Bujold, Lois McMaster - The Curse of Chalion

Stayed up much, much too late last night finishing this, and then suddenly realized that it wasn't that spectacularly good.

I did like it, and it was a nice return to solid, world-building fantasy, a subgenre of which I find I'm reading less and less of now. melymbrosia remarks in her review of Paladin of Souls that Bujold doesn't ever let her protagonists suffer too much for their mistakes, and I think that's the thing that I keep picking at in my head that makes this good, but not satisfying. This is particularly evident because I read it right after Fool's Fate.

Another thing that struck me was how corporeal the gods in this world were, how one could pray for things and have them granted and how real it was when they talked of things like miracles and saints. I'm not quite sure why that felt so peculiar to me; it's not as though fantasy is replete of gods or anything -- witness the David Eddings books and the Kushiel books, among many. I suppose with the Spanish influence, it felt a little more like a Guy Gavriel Kay book, which, outside of the Fionavar Tapestry, treats gods and religion much as they are in the real world. I enjoyed the setting, although I think I would have more with more detail and more depth -- I still don't think I have a good feel for the world outside of the five-god religion of theirs, no solid grip on the culture or the psychology or something that makes it different than just a Spanish-influenced fantasy world.

I very much enjoyed Cazaril and his age and his feel of having gone through too much. I particularly liked how he wasn't the fresh young boy from the village ala so many epic fantasies, brained by the fact that he was a bona fide hero out to save the world or stunned with the notion that he had some sort of epic destiny. I liked his acceptance of things and his fierce protectiveness toward his ladies. Lady Betriz was a bit meh for me -- didn't quite get as good of a sense of her personality, but I very much adored headstrong, smart Iselle. I am a sucker for a heroine who can play politics/court maneuvering.

More on Bujold protecting her protagonists ( here, with spoilers )

Shadowkat's meme

Gakked from shadowkat67

A. Name five Fantasy/Science Fiction books you've read in the past ten years that have haunted you or stuck with you in some serious way. Oh if they are part of a series - ie Lord of the Rings or His Dark Materials? Just list that as one. No need to list each individually.

Just five?

- Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card: one of the few books I read while starting out on the sf/f thing that I haven't outgrown
- Sandman, Neil Gaiman: for sheer scope and impact
- Robin Hobb's three trilogies (Assassins, Liveship and Tawny Man): ditto, especially considering that I've been reading them since junior year of high school till now. A slow, steady influence that only now really gets concluded, with great cumulative effect.
- The Fionavar Tapestry, Guy Gavriel Kay: yeah, it's my LotR. Probably because it was so influenced by it, but sacrilege of sacrileges, I like GGK's better. And because he never shies away from the prices that must be paid.
- Kind of cheating and putting down Terri Windling and Ellen Datlow's Snow White, Blood Red series of fairy tale anthologies, because they got me started down the entire subgenre of fairy tale influenced fantasy.

B. Name five mystery novels or thrillers that you've loved and have become guilty pleasures or just stay with you?

I've actually read only one or two mysteries, so no answer here.

C. If you aren’t a fantasy, mystery or sci-fic fan? List five books in the genre of your choice that you loved.

Haha, romance books!

- Connie Brockway, All Through the Night: for the sheer messed-upness of the hero AND heroine, both of whom manage to have traumatic pasts without turning into complete asses, and for the sheer darkness of it.
- Jennifer Crusie, Faking It: hilarious and real in a way very few romances are.
- Judith Ivory, Sleeping Beauty: older, experienced woman with no real regrets about it, younger, innocent(er?) hero, and the Victorian period! Bonus points for fairy tale usage.
- Laura Kinsale, The Prince of Midnight: not most people's favorite, with a really over the top melodramatic plot, but oh who cares. And Leah is about as tortured heroine as one gets, which hits all my kinks. Plus, I like how she doesn't let the hero off easy with his proclamations of love.
- again, trouble with the fifth... Connie Brockway, My Dearest Enemy: funny, with letters!

D. Are you a comic book fan? If so :

1. Marvel or DC comics? Um. Both? I only read Vertigo and Batman for DC and X-Men for Marvel. I guess more points to DC for the existence of Vertigo and Sandman
2. Superman or Batman? Batman, hands down, no question. May be one of my very first crushes and forays into fandom (inspired by the 60s show, me and my sister would pretend to be Batgirl and Catwoman)
3. X-men or Justice League? X-men
4. Wolverine or Cyclops? Gambit ;). Then Wolverine.
5. Have you read Alan Moore, Frank Miller or Neil Gaiman? If so list the five works you liked:

Yes.

- Frank Miller, Dark Knight Returns was probably my first foray into the new talent in comics during the eighties
- Neil Gaiman's Sandman, without question my favorite and the one I keep returning too
- Alan Moore, Watchmen, which I admire but don't quite like per se, like most of his work, it's a little too dark for me to actively enjoy. But I very much admire it.
- Neil Gaiman, Stardust (not technically a comic, but the illustrated version has gorgeous paintings by Charles Vess)
- and again, I run out. Didn't like Frank Miller's Year One as much as DKR, or his sequel to DKR. Haven't read most of Moore's other stuff because I'm a little afraid of him. And while I like Gaiman's other work (Black Orchid, Books of Magic), nothing quite matches Sandman for me. I think I will adore 1602, but I've only read the first one so far.

F. Fan of Science-Fiction/Fantasy TV shows? List your five favorites:

- Buffy
- Angel
- Firefly
- and now I rapidly run out because I don't watch that many!
- X-Files (borderline sci-fi)
- Stargate, which I have only seen 2 seasons of

I have actually not watched any Star Trek beyond one or two movies and one or two episodes (all of the Star Treks), or Babylon 5, or Highlander, etc. And I've only made it halfway through Farscape... I think I'm still in the not good episodes where the arc hasn't kicked off =(. Need to rent that. And Alias is rapidly becoming a not-favorite

Add your own question:

Instead, I steal scrollgirl's: If you could jump into any sci-fi/fantasy universe for a visit, which would you choose and why?

Um. Probably Lyra's world in His Dark Materials, because I want a daemon! Or at least, I want to see what mind is. Or Fionavar, the first world. But the problem with most fantasy worlds is the lack of technology! Sigh. Ooo, Harry Potter. There. Perfect blend of the two, with convenient things like plumbing and internet and computers plus magic!

GIP

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Angel 5x14 Smile Time

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