Biographical summary
Illyan begins as an operative of Barrayaran Imperial Security Service - imperial intelligence and counter-intelligence agency. He has had a bioelectronic device implanted in his head: an eidetic memory chip that records everything he sees and hears and allows him to recall that information instantly. This was done on a whim by Barrayaran Emperor Ezar, after he learned that the technology had been recently invented on the planet Illyrica. Since most such implants produced schizophrenia or worse in their hosts, it is clear that Ezar regarded Illyan as expendable.
Bioelectronics is a field of research in the convergence of biology and electronics.
Eidetic memory is an ability to recall images from memory after only seeing it once, with high precision for a brief time after exposure, without using a mnemonic device. Although the terms eidetic memory and photographic memory are popularly used interchangeably, they are also distinguished, with eidetic memory referring to the ability to view memories like photographs for a few minutes, and photographic memory referring to the ability to recall pages of text or numbers, or similar, in great detail. When the concepts are distinguished, eidetic memory is reported to occur in a small number of children and as something generally not found in adults, while true photographic memory has never been demonstrated to exist.
Ezar Vorbarra is a minor character in Lois McMaster Bujold's sci-fi series, the Vorkosigan Saga.
Illyan first appears in Shards of Honor as a lieutenant sent to keep an eye on Aral Vorkosigan, one of the story's main characters, on his mission to conquer the planet Escobar. Eventually becoming Vorkosigan's right-hand man, in Barrayar he achieved the position of Director of Imperial Security (ImpSec), following the death of previous incumbent, Captain Negri, during the Pretender's War. Since then in-universe he is referred to as Captain Illyan.
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).
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.
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.
With Barrayar in relative peace, Illyan was able to move ImpSec towards a more benign role on Barrayar while extending its reach to imperial conquered system of Komarr and beyond, though he had to deal with more than a few harrowing domestic events, such as the Yarrow Incident, in which ImpSec averted an assassination plot on Emperor Gregor Vorbarra.
Gregor Vorbarra is the Emperor of the Barrayaran Imperium in the science fiction series Vorkosigan Saga by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold.
His biochip-aided memory added to his mystique as an administrator with ferocious attention to detail. Series main character, Miles Vorkosigan, who worked under Illyan as a special agent, surmised that Illyan's successful integration with the chip was due to an innate ability to suspend belief or disbelief in multiple, conflicting sets of facts—an ability also very useful to a spymaster. Illyan started to appear more frequently in the stories after The Vor Game , when series main character, Miles Vorkosigan, became his agent in ImpSec due to Miles' inability to work with a strict chain of command. (The initial reasoning was to bury Miles deep within ImpSec where he couldn't cause trouble, but Miles startling success on the most difficult cases made him Illyan's top agent, especially in his position as "Admiral Miles Naismith", head of the Dendarii Free Mercanaries, a Barrayaran Crown Troop covertly posing as a mercenary fleet). Despite his unnervingly roundabout and inventive methods that would drive Illyan to distraction, Vorkosigan became Captain's greatest annoyance and most powerful asset.
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.
The Vor Game is a science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold, first published in September 1990. It won the 1991 Hugo Award for Best Novel. The Vor Game is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the sixth full-length novel in publication order, and is the sixth story, including novellas, in the internal chronology of the series. It was included in the 1997 omnibus Young Miles.
A command hierarchy is a group of people who carry out orders based on others' authority within the group. It can be viewed as part of a power structure, in which it is usually seen as the most vulnerable and also the most powerful part.
Illyan's military career ended in Memory when his memory chip broke down, causing him to relive events from his past at random. Although he made a good recovery, he had to retire; after 40 years of relying on perfect bio/electronic recall, his short-term memory was almost nonexistent. First Miles, and then Miles' aunt, Lady Alys Vorpatril, cared for him as he slowly learned to start remembering things for himself again.
During A Civil Campaign , Illyan lives in a nondescript flat, not far from Lady Alys (whom he is now dating) and maintains an informal relationship with ImpSec. One of his most important roles now is being a go-between for ImpSec and certain covert high-Vor (aristocratic) informers.
In appearance, Illyan is slight and extremely unimpressive. As ImpSec chief, he amplified this lack of presence to the point of virtual invisibility, the better to observe others. In his own domain, however, his air of blandness makes him seem all the more menacing.
