Book review: The Sharing Knife series by Lois McMaster Bujold
(No spoilers--if any response you make includes spoilers, please note it at the beginning-thanks!).
First of all, yes I know I'm late to this particular wing of the Bujold party.
The Vorkosigan books are my favorite books in the world. I've often said I could be content on a desert island with an edition of her collected works. I feel even more confident about that statement after finally reading The Sharing Knife series.
It took me so long partially because grad students have very little time to read fiction (unless their program involves fiction, of course. Mine doesn't), and I usually opt to re-read things because they are easier to put down for a while when other priorities loom. But I found myself with a little space this quarter, and I had bought the first volume, and it presented itself to my hand one day when I was running out the door and needed something to read.
Oh. My. God. What I have been missing. About three quarters of the way through the first volume I ordered two and three from Amazon. And promptly read them. And I have more than one reason to hope that Jan. 20 gets here soon since volume four comes out a week later.
These novels are very different from the Vorkosigan books. While there is still a lot of intense action, and the stories are character driven like many of the Vorkosigan novels, Dag and Fawn have very different personalities than any of the major characters in the Vorkosigan universe. There are echoes of course, but I found these books to be like a nice summer wind vs. the hurricane that if often what it is like reading about Miles and his family.
This is primarily a love story between two unlikely partners, who grow and change as they discover each other. Dag and Fawn are members of two cultures that exist side by side, but are very wary of each other. Dag begins to see the need for a greater and more transparent understanding to enable both cultures to survive.
In many regards, these books remind me of the fine ability Barbara Hamby has of showing how two different cultures can maintain their integrity as they grow and change in relationship to each other. Bujold calmly and carefully works through the ramifications of these two people meeting and loving each other. But I found the story to be compelling, and hard to put down. I love these people and I want to know what happens next.
Highly recommended.
First of all, yes I know I'm late to this particular wing of the Bujold party.
The Vorkosigan books are my favorite books in the world. I've often said I could be content on a desert island with an edition of her collected works. I feel even more confident about that statement after finally reading The Sharing Knife series.
It took me so long partially because grad students have very little time to read fiction (unless their program involves fiction, of course. Mine doesn't), and I usually opt to re-read things because they are easier to put down for a while when other priorities loom. But I found myself with a little space this quarter, and I had bought the first volume, and it presented itself to my hand one day when I was running out the door and needed something to read.
Oh. My. God. What I have been missing. About three quarters of the way through the first volume I ordered two and three from Amazon. And promptly read them. And I have more than one reason to hope that Jan. 20 gets here soon since volume four comes out a week later.
These novels are very different from the Vorkosigan books. While there is still a lot of intense action, and the stories are character driven like many of the Vorkosigan novels, Dag and Fawn have very different personalities than any of the major characters in the Vorkosigan universe. There are echoes of course, but I found these books to be like a nice summer wind vs. the hurricane that if often what it is like reading about Miles and his family.
This is primarily a love story between two unlikely partners, who grow and change as they discover each other. Dag and Fawn are members of two cultures that exist side by side, but are very wary of each other. Dag begins to see the need for a greater and more transparent understanding to enable both cultures to survive.
In many regards, these books remind me of the fine ability Barbara Hamby has of showing how two different cultures can maintain their integrity as they grow and change in relationship to each other. Bujold calmly and carefully works through the ramifications of these two people meeting and loving each other. But I found the story to be compelling, and hard to put down. I love these people and I want to know what happens next.
Highly recommended.