It was my turn to pick the book, and I wanted science fiction (specifically, space opera). One of the other club members said she wouldn't read science fiction unless it was, quote, "A science fiction romance!". I picked "Shards of Honour" as the most obvious example of that rare beast.

Anything with an asterisk is based on a question originally from https://www.meetup.com/SoCalALN/events/236386394/ (they read "The Warrior's Apprentice", another book in the same series). I am greatly indebted to them.

1. This book is part of a sprawling series. Does it work as a standalone novel?*

2. The Miles Vorkosigan series has an unusual format, inspired by C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower books and Dorothy Sayers' Peter Wimsey books. Like those series, it documents unrelated or loosely related events over the life of a single character. Unlike, those series, the Vorkosigan series begins with the parents of the main character, before he's even born. Can you think of any other series with interesting formats? How much does this vary by genre?*

3. What did you think of the epilogue, which was originally written as a stand-alone short story? Did it work with the rest of the novel, or is it extraneous?

4. Bujold's work is usually categorized as "military science fiction" and she herself is often cited as an example of a "feminist author". Does this book match these descriptions in terms of genre and the treatment of sex and gender?

5. In many books and movies, a society like Barrayar would be treated as the "evil empire". In this book, several of the Barrayaran characters are presented as likeable or even admirable. How do you feel about this? Were you surprised that Cordelia agreed to move to Barrayar after having grown up on Beta?

5 b. Beta is at first presented as a utopia but turns out to be a bit of a dystopia (e.g. Cordelia's "therapy"). Why do you think this is?

6. Rumour has it that the first four chapters of the book, when Cordelia, Aral, and Dubauer are trekking across the alien planet, were originally written as Star Trek Fan fiction. Supposedly, the Barrayarans were originally Klingons and the Betans were the Federation. Bujold denies the Star Trek connection, citing inspiration from Cold War tensions generally. What do you think? And what are your feelings on fanfiction generally?

7. We get to learn a little of Cordelia's back story, but much more of Aral's. Why do you think that is? Do you think Aral's backstory is overly dramatic or needlessly tragic?

8. Bothari is a war criminal and a rapist. Does his mental instability mitigate his crimes? Does the fact that he rescued Cordelia mitigate his crimes? Is he a good guy or a bad guy?*

9. Did the revelation of Ezar's plot to engineer the assassination of Prince Serg and his inner circle surprise you? Do you think Ezar did the right thing in starting a war to ensure that the unstable Prince Serg would never be Emperor of Barrayar?

10. Romance is a major element of this novel, but Aral and Cordelia's wedding occurs off-screen. Did this annoy you? Are there other events which occur off-screen that you would rather have seen in detail, or are there events on-screen that should have been left off?

11. Referring to the Emperor's offer of the position of Regent to Aral, Cordelia says, "Tests are a gift, and great tests are a great gift. To fail the test is a misfortune. But to refuse the test is to refuse the gift." Discuss

* drawn from https://www.meetup.com/SoCalALN/events/236386394/