Misplaced Pages

#44955

92-649: The point of view characters include women (Cordelia in Shards of Honor , Barrayar , and Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen ; Ekaterin in Komarr , A Civil Campaign , and The Flowers of Vashnoi ), a gay man ( Ethan of Athos ), a pair of brothers, one of whom is physically disabled and the other a clone ( Miles and Mark Vorkosigan ), and their cousin (Ivan Vorpatril), together with some minor characters (e.g., Miles's bodyguard Roic, family friend Kareen Koudelka, and

184-448: A CD that accompanied the hardcover release. This CD was initially shared online, but has since been withdrawn by request of the author. Earlier works published up to 2004, including novels (except Memory ) and the short stories (except "Dreamweaver's Dilemma"), have been repackaged in omnibus editions. The first of these was Vorkosigan's Game (September 1990), an omnibus volume published by a book sales club , collecting The Vor Game and

276-422: A broadly habitable planet, Barrayarans both need and can afford a militaristic society. Their genetic isolation has led them to create a patriarchal society to preserve genetic purity. The Betans, on a hostile planet where they must live in domes, rely on industrial export and limit not only childbearing but also every kind of behavior that might be considered "antisocial". From their point of view, Barrayaran society

368-411: A common language, though they may know other languages or have a planetary accent. A good-looking woman, whether a four-armed quaddie, a Cetagandan haut-lady glimpsed in her floating bubble, or a Barrayaran damsel, has skin comparable to ivory or milk. On the other hand, the most prominent genotype on Barrayar is olive skin (and brown eyes and dark hair). The Arqua family are described as dark-skinned, and

460-560: A culture known historically on Earth. For example, the planet Athos creates a monosexual culture in which men reproduce in vitro without female intervention, Cetaganda is an empire in which hierarchies are based in genetic fitness, Jackson's Whole is a cutthroat criminal planet in which trade and money are law, and Escobar is a moderate planet focused on scientific advancement. The novels do not focus much on several sources of social organization and prejudice on Earth, such as language, skin color, and religion. In general, Nexus inhabitants speak

552-763: A defense against narco-interrogation is foreknowledge of the process and its limitations. There is an acute need for controlled experimental studies of drug reaction, not only to depressants but also to stimulants and to combinations of depressants, stimulants, and ataraxics. In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in Townsend v. Sain , that confessions produced as a result of ingestion of truth serum were "unconstitutionally coerced" and therefore inadmissible. The viability of forensic evidence produced from truth sera has been addressed in lower courts – judges and expert witnesses have generally agreed that they are not reliable for lie detection. In 1967, during his investigation into

644-574: A different wormhole route controlled by the rich merchant planet Komarr . The Komarrans allow the neighboring expansionist Cetagandan Empire to invade Barrayar in return for commercial rights and concessions. Despite a significant technological advantage, the Cetagandans are finally expelled at great cost after many years of occupation and guerrilla warfare, in large part due to the leadership of General Count Piotr Vorkosigan, Miles' paternal grandfather. The Barrayarans then conquer and annex Komarr under

736-433: A fetus from a prisoner raped by a Barrayaran soldier; one of the fetuses is Bothari's. The Escobarans refuse to take them, so Vorkosigan arranges for their care and later adoption on Barrayar. On her way back to Beta Colony, Cordelia is unable to convince a 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; she

828-422: A food distribution procedure). By quoting Suegar's "scripture" (half a page torn from The Pilgrim's Progress ), Miles covertly signals his fleet to attack and rescue them. The Dendarii thereby stage one of the largest mass breakouts in history. As a result, the Cetagandans put a price on Naismith's head. At this point, they (along with nearly everyone else) are unaware that Naismith and Miles Vorkosigan are one and

920-415: A fundamental part of the saga's worldbuilding. The most ubiquitous are "uterine replicators", devices that allow complete in vitro reproduction, with gene therapy ("gene cleaning") to correct for congenital defects. In Ethan of Athos , this also makes possible an all-male society in which eggs are produced by ovaries maintained in a lab. The Cetagandan haut go beyond gene cleaning, deliberately engineering

1012-415: A judge approved the use of narcoanalysis in the 2012 Aurora, Colorado shooting trial to evaluate whether James Eagan Holmes 's state of mind was valid for an insanity plea . Judge William Sylvester ruled that prosecutors would be allowed to interrogate Holmes "under the influence of a medical drug designed to loosen him up and get him to talk", such as sodium amytal, if he filed an insanity plea. The hope

