The Curse of Chalion

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Summary: Bujold does it again
Review: The Miles Vorkosigan series is one of my favorites, so I picked up "The Curse of Chalion" with high hopes. I was not disappointed.
Lois McMaster Bujold has a talent for writing intelligent, witty page-turners, and this novel is among her best work so far.
Cazaril, the protagonist and narrator, has returned to his homeland and the castle where he served as a page after many brutal years as a galley slave. There, the Provincara he once served (now Dowager) gives him a job as tutor to the Royesse Iselle, sister of the heir apparent to the throne of Chalion. This leads Cazaril to intrigue, terror, attempted death magic, sickness, rebellion, and sainthood.
"The Curse of Chalion" is notable in several ways. The story is typical (good vs. evil set in a medieval fantasy world, beautiful and courageous heroine, world-weary old soldier, etc., etc.), but Bujold alters it in subtle ways that make a tired old plot her own. By producing her own set of titles and roles (Castilar, provincar, roya, rather than lord, duke, king), Bujold has moved the focus of the story onto people. The reader can't make any snap judgements about a character but must draw his or her own conclusions. Especially striking is Bujold's treatment of religion. While exotic gods and godesses abound in fantasy, rarely are they treated as they are in "The Curse of Chalion"--as an everyday part of people's lives, for good or ill. These gods do not demand that their followers be mindless slaves; neither are they used by the author as deus ex machinae (please excuse the pun). When the gods intervene here, they do so because that is their will.
Pleasing to a feminist are Iselle and Beatrice (the royesse's lady-in-waiting). They are smart, tough, and brave--but they accept their limitations. In the world of Chalion, women occupy the same role as in our medieval Europe. To have her characters behave as modern women might would have been a mistake on Bujold's part. Instead, there is little insistence on making Iselle the hero of the day just because she is female. The royesse comes across as heroic because she earns our respect.
"The Curse of Chalion" is a fantastic book by a wonderful author. I can only hope that this heralds more fantasy from Lois McMaster Bujold.

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Summary: The dangers of practicing magic without a license
Review: There are both saints and magic in "The Curse of Chalion," which takes place in a land divided up into the kingdoms and principalities of what could be medieval Italy. The hero, Cazaril has just escaped a stint as a galley slave, and makes his way back to the royacy of Chalion, where he once served as a page.

I've never met a Bujold hero I didn't like, and Cazaril is no exception. He's intelligent, principled, and likeable, not to mention courageous and a heckuva swordsman. Chalion's Dowager Provincara who knew Cazaril as a page recognizes these qualities in him and promptly appoints him secretary-tutor to the wayward royesse, Iselle.

There follows a great deal of court intrigue--this book starts out rather slowly--and Iselle gradually learns to trust, even emulate her new tutor. She and her brother, the King's heir are shipped to the royal court at Cardegoss where the backstabbing and politics grow even more intense. Cazaril discovers that the powerful enemy who sent him to the galleys is now the King's chief counselor. The shadow of this circumstance at first falls on Cazaril alone. Attempts are made to discredit or kill him. Then the weak, ailing King betroths his sister, Iselle to the worst blackguard in court: his counselor's son, Dondo.

Now the story gets really interesting.

Cazaril attempts to assassinate Dondo and fails. On the eve of Iselle's wedding, Cazaril is driven to sacrifice his own life in the Death Magic ritual, so that Dondo may also die. Iselle's prospective husband does drop dead, but somehow the Death Magic ritual goes astray and Cazaril survives, transformed into a saint of the Five-fold Path, and the unwilling host to the vengeful spirits of both Dondo and the Death Demon.

Now that he is a saint, Cazaril can actually see the curse that hangs over the King and all members of his family, including Iselle.

The rest of the book concerns Cazaril's efforts to lift the Curse of Chalion before he is eaten up from within by Dondo and the Death Demon.

This is a good adventure fantasy, entwined with a subtle love story and an interesting, magical religion. Bujold starts a bit slowly, but she is at the top of her form and her characters, especially Cazaril, truly live and breathe her story.

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Summary: Bujold has created an amazing world!!
Review: Bujold has taken astep away form her Sci-Fi Vor series to try out fantasy.
she has done a wonderful job. Her characters are well developed and human. her descriptions of the settings and politics is well done and not so detaield that you want to scream.
The curse of Chalion is the story of Cazaril a beaten down warrior who helps the house of chalion to get ride of its curse and take power away from a crazed man.
their is cournt intrigue and mystery and a subtle romance that is well written.
Bujold is very acclaimed for her Vor series and deserves to be recognized for her amazing fantasy novel.
she has ventrure dinto the unknown and succeded with flying colors.
I hope she continues this series because it was an absolute joy to read The Curse of Chalion. It has it all a great hero, many adventures, and a satisfying romance. it has everything that fantasy should have. bravo!

Rating:
Summary: A good read, worth your time =)
Review: I think I could give this book 5 stars if I hadn't read so many other fantasy books already. The medieval European setting is *so* done. As is the prophecy of the gods which moves the characters along. Ditto with court politics and loutish villains.

