The Warrior's Apprentice (1986) (edit title/settings)

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Summary edit see section history

Characters edit see section history

• Miles Naismith Vorkosigan: Son of Aral and Cordelia; Lord Vorkosigan.
• Kostolitz: A Barrayaran Imperial Service cadet.
• Bothari: One of the Vorkosigan family's liveried retainers. Assigned as personal bodyguard to Miles. Formerly a sergeant under Aral's command.
• Elena Bothari: Daughter of Sergeant Bothari; playmate to Miles when they were children.
• Cordelia Vorkosigan: Lady Vorkosigan; married to Aral Vorkosigan.
• Piotr Vorkosigan: Count Vorkosigan and a General; Aral's father.
• Aral Vorkosigan: Lord Vorkosigan, an Admiral, and former Regent of Barrayar, now Prime Minister of Barrayar; married to Cordelia, son of Piotr.
• Clement Koudelka: A Lieutenant; Aral's personal secretary. Called Kou.
• Gregor Vorbarra: Emperor of Barrayar.
• Admiral Hessman: Barrayaran officer in charge of Procurement.
• Ivan Vorpatril: Lord Vorpatril; son of Alys Vorpatril and Padma Vorpatril (deceased). Miles' cousin.
• Simon Illyan: Captain; Chief of Imperial Security.
• Count Vordrozda: A Count on the far-right end of the political spectrum.
• Tav Calhoun: A Betan cargo ship owner.
• Arde Mayhew: A Betan jump-pilot.
• Mrs. Naismith: Cordelia's mother; a Betan.
• Baz Jesek: A Barrayaran deserter.
• Carle Daum: A Felician Major.
• Yuan Oser: Admiral of the Oseran Mercenaries.
• Auson: A Captain in the Oseran Mercenary Fleet. Owner of the Ariel.
• Bel Thorne: Lieutenant in the Oseran Mercenary Fleet; Captain Auson's second-in-command on the Ariel. A Betan hermaphrodite.
• Elli Quinn: An Oseran mercenary on the Ariel.
• Ky Tung: A Captain in the Oseran Mercenary Fleet. Originally from Earth; owner of the Triumph.A good chunk of his family lives in Brazil, and he goes there to visit them on leave in Brothers in Arms.
• Lieutenant Gamad: A Felician officer.
• General Hallify: A Felician officer.
• Elena Visconti: An Escobaran tech.
• Henri Vorvolk: Count; cadet in the Imperial Service Academy.
• Vorhalas: Conservative Count known for his personal integrity.

Quotes edit see section history

• “--"Women shouldn't be in combat."-- "Why not? Why is that," she jerked her head toward the infirmary, "any more horrible for a woman than a man?"-- "I don't know," Miles groped. "Your father once said that if a woman puts on a uniform she's asking for it, and you should never hesitate to fire - odd streak of egalitarianism, coming from him. But all my instincts are to throw my cloak across her puddle or something, not blow her head off. It throws me off."-- "The honor goes with the risk," argued Elena. "Deny the risk and you deny the honor. I always thought you were the one Barrayaran male I knew who'd allow that a woman might have an honor that wasn't parked between her legs."”

  Miles Vorkosigan and Elena Bothari

• “"If I were killed, you wouldn't leave me out there, would you, my lord?"-- "Huh?" Miles tore his attention from trying to make new constellations.-- "They leave bodies in space sometimes. Cold as hell. . . God can't find them out there. No one could."-- Miles blinked. He had never known the Sergeant concealed a theological streak. "Look, what's all this all of a sudden about getting killed? You're not going to-"-- "The Count your father promised me," Bothari raised his voice slightly to override him, "I'd be buried at your lady mother's feet, at Vorkosigan Surleau. He promised. Didn't he tell you?"-- "Er. . . The subject never came up."-- "His word as Vorkosigan. Your word."-- "Uh, right, then." Miles stared out the chamber's transparency. Some saw stars, it seemed, and some saw the spaces between them. Cold. . .”

  Miles Vorkosigan and Sergeant Bothari

• “He went through his half of the patterns automatically, while his mind circled again around his real life military dilemma. This was just the sort of thing he would have been taught how to do at the Imperial Service Academy, he thought with an inward sigh. There was probably a book on it. He wished he had a copy; he was getting mortally tired of having to re-invent the wheel every fifteen minutes. Although it was just barely possible there WAS no way for three small warships and a battered freighter to take out an entire mercenary fleet.”

• “You own honor by the ocean," she whispered. "I have only a little bucketful. Unfair to jostle it -- my lord.”

