Barrayar is a science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold. It was first published as four installments in Analog in July–October 1991, and then published in book form by Baen Books in October 1991. Barrayar won both the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 1992. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the seventh full-length novel of the series, in publication order. Barrayar is a direct sequel to Bujold's first novel, Shards of Honor (1986), and the two are paired in the 1996 omnibus Cordelia's Honor.
The Vorkosigan Saga is a series of science fiction novels and short stories set in a common fictional universe by American author Lois McMaster Bujold. The first of these was published in 1986 and the most recent in May 2018. Works in the series have received numerous awards and nominations, including five Hugo award wins including one for Best Series.
Komarr is a 1998 science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the twelfth full-length novel in publication order. It was included in the 2008 omnibus Miles in Love.
Sergyar was first discovered by Barrayar shortly before the Escobar War. It is the site where Cordelia Naismith and Lord Admiral Aral Vorkosigan first met when her Betan Astronomical Survey ship landed a party to explore and catalogue the planet and its biome, unaware of Barrayar's earlier territorial claims on the planet.
Cordelia Naismith is the name of two fictional characters by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold. One is from the science fiction series the Vorkosigan Saga. The other is the title character of the Victorian era Sherlock Holmes short story "The Adventure of the Lady on the Embankment" included in her anthology Dreamweaver's Dilemma.
Aral Vorkosigan is a fictional character appearing in American writer Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga series of science fiction books. Known throughout this universe as "The Butcher of Komarr", he dominates the imagination of the two main point-of-view characters in the Vorkosigan Saga, Cordelia, who becomes his wife, and their son Miles. He appears, at least briefly or as an important if absent figure, in all the novels of the series except Cetaganda, Ethan of Athos and Falling Free. He also provides the narrative framework for the presentation of three short stories in Borders of Infinity.
Beta Colony is an important planet in Lois McMaster Bujold's science fiction series the Vorkosigan Saga. The planet's biome is almost entirely desert, described as "screaming hot", and the colony itself exists primarily underground. Beta Colony's chief industries are weapons R&D and sex tourism.
Strategic importance
Sergyar is strategically important because it is a link from Komarr to Escobar, and then Beta Colony. This opens up trade in the wormhole nexus significantly for Barrayar. It was the site of massive caches of ordnance and other materiel for Barrayar's abortive attempt to invade and conquer Escobar.
Native life
Native life on Sergyar seems to have a general radial symmetry, with most lifeforms having six limbs or appendages. While there are no known native sentient life forms, there is a diverse ecology. Various species mentioned include large predators referred to as 'fuzzy crabs' that hunt in packs, and their 'hexapedal' herbivorous prey - large, six-footed grazing animals.
Smaller creatures, radial in design, seem to fill the ecological niches filled by insects on Earth. There are also mentions of airborne lifeforms, similar in appearance to jellyfish, that float through the atmosphere, supported by gas-filled sacs, that descend from above to leech blood from larger, moribund lifeforms. The gas is mostly hydrogen, and will explode if exposed to fire.
In later books, there are mentions of a Worm Plague on Sergyar; its survivors have puckered, swirling scars on their skin.
An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in a line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. An heir presumptive, by contrast, is someone who is first in line to inherit a title but who can be displaced by the birth of a more eligible heir.
Ezar Vorbarra is a minor character in Lois McMaster Bujold's sci-fi series, the Vorkosigan Saga.
Vorbarra is a surname in the science fiction series the Vorkosigan Saga. It is the surname of the Emperors of Barrayar and the namesake of the planet.
Government
The seat of its government was originally a settlement dubbed "Chaos Colony," later formally named Kareenburg, in honor of Emperor Gregor's late mother (and the wife of the eponymous Prince Serg). In the later series, Count Aral and Countess Cordelia Vorkosigan governed Sergyar as Viceroy and Vicereine, respectively. A steady flow of immigrants from Barrayar and Komarr made new homes on Sergyar, many of whom were former residents of the Vorkosigan District.
A viceroy is an official who runs a country, colony, city, province, or sub-national state, in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roy, meaning "king". A viceroy's territory may be called a viceroyalty, though this term is not always applied. The adjective form is viceregal, less often viceroyal. The term vicereine is sometimes used to indicate a female viceroy suo jure, although viceroy can serve as a gender-neutral term. Vicereine is more commonly used to indicate a viceroy's wife.
In the latest books, Sergyar is now the home to over 2 million émigrés, from Komarr, Barayar and even technical experts from Beta Colony, who were recruited by the Vicereine and elected to make new homes on Sergyar. Sergyaran society continues to develop, with a lifestyle commensurate with Galactic standards in medicine, communication etc. There is a movement afoot to transplant the government from the city of Kareenburg, the current site of the Viceroy's Palace and the rapidly growing University of Kareenburg, to a more hospitably located in a wet, temperate region, as Kareenburg is essentially the overgrown offshoot of the original military landing site, chosen for its access to caves to hide military equipment, and for no other real purpose. Additionally, Kareenburg was built in a volcanically active region, with a constant threat of vulcanism. Vicereine Cordelia plans to use the momentum and activity around the establishment a major military and transportation enclave, complete with new spaceport, in the sizable town named Gridgrad, to diminish Kareenburg as a civic and political center and permanently relocate the planetary capitol (and the Viceroy's Palace) in Gridgrad.
Miles Naismith Vorkosigan is a protagonist of a series of science fiction novels and short stories, known as the Vorkosigan Saga, written by American author Lois McMaster Bujold.
Captain Lord Ivan Vorpatril, also known as "That Idiot Ivan" or "Ivan, You Idiot", is a fictional character in American writer Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga series of science fiction novels. He is Miles Vorkosigan's second cousin, foil, burden, workhorse, and - before Miles has children - his formal heir. He is everything Miles is not - tall, handsome, and athletic. He waltzed into the military academy and waltzed right back out into one plum posting after another. He inhabits any uniform - even the Dendarii's - like a second skin.
Komarr is a fictional planet in Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga series of novels and stories.
Simon Illyan is a fictional character in the Vorkosigan Saga science fiction novels by Lois McMaster Bujold.
Count Piotr Vorkosigan is the father of Aral Vorkosigan and the grandfather of Miles Vorkosigan in the fictitious universe of the Vorkosigan Saga.
The Dendarii Mercenaries are a mercenary organisation appearing in American writer Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga series of science fiction works. They were founded by Miles Vorkosigan in The Warrior's Apprentice.
In Lois McMaster Bujold's sci-fi series, The Vorkosigan Saga, the Barrayaran Imperial Military Service is the national military force of the planet of Barrayar.
Gregor Vorbarra is the Emperor of the Barrayaran Imperium in the science fiction series Vorkosigan Saga by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold.
The Time of Isolation was a period on the planet Barrayar in Lois McMaster Bujold's sci-fi series, the Vorkosigan Saga.
Koudelka is the last name of several secondary characters in Lois McMaster Bujold's science fiction series, the Vorkosigan Saga.
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).
The Warrior's Apprentice is an English language science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold, part of the Vorkosigan Saga. It was the second book published in the series, and is the fifth story, including novellas, in the internal chronology of the series. The Warrior's Apprentice was first published by Baen Books in 1986, and was included in the 1997 omnibus Young Miles.
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