Lois McMaster Bujold burst upon the science fiction scene in 1986 with the first of the “Vorkosigan Saga” novels, Shards of Honor, closely followed by The Warrior’s Apprentice. She has won the Nebula Award for Best Novel for Falling Free, and she won the Hugo award for Best Novel four times (for The Vor Game, Barrayar, Mirror Dance, and, most recently, Paladin of Souls) as well as the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novella with “The Mountains of Mourning.” Her short story “Labyrinth” won first place in Analog Magazine’s annual awards, and her epic fantasy novel The Curse of Chalion was on the final ballots of both the Hugo and the World Fantasy Awards. The mother of two, Bujold lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.