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The Vorkosigan Companion
First Time in Paperback for the Book That Thousands of Fans of Lois McMaster Bujold and Miles Vorkosigan Have Been Waiting For.
Lois McMaster Bujold’s best-selling Vorkosigan series is a publishing phenomenon, winning record-breaking sales, critical praise, four Hugo Awards and a Nebula award. And the thousands of devotees of the series now have a book that will be a goldmine of information, background details, and little-known facts about the Vorkosigan saga. Included are an all-new interview with Bujold as well as essays by her on crafting the Vorkosigan universe, articles on the biology, technology and sociology of the planet Barrayar, appreciations of the individual novels by experts, maps, a complete timeline of the series, and more. Readers can’t get enough of the Vorkosigan series and they’ll jump at the chance to read this story behind the stories. Includes an excerpt from the new Miles Vorkosigan novel!
Lois McMaster Bujold’s best-selling Vorkosigan series is a publishing phenomenon, winning record-breaking sales, critical praise, four Hugo Awards and a Nebula award. And the thousands of devotees of the series now have a book that will be a goldmine of information, background details, and little-known facts about the Vorkosigan saga. Included are an all-new interview with Bujold as well as essays by her on crafting the Vorkosigan universe, articles on the biology, technology and sociology of the planet Barrayar, appreciations of the individual novels by experts, maps, a complete timeline of the series, and more. Readers can’t get enough of the Vorkosigan series and they’ll jump at the chance to read this story behind the stories. Includes an excerpt from the new Miles Vorkosigan novel!
688 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 2008
63 people are currently reading
1050 people want to read
About the author
Lillian Stewart Carl
64 books57 followersAuthor bio:
Lillian Stewart Carl's work often features paranormal/fantasy themes and always features plots based on mythology, history, and archaeology. Most of her novels take place squarely in the twenty-first century, where the past lingers on into the present, especially in the British Isles, Lillian's home away from home.
She is the author of nineteen novels so far, including the Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron mystery series---America's exile and Scotland's finest on the trail of all-too-living legends.
Her newest novel is Fairbairn/Cameron number six, THE MORTSAFE.
Of her mystery, fantasy, and sf short stories, twelve are available in a collection titled ALONG THE RIM OF TIME, and thirteen, including three from "Best Of the Year" anthologies, are collected in THE MUSE AND OTHER STORIES OF HISTORY, MYSTERY, and MYTH.
All of Carl's work is available in electronic as well as paper form.
She has also co-edited (with John Helfers) a retrospective of Lois McMaster's Bujold's science fiction work, titled THE VORKOSIGAN COMPANION, which was nominated for a Hugo award.
Lillian Stewart Carl's work often features paranormal/fantasy themes and always features plots based on mythology, history, and archaeology. Most of her novels take place squarely in the twenty-first century, where the past lingers on into the present, especially in the British Isles, Lillian's home away from home.
She is the author of nineteen novels so far, including the Jean Fairbairn/Alasdair Cameron mystery series---America's exile and Scotland's finest on the trail of all-too-living legends.
Her newest novel is Fairbairn/Cameron number six, THE MORTSAFE.
Of her mystery, fantasy, and sf short stories, twelve are available in a collection titled ALONG THE RIM OF TIME, and thirteen, including three from "Best Of the Year" anthologies, are collected in THE MUSE AND OTHER STORIES OF HISTORY, MYSTERY, and MYTH.
All of Carl's work is available in electronic as well as paper form.
She has also co-edited (with John Helfers) a retrospective of Lois McMaster's Bujold's science fiction work, titled THE VORKOSIGAN COMPANION, which was nominated for a Hugo award.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
January 5, 2009
Pretty cool, with a few notable low points. The second half of the book is all reference material – an exhaustive concordance, wormhole maps, genealogical charts, etc. Handy, for those who find themselves in need of such things. The first half starts out strong with a few new essays from Bujold herself, as well as a long informal interview. Then it slides precipitously downhill into topical essays on romance and technology in the books, whose general quality is far outmatched by the meta you can find various places on the internet. Isn't that always the way, though? There's also an adorably note perfect piece about fandom, lacking in that it focuses entirely on the mailing list culture and neglects all fan transformative activities that aren't discussion. Cue mingled exasperation over the elision of decades of history mixed with profound relief.
Aaaanyway. Totally worthwhile, for the resident Vorkosiphiles.
Aaaanyway. Totally worthwhile, for the resident Vorkosiphiles.
August 30, 2012
This would be a rewarding book to dip in and out of occasionally, picking up a bit of knowledge each time. However, that doesn't really work for my Sony Reader, so I read the whole thing from the start.