SECTION 10

#1732786656045

1104-559: A life sentence on five counts. The Central Bureau of Investigation also conducted this test on Krishna, a key witness and suspect in the high-profile 2008 Aarushi-Hemraj Murder Case to seek more information from Krishna and also determine his credibility as a witness with key information, yet not known to the investigating authorities. Per unverified various media sources, Krishna had purported to have deemed Hemraj (the prime suspect) as not guilty of Aarushi's murder, claiming he [Hemraj] "treated Aarushi like his own daughter". On May 5, 2010

1196-548: A lot of interstellar trade. The invasion of Escobar is led by Crown Prince Serg Vorbarra, the vicious son and heir of Emperor Ezar. Now a captain in the Betan Expeditionary Force, Cordelia goes to Escobar in command of a decoy ship that distracts the Barrayaran ships on picket duty at the wormhole exit so that transport ships can deliver a devastating new Betan weapon to the defenders. She is captured by

1288-494: A major character, while the baby Elena becomes a hostage, with the as yet unborn Miles Vorkosigan, in the hands of Vorkosigan's enemies. The planet on which Cordelia and Aral Vorkosigan met becomes the Barrayaran colony Sergyar, named for the dead prince. As Count and Lady Vorkosigan they become its viceroy and vicereine after the end of Aral Vorkosigan's regency. In Bujold's next published novel, The Warrior's Apprentice , Miles and Elena both appear as teenagers 17 years after

1380-533: A measure of revenge for the conquest and annexation of their planet, is successfully substituted for him. Collected in the omnibus edition Miles Errant . Shards of Honor 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

1472-465: A physical disc which is transported through wormholes at a high cost, and relayed between wormholes by the ships' communication systems, imposing both time and cost constraints on interstellar communications. As the series features a military background in several novels, special attention is paid to military technology. Ship-to-ship combat includes plasma rays and attacks based on gravity manipulation, and defensive countermeasures. Personal combat includes

1564-528: A possible truth serum, but found unreliable. During the 1950s and 1960s, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) carried out a number of investigations including Project MKUltra and Project MKDELTA , which involved illegal use of truth drugs including LSD. A CIA report from 1961, released in 1993, concludes: The salient points that emerge from this discussion are the following. No such magic brew as

1656-597: A ransom. Miles finds several aspects of the deal unacceptable and the exchange turns into a minor battle with Ryoval's security. In the course of their hasty departure from the Jackson system, Miles sows confusion by telling different lies (and a couple of vital truths) to Ryoval and his rival half-brother, weapons dealer Baron Fell. Collected in the omnibus editions Vorkosigan's Game ; Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem ; Miles, Mutants and Microbes ; and Borders of Infinity . Miles goes undercover and allows himself to be captured by

1748-573: A rare event leading to the Time of Isolation. Barrayar was later re-discovered via a wormhole jump from Komarr . Komarr allows the neighboring Cetagandan empire to use their wormhole to conquer Barrayar, and is later conquered in its turn when Barrayar eventually defeats the Cetagandans. The stories feature several planetary systems, each with its own political organization, including government by corporate democracy, rule by criminal corporations, monarchies, empires and direct democracies. In most cases, there

1840-597: A ravenous appetite. Miles is shocked to find that the creature is female, and, despite her fearsome appearance, intelligent and emotionally vulnerable. She challenges him to prove that he believes she is human by making love to her. Miles gets to indulge his weakness for tall, strong women.... He offers her a new life with the Dendarii, and a new name: Taura. They escape, committing one supreme act of sabotage and revenge before Dendarii Captain Bel Thorne manages to negotiate

1932-470: A ship, a pilot, and a contract to run guns to a blockaded government. He eventually takes over much of the blockading mercenary fleet through brilliant improvisation, sheer audacity and much luck. The unexpected arrival of his cousin Ivan Vorpatril raises Miles' suspicions. He hastens home to foil a plot against his father. Collected in the omnibus edition Young Miles . Miles has just graduated from

SECTION 20

#1732786656045

2024-540: A violation of the Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture . "Truth serum" was previously used in the management of psychotic patients in the practice of psychiatry . In a therapeutic context, the controlled administration of intravenous hypnotic medications is called " narcosynthesis " or "narcoanalysis". Such application was first documented by Dr. William Bleckwenn . Reliability and suggestibility of patients are concerns, and

