Lois McMaster Bujold - last 6 books of Vorkosigan saga

Books:
1.Memory
2.Mirror Dance
3.Komarr
4.Civil Campaign
5.Winterfair Gifts
6.Diplomatic Immunity.

Lois McMaster Bujold could well qualify for the title of "Quiet Achiever in Recent SF." Between 1985 and 1997 she has produced some twelve novels, plus novellas and stories, at the rate of a publication or better a year. Yet when I started this piece as a review of her most recent novel, Komarr (1997), the NYRSF editor felt Bujold was so little known that most of the references to her oeuvre would be unintelligible. Nor, until recently, has she drawn academic attention. The second edition of the SF encyclopedia said little beyond "funny and humane" (171), and many informed readers, male or female, dismiss her along the same lines. It is quite true that she writes unabashed space opera, often classified as military SF, with little overt concern for technology, and high emphasis on characters. How, then, has she managed twelve short-listings or final nominations in Hugo, Nebula or other industry polls, and outright won two Nebulas and four Hugo awards?