  Elena Bothari

• “Heroes. They sprang up around him like weeds. A carrier, he was seemingly unable to catch the disease he spread.”

  Miles Vorkosigan

• “<Miles> surged up, sat back down, squeezed his temples with the heels of his hands in an effort to get his brain into motion. Not only was Ivan an idiot, but he generated a telepathic damping field that turned people nearby into idiots too. He would point this out to Barrayaran Intelligence, who would make of his cousin the newest weapon in their arsenal -- if anyone could be found who could remember what they were doing once they closed on him. . .”

• “"Your forward momentum is going to lead all your followers off a cliff someday." He paused, beginning to grin. "On the way down, you'll convince 'em all they can fly." He stuck his fists in his armpits, and waggled his elbows. "Lead on, my lord. I'm flapping as hard as I can."”

  Arde Mayhew

• “Only on Barrayar, Miles reflected, would pulling a loaded needler start a stampede TOWARD one.”

• “-- "I only wanted to serve Barrayar, as my father before me. When I couldn't serve Barrayar, I wanted -- I wanted to serve something. To--" he raised his eyes to his father's, driven to a painful honesty, "to make my life an offering fit to lay at his feet." He shrugged. "Screwed up again." -- "Clay, boy." Count Vorkosigan's voice was hoarse but clear. "Only clay. Not fit to receive so golden a sacrifice." His voice cracked. -- For a moment, Miles forgot to care about his coming trial. He lidded his eyes, and stored tranquility away in his heart's most secret recesses, to pleasure him in some lean and desperate future hour.”

• “Lord Miles Naismith Vorkosigan. Occupation: security risk. Hobbies: falling off walls, disappointing sick old men to death, making girls cry...”

• “Miles pressed his lips together firmly. He must not break down into howls of laughter. Yet here he sat, a man with an imaginary battle fleet negotiating for its services with a man with an imaginary budget. Well, the price was certainly right.”

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• “Ivan, one of these days somebody is going to pull out a weapon and plug you, and you're going to die in bewilderment, crying, ‘What did I say? What did I say?'” “What did I say?” asked Ivan indignantly.

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• “I've known people who play chess like this. They can't think their way to a checkmate, so they spend their time trying to clear the board of the little pieces. This eventually reduces the game to a simplicity they can grasp, and they're happy. The perfect war is a fool's mate.”

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• Mayhew snorted. “Your forward momentum is going to lead all your followers over a cliff someday.” He paused, beginning to grin. “On the way down, you'll convince ‘em all they can fly.”

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• “Damn it,” he mumbled apologetically, “things like this never happened to Vorthalia the Bold.” She raised a thoughtful eyebrow. “How do you know? The histories of those times were all written by minstrels and poets. You try to think of a word that rhymes with ‘bleeding ulcer'.”

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• “I know all about suicide. Don't think you can fool me.” She started, and flushed. Frowned at him in fierce scorn. Snapped her faceplate shut.

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• What would it be like to have a mind that retained nearly everything, but never bothered to put it any kind of order?

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• Mayhew's laughter faded. “My God,” he said hollowly, “you mean he's like that all the

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• He lidded his eyes, and stored tranquillity away in his heart's most secret recesses, to pleasure him in some lean and desperate future hour.

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• “Well ... My fa—a person I knew once said that meaning is what you bring to things, not what you take from them.

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• apology! I am all right, damn it! I'll make you see it. I'll stuff you so full of pride in me there'll be no room left for your

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Barrayar: Planet formerly cut off from the wormhole nexus, now connected through Komarr.
• Beta Colony: The most scientifically advanced planet in the wormhole nexus; run on democratic lines.
• Felice: A country on the planet Tau Verde IV.
• Pelias: A country on the planet Tau Verde IV.
• The RG 132: An obsolete freighter.
• The Ariel: An Illyrican ship in the Oseran Mercenary Fleet.
• The Triumph: A dreadnought in the Oseran Mercenary Fleet.

Organizations edit see section history

• ImpSec: Barrayaran Imperial Security.
• The Dendarii Free Mercenaries: A galactic mercenary fleet.
• The Oseran Mercenaries: A galactic mercenary fleet.

First Sentence edit see section history

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by Barrayar, and followed by The Mountains of Mourning.

Preceded by Shards of Honor, and followed by Ethan of Athos.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Lois McMaster Bujold (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

There is some violence, including one very brief scene of torture.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Authors, A-Z › ( B ) › Bujold, Lois McMaster
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Science Fiction › Space Opera
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Science Fiction › Series

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