Heee, the cover pic as Barrayan propaganda, I love it! That works perfectly for me ^_^

I could totally see where that could be a really basic origin for Shards of Honor - a seed that fast grew into something else. (I've had a couple origfic ideas myself that started as me thinking about writing a fanfic and then deciding to take it somewhere else...) The Barrayar did remind me of a classic Star Trek-style "warrior race"...I've been a Trekkie forever, so any such associations just lend to my enjoyment!