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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The continuing adventures of Lakewalker, Dag Redwing Hickory and his `farmer' wife Fawn Bluefeld, following on directly from the events in `Beguilement' which ended with Dag and Fawn's wedding at the Bluefeld farm, having more or less overcome her family's objections. Now they're off to face Dag's family which is going to be a much more difficult sell because the Lakewalkers think they're a cut above, magically, that is, and that the rest of the world - farmers whether they farm or not - are a bunch of ignorant ingrates.
Lakewalkers can sense `grounds,' that's life-energy to you and me, and they are dedicated to killing `malices' - power-hungry entities that pop up out of the ground, and blight everything around - including people. Only Lakewalker magic can kill a malice, they're immortal and immune to everything but specially prepared bone knives imbued with mortality. Nothing is more important to Lakewalkers than this duty and their whole way of life is dedicated to supporting their patrollers. It's a tight knit little community that Fawn walks into - hoping she can impress Dag's harridan mother. She doesn't and neither does Dag who, it seems, is the son who can't do anything right. Dag's brother Dar is as much of a problem as his mother. Luckily there are one or two patrollers that Fawn met in `Beguilement' who, while not openly accepting of their marriage, are not hostile to Fawn and so the couple settle down to married life with the threat of a council meeting hanging over their head to proclaim on the validity of the marriage.
Dag shows his mettle, grows in talents and in saving others manages to get himself into malice trouble again and only with Fawn's help does he get out of it, but despite proving herself over and over again, she'd never going to be able to make Yorkshire Puddings like Mother makes. Dag solves the problem in his own way which lead them nicely forward to the much anticipated third book in the series, `Passage.'
Everything I said about the first book in The Sharing Knife sequence stands repeating here. Well-written, well-rounded characters and if the plot is less than action-packed, the dramatic tension remains high. Dag is almost as good a hero as Caz in 'Curse of Chalion' - and that's high praise indeed. We learn more about Dag, his first marriage, and some of the reasons why he never followed through and became a captain, despite that being his obvious destiny in his younger days and one of his obvious talents. The fact that he cares so much about others is one of the appealing things about him. Dag doesn't - in any way - consider himself above farmers. Dag and Fawn are an engaging couple deliberately mismatched for extra interest and cultural misunderstandings.
If you're looking for the kind of pace Miles Vorkosigan keeps up, you may need to look elsewhere, but this series is on a par with Bujold's Chalion novels for character and interest. Her writing never disappoints, whatever the style.
Lakewalkers can sense `grounds,' that's life-energy to you and me, and they are dedicated to killing `malices' - power-hungry entities that pop up out of the ground, and blight everything around - including people. Only Lakewalker magic can kill a malice, they're immortal and immune to everything but specially prepared bone knives imbued with mortality. Nothing is more important to Lakewalkers than this duty and their whole way of life is dedicated to supporting their patrollers. It's a tight knit little community that Fawn walks into - hoping she can impress Dag's harridan mother. She doesn't and neither does Dag who, it seems, is the son who can't do anything right. Dag's brother Dar is as much of a problem as his mother. Luckily there are one or two patrollers that Fawn met in `Beguilement' who, while not openly accepting of their marriage, are not hostile to Fawn and so the couple settle down to married life with the threat of a council meeting hanging over their head to proclaim on the validity of the marriage.
Dag shows his mettle, grows in talents and in saving others manages to get himself into malice trouble again and only with Fawn's help does he get out of it, but despite proving herself over and over again, she'd never going to be able to make Yorkshire Puddings like Mother makes. Dag solves the problem in his own way which lead them nicely forward to the much anticipated third book in the series, `Passage.'
Everything I said about the first book in The Sharing Knife sequence stands repeating here. Well-written, well-rounded characters and if the plot is less than action-packed, the dramatic tension remains high. Dag is almost as good a hero as Caz in 'Curse of Chalion' - and that's high praise indeed. We learn more about Dag, his first marriage, and some of the reasons why he never followed through and became a captain, despite that being his obvious destiny in his younger days and one of his obvious talents. The fact that he cares so much about others is one of the appealing things about him. Dag doesn't - in any way - consider himself above farmers. Dag and Fawn are an engaging couple deliberately mismatched for extra interest and cultural misunderstandings.