2116-562: A wrench into the works when he refuses to leave without certain experimental samples which he has injected into one of his earlier projects, a prototype "super-soldier". Even worse, the "super-soldier" has been sold to the paranoid and sadistic Baron Ryoval, whom Miles has recently offended. Miles breaks into Ryoval's laboratory, but is caught and imprisoned in a utility sublevel where they are also keeping Canaba's dangerous specimen, "Nine". This turns out to be an eight-foot-tall warrior, complete with fangs, claws, superhuman strength and speed, and

2208-543: Is a cold planet with high CO 2 that is going through long-term terraforming to make it habitable, while Beta Colony is a hot, sandy planet where humans must live underground. Barrayar's vegetation is incompatible with Earth's, and often poisonous or allergenic to humans; Barrayarans clear native forest and use compost from Earth-descended plants or horse manure to grow new Earth vegetation. In spaceships and space stations, people live in closed ecologies in which air and waste are continuously reprocessed. Medical advances are

2300-429: Is a single government which dominates the entire planet (exceptions include Jackson's Whole and Earth). Both Cetaganda and Barrayar have empires, acquired by conquering other planets via neighboring wormholes. As a tool to simplify the writing process, Bujold devises a standard system of timekeeping universal to all planets regardless of the length of their day and year. Bujold herself has commented that her posited system

2392-432: Is an eminently readable novel but lacks any originality." Writing for SF Reviews in 2004, Thomas M. Wagner took issue with the plausibility of some elements of the novel, but concluded by saying that " Shards of Honor is, in the end, a fine debut for Bujold (and) a fine space opera". In 2009 Jo Walton wrote that Shards of Honor "couldn’t be less like a standard first novel in a series" in that it takes place before

2484-443: Is currently no drug proven to cause consistent or predictable enhancement of truth-telling. Subjects questioned under the influence of such substances have been found to be suggestible and their memories subject to reconstruction and fabrication. When such drugs have been used in the course of investigating civil and criminal cases, they have not been accepted by Western legal systems and legal experts as genuine investigative tools. In

2576-420: Is featured in the series, prominently in the person of Mark, Miles' clone-brother, and in a morally dubious industry on Jackson's Whole that grows clones of wealthy people to transplant their brains from elderly bodies to youthful, healthy ones. Barrayar is an exception to most of these advances due to its long isolation from the rest of humanity. Women carrying their babies to term without uterine replicators are

2668-536: Is irrational and backward, while the Barrayarans view the Betans as sexually and politically undisciplined, referring to a "Betan vote" as an obstacle to decision-making. Planets accessible by many wormholes become centers of trade and finance, whether benign (Komarr, Escobar) or malicious (Jackson's Whole). Finally, some dwellers in space habitats look down on those who call one planet home as "dirt suckers". In all

2760-422: Is neither technologically nor economically feasible, but is rather a convenience for storytelling. Most of the technology in the series is based on 20th-century engineering situations, projected into null-g or alternative solar system situations. Biomedical advances such as cloning, artificial wombs (named "uterine replicators") and cryochambers to preserve and revive recently deceased people are featured heavily in

2852-421: 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. 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

Vorkosigan Saga - Misplaced Pages Continue

2944-535: Is severely affected; in particular, his long bones are short and fragile. As an adult, he is subtly but noticeably misshapen and no taller than a nine-year-old boy. As a result, he has to deal with the deeply ingrained prejudice against mutants on his native world (though he is not technically a mutant since the damage is teratogenic). With nearly pathological determination and high intelligence, aided by his supportive parents and their high social rank, he fashions an extraordinary military and civilian career for himself in

3036-588: Is strongly attracted to him. When the trio reaches the base camp, Vorkosigan regains command of his crew. He returns to his ship with Cordelia and her crewman as his nominal prisoners. She meets Sergeant Bothari, a career soldier with mental problems which he controls through adherence to rules and an attachment to a strong commander—in this case, Vorkosigan. 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,

3128-499: 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 ensign 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

3220-447: Is suspected of being an unwitting Barrayaran mole . She fears that she will be interrogated using drugs and reveal damaging information about Vorkosigan. She escapes to Barrayar and marries Vorkosigan. She also encounters Bothari, now one of Vorkosigan's father's personal guards and somewhat saner, thanks to better medical care. Bothari's daughter Elena is cared for by a local woman. The dying Emperor Ezar Vorbarra wants Aral to become