The first few essays / interviews are great, and I really enjoyed reading them.
The middle section of the book has several essays taken from book forewords. Each picks a different theme and discusses how that theme is handled across the series. Read independently, they'd be interesting, but read in sequence they don't work - the impression is of reading the same set of plot synopses over and over again.
The second half of the book is largely reference material, and useless in ebook form, so I ignored it.
Overall, a mixed bag, particularly in the format I read it in. The main effect of my reading it was to make me want to read the series again.
The entire series came free with my hardback copy of Cryoburn, and this was the one entry I'd not previously purchased in some form. I enjoyed reading bits of it, but I'd have felt disappointed if I'd spent money downloading it on its own.
The first few essays / interviews are great, and I really enjoyed reading them.
The middle section of the book has several essays taken from book forewords. Each picks a different theme and discusses how that theme is handled across the series. Read independently, they'd be interesting, but read in sequence they don't work - the impression is of reading the same set of plot synopses over and over again.
The second half of the book is largely reference material, and useless in ebook form, so I ignored it.
Overall, a mixed bag, particularly in the format I read it in. The main effect of my reading it was to make me want to read the series again.
The entire series came free with my hardback copy of Cryoburn, and this was the one entry I'd not previously purchased in some form. I enjoyed reading bits of it, but I'd have felt disappointed if I'd spent money downloading it on its own.
August 23, 2012
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 Falling Free 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.
March 5, 2018
The first half of the book is fantastic, with essays and commentaries from different authors. The other half, which contains different appendices is... not fantastic, sadly.
August 23, 2014
Very useful and comprehensive glossary of all the names, places, technology, in short anything that you can't look up in a dictionary or wikipedia. Also pronunciation guides to names. I wish I had this while I was still reading the fiction. I will keep it for the next read-throughs. But other than a reference, I probably will not read this book itself again.
January 20, 2025
Thi is an excellent reference work for fans of the Vorkosigan books. It has a couple of excellent interviews with Bujold, some articles from other contributors about the technology of the universe and other things, a complicated and highly speculative article by Suford Lewis on Barrayaran genealogy. and a thorough concordance.
Since its publication, though, more books have been added to the saga and the book, which is an ebook, hasn't caught up. A good but dated reference work if you want to write accurate fanfic.
Since its publication, though, more books have been added to the saga and the book, which is an ebook, hasn't caught up. A good but dated reference work if you want to write accurate fanfic.
November 26, 2017
Some very cool content in here - interviews, charts, forwards, conversations with family and friends. As a supplement for someone who just needs to have EVERYthing Vorkosigan related, it fits the bill. But as a readable book, sorry - no. Half of the pages are encyclopedic, which while it may be a fun exercise to complete in the writing, is just not relevant to me as a reader. But, I am 10 years late to the party on this one, and just not a fan of anything in the encyclopedic style of fandom. I love LMB, I love the Vorkosigan universe, and I am glad that I read the first half of this one. But I can't recommend it to anyone other than die-hard fans.
March 22, 2019
First, this book needs an update as there are short stories and appendices that are out of date with new stories now in print. Second, if you like the Vorkosiverse, you need this book. It has a concordance, story summaries, a pronunciation guide, and all sorts of interesting background and history. Some things are fascinating and some drag a little. What do you expect for over 600 pages? Don't expect to read it in one afternoon: it's best in short doses with at least two bookmarks. (Yes, I try to read huge tomes in short amounts of time if they are really good.)
Do not lend it out. You might not get it back.
Do not lend it out. You might not get it back.
April 9, 2025
Spoiler by design, DO NOT read before you have finished reading the entire series! It will ruin several surprises.
This is a mix of material from multiple sources that give the reader insight on the creative process in writing the series as well as insights into how some of the character & story arcs came about along with how the characters fared after the events that brought them into contact with Miles or those in his orbit. The last part contains a list of every major character plus a nearly complete list of all of the characters in every book. Following is a glossary with a thumbnail sketch of various tech that played a part of some or all of the various books.
This is a mix of material from multiple sources that give the reader insight on the creative process in writing the series as well as insights into how some of the character & story arcs came about along with how the characters fared after the events that brought them into contact with Miles or those in his orbit. The last part contains a list of every major character plus a nearly complete list of all of the characters in every book. Following is a glossary with a thumbnail sketch of various tech that played a part of some or all of the various books.
October 3, 2019
Just for fans. Which I am.
