Komarr

Plot summary

Miles Vorkosigan, newly appointed as Imperial Auditor, travels to Komarr with Professor Vorthys to determine whether the destruction of a solar power satellite was accidental or deliberate. The satellite is essential to the planet's ongoing terraforming. Miles uncovers a conspiracy that threatens the Barrayaran Empire. He becomes attracted to Ekaterin Vorsoisson, the unhappy wife of engineer Tien Vorsoisson.

Tien suffers from a degenerative genetic condition and has secretly gambled on Komarran financial markets to fund treatment. Deeply in debt, he accepted bribes to overlook irregularities that were part of the plot. Tien and Miles are captured and left shackled outside in Komarr's toxic atmosphere. Tien's breathing mask runs out of air, and he suffocates.

Ekaterin, who had been planning to leave Tien after discovering his gambling losses, receives a call to retrieve them and finds her husband dead and Miles injured. Miles and Vorthys recruit a Komarran physicist to analyze the conspirators' purchases. They deduce the cabal intends to close Barrayar's only wormhole, but the physicist believes the device would instead generate a gravity pulse destroying itself. A test of the device shatters the spaceship carrying it, and the debris destroys the satellite.

Reception

Publishers Weekly described the novel as a fast-moving story with action and wit, and found the portrayal of Ekaterin's loveless marriage both believable and intensely painful. Jo Walton at Tor.com called it a perfect mystery with clues in plain sight but cleverly misdirected, praising the depiction of plausible villains who see themselves as heroes. Nicki Gerlach at the SF Site commended the realistic portrayal of an abusive relationship, noting that Ekaterin's reasons for staying with Tien contribute to her characterization and likability.