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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
****SPOILER*****
Man, Caz truly went and got himself practizing how to DIE correctly.
HE ACTUALLY HAD A MEAT BABY!!
Man, Caz truly went and got himself practizing how to DIE correctly.
HE ACTUALLY HAD A MEAT BABY!!
This was a delightful and slightly unusual fantasy. The worldbuilding was lush and consistent. I enjoyed the elements of religion woven in, and found the notion of a four- and five-fold pantheon interesting and well-used within the story. The plot followed a slightly unusual pattern, without a single climax, but instead several peaks that often led me to wonder how there could be so much book left when events were clearly coming to a head. But I was never disappointed to find more story after, as it was engaging the whole way through. The characters were excellent. It's always nice to have strong women holding up important plot points, even if none of them were very central in this tale.
Originally posted at The Bibliosanctum
A shadowy curse hangs over the royal family of Chalion and it falls to a broken man to save them from the curse and the political viper pit that threatens to bring them down.
I fell in love with Cazaril not long after he was introduced. When he first appears, he is a broken man in both body and spirit. He has some how survived betrayal that led him into the hands of vicious slavers and is slowly making his way back to the royal family he serves. His restraint when he encounters arrogant soldiers is impressive. His humility when he presents himself to the Provinsara and requests the opportunity to return to the service of Chalion in some way is a little bit heartbreaking. Despite his wounds, inner and outer, the Provinsara knows him as a loyal, noble person and it becomes increasingly clear to the reader that he is a true hero, though not one that necessarily proves his valor with sword and shield. He is a soldier though and fully capable of fighting, in spite of his increasing health problems. What I respect is that he only resorts to the sword when necessary, relying more on his wits, which is exactly why the Pronvinsara appoints him as secretary-tutor to her beautiful, strong-willed niece, Iselle and, by default, Iselle's equally beautiful and strong-willed handmaiden, Beatriz.
When the ladies first appear, they are impetuously disobeying the rules and they seem to be the typical bratty princess types, but, as with many things in the book, they move quickly past expectations and predictions. This happens with both characters and plotlines, where I would make immediate assumptions about a person or the what-happens-next, only to have them step in a completely different direction, without any time wasted to get to that direction. A lot of authors add extra details and sometimes completely unnecessary words, perhaps to build tension or perhaps just as filler, but I really appreciate the way Bujold gets to the point without the preamble. Everything is artfully detailed and characters are all wonderfully fleshed out, but there is no detritus to sift through. Just a pure story that was a very engrossing and enjoyable read.
I very much liked the portrayal of women in the book. This is a patriarchal society where women are used as pawns through marriage for political gain. Due to the curse and circumstances, two of the women we meet, Ista and Sara, are seemingly downtrodden and, in Ista's case, considered mad. But there is far more to them that Bujold presents early on and recognizes clearly in the end. Heroes come in many forms and one who is able to endure should not be overlooked.
Iselle understands the role of women in this society, and she is also intuitive enough to determine how best to work within the rules to achieve her own happiness, and more importantly, what is best for Chalion. She is able to play the game of thrones, if you will, without compromising morals or herself.
Cazaril is definitely a favourite character, but I ended up appreciating almost all of the characters and appropriately disliking the not so nice ones. Everyone plays an important role in some way.
The other aspect I really enjoyed was the gods. Sometimes when a story includes gods, the gods are much like our reality: other than a few of their followers performing parlour tricks, there is no real evidence of the gods' existence. That is how it seems at first, but again, Bujold quickly proves otherwise in the form of some interesting miracles and saints. Not that these gods are all thunder and lightning. They are very subtle, but their workings and how involved they are in certain lives comes as a surprise each time. I loved the way everything was intertwined seamlessly, start to finish.
“The gods' most savage curses come to us as answers to our own prayers. Praying is a dangerous business.”
By the last twenty percent of the book when everything seemed to have fallen into place, my George R. R. Martin tainted mind was screaming for fear that something would go wrong and and everyone would die! I'm not opposed to unhappy endings, but this was definitely a nice change for me. If you do like happy endings that aren't contrived, then this book is an excellent choice.
A shadowy curse hangs over the royal family of Chalion and it falls to a broken man to save them from the curse and the political viper pit that threatens to bring them down.
I fell in love with Cazaril not long after he was introduced. When he first appears, he is a broken man in both body and spirit. He has some how survived betrayal that led him into the hands of vicious slavers and is slowly making his way back to the royal family he serves. His restraint when he encounters arrogant soldiers is impressive. His humility when he presents himself to the Provinsara and requests the opportunity to return to the service of Chalion in some way is a little bit heartbreaking. Despite his wounds, inner and outer, the Provinsara knows him as a loyal, noble person and it becomes increasingly clear to the reader that he is a true hero, though not one that necessarily proves his valor with sword and shield. He is a soldier though and fully capable of fighting, in spite of his increasing health problems. What I respect is that he only resorts to the sword when necessary, relying more on his wits, which is exactly why the Pronvinsara appoints him as secretary-tutor to her beautiful, strong-willed niece, Iselle and, by default, Iselle's equally beautiful and strong-willed handmaiden, Beatriz.
