|
''Shards of Honor'' is an English language science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold, first published in June 1986. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the first full-length novel in publication order. ''Shards of Honor'' is paired with Bujold's 1991 ''Barrayar'' in the omnibus ''Cordelia's Honor'' (1996). Bujold had written ''Shards of Honor'', its sequel ''The Warrior's Apprentice'' and the standalone ''Ethan of Athos'' before all three were sold and published in 1986. == Plot summary == Cordelia Naismith, the captain of a Betan Astronomical Survey ship, is exploring a newly discovered planet when her base camp is attacked. While investigating, she is surprised by a soldier, hits her head on a rock, and awakens to find that, while most of her crew has escaped, she is marooned with an injured Betan crewman and Captain Lord Aral Vorkosigan of Barrayar, notorious as the "Butcher of Komarr", who has been left for dead by a treacherous rival. During their five-day hike to a secret Barrayaran cache, she finds Vorkosigan not at all the monster his reputation suggests, and she is strongly attracted to him. When the trio reaches the base camp, Vorkosigan regains command of his crew, and he returns to his ship with Cordelia and her crewman as his prisoners. Once aboard the ship, Vorkosigan informs Cordelia that upon their arrival on Barrayar, she will be free to return to Beta Colony; however, he asks her to marry him and remain on Barrayar as Lady Vorkosigan. Before she can consider his request, the crew of her ship, who have returned against her orders, join forces with Vorkosigan's rivals to rescue her. Cordelia helps defeat the resulting mutiny before returning with her crew to Beta Colony. It turns out that Barrayar is planning an invasion of the planet Escobar, to be led by Crown Prince Serg Vorbarra, the vicious son and heir of Emperor Ezar. Cordelia goes to the Escobar star system in command of a decoy ship and distracts the Barrayaran ships on picket duty at the wormhole exit so that transport ships can deliver a devastating new Betan weapon to the Escobaran defenders. She is captured by the sadistic Admiral Vorrutyer, who orders the mentally unstable Sergeant Bothari to rape her, then decides to do the job himself. He turns his back on Bothari, unaware that the man has met Cordelia before. As she fills a profound psychological need of his, Bothari kills his master. Vorkosigan, aboard the same ship, hides the pair in his cabin. In disgrace, he has been assigned a minor role in the invasion under the watchful eye (and cybernetic perfect memory) of Lieutenant Simon Illyan. The new weapons enable the Escobarans to drive the Barrayarans back with heavy losses. Crown Prince Serg and his flagship are lost, as are all officers senior to Vorkosigan, leaving him in charge. He orders his fleet's retreat. Cordelia overhears one critical fact and deduces a deep political secret: the entire invasion was orchestrated by the dying Emperor with the goal of removing his unstable son and discrediting the war party in order to avoid a civil war after his death. When Vorkosigan no longer needs to hide her in his cabin, she is placed in the ship's brig. The ship is attacked and Cordelia is injured. Cordelia recovers in a prison camp on the same planet where she first met Vorkosigan. The camp inmates, mostly women, have been subjected to torture and in some cases rape by their captors, until Vorkosigan arrives and summarily executes the officer in charge. Cordelia inherits command of the POWs by virtue of her rank and spends much of her time dealing directly with Vorkosigan. She again rejects his marriage proposal because she sees what Barrayaran society does to people. With the war ended, prisoners are to be exchanged, including Cordelia. Before she leaves, Vorkosigan has to deal with a delivery of uterine replicators - artificial wombs, each containing a fetus from a woman raped by a Barrayaran soldier, one of which is Bothari's. On her way back to Beta Colony, Cordelia is unable to convince a Betan psychiatrist that her injuries are not the result of being tortured by Vorkosigan, and her fervent denials only make it seem she has been psychologically tampered with as well. She is assumed to be an unwitting Barrayaran mole. Faced with an attempt to have her committed to an institution to "cure" her, she escapes to Barrayar, where she marries Vorkosigan. She also encounters Bothari, now in Vorkosigan's father's personal guard and somewhat saner, thanks to good medical care. He has arranged for his daughter, Elena, to be cared for by a local woman. The dying Emperor Ezar Vorbarra appoints Aral as Regent-Elect for his grandson and heir, the four-year-old Prince Gregor Vorbarra. Aral, who is next in line of succession, at first refuses, but Cordelia convinces him to take the job. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Shards of Honor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|