3312-570: The Dallas County jail. Both men were believed to be guilty, both denied guilt under scopolamine, and both were eventually acquitted. In 1926, the use of scopolamine was rejected in a court case, by Judge Robert Walker Franklin, who questioned both its scientific origin, and the uncertainty of its effect. The United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS) experimented with the use of mescaline , scopolamine , and marijuana as possible truth drugs during World War II . They concluded that

3404-551: The assassination of President John F. Kennedy , New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison arranged for his key witness, Perry Russo , to be administered sodium pentothal before being questioned about his knowledge regarding an alleged conspiracy . Russo would later describe "his conditioning by the DA's office as a complete brainwashing job." In 1995, during the search for evidence that could acquit Andres English-Howard , his defense attorney employed methohexital . More recently,

3496-411: The regent to his grandson and heir, the four-year-old Prince Gregor Vorbarra. Aral at first refuses, but Cordelia convinces him to take the job. In 1996 Christian Weisgerber wrote: "Enriching the standard space opera there is a plethora of intrigues, chicanery, and betrayal, but also Bujold's mild-mannered humor, good characterization, and the tender love affair between the protagonists. Shards of Honor

3588-629: The Barrayaran Empire. Three of the novels made the New York Times Bestseller List when first released in hardback: A Civil Campaign at #26, Diplomatic Immunity at #25, and Cryoburn at #32. The novels have been translated into a number of languages and the covers of various international editions have been archived. A comic book adaptation of The Warrior's Apprentice was published in France in 2010, which

3680-452: The Barrayarans and then escaping twice, she returns home a war hero. However, her own people believe she has been brainwashed and try to "cure" her of her love for Aral. She eventually flees to Barrayar to be reunited with him. Collected in the omnibus edition Cordelia's Honor . Two people retrieve bodies in space near Escobar after the failed Barrayaran invasion. The story was originally a postscript to Shards of Honor and later included in

3772-550: The Cetagandans, who have invaded and occupied the planet Marilac, in order to infiltrate a maximum-security POW camp on Dagoola IV. His mission is to get the Marilacan commander out, but he has to improvise when he finds the man catatonic and on the verge of death. With help from Suegar, an apparent religious fanatic, and Tris, the leader of the female prisoners, he instills order and hope in the apathetic, distrustful inmates and makes them rehearse for quick embarkation (disguised as

Vorkosigan Saga - Misplaced Pages Continue

3864-477: The Durona group and Ky Tung are Eurasian. Only isolated Athos has a planetary religion, though Cordelia Naismith and Leo Graf (the hero of Falling Free ) believe in a God. The environment and history of the planets dictate their social structures and prejudices. For example, because of the isolation of Barrayar, located with a single wormhole to connect it with the rest of the galaxy, and its people having to defend

3956-471: The Emperor's birthday by handing him bags of gold, and provides liveried life-sworn servants to carry love letters sealed with the writer's blood. In the conservative backwoods, some still practice infanticide if signs of mutation are detected. Stories of the evils of mutation are pervasive within Barrayaran culture. Barrayar is a planet colonized by humans some four hundred years prior to Shards of Honor ,

4048-464: 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 commands his fleet's retreat under fire. Cordelia overhears one critical fact and deduces that the entire invasion was orchestrated by the dying Emperor to remove his unstable son (via an honorable death in battle) and discredit

4140-496: The Imperial Academy, and is at home at Vorkosigan Surleau with his parents. A woman from an isolated rural village demands justice for the murder of her baby, who was born with a cleft lip and palate, but was otherwise healthy. Miles' father sends him to investigate as his Voice (representative with full powers) to gain experience. Miles solves the mystery and exercises justice and mercy in appropriate measures. Collected in

4232-548: The Quaddies, who are genetically engineered to have an extra pair of arms in place of legs in order to work better in the free-falling environment of space. Collected in the omnibus edition Miles, Mutants and Microbes . Captain Cordelia Naismith of Beta Colony meets and eventually falls in love with Captain Lord Aral Vorkosigan of Barrayar when they are both stranded on an uninhabited planet. After being captured by

4324-494: The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) officer, Alexander Kouzminov, who quit the service in the early 1990s, the officers of SVR′s Directorate S, which runs SVR's " illegals ", primarily used the drug to verify fidelity and trustworthiness of their agents who operated overseas, such as Vitaly Yurchenko . According to Alexander Litvinenko , Russian presidential candidate Ivan Rybkin

