Reviews - Knot of Shadows | The StoryGraph

132 reviews for:

Knot of Shadows

Lois McMaster Bujold

4.08 AVERAGE

mshusky's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

When I picked it up I actually thought I had read it before as it was so similar to the beginning of another in the series. I thought this was going to be a horror, but it ended up being tragic and sad.

Not my favourite in the series.

Content Warnings

kalanadi's review

5.0

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

mey's review against another edition

3.5

relaxing medium-paced

acardattack's review

4.0

emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I love this series, this story is probably my second least favorite in the series, it may be more a 3,but these stories fill me with such joy I have a 4 star experience

lizshayne's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I have this extensive essay that I keep poking at in my head on religion in fiction—both a critical analysis of exceptional texts and a personal essay on the books that shape my relationship with God—and Bujold's Five Gods are hanging out right in the middle.
She doesn't talk about grace, although it's in the background, but what she's doing here fits better (to my Jewish brain) with the idea of "chen", which is often translated as grace, but is also like the "find favor in your eyes" sense—the thing that happens when her gods SEE their devotees and...okay, NOT writing the essay here.
Either this one is godd-ier or this essay has been percolating for too long (Por qué no los dos), but the interplay between grace and responsibility, between god and human, and between the face of the divine and "no hands but ours" is just a lot. It's also just time to reread the rest of the Five Gods (I reread Chalion and Paladin last year...and I just noticed the name Paladin of Souls thinking about one of the other two authors who writes...sexy paladin romances but also about the divine with such richness).
Oh, also, the book was good. Enjoyed the mystery and the time spend with these characters. (Book good! Ale foamy.)

superunison's review

4.0

Initially feints at being horror-adjacent, ends up a sad little morality tale about family, duty, and justice. Part of the joy of these books is that they have a rich and thought-provoking theology.