Paperback, 442 pages
English language
Published April 11, 2006 by Eos.
A man broken in body and spirit, Cazaril has returned to the noble household he once served as page, and is named, to his great surprise, secretary-tutor to the beautiful, strong-willed sister of the impetuous boy who is next in line to rule. It is as assignment Cazaril dreads, for it must ultimately lead him to the place he most fears: the royal court of Cardegoss, where the powerful enemies who once placed him in chains now occupy lofty positions. but it is more than the traitorous intrigues of villains that threaten Cazaril and the Royesse Iselle here, for a sinister curse hangs like a sword over the entire blighted House of Chalion and all who stand in their circle. And only by employing the darkest, most forbidden of magics can Cazaril hope to protect his royal charge -- an act that will mark the loyal, damaged servant as a …
A man broken in body and spirit, Cazaril has returned to the noble household he once served as page, and is named, to his great surprise, secretary-tutor to the beautiful, strong-willed sister of the impetuous boy who is next in line to rule. It is as assignment Cazaril dreads, for it must ultimately lead him to the place he most fears: the royal court of Cardegoss, where the powerful enemies who once placed him in chains now occupy lofty positions. but it is more than the traitorous intrigues of villains that threaten Cazaril and the Royesse Iselle here, for a sinister curse hangs like a sword over the entire blighted House of Chalion and all who stand in their circle. And only by employing the darkest, most forbidden of magics can Cazaril hope to protect his royal charge -- an act that will mark the loyal, damaged servant as a tool of the miraculous ... and trap him, flesh and soul, in a maze of demonic paradox, damnation, and death.
The story and the narrator made this such a soothing book to read. It was lovely to have a slow story still intriguing but just lovely and soothing.
Wonderful narrator.
A rare book, truly excellent.
On one hand I enjoyed a Bujold novel without Miles Vorkosigan. It had a disabled/scarred main character, positive older, female and Gay characters. A smooth slow pace and a happy ending. Without Miles himself to bend the universe around him.
On the other hand, the levels of privilege enjoyed by the characters, the ease in which the mysteries of the magic system is revealed and the fairy tale ending were too soft for my current tastes.
And the though it is definitely not kind to him. The universe does revolve around the main character.
A darker ending would have made a significant difference here.
A story about a scarred man in his mid-to-late 30s who finds purpose and love. Of course I liked it.
Fantastic.
Interesting book set in medieval spain with a cool take on metaphysics.
This book was recommended to me by my mother. Several years ago, I had read a few books by Ms. Bujold and enjoyed them.
This book was a little slow to get started and I did not like the inherent mid-30's man relationship with the 19 year old girl. It seemed odd to me, even though it was explained why that was normal and not odd in the book.
Once the story got underway and the world was set-up, it was a fun read. Some things you saw coming from a mile off, but other things surprised you -- spoiler: I was surprised by the trashing of the menagerie and the death of Teidez, as well as who Danni turned out to be. I liked that Caz told tales of what had happened to him in the past, some of which were just good stories for the moment and some …
This book was recommended to me by my mother. Several years ago, I had read a few books by Ms. Bujold and enjoyed them.
This book was a little slow to get started and I did not like the inherent mid-30's man relationship with the 19 year old girl. It seemed odd to me, even though it was explained why that was normal and not odd in the book.
Once the story got underway and the world was set-up, it was a fun read. Some things you saw coming from a mile off, but other things surprised you -- spoiler: I was surprised by the trashing of the menagerie and the death of Teidez, as well as who Danni turned out to be. I liked that Caz told tales of what had happened to him in the past, some of which were just good stories for the moment and some of which held meaning and value later in the novel. When all the early stories have meaning later in the novel, one becomes adept at figuring out the twist and turns early, but when some stories are just character building with no later repercussions, the ones with later value become a surprise.
This was a nice distraction and a good break of my 4 month fast of no fun reading books while I worked on an encompassing project for work.
