The Sharing Knife / Beguilement and Legacy

The Sharing Knife #1-2

by Lois McMaster Bujold

When a young Lakewalker, Dag, and a young girl, Fawn, work together to kill a malice. the act binds their fates together.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Fantasy Romance, Adventure

485 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Lois McMaster Bujold was born in 1949, the daughter of an engineering professor at Ohio State University, from whom she picked up her early interest in science fiction. She now lives in Minneapolis, and has two grown children.

Her fantasy from HarperCollins includes the award-winning Chalion series and the Sharing Knife tetralogy; her science fiction from Baen Books features the perennially bestselling Vorkosigan Saga. Her work has been translated into over twenty languages.

Questions regarding foreign rights, film/tv subrights, and other business matters should be directed to Spectrum Literary Agency, spectrumliteraryagency.com

A listing of her awards and nominations may be seen here:

http://www.sfadb.com/Lois_McMaster_Bu...

A listing of her interviews is here:

http://vorkosigan.wikia.com/wiki/Auth...

An older fan-run site devoted to her work, The Bujold Nexus, is here:

http://www.dendarii.com/

Reviews

[Stefan Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beguilement:
Whether you would rather classify this as a fantasy novel or a romance novel, there is no question that it is well written. Ms. Bujold has created a rich world full of complex characters and a history that we only get a glimpse of in this first installment. There are moments of tense action and brutal violence along with the beginning of a deep romantic involvement between two of the characters.

I truly enjoyed this novel and even during the slower moments of day to day life, found the characters and writing vibrant enough to hold my interest throughout. The magic system is fairly unique and I am interested in learning more about the origins and limitations as well as learning more about the history of this fascinating fantasy world.

A lot of people have complained that this book is a romance novel disguised as a fantasy just to get fantasy fans to purchase it. I disagree. My only complaint was that the main love scene in the book was a bit long for my tastes and a bit more detailed than what I am used to in traditional fantasy novels. However, the romance plot line in general really helps to flesh out the story and give some vulnerability to the tales principle characters.

Along that note, one of my favorite things about this novel was that the main characters in it are not superhuman as in a lot of traditional fantasy. Both of the main characters have physical and other limitations that make them seem more real and believable.

All in all, an excellent novel and am looking forward to the second installment in the series.


Legacy:

[Rosalee · Rating 1 out of 5]

In order to like this book, you have to believe that Dag and Fawn could actually love each other and have a working, positive relationship. And I never could. I mean, here you have two people who are vastly different in age, experience, culture and a number of other things, and in less than a week they are madly in love with each other. Madly in lust with each other, sure, I can believe that. But I was never able to believe that they were anything more than twitterpated, and that it would wear off pretty soon. This book was dissappointing, because I've really enjoyed other books by Lois McMaster Bujold and therefore had high expectations.(I actually put it down a couple chapters into Legacy, because it just wasn't getting any better)

[Magda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has become one of my comfort books, that I reread, it seems, once a year.

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25

While I really wanted to enjoy this book more than I did, the romance ruined it. The age gap was insanely large (18 year old girl and 55 year old man) and the female protagonist, Fawn, was constantly infantilized. She was small, constantly asked questions, was frequently referred to as 'child', and she was described as 'scampering' about. While individually, some of these characteristics could be used to describe an adult woman, taken together they point to a child. Characters that were around her age were also referred to as children. I had to pretend she was much older (and Dag much younger). If this age gap and infantilization didn't exist, this would be one of my new favorite books but no luck.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the third, maybe the fourth, time I have read this. It has become more endearing with each successive reading. Dag and Fawn, from two different peoples and entirely different backgrounds are drawn together in the fight against supernatural creatures that arise unexpectedly and dangerously. This is what good fantasy ought to be: thoughtful and reflective on the human situation, however different the setting may be from that of our mundane lives.

[Red Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read both this and the first book in quick succession, becoming increasingly more uncomfortable as I read. Because Fawn is 17, and Dag is 55, and the books are about their relationship being under siege because they are of different cultures in a way that just keeps feeling more and more like a thinly-concealed metaphor for him being around three times her age, and tbh I’m amazed these were written by a woman because they just kept feeling more and more like an incel fantasy.

