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Feb 02, 2012

Carol rated it:

Unexpectedly captivating.

I'm a longtime fantasy reader, but I've gotten tired of the current crop of twenty year old heroines, the descriptions of their clothes, their vague struggles with boyfriends, and the development of their special powers. Even if coming-into-one's power storylines are set with werewolves and vampires, a certain uniformity starts to develop. Paladin does something I never expected in an epic fantasy; she's written a thoughtful coming-of-age story focused on a More...

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Jul 10, 2011

Hirondelle rated it:

A blurb on another Bujold novel I was looking screamed "Bujold at the height of her powers!". Very cheesy, but maybe true. And that also applies to Paladin of Souls. "Bujold at the height of her powers", then.

It´s so good, so well written and plotted out, thought out and thoughtful, a convincing feminine perspective on fantasy with an original take on theology. A nice story well told, the work of an author who acquired and sharpened all necessary skills for the w More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 04, 2011

June rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 02, 2012

Wealhtheow rated it:

Exciting, philosophical, excellent character and world-building. I found myself yearning to talk to someone about this book--it really incites thought.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 17, 2008

Rachel rated it:

One of my favorite books of all time. It took me a little while to transition into McMaster Bujold's fantasy novels (coming from her amazing enormous Miles Vorkosigan Sci-Fi series) but once I got into Chalion, I was hooked.

What I like best about McMaster Bujold is that her fantasy heroes (and heroines) are not straw-haired, starry-eyed farmers nor creatures out of myth or legend- she writes about tired adults, beaten down by the daily tragedies of life.

In this, her seco More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 30, 2011

Heather rated it:

I love this book. I love Ista. I love her sense of humor, and I admire her strength and forbearance. I love watching her warm up and fill up over the course of the book.

I love how the worldbuilding is just so natural and easy, and how complete and interesting it is. I love the theology.

I love how she tackles the themes of redemption, grace, forgiveness, guilt, sin, failure, the relationships of gods with their creations, power and impotence, selfishness, aging, death and More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 01, 2008

Guy rated it:

Good enough to stay up late finishing it, but not as good as its prequel "The Curse of Chalion". It may sound like an odd thing to say about a work of fantasy, but the world of Chalion doesn't seem "real" enough to me. Perhaps an even odder complaint, given that one of its main themes is the relationship between gods and mortals, is that there is too much deus ex machina. Lastly, I couldn't shake the feeling that Bujold was a little bored by her main character (Ista)... th More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 12, 2009

Karen rated it:

Like the first book in the series, this one has a riveting plot, compelling characters, thorny questions to ponder, and is just as satisfying on the second reading as the first.

Characters who played minor supporting roles in the first book of the series take the lead here, with the central cast of the first book receiving only casual mention. It fits the story better than if the author had given in to the temptation to provide us with a parade of cameo appearances, but I dearly hope More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 07, 2012

Robert rated it:

Dear Lois McMaster Bujold,

My introduction to your writing was with The Warrior’s Apprentice. It was where I started my search to learn about this Vorkosigan saga thing. Sorry Lois, I did not get it. I just could not see what all the hoopla was about. I gave you another shot. I had no desire to move on through the series. You seemed like a nice enough lady, though, so I tried The Curse of Chalion. OMG, you blew my socks off. I absolutely loved the story and the Cazaril in particular. I More...

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Sep 24, 2011

Rachel rated it:

I loved this book. It's the first Bujold I've read, and it was recommended to me when I expressed a wish for more fantasy and SF books with women protagonists who are NOT young, beautiful, sassy, snarky, and trying to choose among multiple sexy suitors -- these days, usually vampires or werewolves. I wanted to see a protagnist more like me. The person who recommended it also knows that I'm at a difficult point in my life, having spent the last eight years fully focused on caring for someone else More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 16, 2011

Books-treasureortrash rated it:

Book Review: 3 Treasure Boxes

Demons are running rampant and unbalancing the world, so the God's decide to send in an unlikely heroine to set things right. This is Ista's story, she had a brief appearance in The Curse of Chalion and at that time came across quite mad. This book takes place several years after the end of the first book and we come to realize, she was not mad, but instead God touched and suffering after making a couple of disastrous decisions. Ista has decided to go on More...