4416-571: The Supreme Court Judge Balasubramaniam in the case "Smt. Selvi vs. State of Karnataka" held that narcoanalysis, polygraph and brain mapping tests were to be allowed with the consent of the accused. The judge stated: "We are of the considered opinion that no individual can be forced and subjected to such techniques involuntarily, and by doing so it amounts to unwarranted intrusion of personal liberty." In Gujarat , Madhya Pradesh High Court permitted narcoanalysis in

4508-622: The United States, it has been suggested that their use is a potential violation of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (the right to remain silent ). Concerns have also been raised through the European Court of Human Rights arguing that use of a truth serum could be considered a violation of a human right to be free from degrading treatment, or could be considered a form of torture . It has been noted to be

4600-459: The Vorkosigan character. When beginning her first novel, Shards of Honor , Bujold incorporated these elements, but greatly expanded. She followed that up with the second novel with the same setting, The Warrior's Apprentice , then worked on Ethan of Athos . After being rejected by four publishers, The Warrior's Apprentice was accepted by Baen Books, who agreed to a three-book deal to include

4692-442: The books except Ethan of Athos and Falling Free , the protagonists are connected to the planet Barrayar, home of the Vorkosigan clan. For this planet Bujold devised a history which allowed for "swords 'n' spaceships" due to the transition between the Time of Isolation and galactic culture. In the lifetime of Miles Vorkosigan, Barrayar uses spaceships, computers, and other high technology, but its culture remembers dueling, celebrates

SECTION 50

#1732786656045

4784-494: The brand name Pentothal) and amobarbital (formerly known as sodium amytal). While there have been many clinical studies of the efficacy of narcoanalysis in interrogation or lie detection , there is dispute whether any of them qualify as a randomized , controlled study , that would meet scientific standards for determining effectiveness. India's Central Bureau of Investigation has used intravenous barbiturates for interrogation, often in high-profile cases. One such case

4876-402: The command of Admiral Aral Vorkosigan, Count Piotr's second son. Due to a massacre initiated by a subordinate, Aral Vorkosigan acquires the sobriquet "Butcher of Komarr." Aral Vorkosigan later meets Cordelia Naismith, an enemy officer from Beta Colony, at the commencement of another war. Forced to work together to survive on a hostile planet, they fall in love and eventually marry, resulting in

4968-551: The commanding officer. Cordelia assumes command of the POWs by virtue of her rank and spends much of her time dealing directly with Vorkosigan. She informs him she knows the real reason for the Escobar campaign. She again rejects his marriage proposal because she sees what Barrayaran society does to people. When the war ends, prisoners are exchanged. Vorkosigan has to deal with some uterine replicators – artificial wombs, each containing

5060-490: The conception of Miles. An attempt to poison Aral during his regency for the child Emperor, Gregor Vorbarra, leads to the exposure of a pregnant Cordelia to a teratogenic compound, the antidote to the poison. Desperate experimental medical procedures are required to save the unborn baby, and the side effects of the antidote threaten to kill Cordelia. Miles is transferred to a uterine replicator to allow medical procedures that would threaten his mother. Miles' physical development

5152-422: 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. During her captivity, she realizes that the Barrayarans seized the planet because the system it is in provides a way to reach Escobar. Escobar is a rich system with many "wormhole" access points and thus control over

5244-454: The deed already done. He hides Cordelia and Bothari in his cabin. In disgrace, he has been assigned a minor role in the invasion under the watchful eye of Imperial Security Lieutenant Simon Illyan, who has a brain implant that gives him total recall of all he sees and hears. However, he is required to report only to the Emperor, so he does nothing when Vorkosigan concocts a story that Cordelia killed Vorrutyer and escaped. The new weapons enable

5336-468: The drug, i.e. both the "dote" and "antidote", would have no recollection of what had occurred in between and feel afterward as though he had suddenly fallen asleep, the preferable way to administer the "dote" being in an alcoholic drink, as that would serve as a plausible explanation of the sudden onset of drowsiness. Other reports state that SP-117 was just a form of concentrated alcohol meant to be added to alcoholic drinks such as champagne. According to

5428-403: The effects were not much different from those of alcohol : subjects became more talkative but that did not mean they were more truthful. Like hypnosis , there were also issues of suggestibility and interviewer influence. Cases involving scopolamine resulted in a mixture of testimonies both for and against those suspected, at times directly contradicting each other. LSD was also considered as

