Rating: 
Summary: Her best book in years
Review: If you are wondering about whether to buy it because it isn't SF and it isn't Miles, stop wondering--buy it now. The Curse of Challion is head and shoulders above Bujold's other fantasy novel, Spirit Ring. The Curse of Challion is well worth the price in hardcover. This is the best book Lois McMaster Bujold has written in several years. Unlike some SF/fantasy authors (Anthony, Norton, McCaffrey), her writing continues to improve with experience.The Curse of Challion is more realistic than most fantasies. Her world-building has matured greatly since she started the Vorkosian series. And Bujold did a much better job of including a god as a character than David Weber did in his most recent fantasy, The War God's Own. This book will earn Bujold a Hugo nomination, and she just might win. I read dozens of books a year, mostly Fantasy and Science Fiction. This is the best book I've read this year. Heinlein was my favorite author and this book is as good as anything he ever wrote. Plot, characterization, pace, dialog--all are terrific. Although dark in places, The Curse of Challion is ultimately uplifting. Cazaril is a much different hero than Miles Vorkosian. Where Miles is young and incredibly irrepressible, Cazaril is old and more cautious. The mapcap early adventures of Vorkosian/Naismith, while vastly entertaining, are much less realistic than the plot in this book. Although the first in a series, the book ends happily without any significant loose ends. The entire book is deftly woven together--all the threads come together very satisfyingly at the end. My only complaint about the Curse of Challion is that the promised sequel is not yet in print.
Rating:
Summary: Brother Cadfael Meets Simon Illyan...
Review: Lois McMaster Bujold has demonstrated a talent in her many books for having middle-aged characters fall in love ("Shards of Honor", "Falling Free", "A Civil Campaign"). She's also well-known for creating damaged - but not broken - heroes and heroines who pull victory from the jaws of defeat at the last moment. These talents have held her in good stead in her Miles Vorkosigan science fiction series, but they perhaps even serve her better in "The Curse of Chalion", Bujold's second fantasy novel. Her protagonist, far from being another Miles Vorkosigan, actually reminds me a bit of a cross between Brother Cadfael from Ellis Peters' series of the same name and her avuncular spymaster Simon Illian from the Vorkosigan novels - a kindly, frustrated teacher with a worldly past who follows his cause to and past the point of selflessness. This character is definitely unique, though he shares the same spark of and for life that so many of her other characters have. The story is one of unexpected boons and dangers, familiar danger (from within and without), intrigue, love and trust. Her world is better put together than many multi-novel series I have read and her religion system is surprisingly well thought out. The narrative is strung together surprisingly well and weaves to a wonderfully well-choreographed ending. I really can't recommend this novel enough. It's got the political and social cohesion of a George R. R. Martin novel, the heart of an Orson Scott Card novel and the humanity of, well, a Bujold novel. It is, however, it's own unique entity and stands quite well on it's own merits. If you're a Bujold fan that's skittish of her non-Vorkosigan Saga stuff, I definitely recommend giving this a shot. If you're a fantasy fan that's a little wary of reading fantasy from a science fiction author, I also recommend trying it. I recommend this to everyone, really, but I am hard-pressed to think of other types of readers that would need cajoling to read it. "The Curse of Chalion" is simply the best fantasy novel I have read this year. While I look forward to more from the Miles Vorkosigan universe, I hope she returns to this one someday as well.
Rating:
Summary: 5 star scale just isn't fair...This earns 9 stars.
Review: Many other good reviews already exist about this book. All I wanted to say was that I feel terrible about only being able to give this book 5 stars. I have been rating other fantasy novels that I liked at 3-4 stars, and this book is ten times better than any of them. I liked the Miles Vorkosigan series, but this book has catapulted me to a new level of Lois M Bujold worship.
The King is dead, long live Bujold!
