Bookish Thoughts

Sometimes you're at a used book sale and you see a different edition of a book you already own. But you love the book so much that you have to buy this new edition. And then you have to read it to justify the purchase. This is probably the best method for revisiting an old favorite. I first read this book nearly a decade ago. I then proceeded to work through everything else Bujold had written in the next few years. She's still writing some - releasing a novella or two a year. But it was so nice to dive into a full-length adventure from her again, and to remember why I fell in love with her writing in the first place. This story focuses on Cazaril. He has just escaped from several years of slavery and is hoping to spend the rest of his life quietly and anonymously with some small, easy employment. But when he is assigned to be the secretary-tutor for the princess, he finds himself thrust into politics. And when he finds himself the chosen vessel of one of the gods, politics and ...

This book is 100 pages long and it took me two weeks to read it because November was so non-stop. I liked it a lot. It's fun and comforting with a twist that I saw coming just in time. And one or two lines that reminded me why I love Lois McMaster Bujold so much. I just wish I'd been able to read it a bit quicker.

Lois McMaster Bujold remains an auto-buy and auto-read for me. It doesn't matter what she writes or when, as soon as I hear about it I buy it. And then I read it as soon as I can. It probably helps that her "retirement project" has her releasing e-novellas for less than $5 each. They're the perfect impulse buys. That said, I think Bujold's best work may be behind her. Her Penric and Desdemona series is a light-hearted fun, and I always enjoy the adventures these two go on. But they don't quite have the depth of some of the mid-late Vorkosigan books (particularly Memory ). Not that there's anything wrong with that. A quick, light adventure can be exactly what I want to read. It helps that everyone is competent and well-intentioned and everything always works out for the best in the end. I think Bujold is becoming more of an idealist in her old age. Or at least she's writing books that embrace an idealism, perhaps as a response to what's going on...

The Prisoner of Limnos  is pretty much the definition of a feel-good story. Lois McMaster Bujold is incapable of not giving her characters the happiest possible ending. So there are no real surprises here. There's excitement but not much tension. And everyone ends up right where you hope and know they will. There's a lot to be said for comfort reads like this. Where characters clearly state what they want, value open, frank communication, and find their way to the same page. It's nice to watch characters do what they're good at and do it well. It's nice to know that two people who are so clearly meant for each other will end up together. It's not that there aren't obstacles. But they're met head-on by mature adults, and it turns out that they aren't so hard to overcome after all. The only downfall of a story like this is that there isn't a ton to be said. I love Bujold. I'm so glad she's continuing to publish novellas. I wish there we...

Unlike the other stories so far in the Penric series, which take place years apart, this one is a direct sequel to the previous one. It picks up hours after Penric, Nikys, and Adelis narrowly escaped their pursuers and follows the rest of their journey to safety in Orbas. They stop briefly in a brothel to recover and get their bearings, where Penric gets the idea to disguise himself as a wealthy, semi-retired courtesan, with the aid of one of Desdemona's previous hosts. This disguise, of course, leads to shenanigans and makes for a fun farce. It also complicates the developing relationship between Penric and Nikys. What had been a slow-burn, seemingly inevitable romance between the two is thrown off. This being a Bujold story, I was expecting a happy ending. I was pleasantly surprised to discover something much more ambiguous. It was refreshing to get a story from her that wasn't all wide-eyed optimism and love-conquers-all. I love those stories, of course. The great comfor...

Bujold's Penric  series, her "retirement project" has been a nice way to continue to get new fiction from her, even though she's not planning to write any more books. Instead she's been releasing this series of novellas as e-books. And as much as I prefer physical books, the electronic format isn't so bad for these shorter installments, which I can often read in one or two sessions. The third installment jumps forward in time. Penric and Desdemona have been together for over a decade now, and they have a seamless partnership, with a deep knowledge of and respect for each other. It also throws the reader right into the action, with Penric getting kidnapped and thrown into a dungeon in the first chapter. Structurally, this story is a lot like Cryoburn, with kidnappers, shady governments, and shaky partnerships. Adding to the comparison is the fact that Penric is acting more and more like Miles with each passing story. This can probably be chalked up to the c...

