, so a lot of things about Shards
of Honor really stood out to me. I liked the story’s world building,
specifically the strange creatures on the first planet. It sets up a whole set
of new rules for society. By placing together an unlikely couple from different
planets, Bujold not only raises the romance stakes but it provides an
opportunity to explain those rules of the world to an audience.
It was also way more politically driven than most books I
read. Aral Vorkosigan was very deeply entrenched in the political conspiracy,
which Cordelia Naismith thought it was just the backwardness of the Barrayaran
people. However, she returns home after the war and finds herself being
manipulated by political powers. I have problems with authority already, so as
soon as they asked her to make a speech on their behalf I was urging her to
run. Then, the true events had been so twisted to serve the current regime’s
strategy. I’m certain this is how all of politics works and I wish there were a
way to just keep out of it. I was also deeply disturbed by Cordelia’s
encounters with the psychologist. She was told, "Captain Naismith, I
remind you that we are not civilians. I am not in the ordinary legal
physician-patient relationship with you; we are both under military discipline,
pursuing, I have reason to believe, a military—never mind. Suffice it to say,
you did not hire me and you can't fire me. Tomorrow, then." This type of
imprisonment is right up there with wrongful conviction. Even having dealt with
it on small academic scales, I could identify with how earth shattering that
lack of control is.
Some of the medical science aspects were really cool. The neurological
implants that the pilots had to better command the ships, especially the bit
about going through wormholes. It was crazy that the pilots process took hours,
but only seemed like seconds to the rest of the ship. The scope of Koudelka’s limb
replacement was really impressive. The memory removal is an interesting tool
that was used with unnerving frequency. I didn’t like the controversy of the
way the uterine replicators were being used. However, the science of it was
amazing and could certainly have positive uses under different circumstances.
After Vorkosigan revealed the greater political conspiracy
behind the way to Cordelia, I liked that her response was “I can love you. I
can grieve for you, or with you. I can share your pain. But I cannot judge
you."
It took me a while to figure out what the purpose was of the
Afterward, but the humanization of what all the destruction of war means was
really effective. I liked that bit about the Barrayaran officer’s charm: “One
of the objects in his pockets was a little locket. It held a tiny glass bubble
filled with a clear liquid. The inside of its gold cover was densely engraved
with the elaborate curlicues of the Barrayaran alphabet. […] It hung with a
companion piece, a curl of hair embedded in a plastic pendant.” And I totally
cried at the revelation of Ensign Sylva Boni, age twenty, as the medical
technicians daughter. That really sucked. I kind of wish Bujold had suck that
into the story somewhere, so I could have finished the book on a high note with
hope for Cordelia and Vorkosigan’s love.
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