A review by manuphoto
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Disclaimer: I’m a big fan of Lois McMaster Bujold. I enjoy her writing, her stories and characters. They are not all masterpieces, most aren’t that “great” per se, but they strike a chord I enjoy. They are well paced, delightful to read, with often a fair amount of subtext for the conscientious reader.

Her prose is very clear, to the point, quite beautiful at times, even if she can be a bit repetitive, especially in her dialogues.

The Curse of Chalion is no exception. It’s very readable, with good and consistent pacing, well drawn (if a bit shallow) characters, a compelling plot and some nice humour. I will say that the hero, Cazaril, is a bit boring. He’s too “perfect” and that makes him uninteresting in my book, at least in part. 

That being said, his storyline is quite good and his relationship with other characters keeps making me want to learn more about him. So it’s not all bad at all, let’s just say I’d wished he was more flawed. He does have one big flaw, he’s a 35 year old man lusting on a far younger woman, but this aspect is evoked only once and doesn’t really play into the story, plus he doesn’t act on it at all. I guess Bujold wanted to humanize her perfect knight but wasn’t sure how to go about it.

Her world building is effortless, and I’m usually someone who dislikes world building in fantasy novels. I often find it detrimental to the story, although I recognize it’s actually what many readers find appealing in those novels. Here, it’s done in a very clever way, alongside the story, without ever interfering or slowing it down. Great job Lois!

The book serves as a very good, if not perfect, introduction to the World of the Five Gods. Apparently, the sequel Paladin of Souls is quite superior to Chalion so I’m going to read that right after this novel.

To conclude: an easy reading fantasy novel, with some darker themes mixed with stark humour and good characters. I do recommend it and look forward to reading the next one in the series.