Cordelia's Honor
or
Shards of Honor
and
Barrayar

Lois McMaster Bujold

Cordelia's Honor is the binding of the two books where Cordelia Naismith from Beta meets Lord Aral Vorkosigan from Barrayar. They are from enemy worlds. Circumstances push them together. Shards of Honor tells the story of their meetings in war-like circumstances. Barrayar is their life after - how they cope in the new environment they have created.

Shards of Honor is a wonderful combination of pure space opera science fiction and romance. Cordelia is the center of the story. She is a strong woman, captain of a biological exploratory expedition. Their camp is attacked by Barryarans. When she wakes up there are two other people with her. Her crew member received a disruptor shot to the head, causing severe brain injury. The other person is the captain of the Barrayaran expedition, Aral Vorkosigan. His crew mutinied and left him to die. Together she and Vorkosigan travel across planet to a hidden place he knows has a communication center. They learn to respect each other. At the end, though, his ship comes to rescue them. She is his prisoner.

She escapes his ship after he asks her to marry him. But fate will bring them back together in another place, another battle. This time she returns to Beta with honor. But can she leave Aral? Can she give up her own home for his?

Barrayar continues Cordelia's and Aral's story. The romance is there. So are espionage, assassinations, court politics, secrets, and uprisings. Cordelia and Aral find themselves in an unexpected position of political power on his planet. She is reviled as a traitor on her own.

A friend highly recommends this series. One day I finally took her advice. I'm so glad I did. These are excellent books, and I look forward to the future ones.Cordelia and Aral feel like people I want to know - they feel real. Their societies are familiar - and Bujold is a master story teller. I was pulled in quickly and didn't want to leave. Barrayar is a Hugo Award winner.

Falling Free (prequal)
Shards of Honor*
Barrayar*
The Warrior's Apprentice#
"The Mountains of Mourning" in Borders of Infinity#
The Vor Game#
Cetaganda
Ethan of Athos
"Labyrinth" in Borders of Infiinity
Brothers in Arms
Borders of Infinity
Mirror Dance
Memory
Komarr
A Civil Campaign
Diplomatic Immunity
Cryoburn
* published together in Cordelia's Honor
# published together in Young Miles
This list is chronological for the protagonists' lives

The Sharing Knife: Horizon by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey
StarDoc by S.L. Viehl