The Vorkosigan novels are not written in chronological order. Or not published, anyway. It's a bit frustrating.
Steph: Shards is a romance-with-politics-and-battles. Barrayar, which follows it immediately, is a political thriller with rich character details. (And battles, but those are mostly offstage.) If you don't like those two, you won't like the rest; but even if you're kind of meh on Shards, stick it out to Barrayar, which -- shopping, yes. Sigh.
After those two, the order is:
The Warrior's Apprentice,
(space battles! adventure! fun and angst!, thus setting the tone for the series)
The Vor Game,
(somewhat disjointed but it has some fun stuff in it)
Borders of Infinity
(a short story collection, some of them awesome),
Cetaganda
(a political intrigue/mystery which I found kind of meh),
Brothers in Arms
(politics/intrigue, and necessary, as it sets up the next few),
Mirror Dance
(politics and adventure),
Memory
(Miles hits 30; 30 hits back),
Komarr
(a mystery, mostly),
A Civil Campaign
(a Sayers/Heyer tribute, which works better in theory than in practice, but is often very fun: primarily a romance),
Diplomatic Immunity
(a mystery, which was also quite meh).
That's the main line: there's also Falling Free and Ethan of Athos, which are set in the same universe but the Vorkosigans do not appear onscreen.
(Did I miss any?)
Shards of Honor (1986)
Barrayar (1991)
The Warrior's Apprentice (1986)
"The Mountains of Mourning" (1989) (short story in Borders of Infinity)
The Vor Game (1990)
Cetaganda (1995)
"Labyrinth" (1989) (in Borders of Infinity)
"The Borders of Infinity" (1987) (in Borders of Infinity)
Brothers in Arms (1989)
Mirror Dance (1994)
Memory (1996)
Komarr (1998)
A Civil Campaign (2000)
Diplomatic Immunity (2002)
You know, it's been years since I read it. I don't even own a copy.
Chronologically, Ethan of Athos comes somewhere between The Vor Game and Brothers in Arms. It has a major character in common with the other books.
And haven't the first few been repackaged a few times as Young Miles or somesuch?
I swear they've all been repackaged as something. I keep seeing a title and hoping it's a new book, but not so much.
Ethan of Athos rules.
The more I think about it, the more I like it. I should reread. And rebuy, I don't think I own it anymore.
I've been thinking about rereading the whole series, but I was hoping to do that when there was a NEW BOOK.
Okay, according to Amazon, Young Miles has Warrior's Apprentice, The Vor Game and "Mountains of Mourning."
Miles, Mystery and Mayhem has Cetaganda, Ethan of Athos, and "Labyrinth."
Miles Errant = Borders of Infinity (the novella, not the collection), Brothers in Arms, and Mirror Dance
Miles, Mutants and Microbes has Falling Free and Diplomatic Immunity. And "Labyrinth" again.
The rest all seem to be available in their original titles.
