Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold, Book #11 of the Vorkosigan saga.
Introduction
Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold is the eleventh novel of the Vorkosigan saga. The Emperor of Barrayar sends Miles as his Imperial Auditor to find out how the Komarr terraforming mirror was destroyed. Miles discovers plots against him as the son of the Butcher of Komarr and other terrorist plots. He must disentangle the various plots with the help of Ekaterina Vorsoisson. Can Miles save Komarr from itself or will the planet fall into anarchy?
Summary
The history of Komarr influences this novel. This is the short version of that history. The Komarr system is a travel hub with many connections. Barrayar only has one connection and that leads to Komarr. In the past, the Komarrans let the Cetagandans through their system to attack Barrayar. The war between Barrayar and Cetaganda was hard on the Barayarans. The Barrayarns expelled the Cetagandans but at great cost. The Barrayarans blamed Komarr for this. Later the Barrayarans took over Komarr. An incident in that war earned Aral Vorkosigan (Miles’s father) the title of Butcher of Komarr. A faction of Komarrans want to overthrow the Barrayans.
That brings us to this novel. Miles is a newly appointed Auditor. That means that he has the power to investigate and judicate matters under the authority of the Barrayaran Emperor. Komarr has an ongoing centuries long terraforming project in process. The populus all live under domes on Komarr’s surface. A solar power satellite important in the terraforming project was damaged and Miles must discover if it was an accident or sabotage.
Ekaterine Vorsoisson has an alternate viewpoint in this novel. She is from Barrayar and married to Tien Vorsoisson, an engineer involved in the terraforming project. Tien has secrets and they have an unhappy marriage. Caught in the middle is their son.
The connection between Miles and Ekaterine is important to the plot of this novel. Miles must solve the mystery with Ekaterine’s help.
Recommendation
Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold takes the Vorkosigan Saga into a new direction. This and the succeeding novels of the saga follow Miles in his Auditor role solving problems for the emperor. The important development for this novel is the introduction of Ekaterine. She is a match and a muse for Miles. He’s finally growing mature. I enjoyed the background and mystery behind this novel.  Â
Links
This is the link to the Goodreads page of Komarr by Lois McMaster Bujold.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61884.Komarr
In Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold, death will not stop Miles Vorkosigan, but his boss Simon Illyan has an illness that might end Miles’s career. Can Miles figure out what happened to Illyan and what he should do about it before it’s too late?
In Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold, Dr. Ethan Urquhart must discover what happened to unusable ovarian samples. Will Ethan go off the planet, risk being corrupted, and solve the mystery of the unusable samples, or will he doom Athos by doing nothing?
In Cetaganda by Lois McMaster Bujold, they send Miles Vorkosigan and his cousin Ivan to Cetaganda on a diplomatic mission. Miles becomes involved in a complex mystery. Will Miles foil the plot to destroy Cetaganda and save his home planet of Barrayar?
In The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold, they accused Miles Vorkosigan of treason. Will Miles play The Vor Game well enough to escape the treason charges made against him and secure the assignment he desires?
In Warriors Apprentice (Book #2 of the Vorkosigan Saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold, Miles Vorkosigan gets involved in another planet’s war. Can he escape the mischief he started?
Links (Continued)
In Barrayar (Book#7 of the Vorkosigan saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold, Lady Cordelia Vorkosigan faces an assassination and the birth of her son. Will she survive the regency and give birth to her son?
In Shards of Honor (Book#1 of the Vorkosigan saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold, Barrayaran Captain Aral Vorkosigan takes Betan Commander Cordelia Naismith as a prisoner. They take a hike in the jungle. What happens when they fall in love?
In Falling Free (Book #4 of the Vorkosigan saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold, space engineer Leo Graf must decide between retiring or risking his life protecting his students. The novel is a fun, self-contained space opera romp.
