Komarr could be a garden - with a thousand more years
work. Or an uninhabitable wasteland, if the terraforming
fails. Now the solar mirror vital to the terraforming of
the conquered planet has been shattered by a ship hurtling
off course. The Emperor of Barrayar sends his newest
Imperial Auditor, Lord Miles Vorkosigan, to find out why.
The choice is not a popular one on Komarr, where a
betrayal a generation before drenched the name of
Vorkosigan in blood. In the political and physical
claustrophobia of the domed cities, are the Komarrans
surrounding Miles loyal subjects, potential hostages,
innocent victims, or rebels bidding for revenge? Lies
within lies, treachery within treachery - Miles is caught
in a race against time to stop a plot that could exile him
from Barrayar forever. His burning hope lies in an
unexpected ally, one with wounds as deep and honor as
beleaguered as his own.