So I haven’t read The Hallowed Hunt yet, but I will probably this summer. But otherwise, I don’t find the World of the Five Gods to be particularly funny. But luckily this book was funny, and it reminded me of how funny a lot of the Vorkosigan Saga is. Even the more serious books like Memory or Barryar have their moments, but the outright comedies like Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance and A Civil Campaign are not only funny, but constructed like comedies, where the stakes can be real but ultimately work […]
This book asks so much from me.
Lois McMaster Bujold is a genius and a national treasure of course. That goes without saying. When I found myself reading the first of the Vorkosigan novels, I went on an absolute tear and read the remaining thirteen or so that were out at that point in about six months. Needless to say, it was too much, too soon, too fast. I basically got an ice cream headache from it. It would be about impossible to do the same thing with the Chalion/Five Gods series. […]
A new to me and unusual science fiction saga.
My friends L and M recommended the Vorkosigan Saga to me a few years back, and I finally got around to reading it this year. I’m not always a huge fan of fantasy or science fiction, but I take my friends’ recommendations seriously, and I enjoy a good story. While the first novel, Shards of Honor, was not my absolute favorite science fiction story, it was engaging, unusual, and interesting. I’ll be curious to see how the rest of the books develop the world. This […]
On the Nature of Gods and Forgiveness
Penric and the Shaman is a novella set in Bujold’s World of the Five Gods, a world more thoroughly explored in the Chalion books. It is also the second novella featuring Penric and his demon Desdemona. Fortunately, it doesn’t need the other books to be sensible and can be read on its own, though of course there are elements that will make sense if you are already familiar with the world. I know Bujold gets the most fame for her Vorkosigan Saga, deservedly so, but […]