Daniel Bensen
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
I'm re-reading the Chalion books right now, trying to capture some of their essence for my own novel, and I am struck with a paradox. How can there be multiple religions in a world where the gods literally talk to people?
Lois McMaster Bujold
Technically, there are not multiple religions; there are multiple heresies of one religion. Which can certainly supply all the fun and games of any other religious conflict, and more, as history shows.
The gods of Chalion are all about souls, and are indifferent to politics as such. People who want to conscript the gods to their side find this deeply confusing at times.
What's really interesting to consider/speculate upon is how a person might contrive to be an atheist in the world of Chalion. People being people, I bet some manage it.
Ta, L.
Technically, there are not multiple religions; there are multiple heresies of one religion. Which can certainly supply all the fun and games of any other religious conflict, and more, as history shows.
The gods of Chalion are all about souls, and are indifferent to politics as such. People who want to conscript the gods to their side find this deeply confusing at times.
What's really interesting to consider/speculate upon is how a person might contrive to be an atheist in the world of Chalion. People being people, I bet some manage it.
Ta, L.
More Answered Questions
spuriousstarlight
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Hello Lois! A while back I read somewhere that when you were writing A Civil Campaign you originally had a draft where Ivan and By had to hide a body, which you scrapped because it didn’t fit the tone of a comedy of manners. Is there any chance you could tell us what the gist of that scrapped storyline was? (Whose body was it?) I’m dying to know! :-) Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful stories with us!
Talli Ruksas
asked
Lois McMaster Bujold:
Concepts of gender identity, being non-binary, and the pronouns used for them seem to be changing rapidly even among fairly young children I'm told. I wondered if you were creating Bel today if you would have used something other than "it"? Although apparently it's preferred at about 10%.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more
Jul 17, 2019 06:37AM · flag
Jun 07, 2020 03:41PM · flag