"Three years after her famous husband's death, Cordelia Vorkosigan, Vicereine of Sergyar, stands ready to spin her life in a new direction. Oliver Jole, Admiral, Sergyar Fleet, finds himself caught up in her web of plans in ways he'd never imagined. Meanwhile, Miles Vorkosigan, one of Emperor Gregor's key investigators, this time dispatches himself on a mission, into a mystery he never anticipated--his own mother. Plans, wills, and expectations collide...

"Captain Ivan Vorpatril is happy with his relatively uneventful bachelor's life of a staff officer to a Barrayaran Admiral. Ivan, cousin to Imperial troubleshooter Miles Vorkosigan, is not far down the hereditary list for the emperorship. Thankfully, new heirs have directed that headache elsewhere leaving Ivan to enjoy like on Komarr. But when an old friend in Barrayaran intelligence asks Ivan to protect an attractive young woman Tej Arqua his chivalrous...

"Miles Vorkosigan makes his debut in this frenetic coming-of-age tale. At age seventeen, Miles, four-foot, nine inches tall, and brittle-boned, after great effort is allowed to take the entrance exams to the elite military academy; he passes the written but manages, through miscalculation in a moment of anger, to break both his legs on the obstacle course, washing out before he begins. His aged grandfather, General Piotr, gradually reconciled to his...

Mercenary Captain Miles Naismith finds himself out of work when peace breaks out all over the planet of Barrayar, and the only thing keeping him busy is trying to discover who wants him dead.