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Jun 22, 2011

John Patrick rated it:

Quite possibly the best fiction I've read in a decade. I was always fond of Lois McMaster Bujold's "Vorkosigan Series" of Science-Fiction books - always rollicking good fun while having deep underlying issues that make the reader remember them long after all the action and humor have faded to the background... but when Bujold decided to turn her hand to grand fantasy she found even more.

The first book of this grouping, "The Curse of Chalion" grabbed me from the fi More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 10, 2011

Maureen rated it:

by Lois McMaster Bujold

Opening line: "Ista leaned forward between the crenellations atop the gate tower, the stone gritty beneath her pale hands, and watched in numb exhaustion as the final mourning party cleared the castle gate below."

Paladin of Souls is the second of the Chalion books. It's not a sequel exactly, although we do get a few mentions of the main characters from the first book. Instead, it follows Ista, Dowager Royina of Chalion and mother to the curren More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 28, 2011

Paradoxical rated it:

First impressions were not favorable. I grew bored and I found my eyes wandering over the pages and there were times I was about to put down the book and go "well, maybe later". However, once you get past the hurdle of the first fourth/fifth of the book, then things picked up and became interesting and I was suddenly rather glad I started to read Paladin of Souls when before I was somewhat regretting my reading choice.

I went to reading Paladin of Souls without reading the More...

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Jun 08, 2010

Viridian5 rated it:

Even though I don't enjoy Lois McMaster Bujold's science fiction, I liked her Curse of Chalion so I decided to try Paladin of Souls and liked it a lot, with some reservations.

At the start of Paladin of Souls, Dowager Royina Ista's mother has just died, leaving her with no other duties or real bonds to fulfill. Her family has been keeping her in seclusion for ages because of her "madness," which came from being god-touched. Years ago she tried something on the god's word th More...

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Mar 10, 2010

Kat rated it:

http://tinyurl.com/lqojns

The title doesn't work: a paladin is a warrior, albeit one without armor. Ista is certainly a force to be reckoned with, but a warrior? Nah.

Bujold takes a somewhat minor character from "The Curse of Chalion" and creates a story around her. It's not a stupid thing to do: Ista was enigmatic in the first book, and with a long history of madness and guilt, who could resist using her in another book? I disliked how down in the dumps Bujold ma More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 12, 2009

Stephanie rated it:

Wow, I really enjoyed this book and am so happy I discovered Bujold. She has a wonderful knack for creating a readable page turning story without it being insubstantial. Her characters are wonderful and flawed and middle aged and they have no clue what they are doing and she plunks them down in a middle of a story that is adventurous and thought provoking.

Paladin of Souls starts about 3 years after the events of her first book set in the Chalion universe, The Curse of Chalion. One More...

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Jul 09, 2009

Tatiana rated it:

I liked this book a lot, though I'm not a fan of fantasy except for Tolkien, mostly because the world feels unreal to me. Like this series, set in some time that never existed, when there are castles, armor, and siege engines on the one hand, but other technologies (it's obvious they have printing presses) that don't seem to fit in the same framework. The literacy rate seems far too high. The way men and women interact annoys me, for instance, because it's almost modern but not quite. The fa More...

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May 27, 2009

Wilson rated it:

This is a well written book, and while not holding my attention so much I loose sleep, makes me want to return to it as soon as possible. The story of a young woman married into the leading royal family, only to find herself chosen by one of the five gods controlling her world. Being young and not having all the facts she ends up killing her husbands best friend and lover. The books starts three years after her husbands death. With her mothers death, her dream directions from one of the five god More...

