Lois McMaster
Bujold’s Curse of Chalion
was for me one of those perfectly plotted novels. Characters,
scenes, and situations are introduced at proper moments, the pieces
shift and evolve in natural ways, characters retained enough realism
to suspend disbelief, and the whole story reaches a climax that is
satisfying, organic, and yet surprising in a way that puts a bow on
the whole package. Not precisely a once in a lifetime novel, I
nevertheless went into the follow up novel, Paladin
of Souls (2003) with tempered
expectations. It’s good I did.
Paladin of
Souls is an off-shoot from Curse
of Chalion, not a sequel.
Taking Ista, Iselle’s mother from Chalion),
it follows her on what begins as a religious pilgrimage, but becomes
a journey like she never expected. Longing to escape the stifling of
court formality, Ista organizes an incognito trip to the temple of
her god, the Bastard. She invites a free-spirited courier named Liss
and a priest to be her companions, and sets out on the road. The
group do not get far, however, before disaster strikes. Plans cut
off at the knees, Ista finds herself at Castle Porifors and the heart
of a uncanny mystery. Dark magic straining at the edges of their
world, Ista must trust her own dark powers and instincts to help
those who helped her.
Paladin of
Souls is a satisfying if not
loose novel. It takes its sweet time gathering momentum, the real
story only seeming to start once Ista arrives at Castle Porifors.
But the development and resolution of the quandary she encounters
there is the stuff of high fantasy that readers who like the
sub-genre read it for. Compared to Curse
of Chalion, Paladin
of Souls is a more
straight-forward story. Given the manner in which Curse
is not, however, will keep readers guessing and second-guessing
various characters intentions and ultimate place in the narrative.
If there are
criticisms of Paladin,
one would be the aforementioned meandrous path of the narrative. Not
a tight, focused story, Bujold doesn’t always watch where her feet
are landing, the footprints sometimes over the lines. The
introduction and conclusion the biggest perpetrators, these parts of
the narrative could do with a bit of clipping and pruning, not to
mention various points in the body. A second criticism would be the
occasionally pretentious tone. For the majority, Bujold does an
excellent job maintaining what, for lack of a better term, might be
called “high fantasy diction”, i.e. a sense of formality that
belies—belies, get it?—the characters and world of classic
Arthurian fantasy. But there are certainly moments it goes over the
top. I rolled my eyes a few times reading a character wax poetic in
conversation, the tone unnatural almost to the point of breaking the
fourth wall.
In the end,
Paladin of Souls
is a good follow up to Curse of
Chalion worth a late night read.
Bujold may occasionally dip a little too deep into Shakespearian
waters, but overall the voice and tone do an excellent job telling a
classic high fantasy tale of demons and black magic and the good
knights and queens who overcome them. Bujold has padded this novel
out a little more than Chalion
with sections of text that are only loosely relevant, and I would say
the story’s evolution and climax are not as vibrant and
unanticipated. But overall fans of Bujold or Chalion will find no
disservice.
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