5520-531: The end of the 1980s the First and Second Directorates of the KGB had used, in exceptional cases and mostly on foreign citizens, a soluble odourless, colourless and tasteless substance code-named SP-117, an improved successor to similar drugs used by the KGB prior, that was effective in making a subject lose control of oneself 15 minutes after intake. Most importantly, a person who would be given, consecutively, two parts of

5612-592: The events in Barrayar . Truth serum " Truth serum " is a colloquial name for any of a range of psychoactive drugs used in an effort to obtain information from subjects who are unable or unwilling to provide it otherwise. These include ethanol , scopolamine , 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate , midazolam , flunitrazepam , sodium thiopental , and amobarbital , among others. Although a variety of such substances have been tested, serious issues have been raised about their use scientifically, ethically and legally. There

SECTION 60

#1732786656045

5704-441: The first Vorkosigan novel. Shortly after colonization, the 50,000 settlers are cut off by a failure of the sole wormhole connecting Barrayar to the rest of humanity. During the following centuries, the "Time of Isolation", the colony regresses socially and technologically, eventually developing a feudal form of government, in which the Emperor of Barrayar is supported by sixty regional counts and other minor aristocrats, identified by

5796-685: The homeworld of the Cetagandan Empire to represent Barrayar at an Imperial funeral, and quickly become entangled in a murderous Cetagandan plot involving power, poisons, and the peculiar application of eugenics in the Cetagandan haut ruling class. Miles helps defeat the plot, which would have greatly amplified the Cetagandan threat to Barrayar and other systems, and in the process collects a piece of information that causes him to dispatch Elli Quinn on her mission in Ethan of Athos . Collected in

5888-454: The honorific prefix Vor- in their names. The Vor caste is a military one, and Barrayaran culture is highly militaristic and hierarchical. The Counts, however, originate as accountants, with the duty of ensuring that the Emperor's taxes are collected. Because of Barrayar's tradition of direct military action, the Counts also become extremely militaristic. Barrayar is eventually rediscovered via

5980-541: The human genome in an attempt to produce a post-human species ( Cetaganda , Diplomatic Immunity ). Other advances include genetic manipulation to produce microbes and animals tailored for specific purposes, including decoration, or humans adapted for combat or to live and work in zero gravity. Fertile hermaphrodites have been created in an attempt to surpass gender roles. Medical prolonging of human life has advanced to achieve natural lifespans of 120 years or more, though Barrayar lags galactic civilization on this. Cloning

6072-524: The investigation of a killing of a tiger that occurred in May 2010. The Jhurjhura Tigress at Bandhavgarh National Park , a mother of three cubs, was found dead as a result of being hit by a vehicle. A Special Task Force requested the narcoanalysis testing of four persons, one of whom refused to consent on grounds of potential post-test complications. In 2004, Novaya Gazeta , with reference to KGB General Oleg Kalugin , published an article that said that since

6164-438: The main character of the saga is even born. Praising the "emotional depth" and "genuine ethical dilemmas" Bujold weaves into the narrative, Walton calls the protagonist Cordelia "what totally grabbed me about [the novel] on first reading and on every subsequent read." Shards of Honor as originally published was a truncated version of a much longer work ( Mirrors was the original working title). The rest eventually appeared as

6256-401: The omnibus edition Cordelia's Honor . While Cordelia Vorkosigan is pregnant with Miles, an attempted assassination threatens her unborn child's life. Count Vordarian launches a coup. Collected in the omnibus edition Cordelia's Honor . Seventeen-year-old Miles breaks both legs running an obstacle course, seemingly ruining his chance of a military career. On a visit to Beta Colony, he obtains

6348-540: The omnibus edition Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem . This novel does not feature Miles except indirectly; his eventual girlfriend, Commander Elli Quinn of the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet, plays a leading role. Collected in the omnibus edition Miles, Mystery, and Mayhem . Miles travels to Jackson's Whole, ostensibly to buy weapons, but in reality to help geneticist Dr. Hugh Canaba leave his current employer to go to work for Barrayar. Canaba throws

6440-485: The omnibus editions Vorkosigan's Game ; Young Miles ; and Borders of Infinity . Miles is shipped off-planet to the Hegen Hub after refusing to obey what he considers to be a criminal order at a training camp and being accused of treason (again). He finds himself having to rescue his friend and emperor, Gregor Vorbarra. Collected in the omnibus editions Vorkosigan's Game and Young Miles . Miles and Ivan are sent to