When the ladies first appear, they are impetuously disobeying the rules and they seem to be the typical bratty princess types, but, as with many things in the book, they move quickly past expectations and predictions. This happens with both characters and plotlines, where I would make immediate assumptions about a person or the what-happens-next, only to have them step in a completely different direction, without any time wasted to get to that direction. A lot of authors add extra details and sometimes completely unnecessary words, perhaps to build tension or perhaps just as filler, but I really appreciate the way Bujold gets to the point without the preamble. Everything is artfully detailed and characters are all wonderfully fleshed out, but there is no detritus to sift through. Just a pure story that was a very engrossing and enjoyable read.
I very much liked the portrayal of women in the book. This is a patriarchal society where women are used as pawns through marriage for political gain. Due to the curse and circumstances, two of the women we meet, Ista and Sara, are seemingly downtrodden and, in Ista's case, considered mad. But there is far more to them that Bujold presents early on and recognizes clearly in the end. Heroes come in many forms and one who is able to endure should not be overlooked.
Iselle understands the role of women in this society, and she is also intuitive enough to determine how best to work within the rules to achieve her own happiness, and more importantly, what is best for Chalion. She is able to play the game of thrones, if you will, without compromising morals or herself.
Cazaril is definitely a favourite character, but I ended up appreciating almost all of the characters and appropriately disliking the not so nice ones. Everyone plays an important role in some way.
The other aspect I really enjoyed was the gods. Sometimes when a story includes gods, the gods are much like our reality: other than a few of their followers performing parlour tricks, there is no real evidence of the gods' existence. That is how it seems at first, but again, Bujold quickly proves otherwise in the form of some interesting miracles and saints. Not that these gods are all thunder and lightning. They are very subtle, but their workings and how involved they are in certain lives comes as a surprise each time. I loved the way everything was intertwined seamlessly, start to finish.
“The gods' most savage curses come to us as answers to our own prayers. Praying is a dangerous business.”
By the last twenty percent of the book when everything seemed to have fallen into place, my George R. R. Martin tainted mind was screaming for fear that something would go wrong and and everyone would die! I'm not opposed to unhappy endings, but this was definitely a nice change for me. If you do like happy endings that aren't contrived, then this book is an excellent choice.
Thought Lois was gonna let me down in the first 1/3, but she brought it home in the second half
This is at least the fifth or sixth time I've read this book and I love it so much I can only sort of wave my hands emphatically in its direction and say READ THIS!
adventurous
inspiring
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.5 stars. It reminded me of how much I enjoy classic fantasy, and I'll be reading more (of this series and others) soon.
This was a truly well-crafted tale of court-intrigue, saints, sacrifices, and, in a strange way, hope.
Lois McMaster Bujold knows what she is doing, both in building this world and in creating her characters and revealing their stories. I felt with Cazaril and the other characters, I laughed with them, and more then once this book had goosebumps run down my spine.
A few of the developments were maybe a little predictable, but not in a way that detracted too much of my enjoyment. Rather, it was fun to see some of the things play out as I thought they would and it made some of the surprises even more surprising. The only thing that I could have done without and that didn't quite ring true to me until the end is
All in all, a solid 4 (maybe even 4,5) star read that has left me looking forward to the next book in the series.
(In a completely other vein, this book has also made me wonder why there seem to be so many high fantasy novels that take the Reconquista as inspiration - though I'm not sure if this impression is just due to what I have read recently and thus based on a very skewed sample.)
Lois McMaster Bujold knows what she is doing, both in building this world and in creating her characters and revealing their stories. I felt with Cazaril and the other characters, I laughed with them, and more then once this book had goosebumps run down my spine.
A few of the developments were maybe a little predictable, but not in a way that detracted too much of my enjoyment. Rather, it was fun to see some of the things play out as I thought they would and it made some of the surprises even more surprising. The only thing that I could have done without and that didn't quite ring true to me until the end is
Spoiler
the relationship between Cazaril and Lady Betriz. I can understand where his infatuation with her comes from (even though I was a little put off by the fact that he keeps hankering after not only a younger woman (which in and of itself I wouldn't really have minded, I think), but a younger woman over whom he has some authority as her teacher....), but I'm not sure I found it quite believable that she was also head over heels in love with him. I don't think the story would have lost anything if that bit had been excluded and they had just become good friends bent on helping Iselle.All in all, a solid 4 (maybe even 4,5) star read that has left me looking forward to the next book in the series.
(In a completely other vein, this book has also made me wonder why there seem to be so many high fantasy novels that take the Reconquista as inspiration - though I'm not sure if this impression is just due to what I have read recently and thus based on a very skewed sample.)