"Shards of Honor" left me deeply ambivalent, and at various points throughout that story as well as "Barrayar" I found myself somewhere between eye-rolling and aghast in horror at the protagonist's tenacity to motherhood above all else (as though there were no other reason for women to be heroes?). Barrayar began by passing the Bechdel test and making me fall instantly in love with Drou, proceeded with quite a bit more maturity of writing and pacing, and ultimately wound up making me hang on every word of the story and finding quite a bit of affection for the main cadre of heroes. The afterword was lovely and made the whole tale cohere to me. I'll likely pick up more of the series for Miles, but at the moment I'm pining for more Cordelia.