The Sharing Knife (Beguilement, Vol. 1)

Lois McMaster Bujold

Book 1 of Sharing Knife

Publisher: Eos

Published: Apr 4, 2007

Description:

SUMMARY:
This is nonfiction commentary. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Vorkosigan Saga, Ethan of Athos, Horizon, Beguilement, Paladin of Souls, the Curse of Chalion, Passage, the Spirit Ring, the Hallowed Hunt, Legacy, Diplomatic Immunity, the Sharing Knife. Source: Wikipedia. Free updates online. Not illustrated. Excerpt: The Vorkosigan Saga is a series of science fiction novels and short stories by American author Lois McMaster Bujold. Most of them concern Miles Vorkosigan, a physically disabled aristocrat from the planet Barrayar whose life (from before birth), military career, and post-military career is a challenge to his native planet's prejudices against "mutants." The novels The Vor Game, Barrayar and Mirror Dance each won the Hugo Award for Best Novel, while Falling Free, Memory, and A Civil Campaign were nominated but did not win. The stories are listed in order of chronology, rather than publication date. Shards of Honor and Barrayar concern Miles' parents, while Dreamweaver's Dilemma, Falling Free, and Ethan of Athos are set in the same universe as the other books but do not involve Miles or any of his family. Lois Bujold wrote two books (Shards of Honor and The Warrior's Apprentice) and was working on a third (Ethan of Athos) before The Warrior's Apprentice was accepted (after four rejections). On the strength of The Warrior's Apprentice, Baen Books agreed to a three-book deal to include the two other novels. The first story ever written was "Dreamweaver's Dilemma." The most recent is CryoBurn. The Vorkosigan Saga has also been made into a comic book in France. Travel between star systems is by wormholes, spatial anomalies that exist in five spatial dimensions, which allow instantaneous travel from one star to another. Most trips between inhabited systems require more than one jump. The spaceships employ ar...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=21069

From Publishers Weekly

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.)
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From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–Bujold's The Curse of Chalion (2001) and The Hallowed Hunt (2005, both Morrow/Avon) walked a fine line between fast-paced quest fantasy and character-driven romance. Here the fantasy is in the background, making the developing romance between the main characters, Dag and Fawn, the primary story. The two meet when the wandering adventurer Dag rescues the farmer's daughter Fawn from a Malice, a powerful demonic creature capable of bending the wills and flesh of others to itself. While there is action and drama, the end result is that the events seem built for the singular purpose of pushing Dag and Fawn together instead of moving along any other plot thread. This is a big shift for Bujold's fans, who might expect layers of political intrigue and thrilling action alongside the love story. Fortunately, the lovers are compelling characters, and Bujold delivers a novel that is a sweet, touching, and fast read. While it seems difficult to imagine how a love story can carry a whole fantasy series, teens will want to see how this tale continues in the next volume._–Matthew L. Moffett, Ford's Theatre Society, Washington, DC_
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