6532-592: The popular notion of truth serum exists. The barbiturates, by disrupting defensive patterns, may sometimes be helpful in interrogation, but even under the best conditions they will elicit an output contaminated by deception, fantasy, garbled speech, etc. A major vulnerability they produce in the subject is a tendency to believe he has revealed more than he has. It is possible, however, for both normal individuals and psychopaths to resist drug interrogation; it seems likely that any individual who can withstand ordinary intensive interrogation can hold out in narcosis. The best aid to

6624-451: The practice of chemically inducing an involuntary mental state is now widely considered to be a form of torture. Sedatives or hypnotics that alter higher cognitive function include ethanol , scopolamine , 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate , potent short or intermediate acting hypnotic benzodiazepines such as midazolam , flunitrazepam , and various short and ultra-short acting barbiturates , including sodium thiopental (commonly known by

6716-466: The relationship between a culture adapted to an environment without gravity and one which depends on gravity. In most societies featured in the series, paper has been mostly replaced by either plastic sheets or electronic devices, and two-dimensional video is replaced by three-dimensional holograms. Most characters use portable computers called "wristconsoles" and personal computers named "comconsoles". Interstellar messages, however, have to be recorded on

6808-415: The rest of the galaxy, suffering a "Time of Isolation", after which it was reconnected. Due to apparent nuclear warfare that has left large areas too radioactive to inhabit, low genetic diversity on Barrayar during the time of isolation, as well as the effects of mutagenic compounds found in native Barrayaran plants, a cultural phobia about mutation developed that leads to a high level of xenophobia . Within

6900-472: The rule at the beginning of the series, and there is an ingrained fear of mutation in its society. The social challenges posed by medical technology and Miles Vorkosigan's visible deformities are integral to the plot of several of the stories. The time required for wormhole jumps between planetary systems means travel and communication require time and effort which isolate each planet and allow it to develop its own culture, most of them derived to some extent from

6992-413: The runaway Jin). The various forms of society and government Bujold presents often reflect contemporary politics. In many novels, there is a contrast between the technology-rich egalitarian Beta Colony (or more generally, galactic society) and the heroic, militaristic, hierarchical society of Barrayar, where personal relationships must ensure societal continuity. Miles Vorkosigan, the protagonist of most of

7084-418: The sadistic Admiral Vorrutyer, who orders Sergeant Bothari to rape her. Bothari refuses, calling her "Admiral Vorkosigan's prisoner". Vorrutyer, Vorkosigan's embittered ex-lover, decides to do the job himself. As she fills a profound psychological need of his, Bothari kills Vorrutyer before he can do anything. Vorkosigan, having heard Vorrutyer is holding Cordelia captive, comes to kill him himself, only to find

7176-549: The same. Collected in the omnibus editions Vorkosigan's Game ; Miles Errant ; and Borders of Infinity . On the run from Cetagandans furious about his Dagoola IV escapade, Miles and his fleet reach the relative safety of Earth. When he reports to the Barrayaran Embassy there, he is made the Third Military Attaché. Miles is captured, and his clone, trained as an assassin by Komarrans bent on exacting

7268-595: The series, exploration and colonization of new planets is still ongoing, most notably on the planet Sergyar. Interstellar travel is achieved by "jumping" from solar system to solar system via spatial anomalies known as wormholes that create tunnels in a five-dimensional space. Typically wormholes are bracketed by space stations, military or commercial, which provide ports for jump travel. Stations may be owned by planetary governments, or by specific commercial organizations, or they may be completely independent of any planetary organization. Barrayar's original wormhole collapsed,

7360-403: The series, is the son of a Betan former ship captain mother and a Barrayaran aristocrat father. Humanity has colonized a galaxy in which there are no competing intelligent species. Since then (at least 400 years before Falling Free or 600 years before Shards of Honor ), dozens of planets have been colonized and have developed divergent cultures. Barrayar was colonized and then lost contact with

7452-564: The series. Bujold presents issues of technological obsolescence and the high rate of failure of R&D projects in personal terms, via bioengineering. Two jump pilots with obsolete navigational brain implants and a number of characters created by genetic manipulation are psychologically stranded by the termination of the programs for which they were designed. The series features gravity manipulation, both artificially generated in spaceships, and artificially suppressed in ground transport and elevators. Falling Free and Diplomatic Immunity explore