This was a lovely, quick read that probed deeply into questions of responsibility and free will. I've come to expect nothing less from Bujold. The first Penric story managed to make demon possession into an almost cuddly coming of age tale. So it's no surprise that she manages to do the same thing with a grisly murder. The story shifts between three points of view: Penric (and his demon), a murderer on the run from authorities, and the man hunting the murderer. The fun comes in the fact that they're all incredibly sympathetic. Even the murderer. Bujold hasn't written a pure villain since Falling Free , so I should have expected that there would be more to the story than met the eye. I also love the world that Bujold set this story in, and I'm always glad for a chance to return to it. The Curse of Chalion  is how I found her in the first place, so this setting has a special place in my heart. The world is a little disparate. Other than the gods, it's hard to ...

I was beyond excited when Bujold announced recently that she was releasing another story in the same universe as  The Curse of Chalion . I was even more excited when that book showed up sooner than I could have hoped for. Of course, this ended up being because it was released only as an eBook, which dampened my excitement somewhat. As much as it makes sense to release electronic copies of stories with no physical counterpart, especially for short stories and novellas, I still prefer the physical book. But it gave me an opportunity to check out the new Kindle app on my tablet, which actually has a few features that I like. Notably the "timer" that told me how long it would take to finish a chapter (or in this case the whole story). I also liked being able to change the background color - sepia was easier on my eyes in the late evening. The story itself was fun. Penric is so innocent and good-hearted (the classic third son) that you can't help but root for him. He's p...

The Hallowed Hunt is the third book in Lois McMaster Bujold's Chalion series. Though that's a bit disingenuous, since this book doesn't take place in Chalion. Nor does it contain any of the characters from the previous two books. Even in cameo roles. Even mentioned in passing. But the gods are the same, as is the universe, so it's part of the same series. There's some chatter among the fans that it should really be referred to as the Five Gods' series, or the Fivefold Path of the Soul series, since all of the books are examinations of this fascinating religion Bujold has created. But either of those names would imply a series of five books. Since there are currently three, with no hint of another forthcoming, those titles don't entirely fit either. The lack of familiar characters is only mildly disappointing, as all of the new ones are really great. There's sweet, naive Ijada who doesn't know a ton about real-world politics, but is p...

But how could she gain the road? Roads were made for young men, not middle-aged women. The poor orphan-boy packed his sack and started off down the road to seek his heart's hope...a thousand tales began that way. She was not poor, she was not a boy, and her heart was surely as stripped of all hope as life and death could render it. As Ista herself points out in the first few pages of the book, this should not be her story. At least not traditionally. According to all the tales, Ista is done. She was raised a princess and married a king. She lived to see her husband and son die and her daughter ascend to the throne. She has recently celebrated the birth of her first grandchild and is now mourning the death of her mother, making her officially a member of the older generation. Now it is time for her to sit quietly in her castle and live out her days, content with the life she has left. But that's not what Ista wants, and it's not what the gods have planned f...

My mom got my Lois McMaster Bujold's The Curse of Chalion  when I was in high school. I read most of it then, but I put it down and never finished it. All I can think is that the next Harry Potter book was coming out, because now I can't imagine putting this book down. Especially since my bookmark indicated that I'd made it nearly 3/4 of the way through. Wait, I need to show you the bookmark I was using in high school. It makes me really happy. So back to this book, which is high fantasy and has magic, but is also inspired by Spanish history. In fact, the map of this world is supposedly the map of Spain, with north and south switched. It's more concerned with politics than action, which is possibly why I less interested in it as a teenager. But now I find that sort of thing fascinating. Cazaril is the main character. At the opening of the book he is trudging home after escaping from slavery aboard a galley ship. When he makes it home, he finds a s...