Review: Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold
Backstabbing political intrigue of a futuristic feudal world
Falsely suspected of being a victim of enemy mind control, Cordelia Naismith fled her home planet of Beta Colony to marry a military officer of her former enemy of Barrayar, and is soon pregnant with his heir. Just as she is settling into the old-fashioned ways of Barrayar society, her husband reluctantly agrees to serve as the regent of the child heir to the aging Emperor, setting off an assassination attempt and then a coup against the would-be child emperor.
Cordelia must navigate the politics of her newly adopted home planet as it descends into full-on civil war. With her son trapped in an artificial womb and threatened with death, Barrayar becomes the story of a mother's quest to save her preborn child.
The story
The story follows the events of Shards of Honor, which closes with Commander Cordelia Naismith leaving her home of Beta Colony to accept the proposal of Aral Vorkosigan, an officer of the Barrayaran Empire and rival to Beta Colony.
At the start of Barrayar, Cordelia is pregnant with Vorkosigan's son and is settling into the militaristic world's conservative culture and feudal class system. But when her husband agrees to become the regent for the dying Emperor's grandson, Cordelia and her family are caught up in the politics of the world.
Aral and Cordelia are targeted in an assassination attempt using poison gas. Although they escape with their lives, the treatment for the gas has serious side effects for her unborn child, and she is forced to place her son into an artificial womb for treatment.
When rivals attempt a coup against the young emperor-to-be, the world descends into civil war, and Cordelia is cut off from the facilities that house her pre-born son. Worse, without maintenance, the child will die within the week. Against the wishes of her husband, Cordelia organizes and leads a clandestine rescue of her endangered son.
The characters
As described in the review for Shards of Honor, Cordelia Naismith was born and raised on the world of Beta Colony, a socially liberal and society that values technocratic social engineering and somehow also personal autonomy. She is the window through which the reader experiences the feudal class-based society of Barrayar. Cordelia is often open-minded about adopting the customs of her newfound home, opting to carry her son naturally rather than to have him conceived in an artificial womb, but her tolerance for some of Barrayar's Darwinist mores only go so far. She is loyal to her husband but more loyal to her child, and she will not sit back while either are threatened, and despite her Betan heritage, does not shy away from brutality.
The character of Konstantine Bothari is reintroduced in Barrayar and becomes one of the more intriguing characters in Barryar. The mentally disturbed giant of a man is an empty shell, a tool to be wielded by those who command him. In his dog-like obedience to his superiors, he goes from torturer to bodyguard to midwife without so much as a blink of an eye. When he comes under Cordelia's command, he becomes a window into Cordelia's id as she uses him to enforce her own will.
The world
At first glance, Barrayar resembles something of a fairytale world where Lords rule over vast swaths of idyllic countryside, but Bujold pulls the layers back throughout the book. Barrayar is steeped in eugenic practices, and children with minor birth defects are euthanized so as not to become a burden on their families. The life of a Barrayaran noble is a dangerous one, with constant intrigue and backstabbing, and it gives a sense that the violence that erupts in the early chapters of the book is always bubbling under the surface for members of the ruling class. Bujold does not ignore the implication for the peasants at the bottom of the feudal ladder, either, and they are often the victims of upper class power plays.
But Bujold shows the world from multiple angles, and hints at the logical reasons behind the alien society that Cordelia finds herself in. The Barrayarans are written as humans, not condemned as reactionary monsters, regardless of Cordelia's own biases.
The politics
Barrayar might be the most pro-life piece of fiction I have ever read. Not only does the main conflict revolve around saving Cordelia's preborn son, the child's own grandfather urges Cordelia to abort her son as soon as it is revealed that he will become a "deformed mutant" after the poison gas assassination attempt.
Cordelia responds with the appropriate maternal rage, and much of the rest of the book is dedicated to protecting and rescuing the child from Barrayaran society. The novel's ending makes clear how wrong those particular views are.
Content warning
There is plenty of violence to go around in Barrayar, from attacks against children to beheadings, but none of the descriptions are particularly graphic.
Who is it for?
Barrayar is for any sci-fi fans who enjoy medieval politics and intrigue in a planetary setting. The pro-life message is an added bonus.
Why read it?
Read Barrayar for the backstabbing political intrigue of a futuristic feudal world and for the lengths at which Cordelia will go to save her preborn son.
There's a joke that really happened about when the Pope visits America and people ask him if he's Republican or Democrat. I think that's the mistake you're making here when you call Barrayar Pro-Life. Pro-Life is the slogan and name of a 21st century American political movement, which means it's much smaller than Bujold's work and the philosophy behind it. I think one of the reasons Bujold's middle-career work stands so tall is that she held out against real-world political fashion and wrote about what good people would do in such a situation.
At that point in time, there were daring women of SF who realized they could write edgy stories simply by incorporating old school American values. They were wildly popular.
Sadly, as of now I think they've all repented of their borrowed virtue. Their stories are more milquetoast these days.