Want to read
July 19, 2020elibrary
April 26, 2024
I read this on a two-week trip, and it took a while to get through because it is basically a reference book to the wonderful fictional Vorkosigan world created by Lois McMaster Bujold. (And I didn't have much time to read!). Made up of a several previously published essays with the author and then an extensive glossary of characters in the Vorkosigan books as well as other information it was not a quick read but it was interesting.
January 16, 2019
(The copy I read had a signature---pages 26 to 51, IIRC---missing and what looks like the corresponding pages from War Games by Christopher Anvil in its place. Since the most interesting material was toward the beginning of the book, those missing pages might have bumped my rating up to 4 stars. Maybe.)
The Vorkosigan Companion includes a few interviews with Bujold, accounts by a childhood friend and her brother, the introductions (by fans) to four of the novels, essays about aspects of the series and its fandom, a pronunciation guide, a concordance (list of characters, places, and items with brief explanations and indications of which books include them), a map of the wormhole routes between systems described in the series, and the series chronology (book listing) included in every book in the series.
Of these, the interviews and friend-and-relation reminiscences were interesting and well worth reading; the book introductions were more or less the same, except that they were either essays I had already read with the books in question, or retreads of material I had read or gathered from elsewhere. The essays about the series were hit-or-miss, and except for the genealogical analysis at the end of the volume relied too much on plot summary. The essay on the Bujold fandom made me wish wistfully that I had time to start reading The List again. The map and its accompanying explanation were reasonably good, but I've seen better "Nexus maps" online, and from mentions of "maps" (plural) I had expected a map of Barrayar, Beta Colony, Komarr, or one of the other polities in the Nexus. Finally, the concordance and pronunciation guide are probably the best reason to keep the book around once we've got it, but are needlessly duplicative (why not just include pronunciations in the people's and places' entries in the concordance).
I recognized the names of several of the contributors from my years reading (lurking on) The List, but that also made me wonder why other prominent listees, whom I know to have written better scholarly analyses in similar veins, were not also represented.
So, all in all, The Vorkosigan Companion isn't by any means bad, but it doesn't meet my expectations.
The Vorkosigan Companion includes a few interviews with Bujold, accounts by a childhood friend and her brother, the introductions (by fans) to four of the novels, essays about aspects of the series and its fandom, a pronunciation guide, a concordance (list of characters, places, and items with brief explanations and indications of which books include them), a map of the wormhole routes between systems described in the series, and the series chronology (book listing) included in every book in the series.
Of these, the interviews and friend-and-relation reminiscences were interesting and well worth reading; the book introductions were more or less the same, except that they were either essays I had already read with the books in question, or retreads of material I had read or gathered from elsewhere. The essays about the series were hit-or-miss, and except for the genealogical analysis at the end of the volume relied too much on plot summary. The essay on the Bujold fandom made me wish wistfully that I had time to start reading The List again. The map and its accompanying explanation were reasonably good, but I've seen better "Nexus maps" online, and from mentions of "maps" (plural) I had expected a map of Barrayar, Beta Colony, Komarr, or one of the other polities in the Nexus. Finally, the concordance and pronunciation guide are probably the best reason to keep the book around once we've got it, but are needlessly duplicative (why not just include pronunciations in the people's and places' entries in the concordance).
I recognized the names of several of the contributors from my years reading (lurking on) The List, but that also made me wonder why other prominent listees, whom I know to have written better scholarly analyses in similar veins, were not also represented.
So, all in all, The Vorkosigan Companion isn't by any means bad, but it doesn't meet my expectations.
July 23, 2013
To be honest, I don't think I would have paid money for this book -- but I didn't, because it was on the Cryoburn CD. (So, okay, technically I suppose a portion of the hardcover price funded the CD.) Bujold's essays on writing and discussions of her fannishness are interesting (and certainly the part of the book that I would most recommend), and some of the reprinted introductions to the novels are interesting.
The rest of it is probably worthwhile as reference for a fan of the series, but not so much the sort of thing you want to sit and read. Most of the book is a glosssary of people, places and things mentioned in the series. There's a pronunciation guide, which honestly feels more like it belongs on the Dendarii site. There's a wormhole map. There's a discussion of Aral's possible bloodlines that would give him a claim as emperor. There's a timeline that I actually wanted to use once, but found that it wasn't detailed enough to answer my question. (Luckily, there are better fan-made timelines.) There are series summaries by book.
It's current up through Diplomatic Immunity, meaning that as I write this it's only two books out of date. If you're a big fan you'll probably want to read this eventually, but you needn't go out of your way for it. I have read concordances to SF/F worlds that I like better (the Dragonlover's Guide to Pern comes to mind), but, well, at least Vorkosigan's got something now.
