Lois McMaster Bujold returns to the vivid, perilous world of her previous masterworks, the Hugo Award–winning Paladin of Souls and Hugo and World Fantasy Award–nominated The Curse of Chalion, with this tale of devotion and strange destiny.
The half-mad Prince Boleso has been slain by a noblewoman he had intended to defile. It falls to Lord Ingrey kin Wilfcliff to transport the prince to his burial place and to bring the accused killer, Lady Ijada, to judgment. His mission is an ugly and delicate one, for the imminent death of the old Hallow King has placed the crown in play, and the road he travels with his burden and his prisoner is fraught with danger. But in the midst of political chaos, magic has the fiercer hold on Ingrey’s destiny, and Ijada herself may turn out to be the only one he dares trust.
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"Outstanding. Bujold does it again. Characters I fell in love with. A world I was drawn into. Intellectually and emotionally stimulating. I can't get enough of her elegant, expressive writing! "
— Cat (5 out of 5 stars)
“Bujold’s reworking of a classic romantic situation is distinguished by its setting in a well-crafted world and masterly creation of characters whose fates will keep readers turning the pages.”
— Booklist“Truly compelling reading…An unusual kind of ghost story that transcends the usual intimate form by several degrees of magnitude.”
— Locus" The last in the trilogy and very different than the other two. "
— Angela, 5/10/2011" The Chalion series is a good read and plot that doesn't follow all of the standard formulas. It is always nice to read a book in this genre written by a woman author. "
— Andy, 4/17/2011" One of the best series I have ever read. "
— Nancy, 2/18/2011" Still an excellent Bujold book, but out of the Chalion books this is the one I liked the least. I found Wencel Horseriver to be boring as a villain and the ending to be uninspiring. "
— Becca, 2/13/2011" The weakest of the series, surely, but still a good read with a different perspective on the gods than the others in the series. "
— Melissa, 1/6/2011" not as good as the first 2, but okay "
— Vicki, 12/29/2010Lois McMaster Bujold is one of the most honored writers in the fields of science fiction and fantasy. In 2019 she was named a Damon Knight Grand Master by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, one of science fiction’s highest honors. She has won seven Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards. In 2011 she was awarded the Skylark Award for her significant contribution to science fiction. Hugo awards for Best Series were received by the Vorkosigan Saga in 2017, and the World of the Five Gods in 2018.
Marguerite Gavin is a seasoned theater veteran, a five-time nominee for the prestigious Audie Award, and the winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones and Publishers Weekly awards. She has been an actor, director, and audiobook narrator for her entire professional career. With over four hundred titles to her credit, her narration spans nearly every genre, from nonfiction to mystery, science fiction, fantasy, romance, and children’s fiction. AudioFile magazine says, “Marguerite Gavin…has a sonorous voice, rich and full of emotion.”