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beccastareyesThings that Make Becca Squee: Day 1
The first entry in the MOTTMBS is the Chalion series by Lois McMaster Bujold. This consists of three books -- The Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls and The Hallowed Hunt. While the first two have a few characters in common, and takes place in the same country, the third is only connected by being in the same world as the first two. Bujold once said she wasn't sure if there would be more books in the series, but she suspected she'd like to do two more.
Setting
The Chalion books are set in a part of the world that resembles Europe in a sense. In fact, the events of The Curse of Chalion were very loosely inspired by the real life story of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Chalion itself has a very Iberian flare, and the country that The Hallowed Hunt takes place in, Darthaca, feels like a more Germanic place. Don't expect any real fantastical creatures here -- the animals appear to be mostly the normal terrestrial menagerie and intelligent life is of the human sort.
What makes this stand out is the gods. Chalion's world has five gods -- the Mother, the Father, the Son, the Daughter and the Bastard. Their existence is a matter of fact -- though one of the main religious conflicts in the area is whether or not the Bastard is a legitimate god or a demon impersonating one. The relationship between the gods and humans -- including such things as the afterlife, divine blessing, and free will -- is probably the best I've seen it handled in any fantasy with active gods. (Well, ignoring the Discworld 'humans empower gods by belief'.) Bujold actually manages to convince me both that Chalion's gods are divine, but also that they can't be all deus ex machina towards her plots.
Hence, the five books. Bujold said that The Curse of Chalion is the Daughter's book, Paladin of Souls is the Bastard's, and The Hallowed Hunt is the Son's.
Characters (and Plot)
Unfortunately, here I'm going to have to let The Hallowed Hunt fall by the wayside -- I've only read it once, so don't remember enough of the characters.
The main characters of the first book are Lupe dy Cazaril and Iselle dy Chalion. Caz was a minor noble and soldier of Chalion who spent years as a foreign slave before finally drawing his way home and getting a job as an old patron's granddaughter's tutor. Frankly, Caz has the trait of determination which made him rather interesting to read about. A lot of the story also deals with the fact he's not a fresh-faced young hero -- something I like about both this book and its sequel (and I seem to recall The Hallowed Hunt has this pattern, too). Caz spent time suffering and was pretty broken at the start of the book -- to the point where he'd be happy with a nice job in the kitchen of his patron.
Iselle is a dang good example of How to Write a Strong Female Lead in a Patriarchal Society. She's a royesse (princess) of Chalion, third in line for the throne, behind her brother Teidez and her half-brother, Roya (King) Orico, and the young woman Caz ends up tutoring. Shortly into the books she is commanded to return to the court, and things get more complicated as Caz clues Iselle into how much of a target for plots she is. Things get even more complicated when the title 'Curse' is revealed -- a generational curse on the royal family, that Caz and Iselle become determined to break. Overall, Iselle is awesome -- determined and not stupid, and just more of what I like to see in a heroine.
Ista is Iselle's mother, the former royina (queen) consort of Chalion. Given the fact that the gods spent most of her time as queen trying to get her to break the family curse -- half of which she spent thinking she was crazy, thanks to her husband not telling her about the curse -- ending with her and her husband accidentally killing his trusted advisor/lover and him dying of grief, and then being thought to be a crazy old widow locked up by her well-meaning family... where was I? Okay, given all that, she's now pretty sure she's not mad any more, but wants to get the heck out of her boring life being thought of as the crazy former queen. So, she decides to go on a pilgrimage, despite the fact she wants to kick the gods' collective butts for putting her through all that, because it will get her out and moving. Then the gods decide they aren't done with her. Which she wants to throttle them for. She's got a good mind, too, and is at least somewhat witty, and gets progressively less tired as things progress (see: character growth).
Plots
The outer plots are nothing special, to be honest, but well told. More of what I'm interested in is the character evolution of the main character during the book -- the inner plots are a lot more interesting than the outer plots.
Why I Like It
See notes about the gods. See notes about having interesting characters. Mostly Iselle and Ista are made of awesome. Honestly, I would kill for good 'Ista and Company Adventure Around' gen fanfic.