The rest of it is probably worthwhile as reference for a fan of the series, but not so much the sort of thing you want to sit and read. Most of the book is a glosssary of people, places and things mentioned in the series. There's a pronunciation guide, which honestly feels more like it belongs on the Dendarii site. There's a wormhole map. There's a discussion of Aral's possible bloodlines that would give him a claim as emperor. There's a timeline that I actually wanted to use once, but found that it wasn't detailed enough to answer my question. (Luckily, there are better fan-made timelines.) There are series summaries by book.
It's current up through Diplomatic Immunity, meaning that as I write this it's only two books out of date. If you're a big fan you'll probably want to read this eventually, but you needn't go out of your way for it. I have read concordances to SF/F worlds that I like better (the Dragonlover's Guide to Pern comes to mind), but, well, at least Vorkosigan's got something now.
September 18, 2018
This is great as a pick-up book to read in between other books, activities, etc. I am loving it!
I got a little hung up in the descriptions of the planets, but I'm working on it.... :-)
I can finally say that I've finished the book, although there was a fair amount of skimming; and I've probably read at least 15 other books in between dipping into this one. There is a very good concordance listing names of people, planets, etc., that goes on forever - well, there are a lot of books involved, even though the series was only up to Diplomatic Immunity when the Companion was published. There is an excerpt from Cryoburn at the end, and of course Captain Vorpatril's Alliance and Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen were still in the future. Nonetheless, it was fascinating. It also includes essays by and conversations with Lois McMaster Bujold. Since I own and have read all the books in the Vorkosiverse, and re-read most of them several times, I enjoyed meeting characters again that I had forgotten. I also discovered a couple short stories that I had not read, and was able to get them to add to my Bujold shelf. A very handy reference book, and also fun to just dip into here and there.
I got a little hung up in the descriptions of the planets, but I'm working on it.... :-)
I can finally say that I've finished the book, although there was a fair amount of skimming; and I've probably read at least 15 other books in between dipping into this one. There is a very good concordance listing names of people, planets, etc., that goes on forever - well, there are a lot of books involved, even though the series was only up to Diplomatic Immunity when the Companion was published. There is an excerpt from Cryoburn at the end, and of course Captain Vorpatril's Alliance and Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen were still in the future. Nonetheless, it was fascinating. It also includes essays by and conversations with Lois McMaster Bujold. Since I own and have read all the books in the Vorkosiverse, and re-read most of them several times, I enjoyed meeting characters again that I had forgotten. I also discovered a couple short stories that I had not read, and was able to get them to add to my Bujold shelf. A very handy reference book, and also fun to just dip into here and there.
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December 23, 2009"http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1256806.html[return][return]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.[return][return]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."
April 21, 2011
The outstanding bits of this very miscellaneous collection for me are Lillian Stewart Carl's adorkable reminisces about growing up fannish with Lois and Lois's own revisiting of her writing life, which is just as thoughtful as her fictional take on same.
On the other end of the spectrum for me would be the pronunciation guide, which seems like it could live perfectly happily on the internet without needing to see a print version (not that I have the book in print so much as from the fantastic CD-ROM bound that came with CryoBurn).
Well worth checking out if you're a Bujold fan, especially if you enjoy reading about the infancy of fandom and/or the writing process.
On the other end of the spectrum for me would be the pronunciation guide, which seems like it could live perfectly happily on the internet without needing to see a print version (not that I have the book in print so much as from the fantastic CD-ROM bound that came with CryoBurn).
Well worth checking out if you're a Bujold fan, especially if you enjoy reading about the infancy of fandom and/or the writing process.
September 30, 2016
Брутална компилация, само за заклети фенове на сагата. Ако не сте чели някоя от книгите, по-добре да не я подхващата, защото спойлерите са на кубици.
Страшно ми харесаха поместените вътре статии, есета и едно две интервюта, както и индексите с карти и генеалогични дървета.
Има и доста разширени синопсиси на всички романи, до излизането на тази книга, показалец с правилното произношение на имената от всички произведения. А половината книга е заета от пълна енциклопедия на света на Вор.
Най-много ми допаднаха - статията на брата на Бюджълд за "Без гравитация", есето за техническо-научните допуски в книгите и статията за многонационалната фенгрупа на авторката.
Приятно четиво за времето, докато очакваме следващата книга.
Страшно ми харесаха поместените вътре статии, есета и едно две интервюта, както и индексите с карти и генеалогични дървета.