Rating: 
Summary: Another brilliantly written book by McMaster Bujold
Review: The Curse of Chalion is Bujold's fantasy book - a new side of her marvelous writing talent. Bujold builds a complex but believable character in Caz, a down-and-out lord, whose luck in life seems to have expired. He finds himself homeless, horseless and physically in a bad condition, having to beg his way into employment with a lady he knows from his former life. We learn that Caz was a slave, pulling oars on a ship for many years, but don't know the details of what happened. Caz is asked to become the personal secretary of Royesse Iselle, a 19-year old half-sister to the Roya (or king) of Chalion. She and her lady-in-waiting, Betriz are taken with Caz's teaching style, somewhat different to prior governesses that could not control the two wildcats. Iselle's younger brother is heir to the throne, but only 14 and sulky and impressionable. As the story proceeds, we learn tidbits of Caz, the central character, and begin to piece him together. He is content to be away from court, for example, having fallen out of favour with the two most influential brothers who act as advisers to the king. Unfortunately, Iselle and her brother are asked to join their half-sibling at court. It is then that the story starts to spin a bizarre tale. Caz meets a mysterious keeper of the menagerie of animals, tries to avoid confrontation with the two evil brothers, and generally gives good advice to Iselle, training her in court politics. Until, one day, Iselle is forced by the king to marry the evilist of the brothers. In an insane act of selfishless, Caz uses death magic to save the day for Iselle. He doesn't expect to survive it, but somehow he does ... and as a result, he has changed. He can never go back; and learns about the curse that oppresses Chalion. Caz eventually finds out how to destroy the curse without destroying Iselle who also suffers from it, but not before some surprising turns of events. A marvelous book, extremely well written and very entertaining. Bujold builds a world full of mystery and wonder. I could only have hoped for even more characters to fall in love with.
Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable and clever fantasy
Review: I've never read any of Bujold's other work, but after _The Curse of Chalion_ I think I might. This is an absorbing, skillfully-woven tale of curses and consequences, told with succinct artistry in a single volume. (I gather more books set in this world are to come, but the story here is self-contained). Having escaped the slavery that he was betrayed into, Cazaril returns home a broken man. He is appointed tutor to the spirited Royesse Iselle, whose fierce intelligence and infectious passion for life gives him back some of the joy he has lost, and a purpose - protecting her, whatever the cost to himself. Gradually, he becomes aware of a terrible curse afflicting the royal family, and determines to lift it. The curse itself is a fascinating creation, one intimately bound up in the nature of the world Bujold has created. The gods are very much active forces, here, and consequences resonate through generations. Curse and story alike unfold in unexpected, occasionally shocking directions, resulting in a quite brilliant portrait of how desperation can warp even the strongest fidelity. The characters are engaging and most are well-rounded, each bringing their own histories and secrets to the story, which unfold naturally with the narrative. Their pain - physical and emotional - is believable and affecting. Even over 400 pages, the novel doesn't quite retain its momentum; the pacing is a little uneven and the ending a little unsatisfying (to me, at least). Nevertheless, this is a gripping and intriguing tale that I couldn't put down.
