Paladin of Souls: A Hugo Award Winner (Chalion series, 2)

An excellent story, well told, about a middle-aged woman's victory over her demons from her younger years. This book has it all, adventure, romance, mystery, horror, and wisdom. It is refreshing to read a story around a character who models adult behavior, thinking, and self-control. The story is an action-packed, engaging fantasy adventure/mystery replete with magic, demons, and chivalry without the pitfalls of poor writing and generic plots that plague the fantasy genre.

Sigh...It's so *nice* to finally come across some decent single fantasy books, in these days when so many authors seem to be writing the Series that Does Not End. While set in the same world, this book is *not* in the strict sense a sequel to CURSE OF CHALION; it is a stand-alone work. Bujold here expands and deepens her world, as well as expanding the theology of her Five Gods in a creative and interesting way. Like in the previous book, Bujold's characterization is fully-integrated and developed--it's so nice also to see a fantasy writer who is not concentrating on children or adolescents; Ista is a middle-aged woman, who has already experienced tragedy and loss, and in a way this book is a story of her healing as much as CURSE OF CHALION was of Cazaril's. Liss is wonderful and I would love to see more of her, as well as Ferda and Foix. Even the young and seemingly frivolous Lady Cattilara demonstrates unexpected depths, as she is shown to be hanging onto her dead husband solely by force of will. Keep up the good work, Bujold, I would not at all mind seeing another book written in this world.

This is one of those books with so much subtext it could float a battleship. There's a straight story on the top, very plain and not at all simple. Then under that, there's Lois McMaster Bujold with her literary stick stirring up your brain, getting all these odd thoughts to come floating out. As she always does. On the straightforeward bit, this is the story of a woman who was a minor character from The Curse of Chalion. She's spent the past many years of her life in a deep despair, a depression and suicidal misery caused by a curse and exacerbated once the curse was lifted by the death of her son. She's watched over by kind, loving people who give her no freedom, no privacy and no trust. She has no love; even her daughter is far away and almost a stranger to her, and no prospects of friendship in her situation. So she goes on a pilgramage, to get out and get away; an excuse but also an invocation of the Gods of Chalion. And as the Curse proved, the Gods of Chalion are listening... The Bastard God answers her with some very interesting problems. So that's the straightforeward bit. It's how she does it that you have to see, because her writing is so amazing.

I've been a fan of Lois McMaster Bujold since I was entranced by her Miles Vorkosigan series a couple of years ago. She has an interesting way of telling a story, combining fascinating characters with the ability to write action when the story calls for it. I was sure that she could write fantasy as well, and she proved it with The Curse of Chalion. Now, she has written a sequel of sorts, called Paladin of Souls. And once again, she hits the perfect mix.Paladin of Souls is a sequel only in the sense that the events in the book take place after the previous book. Ista was the mother of two of the main characters in The Curse of Chalion, and she didn't figure that prominently in it. Bujold takes her, a relatively undeveloped character except where the curse was concerned, and gives her a living vibrancy. The reader can see why she went mad before, and why she is still seen as slightly insane. But we can also see the inner workings of her mind, and see why she is like this and how she can sometimes use it to her benefit. When one is touched by the gods, one is not unaffected, and Ista shows that effect. She's in her 40s, most of her family dead and her daughter off ruling the kingdom, and she's bored. She's also one of the only people who know the whole truth of what happened, and what lengths her family had taken to try and remove the curse. The entire book is told from her viewpoint, so the reader also gets to see her reaction to the events and the people around her.Ista's not the only wonderful character, though. All of the characters in the book are three-dimensional, unless the book doesn't call them to be. There's Liss, the messenger girl who Ista enlists to be her traveling maid (mainly because Liss doesn't treat her like an invalid who will kill herself the first chance she gets). She mixes wonderfully with everybody, demonstrating how uncomfortable she is with the trappings of a royal court, but willing to do anything for Ista. Her two soldiers at arms, Forda and Foix, are loyal to a fault, but also men with their own emotions. Bujold makes great use of them as well, giving Foix a lot to do that a normal man-at-arms wouldn't get. Bujold's great strength has always been her characterization, and it's this skill that makes even the slower parts of the narrative (there are a few sequences that seem to go on forever) interesting in themselves.The plot of the book is just as good, with Bujold slowly unfurling it as she goes along. Just when the reader thinks it's going one direction, it suddenly turns and goes somewhere else. It starts out as a story of redemption for Ista, and while that ultimately is the point of the story, it redeems some of the other characters as well. The fact that we care about these characters only adds to the strength. Bujold keeps the story flowing, with only the aforementioned slow parts bringing it down just a little. A couple of Ista's conversations with the Bastard (one of the five gods) drag

Paladin of Souls is the second novel in this series, following The Curse of Chalion. In the previous volume, Cazaril is god-touched, becoming the portal by which the Lady takes away the curse. Iselle and Bergon have married, uniting Chalion and Ibra under their joint rule, and Cazaril and Betriz have also married. Iselle ensures that Cazaril can support Betriz in proper style by making him Chancellor, replacing the unfortunate dy Jironal. Ista returns to Valenda to care for her failing mother.In this novel, three years later, the Dowager Provincara has been laid to her rest and the last of the mourners are leaving the castle. Since her mother's death, Ista has felt confined in the castle and feels a need to go out into the world. On an impulsive, she runs out the castle gate and down the road, but soon tires and is overtaken by her keepers. On the way back, she meets some pilgrims traveling to various holy places and decides that she will go on a pilgrimage. She notices a young divine of the Bastard in the party and, when he shows up at the castle as she is preparing to leave, Ista accepts him as her spiritual conductor.Others appear and become part of her party: Liss the courier lass and the dy Gura brothers with their ten Daughter's men. She leaves behind all her old maids in waiting and servants as well as most of her apparel and jewels, choosing to travel incognito and without pomp.All things appear well during the first three days, but later they encounter a bear possessed by a demon, which flies into Foix de Gura when he cuts off the bear's head. Then they almost run into a troop of Jokonan soldiers, who have become lost while returning from a raid on the town of Parma in Ibra, and they flee for safety. Thereafter, she learns that she is becoming a saint of the Bastard. The pilgrimage is really not bringing her much in the way of peace and serenity.This novel is a worthy sequel, continuing the tale of the curse, but very different in focus than its predecessor. It is a sort of belated coming of age or middle-aged reevaluation story, with Ista in the central position. It seems that the lifting of the curse had unforeseen consequences, including an infestation of demons. It changes Ista's life forever, but also brings her unexpected rewards.This novel has an unusual cast of characters, including an animated dead man, a sorcerer dedicated to the Bastard, and a demon-possessed master sorceress and her cadre of sorcerers. There is also a demon-gnawed groom, a demon-possessed horse, and a demon-possessed, strong-willed and foolish young woman.This novel builds upon the previous story, but doesn't require it. I had forgotten almost everything from The Curse of Chalion, yet I was able to follow this one fairly well. Most of it unfolded as Ista learned her new role, casting new light on previous events. However, I now wish that I had re-read The Curse prior to reading this volume.Highly recommended for Bujold fans and anyone else