Rating: 
Summary: Another Bujold Masterpiece
Review: "Paladin of Souls" is set in the same world as Bujold's wonderful "The Curse of Chalion". It is not exactly a sequel and the main characters from Curse are mentioned only in passing, but we meet many of the minor characters again and see more of Bujold's fascinating world of Chalion. The sad and tragic Dowager Royina Ista from Curse is the focal character and the reader follows her attempt to regain some control of her life after her years of 'madness'. But the gods aren't quite through with her yet...A beautiful and moving story. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Another Bujold Masterpiece
Review: "Paladin of Souls" is set in the same world as Bujold's wonderful "The Curse of Chalion". It is not exactly a sequel and the main characters from Curse are mentioned only in passing, but we meet many of the minor characters again and see more of Bujold's fascinating world of Chalion. The sad and tragic Dowager Royina Ista from Curse is the focal character and the reader follows her attempt to regain some control of her life after her years of 'madness'. But the gods aren't quite through with her yet... A beautiful and moving story. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Other Bujold -- but still wonderful
Review: "Paladin of Souls" isn't minor Bujold; it's much better than "Spirit Ring" or "Cetaganda," two novels I'd characterize as good -- but very minor -- works from Bujold's fingertips. It also isn't what I'd term major Bujold, a la "Mirror Dance" or "A Civil Campaign," two wildly different -- but extremely successful in every respect -- novels set in her Vorkosigan universe. Instead, it is other Bujold, and with a vengeance. In "Paladin," Dowager Royina Ista takes up the shreds of her life and forges a new path, one she'd fled from much earlier in her life. As not quite a cleric, and not quite a sorceress, Ista finds challenges, overcomes tribulations, and even finds a love she is able to accept when she'd given up all hope of such things many years earlier. "Paladin" is a sequel of sorts to "Curse of Chalion," an unabashedly great other Bujold novel. This isn't quite as good as that novel in my estimation, although it's very fine in its own way. (Note that it's incredibly hard to rate any Bujold novel on a 1 to 5 scale, because every single one of them has things to offer that very few other writers are able to encapsulate so well.) But they're novels which do markedly different things; "Curse" showed Cazaril the scholar, and his ascent back from Hell, along with his hero's journey. "Paladin" isn't quite a heroine's journey, and isn't quite a half a dozen other things. What it is, instead, is an unusual and deeply moving novel about second chances, all unlooked for. And the power of the human heart, without which the Gods would be nothing. I'd say "Paladin" is the second-best novel I've read this year, ranking solely behind Rosemary Edghill's "Vengeance of Masks." The only things both novels have in common are an unusual and unlikely love story, and a main character who doesn't know how to believe in him or herself at the start of the book -- one who's been placed in a nearly impossible position, and one who's been forced to deal _anyway_. That might be why I like both books so well. In closing, I'd say "Paladin" is spiritually rich, deeply developed, and a wonderful character study of a woman who, rather than turns away from destiny, embraces it instead. And rather than fearing her new life (as she's always been an incredibly formidable woman), she finds a way to enjoy it -- and learns to appreciate herself for who she is. Five stars, highly recommended. Barb Caffrey
Rating:
Summary: Paladin of Souls
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Another keeper from Lois McMaster Bujold
Review: As one expects of Bujold, PALADIN OF SOULS is masterly. Set in the same world as her CURSE OF CHALION, the story features "Mad Ista," who was a secondary character in Curse. Ista's life has not been an easy one. At the beginning of Paladin, she is the dowager queen ("royina") of Chalion, and desperate to get away from the virtual captivity she's known in her mother's house, where everyone watches to see if she'll go mad again. Actually, Ista was never mad--merely a vessel of the gods, which is not an easy task. One of the great pleasures of this series is Bujold's Quintarian religion, which has five deities: the Daughter of Spring, the Mother of Summer, the Son of Autumn, the Father of Winter, and the Bastard, who is the god of the dispossessed. No one, not even angry Ista, disbelieves in the gods, who are benevolent and powerful, but can only affect the world by working through humans. In her claustrophobic desire to get away, Ista decides to go on a pilgrimage and acquires an interesting collection of travelling companions, including a demon that lived in a bear. But the gods aren't through with her yet--and neither are life and love. As always, Bujold's characterization is amazing and her plot compelling and imaginative. I particularly like the fact that the heroine is a woman of a certain age who becomes a true heroine and finds a wholly unexpected future. I hope that Bujold keeps writing in this world. At the least, she owes us three more god-tales.
