Barrayar

Barrayar is a science fiction novel by the American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, published as four instalments in Analog in 1991 and as a book the same year. It won the Hugo and Locus awards in 1992 and belongs to the Vorkosigan Saga.

The novel is a direct sequel to Bujold's first book, Shards of Honor, and the two were later paired in an omnibus called Cordelia's Honor. Cordelia comes from a technologically advanced and relatively peaceful world, and her marriage to Aral Vorkosigan has left her trying to find her footing on a planet with a warrior aristocracy, a recent history of conquest and much more violent politics than she grew up with.

Before Emperor Ezar Vorbarra dies he arranges for Aral to serve as regent for his grandson Gregor, which puts the couple at the centre of the disputes that follow. An attempt on the Vorkosigans' lives with poison gas fails, but the antidote to it turns out to be dangerous in its own right, and Cordelia's pregnancy becomes a question of what she is prepared to do to protect her son.