Barrayar

The story is told from the viewpoint of Cordelia, who arrives on the planet Barrayar for the first time as a foreign bride. She comes from Beta Colony, which is technologically and socially more advanced than Barrayar, and her new home wasn't likely to suit her well at the best of times.

This is not the best of times. Soon after her arrival, civil war breaks out, and most of the book is painful, arduous, and dangerous not only for her but for everyone else.

It's a well-executed book, but I suffer with the characters, and I really don't respond well to downbeat stories. At first reading, I gave it two stars. I find it more bearable the second time, knowing what to expect, and I suppose I can bring myself to give it three stars this time.

Its underlying purpose is to set up the leading characters for the rest of the Vorkosigan Saga, who will be with us for decades to come. It explains how Miles is born crippled, Ivan is born and loses his father on the same day, Gregor the boy emperor loses his mother (having already lost his father), and so on.

Bujold usually provides a happy ending (for which I'm grateful); a truly happy ending isn't really feasible here, but at least the ending has positive aspects: things turn out relatively well, could have been worse.

For me, this book is worth reading not so much for its own sake as for its role in the series as a whole.