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Passage (Sharing Knife #03)

by Lois McMaster Bujold

Passage (Sharing Knife #03) Cover

ISBN13: 9780061375330
ISBN10: 0061375330
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
All Product Details

Only 1 left in stock at $17.95!

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Acclaimed science fiction and fantasy writer Lois McMaster Bujold — five-time winner of the Hugo Award — brings us the third installment in her New York Times bestselling romantic fantasy.

Young Fawn Bluefield and soldier-sorcerer Dag Redwing Hickory have survived magical dangers and found, in each other, love and loyalty. But even their strength and passion cannot overcome the bigotry of their own kin, and so, leaving behind all they have known, the couple sets off to find fresh solutions to the perilous split between their peoples.

But they will not journey alone. Along the way they acquire comrades, starting with Fawn's irrepressible brother Whit, whose future on the Bluefield family farm seems as hopeless as Fawn's once did. Planning to seek passage on a riverboat heading to the sea, Dag and Fawn find themselves allied with a young flatboat captain searching for her father and fiance, who mysteriously vanished on the river nearly a year earlier. They travel downstream, hoping to find word of the missing men, and inadvertently pick up more followers: a pair of novice Lakewalker patrollers running away from an honest mistake with catastrophic consequences; a shrewd backwoods hunter stranded in a wreck of boats and hopes; and a farmer boy Dag unintentionally beguiles, leaving Dag with more questions than answers about his growing magery.

As the ill-assorted crew is tested and tempered on its journey to where great rivers join, Fawn and Dag will discover surprising new abilities both Lakewalker and farmer, a growing understanding of the bonds between themselves and their kinfolk, and a new world of hazards both human and uncanny.

Review:

"Nebula and Hugo — winner Bujold explores culture clashes in this compelling third segment of the Sharing Knife series (after 2007's Legacy). Former Lakewalker captain Dag has been exiled from his family for marrying an outsider, farmer's daughter Fawn. Farmers and riverfolk need the secretive Lakewalkers for their ability to manipulate 'ground energy' and battle the deadly blight-causing creatures called malices, but few trust them completely, and the Lakewalkers haven't helped the situation by remaining aloof from the rest of the world. Dag longs to build a bridge of understanding and respect between Lakewalkers and those who depend on their protection. 'The old ways have worked for better 'n a thousand years,' another Lakewalker captain warns, but as farmers settle dangerous territory and Dag's own groundsense abilities develop in dangerous directions, big changes are inevitable. Bujold excels at creating interesting and sympathetic characters, and this story will satisfy readers who enjoy romance as much as adventure." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Synopsis:

In the third volume of Bujold's Sharing Knife saga, Fawn, a young farm girl, and Dag, a seasoned soldier-sorcerer, set off to find fresh solutions to the perilous split between their peoples.

About the Author

One of the most respected writers in the field of speculative fiction, Lois McMaster Bujold burst onto the scene in 1986 with Shards of Honor, the first of her tremendously popular Vorkosigan Saga novels. She has received numerous accolades and prizes, including, for best novel, two Nebula Awards (Falling Free and Paladin of Souls), four Hugo Awards for Best Novel (Paladin of Souls, The Vor Game, Barrayar, and Mirror Dance), as well as the Hugo and Nebula Awards for her novella The Mountains of Mourning. Her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. The mother of two, Bujold lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 2 comments:
Jvstin, November 8, 2008 (view all comments by Jvstin)
The Sharing Knife novels are set in a post-apocalypse low-tech fantasy world that strongly resembles the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys of what was called in the 19th century "The Northwest Territory". A high civilization of magic fell, leaving farmers, trying to get along in small communities, Lakewalkers, Ranger-like users of minor magics, and malices, leftovers of that high civilization which threaten farmer and Lakewalkers (who hunt them) alike. And despite their common foe, Lakewalkers and farmers trust each other not at all...

The first two novels introduced us to Dag, a one-armed world-weary Lakewalker who falls for farmer girl Fawn Bluefield. In the first, the two meet and are introduced to Fawn's family, and the relationship slowly grows between them. The second novel reverses this and has Dag bring his now farmer bride to Lakewalker country, to meet Dag's Lakewalkers and also deal with an even more powerful malice than in the first novel, the way that they met.

In this third novel, Fawn and Dag go south. Accompanied by Fawn's younger brother Whit, the three collect companions on what becomes a flat boat adventure down a river suspiciously similar to the Ohio. We meet new characters like Berry, who owns the boat and is seeking her lost fiance and father who took a boat down river and never returned. We meet a pair of runaway Lakewalkers who wind up under Dag's tutelage. And add to that a farmer that Dag's experiments with being a healer who gets beguiled by mistake, and you wind up with a crowded but interesting set of characters for the journey.

As in the previous novels and in this series, we get subtle hints of worldbuilding, interesting character dynamics and psychology (a Bujold specialty!) and (a little less often) action and adventure. I won't give away just what Dag, Fawn and company find on the river, I leave that pleasure for the reader to discover. It's a journey of discovery, in several senses. This book is a little more down than the previous two novels, but only by a moderate degree.

I wouldn't start the series here by any means. However, this is a worthy successor to the first two SK novels and if you have read those two, you will be satisfied with this third volume set in that world.
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magpie27, March 29, 2008 (view all comments by magpie27)
Throughly enjoyed the first two in this series, have been waiting (impatiently) for the third...are we there yet?
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780061375330
Author:
Bujold, Lois McMaster
Publisher:
Eos
Author:
by Lois McMaster Bujold
Author:
by Lois McMaster Bujold
Subject:
Fantasy - General
Subject:
Fantasy - Epic
Subject:
Magic
Subject:
Magicians
Subject:
Love stories
Subject:
Fantasy fiction
Series:
Sharing Knife
Series Volume:
03
Publication Date:
May 2008
Binding:
Hardcover
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
437
Dimensions:
9.30x6.32x1.33 in. 1.49 lbs.

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