Rating:
Summary: another stellar story in the Bujold world [no spoilers]
Review: As you might guess from the Editorial Reviews, this novel focuses on Ista Dy Baocia and not the cast of main characters from the first novel, The Curse of Chalion. I was apprehensive since I was intreged with the exploits of Cazaril and Royesse Iselle but after a short time I became fully engaged in the adventures surrounding Ista and the brothers Ferda and Foix and some other new characters. Ista was a drag in the first book but three years later she's pulled out of her curse induced funk for an interesting journey. Once again, the writing is awesome. The plot is very interesting and has more not-so-common magical elements. The story pace is well timed and I found myself saying up later than planned to read more. Every chapter has a purpose. If you enjoyed The Curse of Chalion, I think you'll definitely want to check this one. It has a different focal point but a lot of excitement and interesting developments. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: After slow start, Paladin really delivers
Review: At 40, Royina Ista feels trapped by her caring relatives. With her husband and parents dead, she decides on a fake pilgrimage as a way of escaping their smothering care. What begins as a merry voyage quickly becomes dangerous. A plague of demons has overrun Chalion. The demons are a form of elemental that gain knowledge from their hosts and return power. But the power comes at a cost--ultimately leading to the destruction of the host's soul. And in Chalion, the soul is very important because the gods (they worship 4+1 gods) are quite real, quite present, and quite powerful. But even the gods can only work through people and one person they decide on is Ista. And the god that favors Ista most is the 'bastard,' the one god outside the normal temple system. A god denied by Chalion's neighbors. When enemy cavalry captures Ista, PALADIN OF SOULS picks up the pace and its emotional wallop. Ista is an unwilling saint, but although people can deny the gods, they do so only at a price. Still, even the gods' powers seem inadequate to deal with the real challenges ahead of her. How, exactly, does she safely send the soul of a man to the appropriate god when that man has already been dead for months? Author Lois McMaster Bujold writes a powerful and emotional story. PALADIN OF SOULS is a mature work by one of the best SF authors writing today. I found first half of the book a little slow and Ista initially difficult to like. Once Bujold got through her setup and cranked the story into overdrive, however, the adventure, emotional intensity, and characters were compelling, real, and vivid. Fantasy fans will also find Bujold's world-building to be fascinating. The gods, religions, cultural differences among people, and the magical system are all fully developed and a joy to read.
Rating:
Summary: Another great Bujold book
Review: From some of the early reviews mentioning that this diverted from most of the characters in "The Curse of Chalion" I was prepared to be a little disappointed since I enjoyed "The Curse of Chalion" so much... however, this has the same quality of writing, characters and plot twists as the other. One thing I enjoy about her writing is that they're never predictable. You can't guess where the plot will be going next. (though it works - she doesn't go off in the weeds just to be unpredictable) I really enjoyed it and I'd highly recommend it to others who enjoy Bujold books.
Rating: 
Summary: Palidan of souls
Review: good book, take a few chaplerte to get ino, Read the curse of Chailon First, it will let you be more familier with the plot
Rating: 
Summary: Gets off to a slow start... too slow.
Review: I adore Lois's Vorkosigan books and thought the first Chalion book was a good read, but I just couldn't get into this one. I'm sure there's a fine story in there for those tenacious fans willing to get past the opening chapters, but I don't have the time or patience for something that doesn't grab me early on. If your hero (heroine) is bored in the beginning, your reader will be, too.
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