It feels a bit elegiac, and if anything belated, to look at a handbook to Bujold's Vorkosigan universe. It is five years since the latest story of the cycle was published, and the most recent novel came out in 2001. Bujold continues to publish, but has switched to fantasy these days,
I must say we do a brisk trade in this house of lending the books out to visitors, who usually return them gratefully, asking for more and complimenting us on our taste; and they are favourites to reread as well.
The Companion is rather thin for its price. It starts with several interesting bits from Bujold herself, but then has some not very inspiring essays on various aspects of her works. The best by far is Marna Nightingale's description of Bujold fandom; I'll shout out also to Doug Muir for his introduction to The Warrior's Apprentice. But I couldn't really recommend the book to anyone who is not a Bujold completist, and I'm afraid it goes fourth on my Hugo ballot for Best Related Book, which therefore looks like this:
- Rhetorics of Fantasy
- What It Is We Do When We Read Science Fiction
- Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded
- The Vorkosigan Companion