Somewhat dull but useful companion volume to Bujold's famous Miles series. The opening chapters where Bujold is interviewed and talk with her own prose are the most interesting. After that comes a series of book forwards by sort of famous people who enjoyed them, history of the universe, and spoilers (or synopsis) of all the plots - nowhere near as entertaining as re-reading them, but probably useful if you're trying to find something specific. It does make you realise just how madcap the adventures are. There's also a glossary of all the names, places and people - what book they appeared in and what backstory we know about them. Many are just one name, and a line or two. Again not really interesting, but a useful reference if you're trying to remember the details. I suspect its actually most useful for Bujold herself, who can keep all the backstory true when she's writing prequels.

I very much suspect that Bujold's own writing history is now not an amenable path for new authors looking to get published. Her first three novels were taken by Baen - a company she remains on good terms with today despite being a very much more major author name now. Only after her first seven books had been accepted did she recruit an agent to assist with the contract negotiations etc.

A useful bluffers guide if you're going to be interacting with the Bujold fanbase and don't have time to read all the books. Or a reference for those who've read them but can't quite remember the details when it comes to who was who. But for the average reader of Bujold, it doesn't hold anything of particular note. Published in 2008 so it doesn't have the latest stories in it. ( )

For fans (and most definitely only for those who have already read the Vorkosigan Saga in full, to avoid massive spoilers) and rabid fanatics. I loved the plot summaries of all the books, I loved the analysis of [b:Falling Free|61915|Falling Free|Lois McMaster Bujold|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170597889s/61915.jpg|2277408] by Bujold's engineer brother, I really appreciated the plot summary. The concordance was less compelling, but I think will be useful during a re-read. I love, love, loved the interviews with Bujold. In short, I'm moving from ordinary fan into the realm of rabid fanatic. ( )

This book is definitely for the true fan. I enjoyed Marna Nightingale's essay on Bujold fandom. All the forwards to various Vorkosigan books are a bit much all at once. The pronunciation guide would no doubt be useful to people who worry about that sort of thing and the novel summaries are handy. I was completely unable to follow the Barrayaran Genealogy, but I mostly read at the end of the day. ( )

http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1256806.html

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.

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. ( )