Paladin of Souls

I can't imagine how hard it is to write sequels. As a reader it's impossible not to compare a sequel with what came before it - is it better? is it too similar, or too different? do the characters sound the same? was it even necessary to write?

Paladin of Souls sidesteps many of these problems by reusing the setting of the previous book and promoting side characters to main characters, but bringing back little else. Ista, protagonist of this book, was an important side character in Curse of Chalion, but many parts of her history, personality and motivations were left untold.

The curse that once impacted Ista and so many others is broken, but her lot in life was not much improved. She is still considered weak minded and much too old for a life more complicated than tea times and knitting the days away.

So she plans an escape of sorts, and is soon once again swept up into the affairs of political leaders and heroes and the gods themselves. This time it's more in her control, and suited to her particular strengths and needs. It's not often a 40yo women is the hero of a fantasy novel, but Ista is well up to the task.

The magical elements of the setting are cranked up much more than in the previous book. Things that were myths, or only implied, or occurred off-screen are now much more literal and happen constantly. Too much, perhaps. By the end I found myself rather tired of all the rules and metaphors, and the miracles became somewhat mundane by their constant presence.

I did not like Paladin of Souls as much as Curse of Chalion. The story was smaller, its scope more humble, but there was too much spinning of wheels for my liking. Oftentimes you'd have multiple pages dedicated to someone recapping something that had already happened, they'd muse and think on it a bit, then conclude that maybe things will be clearer in the morning.

It is perhaps a more mature way of navigating conflicts and challenges, but in the end the solutions were almost always “let's hope something bails us out” or “let's try magic”, so my patience for these scenes drained quickly.

I really liked Ista in the first book, but I didn't quite like her as a protagonist. She was a bit too quippy, too detached from the events she experiences. We were often told the stakes were high, but Ista never quite acted like she feared failure, and neither did I.

As a final aside, I don't care for how Bujold writes romance, and this book did not change my mind.

I have a feeling I'll appreciate this one as time goes on and I think back to the differences that made it stand out and forget some of the things that rubbed me the wrong way. I think it's well worth reading after Chalion, but I don't think I'll return to the series for some time.