false 61886 20 In <I>The Curse of Chalion</I> Lois McMaster Bujold abandons her usual military space-opera for good reason; this is an emotionally powerful, inventively plotted novel which needs to be fantasy to work. Cazaril, betrayed by his enemies into a crippling two years in the galleys, returns to court a physical and emotional wreck: appointed secretary-tutor to the young princess Iselle, he finds himself in direct opposition to his powerful betrayers. His preparedness to make the ultimate sacrifice and save Iselle from an unwanted marriage to one of them by a death spell that will kill him also has unforeseen results; he learns the hard way that the gods have plans for him, ingenious and mischievous plans. <p>Bujold does charm very well--we share Cazaril's sheer joy at mentoring the bright snippy Iselle--and she is also good at physical and emotional pain--Cazaril's sense of himself as broken and worn-out is entirely convincing. This is also a fantasy which includes some inventive thinking about the nature of gods and the consequences of curses; there is a nasty-minded logic to almost everything that happens here. Bujold's fans will read it without recommendation; many readers who have resisted the Vorkosigan books will find this an attractive and intelligent fantasy. --<I>Roz Kaveney</I> 1129349 book 2001 The Curse of Chalion (Chalion, #1) total:1600|5:650|4:637|3:253|2:58|1:10| 1600 6651 2174 171 5 5 false false Sun Jun 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 15 14:32:15 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 15 15:13:08 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 6 false false Tue May 27 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 14 20:55:27 -0700 2008 Sun Jan 25 21:16:21 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 2 false false Fri Nov 14 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 11 23:56:32 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 14 21:28:53 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 2 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 29 14:09:45 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 05 06:52:29 -0700 2007 Paladin of Souls. I liked the understated magic, the intriguing religion, the quiet romance, the physically infirm hero, and always Bujold's touches of humor.]]> 4 2 false true Wed Feb 11 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 26 15:08:49 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 11 06:21:42 -0800 2009 1 more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Jul 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 30 20:25:09 -0700 2008 Mon Jul 14 09:50:34 -0700 2008
There exists a young, pious but pragmatic princess of a landlocked high-medieval Hispanic nation, living in a r...more...]]> 4 2 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2001 Sun Nov 18 08:21:54 -0800 2007 Sun Nov 18 08:33:35 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 22 06:58:07 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 22 06:58:42 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 13 11:03:47 -0800 2007 Tue Jan 01 13:27:49 -0800 2008
And it's not as easy to write one of those as you might think. You have to give your readers some of the conventions of the genre, because that's usually why they're r...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Sep 11 13:16:35 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 24 19:34:31 -0700 2007 Lois McMaster Bujold in the past.

The main character, Cazaril, is delightfully sa...more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 11 15:21:36 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 11 15:31:44 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Fri Jan 11 00:58:20 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 11 03:22:48 -0800 2008
“To paraphrase an old Chinese saying, mystics understand the roots of the Tao but not its branches; scientists understand its branches but not its roots. Science does not need mysticism and mysticism does not need science; but men and women need both.”
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The Curse of Chalion is a long book, but the pacing is good, and the book is interesting from beginning to end. The characters are well-developed. The protag...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 20 04:06:13 -0700 2009 Wed May 20 04:06:13 -0700 2009
Ms. Bujold builds up a fascinating tale of intrigue and drama in this novel. As with all good novels, it is difficult to classify this novel into a particular genre. It is not science fiction of the spacecraft-rovering-into-the-abyss-...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Mar 07 16:45:20 -0800 2009 Sat Mar 07 17:00:26 -0800 2009
Intrigued, I thought I'd give it a shot. Chalion is my first foray into the world of ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Feb 15 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 12:15:25 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 16 20:08:21 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Mar 31 08:02:12 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 31 08:02:23 -0700 2009 more...]]>