With that said, let me tell you why it deserves to be read and gets the rest of my stars. Cazaril. Rather than fall into another old cliche by making this the protagonist's coming-of-age story, Lois told this tale from the point of view of the mentor. Thirty-five, world-weary, and battling injuries, he makes a far more convincing hero than you find in most fantasy novels. Whether it's scifi or fantasy, Lois does beautifully human characters so well. Interest in what's going to happen to them never fails to keep me up reading into the wee hours.

Do check out this book. And then go read all the Vorkosigan books as well; even if you don't like scifi (I don't in general).

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Summary: Rousing Spanish-style fantasy--nice break from the Celts!
Review: Cazaril is a terrific central character, with all the aches and pains of a thirty-odd-year old over-resigned to his mortality after his escape from years of brutal hardship. An excellent portrayal of honor--and the prices and rewards. Normally I don't go for over-determined religion in my fantasy, but here Bujold makes it work, even sing.

The texture of the countryside is well done--I could have used a little more, but that's not where Bujold puts her focus.

This book is sure to sweep up many of the SF & F rewards this year--it's that strong in what was sadly, in 2001, a somewhat weak year.

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Summary: Miles Bettered!
Review: Stunningly good - I just reread this again, and it only gets better. Bujold seems to be getting bored with Miles Vorkosigan, but this is a glorious work she has poured her heart into. It is fantasy with integrity, and I can't wait to see more from her in this vein.

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Summary: Curse is what you will do when you think about how long.....
Review: ......you waited to get this book. This is a new world with a new star for Lois. He's a real live genuine grown up with a very different take on the world than Miles. In this world the Gods (four or five depending on where you live) are pretty active, and they don't always get along. Caz is one of the best characters I've read in a long time. He has an interesting world to get into 'interesting times' in. His friends and enemies in this world are all the three dimensional people (not characters) that Lois fans have some to expect. This is one of my two fave books by Lois, the other being Mirror Dance. I'm not going to spoil it by telling you anything other than keep reading some people I know found the first few chapters a little slow, I didn't and I don't know anyone who didn't like the book a lot.

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Summary: Shakespearean
Review: Shakespearean in it's story arches involving the tragedies of generations, the farce and surprise of secret identities, and the inclusion of gods, demons and ghosts as major characters. The language is brilliant. Lois gets better and better with every book!

Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: I was surprised to see that this book has an overall average rating of less than 4-1/2 stars and felt compelled to put in my two cents worth to help get the book a rating that it deserves. I bought the book just before getting on a plane, read it all the way home, and ended up getting to work late the next day because I had to finish it. A couple of days later I picked it up again and reread it!

Bujold is a marvelous writer and does an incredible (where does she get her ideas??!!) job of creating fascinating characters and coming up with innovative story lines. As for comparisons--I would recommend this book over George R.R. Martin's trilogy in a heartbeat, and would readily put it on the same shelf as my Ursula LeGuin books if I didn't shelve books alphabetically by author. There are many elements of the book that are reminescent of others--but I would submit that is true of all good books.

I agree with the reviewer who pointed out that Bujold's books have been getting better and better--unlike many other authors. Although I want to find out about Miles' future life I would hate to see her future books limited to Vorkosigan tales, and I would love to read any other fantasies that she is interested in writing.

In any event, I think that people who like books that combine elements of historical fiction and fantasy/science fiction are likely to enjoy this book. Kage Baker's Company series, Eric Flint's 1632, Connie Willis's Doomsday Book and Orson Scott Card's Enchantment are a few recent books that come to mind (but don't expect a time travel element in this book), also Guy Gavriel Kay, Patricia McKillip and Dorothy Dunnett. Anyone who likes the Vorkosigan books because of similarities to naval historical fiction should consider giving this book a test run by checking it out of the library instead of rushing out to buy it.

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Summary: A real page-turner with profound ideas beneath the surface
Review: It's not often that I encounter a book that does so many things so well as The Curse of Chalion: a plot that keeps you guessing, characters worth caring about, believable political intrigue, believable romance, a richly detailed imaginary world, and deep currents of spiritual and mythological significance that emerge smoothly out of the interplay of plot and character.

Cazaril, the character who serves as the reader's guide to the fictional kingdom of Chalion, is one of the most engaging characters I have had the pleasure to read: a man raised in privilege but transformed by tragedy, physically broken and spiritually tested by years as a prisoner of war and a galley-slave, returned to a high society in which he can no longer blend in. He becomes tutor to a young, spirited, intelligent, and cursed princess, and little by little his duty to protect and educate her turns into a desperate struggle to free her from the curse she has inherited -- a struggle in which the five gods of Chalion are both his greatest allies and the source of his greatest anguish and fear. Ultimately, this is the story of the painful effort to make room for divine action in the human world. The gods can only act through a willing human being, and those who offer their will to the gods take upon themselves a world of suffering.

I would offer this story as a rebuttal to any who say fantasy is only escapism. The Curse of Chalion shows what fantasy can do in the right hands: it can explore the deepest truths of the human heart. I recommend it to anyone looking for fantasy worth taking seriously.