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Mar 27, 2011

Trina rated it:

Ista is the new Dowager Royina of Chalion, due to her mother's recent death. She has been kept in her home by well-meaning servants and her erstwhile steward due to the madness that she overcame in her youth. Now she is ready to leave her castle over the protestations of her keepers : she is going on a pilgimage. To travel she gathers a special entourage including two brother knights, a tomboy lady-in-waiting/courier and a Divine of the Bastard's order ( a monk in their world). As she travels sh More...

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Feb 10, 2009

Garret rated it:

A sequel to The Curse of Chalion, this book focuses on the dowager Ista, no longer mad and left at loose ends after the death of her mother. In many ways it's a coming of age story, despite the protagonist being over forty, and reads like one as well, with quite a bit more thought and care put into than one may expect.

Starting roughly at the halfway point of the book I became anxious for the resolution of the plot and puzzles, but felt that it took considerably more time to get throu More...

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May 27, 2010

Mark rated it:

Lois McMaster Bujold is a great writer. Never mind the genre, I'd read just about anything she writes. Can you tell this is going to be a good review?

The Plot

This book is about minor characters from the first novel in the Chalion series. The main character, Ista, the dowager queen(royina) of Chalion is bored with being kept away in a castle. She's something of an embarrassment to the royal family so they make sure she stays cooped up. However, one day she gets fed up More...

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Sep 15, 2011

Mike rated it:

This is a pretty good little fantasy/romance. By little, I don't mean the length (pushing 500 pages), nor the scale (gods and demons, oh my!). I mean the scope of action... there just isn't that much that happens in the novel. Most of it is the main character hanging around waiting to see whether her friends will show up or her gods will tell her things. There are three set pieces, each of which takes about 10 pages to resolve. Other than that... waiting, waiting, waiting.

Now th More...

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Jan 12, 2010

Ethan rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 28, 2011

Algot rated it:

This book continues the story begun in The Curse of Chalion. The story focuses on Ista, the mother of the newly crowned royina of Chalion-Ibra. Ista, long thought to be crazy because of a curse that had plagued generations of the royal family. Though Cazaril, the main character of The Curse of Chalion, has mitigated the effects of the curse, it isn't totally gone. Paladin of Souls shifts focus from the newly formed alliance between Chalion and Ibra, away from the issues of the court entirel More...

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Dec 28, 2010

Simeonberesford rated it:

This is the second book Lois McMaster Bujold has set in this world. The protagonist in this one having a minor role in the last. I found that I had forgotten the events of the first but The author was skill full in providing just enough background without retelling 5the tale.[return]Our Heroine recently recovered from twenty years of guilt induced madness after a disasterous and deadly, god-inspired attempt to lift a curse. pretends a pious wish for pilgrimage to escape her anxious guardians. In More...

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Jan 18, 2011

Gabi rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Nov 10, 2010

Emilie rated it:

There’s a moment in the book that really spoke to me.

Ista is speaking to a man who has a demon riding him (high fantasy novel) but not controlling him. he could use the demon's powers for his wishes, though with the danger of the demon eventually taking him over and eating him up from the inside. demon-eaten...so anyway, ista says to him , ‘never never never use these powers to magick liss’, the girl he loves to glamour/bespell/betray her into loving him.

at first he just thi More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jun 27, 2011

Kyle rated it:

Paladin of Souls is the second book in the Chalion series. It could easily stand alone since the link between the two books is thin, and critical back-story items are explained again. This installment involves the same general locations, but focuses on the life of Royina Ista rather than Cazaril. My problem with this switch is I liked Cazaril a lot better than Ista. Even after we learned more about her, I didn't feel much of a connection to her as someone I cared about.

I rated th More...

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May 09, 2010

Mei-Lu rated it:

Quite simply, this is a wonderful book. Paladin of Souls is a sequel to the Curse of Chalion in the sense that it takes place in the same world, three years after the events of the first novel, but it isn't a continuation of that story and, as a result, you can easily read this book on its own. (Although the Curse of Chalion was so good, I don't know why you wouldn't want to read it.) Ista, the tragic Dowager Royina who had a smallish role in the first novel returns as the central character i More...

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