Quite possibly the best novel written by Lois McMaster Bujold, Paladin of Souls takes what was wrong with all her previous novels, including the boring sci-fi series The Vorkosigan saga, and turns it into gold. Here, her flaws are her strength. Synopsis: Three years have passed since the widowed Dowager Royina Ista found release from the curse of madness that kept her imprisoned in her family's castle of Valenda. Her newfound freedom is costly, bittersweet with memories, regrets, and guilty secrets--for she knows the truth of what brought her land to the brink of destruction. And now the road--escape--beckons.... A simple pilgrimage, perhaps. Quite fitting for the Dowager Royina of Chalion. Yet something else is free, too--something beyond deadly. To the north lies the vital border fortress of Porifors. Memories linger there as well, of wars and invasions and the mighty Golden General of Jokona. And someone, something, watches from across that border--humans, demons, gods. Ista thinks her little party of pilgrims wanders at will. But whose? When Ista's retinue is unexpectedly set upon not long into its travels, a mysterious ally appears--a warrior nobleman who fights like a berserker. The temporary safety of her enigmatic champion's castle cannot ease Ista's mounting dread, however, when she finds his dark secrets are entangled with hers in a net of the gods' own weaving. In her dreams the threads are already drawing her to unforeseen chances, fateful meetings, fearsome choices. What the inscrutable gods commanded of her in the past brought her land to the brink of devastation. Now, once again, they have chosen Ista as their instrument. And again, for good or ill, she must comply.
The novel opens with Ista trying to run away from her mother's place in Valenda and she meets pilgrims, one of whom is a divine of the Bastard's Order, dy Cabon (who, for some reason, I keep remembering as dy Bacon). Ista's escorted back to Valenda by dy Ferrej and meets Ferda and Foix dy Gura, sent to Ista because Iselle, Bergon, and Cazaril heard she wants to go on a pilgrimage. Annaliss, a courier, stays with Ista on Ista's command as she's lonely for company. Chivar dy Cabon arrives to oversee the pilgrimage and Ista takes Annaliss as her lady-in-waiting and groom. After planning, the pilgrimage leaves the following morning. Along the pilgrimage, Ista tells dy Cabon about the (former) Curse of Chalion. Later, during a fight with an elemental-possessed bear, Foix kills it and, in turn, receives the elemental, which is an escaped demon; Foix now has said creature living in him. The Jokonans attack and Ista is captured then rescued by Arhys dy Lutez, March of Porifors, who, as it turns out, is already dead and cannot die--kind of like Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and Torchwood. Arhys' jealous wife, Lady Cattilara, killed a demon-ridden woman trying to seduce Arhys and killed them both and took the demon into Cattilara to keep Arhys alive while sacrificing Arhys' half-brother, Ilvin, who was also present in the room during the murder and was wounded by Cattilara trying to stop her from performing said murder. It's all very straight forward in the novel but comes off as confusing and stupid when summed up like this. Don't worry, Ilvin's still alive, kinda... mostly just sleeps so the demon can use the life force to keep Arhys going, barely letting Ilvin eat to keep him alive because Cattilara is so damn demanding.
Ista tries to get Cattilara to let Ilvin go and let Arhys die, but even after the brothers agree, Cattilara refuses and tries to flee. Luckily, Ista, Annaliss and Foix capture her and, when Arhys "wakes up," hatches a plan to beat the Jokonan forces led by the son of the Golden General, Sordso, who, it turns out, is also possessed by demons. Yes, you read that right. Sordso's possessed by dozens of demons because his mother, Princess Joen, won't give up the former war. It turns out that Joen has been implanting demons in her family and servants and sorcerers/sorceress's to win the Golden General's war. Both the Bastard and the Father of Winter want Ista to free the men and demons; the Father want's Arhys to come home because, for some reason, he's been dead for the last three years and can't find his way up the path. Ista does after the first attempt fails when Arhys is butchered, his head placed on a spike, I recall. The demon in Cattilara is freed by Ista after it makes Cattilara attempt suicide. In a false surrender, Ista, with Foix and Ilvin, "devours" the demons and Joen's soul using the powers the Bastard gave her. As a result, Sordso, in an attempt to strike back at his mother, repeatedly stabs Joen's body even though she is dead, and so does everyone who was imprisoned by her. The entire curse is finally lifted and as an odd result, Foix's elemental merged with him and the two have become, for better or dementedly worse, one. Ilvin's neice inherits Porifors as he doesn't want it and marries Ista. They plan to travel the country side with the warriors fighting against the Jokonans, seeking more elementals and demons to send back to the Bastard. Annaliss and dy Cabon and Foix agree to go with them.
