- Hardcover: 355 pages
- Publisher: Eos (Oct 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0061137588
- ISBN-13: 978-0061137587
- Product Dimensions: 23.3 x 16.4 x 3.1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 933,506 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
80 of 80 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The Sharing Knife is an exploration of a new fantasy world following on from Lois McMaster Bujold's last three fantasies set in a different world (The Curse Of Chalion, Paladin Of Souls and The Hallowed Hunt). The world of The Sharing Knife is that of 'farmers' who work the land or live in towns in a quasi-mediaeval era, and the 'Lakewalkers' who patrol the country and rid it of various nasties (Blight Bogles or Malices, Mud Men and other things). The Lakewalkers do this using special senses (groundsense) that the farmer folk don't have and consequently are rather feared for their 'sorcery'.
The Sharing Knife investigates what happens when these two worlds clash - when a farmer daughter helps a Lakewalker to dispose of a Malice - and the repercussions this has on the protagonists and their families. This book is the first half of a duology and deals with the world of the 'farmers' and our heroine Fawn's attempt to strike out on her own road and escape her stifling family. Dag, the Lakewalker who rescues her from some bandits, is an older and experienced Patroller who has lots in his past which he is trying to ignore. When these two meet they are forced to confront the differences between them in order to move on.
The love story is much more to the fore in this book than Lois McMaster Bujold's previous offerings - the Chalion series or the Miles Vorkosigan space operas. It's a gentle love story where you understand why hero and heroine are drawn to each other - mainly through the differences between them and shared experiences that bind them together. There are some amusing moments with Fawn's family and some scary moments when Fawn is kidnapped, but overall it is a gentle and light story which I enjoyed very much.
If you want to check it out yourself, there's a sample chapter posted at the following website: http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061137587/The_Sharing_Knife_Volume_One/excerpt.aspx Give it a go!
The Sharing Knife investigates what happens when these two worlds clash - when a farmer daughter helps a Lakewalker to dispose of a Malice - and the repercussions this has on the protagonists and their families. This book is the first half of a duology and deals with the world of the 'farmers' and our heroine Fawn's attempt to strike out on her own road and escape her stifling family. Dag, the Lakewalker who rescues her from some bandits, is an older and experienced Patroller who has lots in his past which he is trying to ignore. When these two meet they are forced to confront the differences between them in order to move on.
The love story is much more to the fore in this book than Lois McMaster Bujold's previous offerings - the Chalion series or the Miles Vorkosigan space operas. It's a gentle love story where you understand why hero and heroine are drawn to each other - mainly through the differences between them and shared experiences that bind them together. There are some amusing moments with Fawn's family and some scary moments when Fawn is kidnapped, but overall it is a gentle and light story which I enjoyed very much.
If you want to check it out yourself, there's a sample chapter posted at the following website: http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780061137587/The_Sharing_Knife_Volume_One/excerpt.aspx Give it a go!
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Having loved the author's Chalion series, I couldn't wait to read this book. I did enjoy it but couldn't help being a little disappointed by it...
I feel I should start by saying that the fantasy element of the book is interesting but doesn't feature much in it. This is particularly true of the second half which largely consists of domestic family scenes. It would almost be more accurate to call this book a romance story with a bit of fantasy in the background than a romantic fantasy book. I found this refreshing as it is good to see an author trying to take the genre in a new direction, away from all the dragon, wizard, war and prophecy orientated stuff that are around now. I found, however, that the romance was just too sickly and soppy for me. I like a strong romantic element to books (I am a typical girl!), but this one takes it too far in my opinion and I just found it all a bit unbelievable and contrived (the bit with Dag talking about water-lilies was just daft and did she have to call the heroine Fawn?!).
The setting is also refreshingly unconventional for a fantasy book. Most seem to be set in a land resembling medieval Europe, but this world is more like rural America a couple of centuries ago. It is well imagined and described with subtlety.
As with the author's last books, this is written with warmth, wisdom and humour - the dialogue in particular is nice. Unlike the other books though, you pretty much have to read the next book after this one as it only tells half of the story.
I feel I should start by saying that the fantasy element of the book is interesting but doesn't feature much in it. This is particularly true of the second half which largely consists of domestic family scenes. It would almost be more accurate to call this book a romance story with a bit of fantasy in the background than a romantic fantasy book. I found this refreshing as it is good to see an author trying to take the genre in a new direction, away from all the dragon, wizard, war and prophecy orientated stuff that are around now. I found, however, that the romance was just too sickly and soppy for me. I like a strong romantic element to books (I am a typical girl!), but this one takes it too far in my opinion and I just found it all a bit unbelievable and contrived (the bit with Dag talking about water-lilies was just daft and did she have to call the heroine Fawn?!).
The setting is also refreshingly unconventional for a fantasy book. Most seem to be set in a land resembling medieval Europe, but this world is more like rural America a couple of centuries ago. It is well imagined and described with subtlety.
As with the author's last books, this is written with warmth, wisdom and humour - the dialogue in particular is nice. Unlike the other books though, you pretty much have to read the next book after this one as it only tells half of the story.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I love Lois McMaster Bujold's novels, from the high space opera of the Vorkosigan series, to the thought-provoking, world-building Chalion trilogy. "Beguilement" is set in a new world altogether, semi-post-apocalyptic, with the aocalypse being magical rather than nuclear. In a change of direction for the author, the setting is pretty lowly- a farmgirl and Lakewalker (kind of an organised demon-hunter) are the main protagonists, instead of the usual kings, queens and admirals. The story is everything expected from Bujold, with likeable, flawed characters and a rich, inventive world, told with her typical dry humour and driven by her habit of trying to do the worst possible thing to her characters at the worst possible time.
Buy. Read. Love! Then buy her backlist!
Buy. Read. Love! Then buy her backlist!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Romantic fantasy at its best
This quartet of novels is one of my favorite series ever. It is very rare to find a good romance in any genre, and I have never found one so purely lovely as this one. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Amanda
Thank you
The book is in excellent condition and was well packaged. I am very happy with the purchase and would use this supplier again.
Published 20 months ago by pufc4ever
A promising new series
There's nothing altogether unique about this book, really. The world setting has some nice ideas, the characters are very strong and well developed, and the plot is enjoyable and... Read more
Published on 18 Dec 2009 by xenofan
Lois Never Lets Me Down
All the reviews said: `Good, but not as good as Curse of Chalion,' so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Read more
Published on 14 Jan 2009 by J. R. Bedford
joined together
Latest from veteran science fiction and fantasy writer lois mcmaster bujold, a writer who is always a good read thanks to her skill at creating appealing characters. Read more
Published on 14 Mar 2008 by Paul Tapner
Half a good narrative
I confess I'm disappointed by Beguilement. And I'm disappointed unfairly. This isn't a bad book; if it were the first book I read by Bujold I would have thought it good. Read more
Published on 19 Nov 2007 by Simon Brooke
Good old Bujold!
I agree absolutely with the other reviews, but the whole setting is SO much an old western film - farmers milking and making their own clothes, and the tall silent Lone Ranger... Read more
Published on 28 Jun 2007 by amolib
A return to form...
Bujold has always had an excellent eye for character, and for me this is the best thing she's written in a while, on a par with the first Chalion book and the better Vorkosigan... Read more
Published on 12 May 2007 by Kerome
Worth buying the hardback
This is only the fifth hardback I've bought and I was glad I did. Lois's worldcreating skills have worked again, and I felt that her almost subliminal description of the... Read more
Published on 6 Nov 2006 by Kevin Wallis
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