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Powells.com Staff Pick
Fawn and Dag are an unlikely pair but the chemistry between them is unmistakable! With The Sharing Knife Lois McMaster Bujold starts us on a new series — same great writing and boundless imagination but with a good dose of romance thrown in. I raced through this book. I was captivated by the adventure and magic of Bujold's latest world.
Recommended by Beth, Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Young Fawn Bluefield has fled her family's farm hoping to find work in the city of Glassforge. Uncertain about her future and the troubles she carries, Fawn stops for a drink of water at a roadside inn, where she encounters a patrol of Lakewalkers, enigmatic soldier-sorcerers from the woodland culture to the north. Fawn knows the stories about the Lakewalkers: they are necromancers; they practice black sorcery; they have no permanent homes and own only the clothes they wear and the weapons — mysterious knives made of human bone — they carry. What she does
not know is that the Lakewalkers, as a whole, are engaged in a perilous campaign against inhuman and immortal magical entities known as "malices," creatures that suck the life out of all they encounter, and turn men and animals into their minions.
Dag is an older Lakewalker patroller who carries his past sorrows as heavily as his present responsibilities. When Fawn is kidnapped by the malice Dag's patrol is tracking, Dag races to rescue her. But in the ensuing struggle, it is not Dag but Fawn who kills the creature — at dire cost — and an uncanny accident befalls Dag's sharing knife, which unexpectedly binds their two fates together.
And so now the misenchanted knife must be returned to the Lakewalkers. Together, Fawn and Dag set out on the long road back to his camp. But on the journey this unlikely pair will encounter danger and delight, prejudice and partnership, and maybe even love...
Review:
"Compelling characters lift this first of a two-book romantic fantasy from Hugo-winner Bujold (The Hallowed Heart), set in a dangerous land without a name, though individual towns, villages and hamlets are specified. Dag, a Lakewalker patroller with a dry wit, is dedicated to destroying the evil "malices" that blight the countryside. Fawn, a runaway farm girl, helps him kill a malice and its zombie-like mud-men, but not before the malice destroys her unborn child by taking its "ground" or life force. Fawn slays the malice with Dag's sharing knife, a bone blade created to carry the spirit of a dying patroller, but Dag's formerly empty knife now carries the baby's ground. Dag and Fawn fall in love while he helps her recover from her miscarriage. Bujold hints at an epic past of mighty kingdoms and ancient sorceries—a past that will hopefully be fully detailed in the sequel. (Oct.)" Publishers Weekly
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review:
"Compelling characters lift this first of a two-book romantic fantasy from Hugo-winner Bujold (The Hallowed Heart), set in a dangerous land without a name, though individual towns, villages and hamlets are specified. Dag, a Lakewalker patroller with a dry wit, is dedicated to destroying the evil 'malices' that blight the countryside. Fawn, a runaway farm girl, helps him kill a malice and its zombie-like mud-men, but not before the malice destroys her unborn child by taking its 'ground' or life force. Fawn slays the malice with Dag's sharing knife, a bone blade created to carry the spirit of a dying patroller, but Dag's formerly empty knife now carries the baby's ground. Dag and Fawn fall in love while he helps her recover from her miscarriage. Bujold hints at an epic past of mighty kingdoms and ancient sorceries — a past that will hopefully be fully detailed in the sequel." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Review:
"A quiet, beguiling and transcendent tale of love, mystery and magic...The main characters are...complex and beautifully written."
Romantic Times BookClub
Review:
"...Bujold delivers a novel that is a sweet, touching, and fast read." School Library Journal
Review:
"Bujold quickly develops unforgettable characters as she crafts a world filled with unique monsters and an original approach to magic." Library Journal
Review:
"Flurries of action early on, devolving into stock fantasy-romance; overall, just about noteworthy enough to bring readers back for the promised conclusion." Kirkus Reviews
Review:
"Bujold develops the characters and their relationship skillfully enough to please romance as well as fantasy fans." Booklist
Review:
"Bujold's latest fantasy novel takes place in a new setting, but it has all the elements her fans have come to expect— interesting characters, an unusual application of magic, and a plot full of conflicts. The only bad part is that this is the first of a two-book set, and I'll have to wait to learn how the story unfolds!" Kate Reynolds, Colgate Bookstore, Hamilton, NY
Synopsis:
The Hugo Award-winning author of
Paladin of Souls and
The Hallowed Hunt returns with an enthralling new romantic fantasy — the first volume in an epic two-volume saga.
Description:
November 2006 Book Sense Pick
About the Author
One of the most respected writers in the field of speculative fiction, Lois McMaster Bujold burst on to 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 two Nebula Awards for Best Novel (
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 — she has, in fact, won more Hugo Awards for Best Novel than any other author with the exception of Robert A. Heinlein. The mother of two, Bujold lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.