Identify Books Toward Paladin of Souls (World of the Five Gods (Publication) #2)
| Original Title: | Paladin of Souls |
| ISBN: | 0380818612 (ISBN13: 9780380818617) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | World of the Five Gods (Publication) #2, World of the Five Gods (Chronological) #3 |
| Literary Awards: | Hugo Award for Best Novel (2004), Nebula Award for Best Novel (2004), Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (2004), Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Nominee for Adult Literature (2004) |
Lois McMaster Bujold
Paperback | Pages: 470 pages Rating: 4.16 | 21042 Users | 1171 Reviews
Point Epithetical Books Paladin of Souls (World of the Five Gods (Publication) #2)
| Title | : | Paladin of Souls (World of the Five Gods (Publication) #2) |
| Author | : | Lois McMaster Bujold |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 470 pages |
| Published | : | April 26th 2005 by HarperTorch (first published September 23rd 2003) |
| Categories | : | Fantasy. Fiction. Science Fiction Fantasy. Hugo Awards |
Commentary As Books Paladin of Souls (World of the Five Gods (Publication) #2)
Unexpectedly captivating.I'm a longtime fantasy reader, but I've gotten tired of the current crop of twenty year old heroines, the descriptions of their clothes, their vague struggles with boyfriends, and the development of their special powers. Even if coming-into-one's power storylines are set with werewolves and vampires, a certain uniformity starts to develop. Paladin does something I never expected in an epic fantasy; she's written a thoughtful coming-of-age story focused on a forty-year old noblewoman who has been fighting her 'god-touched' connection for years.
Ista is an interesting, complex female lead that is reaching toward change, even if she isn't exactly sure how to get there. She's had emotional scarring in her past, and years of a cursed "madness" coupled with her status as a royal have kept her wrapped in a cocoon. However, she recognizes this and longs for some unspecified alternative. "The dullness of her life, the stalemate of her soul since then was just long habit." She develops a plan to escape her highly protected life under the guise of a pilgrimage visiting various gods' shrines. It's part of the underlying irony that this is Ista's justification for travel when she secretly hates the gods and their interference in her life.
While some events happen to her in the beginning, she begins to take more authority over her choices and decisions little by little, until it is partly her energy and leadership that (view spoiler)[ sustains a large group through a siege. (hide spoiler)] Her entourage is an interesting group as well. Liss, a courier pressed into service as a lady's maid, made me laugh when they first tried to work out how to manage Ista's hair. "You do your own, presumably. What do you do with it?" "Well, I put it in a braid..." "Do you do the horses?" "Oh yes, my lady. Snail braids, and dressed with ribbons..." It's a charming little snippet of dialogue that shows Ista's willingness to step outside her traditional boundaries.
Bujold has a very unexpected way of dealing with demons, god-possession and life-energy. Part of Ista's struggles are a personal and theological grudge against the deities of her world from events that happened during her early marriage. Even within the framework of the system Bujold has created, she manages to take the spiritual angles of the magic and demon system to unexpected places. (view spoiler)[ When she identified another character as living dead, I was shocked. (hide spoiler)] A demon-ridden woman, initially set up to be a negative and opposing force, develops into a tragic figure by the end of the story.
Bujold's writing is a perfect mix of description and action. I enjoyed her imagery and use of language. The subtle ways she shows us Ista's confinement at court; the pacing, bouncing her foot furiously beneath a gown, a well-meaning handmaiden taking the outside edge of a steep walkway all go so much farther to convey the feeling than a mere "Ista was frustrated." Ista herself is quite a woman, with intelligence and depths of character; her moments of sly humor streaking through her thoughts bring a smile to Ista and the reader, even as she conceals her thoughts from her surrounding company. "She wondered, a little dryly, if the school also had a particularly fine cook." "She approached the possessed animal, who lowered its head again... in what might be submission, love or dementia."
Yet while Ista develops and pushes herself in new directions, Bujold wisely keeps transformations believable. (view spoiler)[ At one point, the pilgrims are captured by an invading force. When rescue comes, it's from an outside agency, and when Ista plays a role in the action, it's not by using a stiletto knife concealed in her clothes; rather it is through well-timed direction of her horse. (hide spoiler)]. All in all, a well-balanced and nicely developed book that deserves its many awards.
Rating Epithetical Books Paladin of Souls (World of the Five Gods (Publication) #2)
Ratings: 4.16 From 21042 Users | 1171 ReviewsColumn Epithetical Books Paladin of Souls (World of the Five Gods (Publication) #2)
I'm going to say the same thing about this, the second volume of Bujold's Chalion trilogy (I suppose, I've only seen three titles, I have the third as "to read"), I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I do try to reserve the "5 star" rating for books that I truly enjoy. Neither artistic writing, nor classic prose will I rate alone as 5 stars. I just got/get involved in these books. I care about the characters in them and am able to suspend belief and flow with the story.Of late I've been (Ithe woman is not old, but blame the place and time, she is seen as such. the woman is not maternal, despite having given birth to a child she loves. the woman is not mentally unwell, but blame the past's taint on her present, she is seen as such. the woman seeks adventure and an opening for escape from the smothering life that those who love her would trap her in. she forces a door to open and so off she goes! smart, brave, emotional, critical, modest, kind, and eccentric... she's all the best
I was a really big fan of this when I started it. It's an aftermath story of a middle-aged woman, a Mother figure from a previous novel who has already lived through the fire and black magic that lead to the somewhat more typical fantasy-adventure of her daughter's coming of age, marrying the prince, producing an heir and living somewhat happily ever after. This woman, considered mad due to her previous involvement with gods and curses and magic, starts the book not even after those events
Quite possibly the best fiction I've read in a decade. I was always fond of Lois McMaster Bujold's "Vorkosigan Series" of Science-Fiction books - always rollicking good fun while having deep underlying issues that make the reader remember them long after all the action and humor have faded to the background... but when Bujold decided to turn her hand to grand fantasy she found even more.The first book of this grouping, "The Curse of Chalion" grabbed me from the first page. As a fan of Tolkein
This is technically the second book in this series, although it doesn't follow many of the characters from Curse of Chalion with the exception of Ista, the once-mad Royina, who is the main character of this book. In this story we see that Ista, following the events in Curse of Chalion, doesn't really have any purpose in her life now. Both her children have gone and she's left surrounded by her mother's old court of stuffy and silly ladies quite unlike her. Although she's an older and sometimes
The was more of a spin-off from Curse of Chalion rather than a regular sequel but that did not stop it from retaining most of the elements that made the first book such a good story. The pacing is fairly sedate but Bujold has an engaging style and this character driven story mixes in more than enough magic, mystery, action, and even a tad of romance to keep things interesting! Curse of Chalion was Cazaril's story but Paladin of Souls switched focus and gave us Ista's story. We met the Dowager
One of my favorite books of all time. It took me a little while to transition into McMaster Bujold's fantasy novels (coming from her amazing enormous Miles Vorkosigan Sci-Fi series) but once I got into Chalion, I was hooked.What I like best about McMaster Bujold is that her fantasy heroes (and heroines) are not straw-haired, starry-eyed farmers nor creatures out of myth or legend- she writes about tired adults, beaten down by the daily tragedies of life.In this, her second book set in the
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