Има и доста разширени синопсиси на всички романи, до излизането на тази книга, показалец с правилното произношение на имената от всички произведения. А половината книга е заета от пълна енциклопедия на света на Вор.
Най-много ми допаднаха - статията на брата на Бюджълд за "Без гравитация", есето за техническо-научните допуски в книгите и статията за многонационалната фенгрупа на авторката.
Приятно четиво за времето, докато очакваме следващата книга.
March 2, 2014
This collection of essays about Lois McMaster Bujold's delightful Vorkosigan saga has a few bright spots, but is mostly disappointing. Seriously, over half the volume is comprised of lists more exhausting than exhaustive (since they're now two books outdated) of people, places, plots, and pronunciations. The essays by Bujold herself provide fascinating background on the series and its genesis, and Smulders-Srinivasan's essay on various biological technologies and their current states of development is a real gem. Mostly, though, it left me feeling like I'd just read the entire series again and not enjoyed it in the least.
May 11, 2009
Just started this, and I gotta say that reading Bujold's non-fiction pieces about her life, her writing, the business of writing just make me appreciate her great talents even more.
I did not read the entire book; a lot of it is stuff that is reprinted (like the forwards from her books) and some stuff was also printed in "Dreamweaver's Dilemma". Given that, there were still a couple of topnotch essays by Bujold on the subject of writing. She is so great.
I did not read the entire book; a lot of it is stuff that is reprinted (like the forwards from her books) and some stuff was also printed in "Dreamweaver's Dilemma". Given that, there were still a couple of topnotch essays by Bujold on the subject of writing. She is so great.
July 27, 2010
Great fun if you've read the Vorkosigan novels. If you haven't read them yet, go get one (try Cordelia's Honor or The Warrior's Apprentice---either are excellent entry points to the series). Save this book for after you become addicted to Bujold's stunningly excellent books. It's full of essays by Bujold and others about the books; a concordance; and even a pronunciation guide to names of people and places.
November 12, 2011
The bulk of the text is a glossary which doesn't lend itself to a readthrough. Some of the upfront essays were better than others; some went over ground covered in other essays. Little that makes this a massive standout. For serious Miles fans, it's the equivalent of spending an evening jawing about the characters--diverting, but wouldn't you rather read another Miles book? Or talk about them with your friends?
August 19, 2015
A collection of essays by and about Lois McMaster Bujold, aythor of the Vorkosigan series of science fiction books (dubbed the Vorkosiverse by fans) and a number of excellent fantasies including the Five Gods (Chalion) series and the Sahring Knife quartet, a blend of fantasy and romance. I've never met a Bujold book I didn't like, so this makes interesting reading and gives me some insight into Ms Bujold's creative process and writing history.
August 10, 2010
A book for the fans of Lois McMaster Bujold's series about Miles Vorkosigan, with all kinds of tidbits and trivia inside. A terrific resource and one that fans will enjoy.
For the more complete review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_T...
For the more complete review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_T...
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February 27, 2013So a few years back I was on a fan panel with Helfeers and his wife and Toni Weisskopf talking about LMB's texts. :) Awesome. During the discussion Helfers said they heard from Lois during the writing of the Companion and she'd told them, 'Now I'll have a place to look up stuff about my writing'.
August 31, 2014
Despite loving the Vorkosigan series with a passion, this book did not add a great deal to my understanding.
It also appears to have been written before Cryoburn, the final book in the series too place. It does have some interesting chapters from Bujold herself but didn't really given me much new.
There was a useful index of all characters.
It also appears to have been written before Cryoburn, the final book in the series too place. It does have some interesting chapters from Bujold herself but didn't really given me much new.
There was a useful index of all characters.
September 8, 2011
Have to admit, I only read this as far as the last essay by Bujold - the rest I skimmed and was completely turned off of. There may be some gems there, but I'm not going to venture to find out. Bujold's contributions, however, were truly excellent. She's a class act, as always.
October 12, 2011
A pleasant read for any serious Bujold fan, especially for the new material. But lots of it was simply collected from other sources, and seriously, what die-hard fan needs a summary of each of the books? I did particularly enjoy the two Nightingale essays though.
May 28, 2013
Plenty of interesting information about Lois McMaster Bujold, the author of the Vorkosigan Saga and a good reference book for fans of all things Vorkosigan. Since Companion's publication, two more Vorkosigan novels are out and I needed the refresher.
April 25, 2014
To be fair, I didn't read through the whole concordance. I really enjoyed all the articles and interviews. I found it fascinating to read the stories and ideas behind the books. I also enjoyed the interviews and reading about the author.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews