It has just about everything. There is action, romance, drama, humor, and tragedy. A whole cast of characters undergo personal growth. Relationships develop and change. Large-scale high stakes issues are covered along with a lot of smaller individual stories. Every character has a different voice and the dialog sparkles.
It works quite well as a standalone. It was a prequel to the main Vorkosigan series, which is centered around the son of the main characters in Barrayar. The rest of the series is also well worth reading.
Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold.
It has just about everything. There is action, romance, drama, humor, and tragedy. A whole cast of characters undergo personal growth. Relationships develop and change. Large-scale high stakes issues are covered along with a lot of smaller individual stories. Every character has a different voice and the dialog sparkles.
Looks like Barrayar is book 3 of 20. Does it hold up as a stand alone or do you need the first two and the next 17 to appreciate it?
It works quite well as a standalone. It was a prequel to the main Vorkosigan series, which is centered around the son of the main characters in Barrayar. The rest of the series is also well worth reading.