Pros: beautiful, with evocative conceptions of magic
Cons: the plot and resolution could have been stronger
The Bottom Line: Sweet and indulgent, this sequel will appeal to readers of light fantasy and romance alike (though possibly disappointing to traditional Bujold fans).
Greatpilgrim's Full Review: Lois McMaster Bujold - The Sharing Knife: Library ...
As I continue to explore the novels of noted sci-fi/fantasy writer Lois McMaster Bujold, her new series The Sharing Knife (my first introduction to Bujold) seems more and more of an odd child out – but not in a bad way. This is an unabashedly romantic fantasy saga, and when Volume Two: Legacy offered the same lush storytelling as Volume One: Beguilement, I looked forward very much to getting to repeat the experience.
~Note: This review contains spoilers for the first novel. There’s just no other way around it. If you like knowing nothing about a story going into it…well, what are you do reading book reviews??? Hehehe~
A mere two hours after tying the knot – literally, with Lakewalker marriage cords – at the farm of Fawn's hesistent family, farmgirl Fawn and supernatural Patroller Dag are on the road back to Dag’s Lakewalker tribe, who will be even harder to win over than Fawn’s relatives. The Lakewalkers’ scorn of simple Fawn and her total inability to wield magic (groundwork, as they call it) further complicate Dag’s already tenuous position in the clan as devil-may-care Patroller who has failed to live up to his destiny. Patrollers simply don’t bring their “indiscretions” back to camp, and they certainly don’t marry them! Soon Dag is sent out with the other Patrollers to take down a noxious Malice, whose dark leech of magic can only be destroyed by a soul-infused sharing knife…but this time things go terribly wrong and Fawn, reviled back at the Lakewalker camp, has only the vague intuitions from her marriage cords to guide her.
~My take~
Gorgeous barely begins to describe my overall impression of Legacy - it's positively redolent of shimmering fantasy and fascinating culture. Romantic? Duh! It even starts with a love scene! In some ways the plot summary probably makes this book sound more banal than it actually is, but it does give a decent indication of how character- and relationship-oriented the story ends up being. There were many things to love about The Sharing Knife: Legacy, but a few little quibbles and an overall sense of fluffiness hold it back from universal appeal.
Perhaps it’s best to get the quibbles out of the way so that I can gush without reservations. I thought the story’s central conflict was a bit weak as fantasy goes…it was SO family-drama-driven that the rising action and climax seemed to come all at once and peak a little too soon. The romance also wasn’t AS mind-blowing thanks to the Resolved Sexual Tension of a married couple. I wasn’t bored at all by the plot, but then I’m a girl who loves Jane Austen and a lot of talky scenes don’t bother me. So if a slow-burn, emotion-driven fantasy with plenty of romantic seasoning sounds good to you (or gag-inducing), gauge accordingly for this series!
Bujold’s world-building and magic system fare much better – even without the mesmerizing political tangles and geographic/cosmic expansiveness of her other novels. The indigenous and farmer cultures portrayed and contrasted in the settings of the story give The Sharing Knife: Legacy an atmosphere that is both cozy and unsettled, thanks to the conflicts in their respective ideologies (embodied convincingly by Fawn vs. the Lakewalkers). Magic seems to be a central point of dispute, conceived with limited but inventive trappings of “ground” (life essence or spirit) that allows the Lakewalkers to manipulate any living thing and resist less altruistic forms of magic – the all-consuming Malices and their pawns.
But fantasy coexists rather subordinately to characterizations and interactions within Legacy, which I thought was a nice change from the plot-heavy novels in the genre that pretty much use stock D&D characters. Fawn’s heroism feels genuine and plucky without Mary-Suism…she IS rather simple and naïve after all…while rendering her a readily “cheerable” protagonist. Dag wasn’t quite as heart-stoppingly amazing in this sequel; he spends much of it comatose or rather weak, which doesn’t exactly do wonders for his masculine charms, but he still comes off as an unusual older and world-weary ranger of the Aragorn persuasion. (Okay, maybe not unusual for Bujold, this is her favorite hero archetype after all!). The supporting cast was a convincing array of suspicious and unrelenting magic-users who expose some interesting weaknesses in the elitism of the Lakewalker community. I just love me some good social subterfuge, particularly in a fragile and exposed culture like the Lakewalkers.
Bujold’s prose is quickly becoming a favorite of mine, not for any one particular feature but for its general tone of gracefulness and rhythm without pretension. Her evocative, often-sophisticated use of language is grounded (har har) by refreshing frankness and keen insight into human dynamics, resulting in some intense dialogues that made the story gripping even without a lot of action sequences. The narrative is beautiful and comforting in a cumulative way, not given to overly long description and relying instead on emotion and impressions to convey the unfolding scenes. Legacy thus is a novel to bask in and indulge, appreciating the warm glow of storytelling for what it is and being content to soak in its rays of light. I loved its crystalline perfection even when tiny concerns like, I don't know, rising action were pawing at my attention.
~Bottom line~
On my latest library trip, this was the first book I pounced on, remembering the luxuriant whimsy of Beguilement and eager to read the sequel. Though The Sharing Knife: Legacy exposes the starry-eyed limitations of Bujold’s series a little more nakedly than its predecessor, I enjoyed the journey thoroughly and devoured it in half an afternoon. It proves that a novel doesn’t have to have a strong plot to leave lingering flickers of magic in one’s memory.
The Sharing Knife: Volume Two Legacy
Author: Lois McMaster Bujold
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Eos (June 26, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 006113905X
ISBN-13: 978-0061139055
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