If you're looking for the kind of pace Miles Vorkosigan keeps up, you may need to look elsewhere, but this series is on a par with Bujold's Chalion novels for character and interest. Her writing never disappoints, whatever the style.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Volume 2 of the Sharing Knife series, featuring stolid farmers interacting uneasily with nomadic "Patrollers" who battle 'malices', creatures that seem to arise spontaneously and consume the essence ('ground') of living creatures and bend them to their will. The heroine is a spirited farmer's daughter who marries an older patroller, to general disapproval. In volume 1, they meet, marry and fight off farmer prejudice; this time, it's patroller prejudice they have to deal with.
Many familiar Bujold themes - the quiet lead characters who amaze themselves and all around them with hidden talents, the explicit treatment of physical things from sex to disabilities, the unhurried but involving plotline. It's a more feminine book than the Miles series, mainly seen from the heroine's viewpoint and basically very romantic. The 'ground' theme is extensively developed and I'd advise reading volume 1 first or you'll struggle to follow. A little leisurely at times but the characters are generally sympathetically-drawn, making it an agreeable read.
Many familiar Bujold themes - the quiet lead characters who amaze themselves and all around them with hidden talents, the explicit treatment of physical things from sex to disabilities, the unhurried but involving plotline. It's a more feminine book than the Miles series, mainly seen from the heroine's viewpoint and basically very romantic. The 'ground' theme is extensively developed and I'd advise reading volume 1 first or you'll struggle to follow. A little leisurely at times but the characters are generally sympathetically-drawn, making it an agreeable read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Legacy is book two in the Sharing Knife series, by Lois McMaster Bujold. It continues the story of Dag and Fawn, picking up pretty much where they left off at the end of Beguilement (book one).
I enjoyed Beguilement, but I have to say that I didn't like Legacy nearly as much. I thought the dispute with Dag's family was drawn out for far too long, and it wasn't all that interesting. I got to read a lot about Fawn and Dag cooking plumkins and visiting the Lakewalker camp and its people, which is not how I expected to spend much of the second book. Whilst it was nice at first to learn a bit more about the Lakewalker ways, it was just overdone and I was dissapointed with the authors reliance on having the characters explain absuloubtly everything through dialogue. I didn't even find the Lakewalkers all that interesting to begin with-they weren't very original-and this didn't help.
It isn't until about chapter 10 (possibly later) that the main threat of the book is actually introduced. I enjoyed Legacy a little more once the story moved away (for the most part) from the Lakewalker camp. Sadly, it was over all too quickly, and I found the last 5 or so chapters about as difficult to get through as the first 10. (In a book of 19 chapters, this doesn't leave much actual space for the main conflict) Although there are some nice worldbuilding ideas, the story on a whole is only just "okay". There's little original about it, and whereas book one seemed to balance this problem by having strong characters and an excellent mix of romance and action/conflict, book two somehow falls short. In fact, there were times when I just couldn't stand Dag OR Fawn.
I'd had high hopes for the Sharing Knife series after reading the first book, but after being so dissapointed by Legacy, I will not be continuing with it. This is a shame, as Lois McMaster Bujold is capable of writing great fantasy - try her Curse of Chalion, if you want to see her at her best. Avoid Legacy though, it wasn't that great.
I enjoyed Beguilement, but I have to say that I didn't like Legacy nearly as much. I thought the dispute with Dag's family was drawn out for far too long, and it wasn't all that interesting. I got to read a lot about Fawn and Dag cooking plumkins and visiting the Lakewalker camp and its people, which is not how I expected to spend much of the second book. Whilst it was nice at first to learn a bit more about the Lakewalker ways, it was just overdone and I was dissapointed with the authors reliance on having the characters explain absuloubtly everything through dialogue. I didn't even find the Lakewalkers all that interesting to begin with-they weren't very original-and this didn't help.
It isn't until about chapter 10 (possibly later) that the main threat of the book is actually introduced. I enjoyed Legacy a little more once the story moved away (for the most part) from the Lakewalker camp. Sadly, it was over all too quickly, and I found the last 5 or so chapters about as difficult to get through as the first 10. (In a book of 19 chapters, this doesn't leave much actual space for the main conflict) Although there are some nice worldbuilding ideas, the story on a whole is only just "okay". There's little original about it, and whereas book one seemed to balance this problem by having strong characters and an excellent mix of romance and action/conflict, book two somehow falls short. In fact, there were times when I just couldn't stand Dag OR Fawn.
I'd had high hopes for the Sharing Knife series after reading the first book, but after being so dissapointed by Legacy, I will not be continuing with it. This is a shame, as Lois McMaster Bujold is capable of writing great fantasy - try her Curse of Chalion, if you want to see her at her best. Avoid Legacy though, it wasn't that great.
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