From the Bookshelf of Beyond Reality…

Paladin of Souls (World of the Five Gods, #2)

Lois McMaster Bujold

Start date: January 1, 2018

Finish date: January 31, 2018

Why we're reading this: The group previously read this in October 2005, pre-Goodreads.
[close] The group previously read this in October 2005, pre-Goodreads.

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Feb 08, 2018 mark monday rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy-modern

the woman is not old, but blame the place and time, she is seen as such. the woman is not maternal, despite having given birth to a child she loves. the woman is not mentally unwell, but blame the past's taint on her present, she is seen as such. the woman seeks adventure and an opening for escape from the smothering life that those who love her would trap her in. she forces a door to open and so off she goes! smart, brave, emotional, critical, modest, kind, and eccentric... she's all the best t ...more

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Jul 27, 2007 Wealhtheow rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Exciting, philosophical, excellent character and world-building. I found myself yearning to talk to someone about this book--it really incites thought.

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Sep 02, 2012 Steve rated it really liked it

Shelves: sci-fi-women, fantasy

I ended up liking Paladin of Souls more than I thought I would. Its main middle part sets up a giant, complex conflict which gets resolved in a dramatic way through the last 100 pages or so. Let's leave it at that to avoid spoilers. Just know you will feel rewarded even if you find it slow going earlier.

The "it" continues the world of The Curse of Chalion. You find yourself in an Earth-like fantasy world, and it takes a lot to understand that world. I know some readers just fly through this book I ended up liking Paladin of Souls more than I thought I would. Its main middle part sets up a giant, complex conflict which gets resolved in a dramatic way through the last 100 pages or so. Let's leave it at that to avoid spoilers. Just know you will feel rewarded even if you find it slow going earlier.

The "it" continues the world of The Curse of Chalion. You find yourself in an Earth-like fantasy world, and it takes a lot to understand that world. I know some readers just fly through this book, and maybe I will on a second reading. I couldn't do that this time. The world has two major competing religions, fairly well elaborated here and in the first book. It also has a set of more or less feudal city-states, most associated with one or the other religion, yet also with a network of relationships you want to understand. In addition, both theologically and quite practically, Bujold's world has rich spirit life, with demons, animal spirits and gods swirling around, doing good and bad.

You can read this novel without reading the first book. You will have to work harder to immerse yourself in the world, and you won't really get all the character references. Nonetheless, I liked Paladin more than the first novel.

One big reason: Ista, the widowed royal (or "Dowager Royina" in Chalion terms), becomes the central focus. Though she had a major part in the first book, she couldn't act as independently throughout. In Ista, you will find a smart, strong, funny, independent-minded, self-reflective middle-aged woman. She doesn't want to be sidelined as a senior figurehead. She realizes she can use her experience and skills in ways she hadn't quite imagined from the travails of her earlier life.

She had had a challenging life as daughter, wife, mother as well as royal intriguer to deal with those family relationships. In Paladin, one might say she gets to craft a second career of her own making from those earlier experiences. Her family just wants her to relax. And you feel her aches and pains from riding (a horse) all day. Yet she is fearless and clear-headed when it counts. And in the middle of it all, she muses on her romantic and sexual prospects as a middle aged widow. She appraises all the other characters in ways I found quite endearing.

This is not Lean In. While more science fiction and fastasy does have clear woman characters, few fit this profile. Bujold's clearly enjoys Ista and that comes through as well. You will probably like the drawing of some of the other characters as well, on both sides of the conflict.

The spirit world of Chalion I found interesting, though hard to fully connect to. Spirits act very independently and impinge on our human characters' thinking and doing. Somehow that seems more "Western" to me than harder to find Eastern meditation traditions in science fiction. Still, I appreciated the clarity and completeness of Bujold's vision. I'll probably take a rest and then look for next book.
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Nov 01, 2009 Frank Taranto rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

An interesting fantasy. What makes this intersting is the more mature characters and the gods that have a a real life effect on the characters.

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Sep 24, 2012 Kerry rated it really liked it

Shelves: 9-out-of-10, fantasy, 2004

[Copied across from Library Thing; 25 September 2012]

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Nov 11, 2012 Mark rated it liked it

Shelves: hugo-award-winning-novels

Dragged a bit though.

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Sep 11, 2007 Tani rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, female-author, five-stars

Jan 12, 2008 Jeffrey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Jun 02, 2008 Matt rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Jun 08, 2008 Samantha rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Jul 01, 2008 JuliAnna rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

Aug 26, 2008 Bill added it

Shelves: fantasy

Sep 02, 2008 Stephen marked it as to-read

Shelves: audiobook, award-winner-locus, multiple-award-winners, award-nominee-hugo, award-nominee-mythopoeic-fantasy, award-nominee-nebula, award-winner-nebula, award-nominee-locus, fantasy, award-winner-hugo

Nov 19, 2008 Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: cover-pretty-white-girl, fantasy-fiction, theme-religion, whereisit-br

Jan 04, 2009 LaTrica rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, romance, series, cool-world, heroine

Feb 08, 2009 Sandi rated it it was amazing

Shelves: scifi-fantasy-horror-althistory, read-2003

Feb 23, 2009 Chessa rated it really liked it

Jan 28, 2019 John rated it really liked it

Feb 27, 2009 Mosca rated it really liked it

Apr 14, 2009 Scott rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Apr 19, 2009 Jen rated it really liked it

Jun 16, 2009 Laure marked it as to-read

Shelves: science-fiction-fantasy, novels-novellas, nebula-winners, hugo-winners

Jun 16, 2009 Ken marked it as to-read

Sep 15, 2009 Shanshad Whelan rated it it was amazing

Shelves: series, fantasy

Oct 25, 2009 Angela Randall marked it as to-read

Shelves: award-winner, 2000-2009, friends-recommend, we-own, bruce-recommends, 21st-century, a-great-list-of-top-books-to-read, fiction, fantasy, nebula-award