Rating:
Summary: When Gods Really Do Answer Prayers
Review: Those who have become addicted to the antics and wry humor of Bujold's Miles Vorkosigan series will be somewhat surprised by this book, but not disappointed. As her second entry into the world of fantasy, she shows in this book the same talent, dedication to detail, and adherence to the strictures of good writing applicable to the chosen genre as she does in her science fiction works. Typical of many fantasy works, the imagined world is one of a feudal society, with technology appropriate to the Middle Ages, and deals almost entirely with the trials and tribulations of its aristocracy. But odd sidelights are shown on the working class folks, as we learn the details Lupe dy Cazaril experiences. A minor lord who was betrayed into slavery, we open the book with Caz, now a physically broken man, penniless, walks back to the only place he can think of that might offer him at least some sort of job, the castle at Valenda. Fate here is a little kinder, as he is given the job of tutor to royesse Iselle, sister to the heir of Chalion, and her lady in waiting Betriz, a job well suited to his current physical condition, requiring only quick wits and getting his charges to respect him. But this post leads Caz into the deep waters of court intrigue when the two girls and the fourteen-year old heir are called to the royal court of Cardegoss. For the first 150 pages, there is very little magic, nothing to separate this world from the mundane, except one instance of 'death magic', an item that is attempted only rarely, as, when successful, it invariably kills the practitioner as well as the desired target. But when Iselle is promised to Dondo, brother of the Lord Chancellor, whom she decidedly despises, Caz attempts this magic himself, as the only way he sees to protect her. The fallout from this forms the main basis of the plot, complete with mystery, action, and an unraveling of a curse that exposes the much nearer relationship of the gods of this world to its inhabitants than is seen in our world. The invented religion shown here is one of the main points of departure from our own, and is inventive, believable, and inextricably tied to the plot action. Caz is a true man of honor, as we are shown in incident after incident. This is one of the appeals of most fantasy works, as heroes are common coin, not relegated to the trashbin of other literary forms, and makes for interesting, uplifting reading. Iselle and Betriz are originally shown as typical teenage girls, flighty and irresponsible, but they show a sudden change to much more mature individuals after Iselle's bethrothal, a change I found a little difficult to believe due to its rapidity. But as adult characters they show steel, inventiveness, recognition of those true to them, characteristics of proper heroines. The minor characters are interesting and in many cases given a fair amount of development, leading to a very satisfactory intertwining of motivations, treachery, and incident. The romance that develops between Caz and Betritz is predictable, but well handled. Most of the humor that suffuses her Miles books is missing here, and perhaps this book would have been a little better if more of it had been present. But as it is this is a satisfying read, with characters you can empathize with, and just enough touch of different, of things not as they are in our world, to whet your appetite for more words about this world. Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I got this book yesterday; finished it today. I couldn't put it down. It's a truly excellent fantasy story, complete in one book, and a welcome change from the tired epic fantasy format that so often turns out to be a variant on the Series that Does Not End. Unlike writers such as Martin or Jordan, Bujold constructs characters that feel like actual people instead of artificial bundles of traits stapled together for dramatic effect--for those Martin fans out there, for example, Iselle is what the character of Sansa should be and probably actually would be in real life, as opposed to the way Martin is portraying her: someone who has known from birth what her fate and marriage will be like and who has been trained to occupy the political role she will someday fill. Bujold's characters feel *four*-dimensional, they're so well rounded; Cazaril, the Provincara, Lady Ista, Teidez, Iselle and Betriz all feel like actual people. Michelle West is the only fantasy author I've seen come close to her skill in characterization. Bujold's world-building is excellent too; I could actually see the Provincara's household in my mind, and the way she slowly reveals Cazaril's history over the course of the book is extremely effective. Her cosmology is interesting and used to full effect to reinforce her narrative. I plan to get Paladin of Souls as soon as possible
Rating:
Summary: I could NOT put this book down!
Review: Damn, this book was great! It was the first non-Miles book I've read of Bujold's, and it was wonderful! I don't know how she is so wonderfully able to keep you hanging on every word she writes. I loved the cosmology she has created in the book, as well: The Mother, The Father, The Son, The Daughter, (...). Despite the large number of books she has already written, every page of this is one is fresh.
Rating:
Summary: Cannot Put This Down
Review: This book is of a very high quality writing, characters wonderfully drawn, likeable, plot is quite unique, not a lot of magic in it which is ok here. The best part is the dry humor that makes you just laugh out loud as you sympathize with the main character. Very funny, although a serious and interesting plot Reminds me of a cross between Song of the Basilisk (often lovely, poetic phrasing) and Prince of Foxes (court intrigue). I really liked it.
Rating:
Summary: Blooming Brilliant
Review: Bujold is one of my favourite writers for her character centred writing and humour. I love the Vorkosigan series and put of reading this for a while as it was not a Cordelia or Miles book, but it was GREAT! Not quite the light hearted romp of the Vor books, but a very likeable/lovable protagonist. Buy it and sit back and enjoy.
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