456 pages
English language
Published Jan. 5, 2003 by EOS.
E-Book Extras: ONE: The Keys to Chalion: A Dictionary of People, Places, and Things; TWO: Chalion MiscellanyIt's been three years since the curse was lifted, but Ista dy Baocia, Dowager Royina of Chalion, holds a dark secret: she was responsible for the destruction of Chalion years ago. When her kingdom is threatened once again, Ista must defend her homeland, and her soul.One of the most honored authors in the field of fantasy and science fiction, Lois McMaster Bujold transports us once more to a dark and troubled land and embroils us in a desperate struggle to preserve the endangered souls of a realm.Three years have passed since the widowed Dowager Royina Ista found release from the curse of madness that kept her imprisoned in her family's castle of Valenda. Her newfound freedom is costly, bittersweet with memories, regrets, and guilty secrets -- for she knows the truth of what brought …
E-Book Extras: ONE: The Keys to Chalion: A Dictionary of People, Places, and Things; TWO: Chalion MiscellanyIt's been three years since the curse was lifted, but Ista dy Baocia, Dowager Royina of Chalion, holds a dark secret: she was responsible for the destruction of Chalion years ago. When her kingdom is threatened once again, Ista must defend her homeland, and her soul.One of the most honored authors in the field of fantasy and science fiction, Lois McMaster Bujold transports us once more to a dark and troubled land and embroils us in a desperate struggle to preserve the endangered souls of a realm.Three years have passed since the widowed Dowager Royina Ista found release from the curse of madness that kept her imprisoned in her family's castle of Valenda. Her newfound freedom is costly, bittersweet with memories, regrets, and guilty secrets -- for she knows the truth of what brought her land to the brink of destruction. And now the road -- escape -- beckons. . . . A simple pilgrimage, perhaps. Quite fitting for the Dowager Royina of all Chalion.Yet something else is free, too -- something beyond deadly. To the north lies the vital border fortress of Porifors. Memories linger there as well, of wars and invasions and the mighty Golden General of Jokona. And someone, something, watches from across that border -- humans, demons, gods.Ista thinks her little party of pilgrims wanders at will. But whose? When Ista's retinue is unexpectedly set upon not long into its travels, a mysterious ally appears -- a warrior nobleman who fights like a berserker. The temporary safety of her enigmatic champion's castle cannot ease Ista's mounting dread, however, when she finds his dark secrets are entangled with hers in a net of the gods' own weaving.In her dreams the threads are already drawing her to unforeseen chances, fateful meetings, fearsome choices. What the inscrutable gods commanded of her in the past brought her land to the brink of devastation. Now, once again, they have chosen Ista as their instrument. And again, for good or for ill, she must comply.
It's hard to top The Curse of Chalion. I really liked this, despite a few pacing oddities and some heavy-handed spots. Those actually had a whiff of Le Guin, so that's not all bad, I guess. And as an older woman, I very much liked having Ista as a main character.
I loved this books, I adore Ista and her learning about everything.
I straight up disliked this one in a lot of places, but shrugs without those places, the payoff wouldn't have worked. Very well told.
4.75 Very good high fantasy focused on an older woman, faith, trust and character relationships. Bujold re-uses the reluctant tool of the gods from The Curse of Chalion, but manages to twist it into and altogether different, but equally gripping narrative. Less politics and scheming and awful pasts in this one, but still a nice set of connections to the previous book. I really like how the author manages to develop formerly minor characters.
4.5 stars
ISTA!!!!!
Another excellent installment from Bujold. Ista is great and I wish we had more from her.
It's not quite as tight as Curse of Chalion, but Ista's is a rare perspective that I really enjoyed.
I should know better by now than to pick up a Lois McMaster Bujold book at 9pm, even one I've read before. Completely captivated till I finished it at 2am. And then had to reread the first book in the series next day.
I particularly love Bujold's take on the gods and their relationship to humans in these books. It's unusual,well thought out, and definitely not cliché.
A nice, but rather light, sequel to the Curse of Chalion.
I really really really like that the main character is a middle aged woman. We get a good look inside her head and I love the feel of it.
There are way to many angsty/fierce/romance-ridden young women around in the current books of the fantasy genre. Yes there are middle aged women, but they are either not the main character of behave/feel like they are still in their twenties.
This book is less poignant than the first. It is a pretty read, like a nice flower or something. To enjoy, but not savor. I liked it, but didn't lóve it.
It has been a long time since I read The Curse of Chalion. So long, in fact, that it was before I was keeping track of the books I read. Luckily anything that you need is covered. I was pleased that the protagonist wasn’t a late teens/early 20’s girl, but was a mature woman. It’s a nice change, and Bujold does it well. I also appreciate how she writes the gods, and the wide variety of reactions of the characters to the gods.
As with just about all of Bujold’s books, this one is well paced and plotted. While I still think I prefer the Vorkosigan Saga, there is no lack of enjoyment in her Chalion tales.
My mother had recommended these books of Chalion to me this past summer or so. I have read a couple of Ms. Bujold's books in the past and enjoyed them, although there is at least one of her novels that I could not get through.
Having just finished The Curse of Chalion, I delved right into this book. The character of Ista is a carry-over from the previous book, and though I liked what was done with her in the first book, I was a bit dubious of what could be done with her in this one, just based on the description from the first book.
I was pleasantly surprised. I liked that this is a woman of 40, still beautiful, as she had always been beautiful (she had been a queen after all). I liked that once she shed her shackles imposed by her family, she grew as a …
My mother had recommended these books of Chalion to me this past summer or so. I have read a couple of Ms. Bujold's books in the past and enjoyed them, although there is at least one of her novels that I could not get through.
Having just finished The Curse of Chalion, I delved right into this book. The character of Ista is a carry-over from the previous book, and though I liked what was done with her in the first book, I was a bit dubious of what could be done with her in this one, just based on the description from the first book.
I was pleasantly surprised. I liked that this is a woman of 40, still beautiful, as she had always been beautiful (she had been a queen after all). I liked that once she shed her shackles imposed by her family, she grew as a person. I really liked this story of her. I think this is the first novel of Bujold's that I've read with a lead female character. I think she writes her well.
I had no trouble getting into this novel as the world had been set-up in the previous novel and it is only 3 year later, established pretty early on. There were twists and surprises and the climax occurs later than one expects, which is nice. Bujold tends to give waves of stories within the one story so that you have sort of waves of climaxes.
According to her bibliography on the back of Curse of Chalion, only Heinlein has won more Hugo Awards for best novel than Bujold, which I didn't know.