7544-529: The short story Aftermaths and the Hugo-winning Barrayar . The three were later re-published together as Cordelia's Honor . In Barrayar , Bothari emerges as a much more important character, as does Ensign (later Captain) Koudelka who has a brief appearance in Shards of Honor before being seriously injured, an injury which defines him for the rest of his life. Simon Illyan also becomes

7636-492: The subject before they can reveal information, genetic engineering to create immunity, or compartmentalization of information on a need-to-know basis. Miles Vorkosigan has an atypical reaction to the drug, which enables him to thwart his enemies on at least one occasion. In the Vorkosigan saga, humans live on planets with diverse degrees of habitability, and have developed diverse adaptation strategies to environments that are only approximately fit for human life. For example, Komarr

7728-523: The three-novella Borders of Infinity anthology. While all the books and novellas are currently in print as ebooks, in America they are in print as omnibus editions. The roots of the Vorkosigan Saga lie in an early collection by Bujold called Dreamweaver's Dilemma . The title story features Beta Colony, and another story contains a character named Cordelia Naismith, perhaps a distant ancestor of

7820-460: The two other novels. Shards of Honor and Barrayar concern Miles' parents, Ethan of Athos involves a few minor characters from other Vorkosigan novels, and Falling Free does not involve Miles or any of his family, though in some later novels Miles encounters the descendants of the characters from Falling Free . "Dreamweaver's Dilemma" is a short story set at the beginning of Earth's age of space colonization and genetic manipulation. It

7912-432: The use of combat suits, plasma rays, needlers, and nerve disruptors, which emit rays that destroy nerve tissue. Biological weapons are also mentioned in the form of wide-spectrum toxin bombs and genetically modified microbes that target specific races, and in some cases, specific people. A truth serum , "fast-penta", is a widespread tool used in interrogation. Several defenses are devised, such as induced allergies that kill

8004-478: The war party in order to avert a civil war after his death. When Vorkosigan no longer needs to hide her in his cabin, she is placed in the brig. When the ship is attacked, Cordelia is injured when the violent maneuvers toss her around her cell. Cordelia recovers in a prison camp on the same planet where she first met Vorkosigan. The camp inmates, mostly women, have been mistreated and in some cases raped by their captors. When Vorkosigan finds out, he summarily executes

8096-563: Was drugged with the same substance by FSB agents during his kidnapping in 2004. Scopolamine was promoted by obstetrician Robert Ernest House as an advance that would prevent false convictions, beginning in 1922. He had noted that women in childbirth who were given scopolamine could answer questions accurately even while in a state of twilight sleep , and were oftentimes "exceedingly candid" in their remarks. House proposed that scopolamine could be used when interrogating suspected criminals. He even arranged to administer scopolamine to prisoners in

8188-456: Was published in the book of the same name, which is a collection of short stories and essays by Bujold that had been previously unpublished and that she gathered together prior to her appearance at a NESFA convention. "Dreamweaver's Dilemma" contains the first mention of Beta Colony. It is also the only Vorkosigan Saga story not published or republished by Baen Books . 200 years before the birth of Miles Vorkosigan, engineer Leo Graf encounters

8280-648: Was that a 'narcoanalytic interview' could confirm whether or not he had been legally insane on 20 July, the date of the shootings. It is not known whether such an examination was carried out. William Shepherd, chair of the criminal justice section of the American Bar Association , stated, with respect to the Holmes case, that use of a "truth drug" as proposed, "to ascertain the veracity of a defendant's plea of insanity... would provoke intense legal argument relating to Holmes's right to remain silent under

8372-521: Was the first of a projected series called La Saga Vorkosigan . The Saga's internal chronology does not match the order in which the books were written . Bujold has stated that she is generally in favor of reading the books in internal chronological order, with caveats. A more detailed chronology can be found in The Vorkosigan Companion . With the publication of Cryoburn , almost all Vorkosigan tales were available as free e-texts on

8464-557: Was the interrogation of Ajmal Kasab , the only terrorist captured alive by police in the 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India . Kasab was a Pakistani militant and a member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group. On 3 May 2010, Kasab was found guilty of 80 offences, including murder, waging war against India, possessing explosives, and other charges. On 6 May 2010, the same trial court sentenced him to death on four counts and to

#44955