The Sharing Knife--Beguilement

[Cloud]

I was pleasantly surprised to see a new book by my favorite author, Lois McMaster Bujold, in my local Barney store this weekend, which I didn't realize was in the works. Entitled, Beguilement, part of a series (two parts maybe--according to Amazon?) called The Sharing Knife, this tells the story of a young farmer girl, Fawn Bluefield, who got herself In Trouble and is running away to the city to look for work. She encounters Dag, a Lakewalker Patroller, a weary veteran of a ranger-type group who hunt and destroy evil magical entities called malices, left over from an ancient sorcerous war.

Bujold's writing is delightful, as always. I would categorize the story as a fantasy romance, because most of the emphasis is on the growing romance between Fawn and Dag, a May-December relationship fraught with problems due to a clash of cultures.

I have seen reviews comparing this book unfavorably to "A Civil Campaign," which also has a romance in it, but which is a much more complex book, with many more characters and subplots. I'm not sure that's a fair comparison. A Civil Campaign has a rich, multi-volume backstory, as well as what is, in my opinion, the most well-developed, complex, and engaging character ever created in Science Fiction, Miles Vorkosigan. The characters in Beguilement just don't have that weight to them, so it's a much simpler book.

I admit to being a little thrown because there's a minor character called Dag in the Vorkosigan books. Nevertheless, "Beguilement" was very enjoyable, and I look forward to its sequel, which will surely develop the story a bit more.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

There's a thread on this somewhere about the place. But thanks very much for sharing your thoughts on the book. I mean to read it as soon as I can get my hands on a copy. In the meantime, I've downloaded and printed up the long excerpt they have at the HarperCollins site, and I keep planning to read that but something keeps coming up. Maybe tonight I'll finally do it.

 

[Cloud]

I did do a search for Beguilement and came up with nothing, so apologies.

Edit: Oh, okay, now I see it. But . . . you didn't put the name of the book, so perhaps I can be forgiven. Should I put the review on there instead?

I posted in that thread, too--but remember it as a more general discussion of the author and forgot it was started in honor of this, newest book.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

No, here is fine. It's just less confusing if we don't have too many threads covering the exact same ground. (Of course, if we can get the number of active Bujold threads up to five ...)

 

[GOLLUM]

This could be the thread you are after...

http://www.chronicles-network.com/forum/32625-new-book-by-bujold.html?highlight=bujold

 

[chrispenycate]

Waah, jealous; I've not even found the "Hallowed Hunt" yet.
On the other hand, I've been following the progress of this book (and it's encomberences) for some time.
Doesn't change the fact that being poor enough (and short enough of space) to insist on paperbacks, and living somewhere where Amazon charge as much to deliver a book as they do for the book itself gives only one noticable advantage; I've still got the pleasure of reading it for the first time to come.