The Curse of Chalion (World of the Five Gods, #1) in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

Aug 05, 2013 Harold Ogle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: magic, fantasy, low-fantasy

I was pleasantly surprised to find a fantasy novel by Bujold as the book selection for August 2013 in the "Sword & Laser" book club. I've always thought of her as a SF writer, so I approached this with some skepticism. But I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.

The story is about another cripple, possibly inspired by Tyrion Lannister and certainly informed by Miles Vorkosigan: dy Cazaril grew up as a noble page, then distinguished himself with honor as a soldier for years before he was "mistakenly" I was pleasantly surprised to find a fantasy novel by Bujold as the book selection for August 2013 in the "Sword & Laser" book club. I've always thought of her as a SF writer, so I approached this with some skepticism. But I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.

The story is about another cripple, possibly inspired by Tyrion Lannister and certainly informed by Miles Vorkosigan: dy Cazaril grew up as a noble page, then distinguished himself with honor as a soldier for years before he was "mistakenly" sold into slavery and his health destroyed by working an oar on a war galley for a long time. Eventually, his body ruined, he is manumit by opposing soldiers who have killed his masters. After being nursed back from the brink of death, he is a nervous and physical wreck. Out of tremendous self-pity, hope and nostalgia, he forbears the advice of the priests who have kept him from dying and sets out on a long, overland journey on foot to return to his homeland of Chalion. The story actually begins months later, as the wretch has finally returned to the land of his first job as a boy, a page for a noble house. Knowing his body is good for almost nothing - he's now a decrepit old man of thirty-five - his earnest desire is for one of his old employers to take pity on him and hire him to do scullery work: rinsing pots, maybe, or helping stir some stew in the kitchens. Contrary to expectations, he is welcomed and appointed tutor to the granddaughter of his old lord. The granddaughter is now a princess by virtue of her elder brother succeeding the throne after their cousin, the ruler of the realm, dying without heirs. So the princess becomes dy Cazaril's ward, and he her teacher.

The book is filled with enough politics, dark magic, and changes of fortune to read like a fantasy version of The Prisoner of Zenda, an adventure-packed thriller. There's questions of predestination again (making for a nice tie-in with both Ringworld and Among Others), the Curse - which is revealed only pretty far into the novel - is satisfyingly insidious and inimical, and there's a climactic ending that satisfyingly wraps up all the threads that Bujold set up from the very beginning. ...more

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Aug 29, 2025 emily marked it as reading-on-hold

Shelves: audiobook, 2025, fantasy-high-fantasy

putting this one on hold for now, i was liking it a lot, but i actually think i'll do better finishing it in ebook or physical format, and the library keeps delivering me audiobooks i've put on hold that i'm more excited to listen to. ...more

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Nov 23, 2009 TRXTRMXTR rated it it was amazing

Wow. Bujold keeps blowing me out of the water. Just when I think I've come to the end of what she has to offer, I find something else amazing. (That said, I read this book out of sequence with the others she has in this series, so that may prejudice my reading of it)

This might be the first time I've come across a male character built the way Cazaril is. We start with a sincerely week view of him, burdened, embittered, poor, scared. But he continues to grow in both his weakness, but also his stre ...more

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Apr 17, 2009 valpal rated it it was amazing

Not usually a fantasy fan, but this was very good

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Feb 07, 2023 Peter rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

I feel like I've read a thousand books basically just like this, which is exactly what I was looking for when I started reading! Good comfort read, right in my reading comfort zone! The characters were very well written, and I enjoyed the world--while still finding it a bit too familiar (although I'll still be finishing the trilogy!) ...more

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