Because Fawn is a creepy mix of tiny and childish and incredibly willing to do anything Dag wants, and this book ended with him making a huge decision about both of their lives without telling her and her never raising a single objection to it, and it was finally that that just creeped me out too much to keep reading.

[Matt Demo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the first fantasy novel I have read by Bujold. I have read several of her sci fi novels previously. Not quite what I expected when I first picked it up. As always with her work it is well written and she has done some excellent works building and character development. However, you only get glimpses of the world and it’s history through the romance plot that is central to the novel. Those glimpses were enough though to keep me reading to learn more.

[Mookie · Rating 3 out of 5]

So help me god I will finish this book.

I always lose interest halfway through, but I feel compelled to finish it. In some ways this book feels like dressed up erotica. Not that it's particularly sexual, but, somehow it feels so high school. Just a coupla horned up people, one an obvious 'teacher' figure. Like, she's literally having a three-day miscarriage but there's sexual tension. She was literally just almost raped but she's crushing on him. So weird.

[Regina Sage · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this series hit me in the feels. So intense. I loved the world and the premise, and felt deeply for the characters. Poignant discussions of miscarriage and lost loves are balanced by sweet moments and lessons in courage, plus there is a lot of action. So much happens in this series. I would absolutely read all the books again.

[Jules Bertaut · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was engaging and I read it pretty fast. The worldbuilding is pretty cool, but particularly the way hints of what's going on are slowly revealed.

Age gap romance in this one that didn't bother me nearly so much, I guess because it was acknowledged?

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well the romance between the 55 year old man and the 18 year old was over the top skiffo but then the whole thing ends with a wedding.
The world building was enjoyable, but not enough to cover over the ugly sticky sweet and disgusting romance.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, I have read and enjoyed LMB books before, but this one really moved me in ways that the previous books have not. The writing is always solid, and she builds fantasy worlds like no one else, but I have often felt like the story or the characterization held the reader at arm's length. "Good idea," I would think, "but I never really felt welcome to share the joys and triumphs of the characters..."

But not this time.

Though I would characterize this book as a romance, it's not bodice-rippy. It's a sweet story about two people from very different, but overlapping, worlds, who want a chance to be together. There are a couple sex scenes that don't fade to grey, and unlike most books that include these sorts of explicit scenes, these managed to further both plot and characterization, in addition to being both sweet and pleasantly hot. I'm pretty sure that's not easy to do, given how few authors are successful at wedding plot furtherance with the sexy.

I'm relieved to be enjoying these, since I had purchased the whole series in hardback before I had even cracked the first one!

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have come to the realization that there is no shame in reading a book over and over and over again, anymore than one should be ashamed of listening to a single album, or piece of music, over and over and over again.

So let me fess up right up front that I have read this series of books about three times. Then I got the audio versions, and learned that it is a whole different experience, listening to the story instead of reading them. I've listened to the series twice. And I'm going to say right now that in a few years I will read and listen to it again.

Bujold's books are like the best music. A stirring, moving, compelling story, driven by a number of strongly distinct characters in a world so strongly crafted you can never see the bones. The situations within the story are thought-provoking, so there is always a lot to think about between reading sessions.

Every time I go back to her books, I find more depths, more details, more to engage me, as though she'd written another draft in the meantime, and put in more for me to discover.

And while I'm at I will admit I have read all of Bujold's series over and over again. And not for the last time.

[Christine Edison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the first volume of this series and am working my way through the second. Bujold finds a way to invoke a whole world from the story of these two very different people, and I'm really rooting for Dag and Fawn to make it despite the disapproval of their two cultures. I like how Dag's missing hand is a constant presence in the story and like how he's found ways to cope with his harness and "hands." Fawn shows her tenderness by helping Dag when he breaks his arm, and he in turn learns patience as he convalesces. It's nice to see a fantasy story that isn't on an epic scale, and the characters are original and fun to follow.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the first two volumes in this series. Lois McMaster Bujold has another wonderful series on her hands. I can't wait to read the next one.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantasy is not my usual read, but I really enjoyed this series. It isn't so 'out there'. Has romance, action and a good story line. It grabs you and keeps you engaged all the way through.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great writer, and great series!

[Amanda Cox]

I think this is the only book I ever read twice in a 12 month period