All in all, a great novel from Lois McMaster Bujold. She combines her knowledge of history and storytelling to create one heckuva novel. Great character arcs, great drama, great prose.
The novel opens with Ista trying to run away from her mother's place in Valenda and she meets pilgrims, one of whom is a divine of the Bastard's Order, dy Cabon (who, for some reason, I keep remembering as dy Bacon). Ista's escorted back to Valenda by dy Ferrej and meets Ferda and Foix dy Gura, sent to Ista because Iselle, Bergon, and Cazaril heard she wants to go on a pilgrimage. Annaliss, a courier, stays with Ista on Ista's command as she's lonely for company. Chivar dy Cabon arrives to oversee the pilgrimage and Ista takes Annaliss as her lady-in-waiting and groom. After planning, the pilgrimage leaves the following morning. Along the pilgrimage, Ista tells dy Cabon about the (former) Curse of Chalion. Later, during a fight with an elemental-possessed bear, Foix kills it and, in turn, receives the elemental, which is an escaped demon; Foix now has said creature living in him. The Jokonans attack and Ista is captured then rescued by Arhys dy Lutez, March of Porifors, who, as it turns out, is already dead and cannot die--kind of like Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and Torchwood. Arhys' jealous wife, Lady Cattilara, killed a demon-ridden woman trying to seduce Arhys and killed them both and took the demon into Cattilara to keep Arhys alive while sacrificing Arhys' half-brother, Ilvin, who was also present in the room during the murder and was wounded by Cattilara trying to stop her from performing said murder. It's all very straight forward in the novel but comes off as confusing and stupid when summed up like this. Don't worry, Ilvin's still alive, kinda... mostly just sleeps so the demon can use the life force to keep Arhys going, barely letting Ilvin eat to keep him alive because Cattilara is so damn demanding.
Ista tries to get Cattilara to let Ilvin go and let Arhys die, but even after the brothers agree, Cattilara refuses and tries to flee. Luckily, Ista, Annaliss and Foix capture her and, when Arhys "wakes up," hatches a plan to beat the Jokonan forces led by the son of the Golden General, Sordso, who, it turns out, is also possessed by demons. Yes, you read that right. Sordso's possessed by dozens of demons because his mother, Princess Joen, won't give up the former war. It turns out that Joen has been implanting demons in her family and servants and sorcerers/sorceress's to win the Golden General's war. Both the Bastard and the Father of Winter want Ista to free the men and demons; the Father want's Arhys to come home because, for some reason, he's been dead for the last three years and can't find his way up the path. Ista does after the first attempt fails when Arhys is butchered, his head placed on a spike, I recall. The demon in Cattilara is freed by Ista after it makes Cattilara attempt suicide. In a false surrender, Ista, with Foix and Ilvin, "devours" the demons and Joen's soul using the powers the Bastard gave her. As a result, Sordso, in an attempt to strike back at his mother, repeatedly stabs Joen's body even though she is dead, and so does everyone who was imprisoned by her. The entire curse is finally lifted and as an odd result, Foix's elemental merged with him and the two have become, for better or dementedly worse, one. Ilvin's neice inherits Porifors as he doesn't want it and marries Ista. They plan to travel the country side with the warriors fighting against the Jokonans, seeking more elementals and demons to send back to the Bastard. Annaliss and dy Cabon and Foix agree to go with them.
All in all, a great novel from Lois McMaster Bujold. She combines her knowledge of history and storytelling to create one heckuva novel. Great character arcs, great drama, great prose.