More Info
Chalion on Amazon
Chalion on B&N
Free Sample Chapters
The first entry in the MOTTMBS is the Chalion series by Lois McMaster Bujold. This consists of three books -- The Curse of Chalion, Paladin of Souls and The Hallowed Hunt. While the first two have a few characters in common, and takes place in the same country, the third is only connected by being in the same world as the first two. Bujold once said she wasn't sure if there would be more books in the series, but she suspected she'd like to do two more.
Setting
The Chalion books are set in a part of the world that resembles Europe in a sense. In fact, the events of The Curse of Chalion were very loosely inspired by the real life story of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Chalion itself has a very Iberian flare, and the country that The Hallowed Hunt takes place in, Darthaca, feels like a more Germanic place. Don't expect any real fantastical creatures here -- the animals appear to be mostly the normal terrestrial menagerie and intelligent life is of the human sort.
What makes this stand out is the gods. Chalion's world has five gods -- the Mother, the Father, the Son, the Daughter and the Bastard. Their existence is a matter of fact -- though one of the main religious conflicts in the area is whether or not the Bastard is a legitimate god or a demon impersonating one. The relationship between the gods and humans -- including such things as the afterlife, divine blessing, and free will -- is probably the best I've seen it handled in any fantasy with active gods. (Well, ignoring the Discworld 'humans empower gods by belief'.) Bujold actually manages to convince me both that Chalion's gods are divine, but also that they can't be all deus ex machina towards her plots.
Hence, the five books. Bujold said that The Curse of Chalion is the Daughter's book, Paladin of Souls is the Bastard's, and The Hallowed Hunt is the Son's.
Characters (and Plot)
Unfortunately, here I'm going to have to let The Hallowed Hunt fall by the wayside -- I've only read it once, so don't remember enough of the characters.
The main characters of the first book are Lupe dy Cazaril and Iselle dy Chalion. Caz was a minor noble and soldier of Chalion who spent years as a foreign slave before finally drawing his way home and getting a job as an old patron's granddaughter's tutor. Frankly, Caz has the trait of determination which made him rather interesting to read about. A lot of the story also deals with the fact he's not a fresh-faced young hero -- something I like about both this book and its sequel (and I seem to recall The Hallowed Hunt has this pattern, too). Caz spent time suffering and was pretty broken at the start of the book -- to the point where he'd be happy with a nice job in the kitchen of his patron.
Iselle is a dang good example of How to Write a Strong Female Lead in a Patriarchal Society. She's a royesse (princess) of Chalion, third in line for the throne, behind her brother Teidez and her half-brother, Roya (King) Orico, and the young woman Caz ends up tutoring. Shortly into the books she is commanded to return to the court, and things get more complicated as Caz clues Iselle into how much of a target for plots she is. Things get even more complicated when the title 'Curse' is revealed -- a generational curse on the royal family, that Caz and Iselle become determined to break. Overall, Iselle is awesome -- determined and not stupid, and just more of what I like to see in a heroine.
Ista is Iselle's mother, the former royina (queen) consort of Chalion. Given the fact that the gods spent most of her time as queen trying to get her to break the family curse -- half of which she spent thinking she was crazy, thanks to her husband not telling her about the curse -- ending with her and her husband accidentally killing his trusted advisor/lover and him dying of grief, and then being thought to be a crazy old widow locked up by her well-meaning family... where was I? Okay, given all that, she's now pretty sure she's not mad any more, but wants to get the heck out of her boring life being thought of as the crazy former queen. So, she decides to go on a pilgrimage, despite the fact she wants to kick the gods' collective butts for putting her through all that, because it will get her out and moving. Then the gods decide they aren't done with her. Which she wants to throttle them for. She's got a good mind, too, and is at least somewhat witty, and gets progressively less tired as things progress (see: character growth).
Plots
The outer plots are nothing special, to be honest, but well told. More of what I'm interested in is the character evolution of the main character during the book -- the inner plots are a lot more interesting than the outer plots.
Why I Like It
See notes about the gods. See notes about having interesting characters. Mostly Iselle and Ista are made of awesome. Honestly, I would kill for good 'Ista and Company Adventure Around' gen fanfic.
More Info
Chalion on Amazon
Chalion on B&N
Free Sample Chapters
