Bujold is one of the best writers in the genre. It's not just that she makes her books fun (and funny) and entertaining, but also profound and life affirming. I resisted picking up her books for the longest time because all the awards she's won turned me off, something that popular cannot be good, can it? Two years ago I finally gave in, and once I started reading, I couldn't stop. As long as there were more of the Miles series books out there, I didn't stop. Not because I wanted to know what happened (each book is self contained in a way), but because I wanted to be in a continuous state of reading Lois Mcmastet Bujold's writing. I recall that period of my life very fondly.