The Curse of Chalion

I really really really really liked this book. It gets for really's. For real, guys.

It's surprising because I expected this one to be something on the mid to lower end of my fantasy scale. The summaries I read made it seem like a story I've read before. A rambunctious young princess (or Royesse) shoved into the care of a returning soldier/scholar... oh the shenanigans! But her house is cursed and political drama ensues. I am notably bored with political drama and rambunctious young princesses. I only decided to read it because I'm compulsive about lists, and this is next on the book club list.

Lois McMaster Bujold makes politics interesting. She makes theology interesting. She makes everything interesting. I read this book thinking, “A lesser author would have x,” but Bujold always goes to y or q or all the way back to b.

A couple examples. A lesser author would have made Iselle into a terror. He would have spent chapters with Cazaril calming Iselle instead of a couple odd sentences where he helps shape her character while he has a chance. Iselle is not perfect, but she is not conventional either. She is as righteous as any sixteen year old, but she is also politically ruthless, which makes sense considering her upbringing. She plots out her marriage contract to her political advantage, not her romantic inclinations, and her anger at her betrothal to Dondo is rooted more in the fact that Chalion gains nothing by it than that he's a repulsive person. Maybe Bujold plays it a little safe with her relationship with Bergon, but I don't mind Iselle getting a little slack because the rest of her life is so very awful. A lesser author would have made Iselle fall for Cazaril instead of pragmatically planning her future.

A lesser author would have used magic. Bujold uses Theology. Capital T theology. By the end of the book, I thought I understood the basic premise of Quintarianism, the characters of the five gods, and their peculiar version of scale when it came to witnessing human events. There is no magic in this book, but a series of miracles and men attempting to perform miracles to the gods' displeasure. I've never read a book (outside of mythology) where the gods' presence is just a fact of life. This is a fascinating look into a world where theology is a practical study in addition to a philosophical one, and the conversation about tumors with the physician was particularly unique and entertaining.

A lesser author would have made Cazaril dull. Someone once called Caz “too perfect.” Normally, that is my first criticism of high fantasy heroes. They are flawless, or their flaw is a virtuous one like stubbornness or pride. Cazaril is just a good guy. He's a grown-up, and he's thrown his childish tantrums behind him. He has seen evil in the world, and now he just wants to stay away from it and die quietly in bed of old age. The gods don't let him do this, but that's his whole motivation. He has a strong moral code, but that doesn't mean he throws himself at danger when there are other options, only when those are all used up.

A lesser author would have bogged this book in politics. Obviously, there's a ton of it, but never at the expense of story. I'd be just as caught up in the acts of political sabotage as the violent ones. It's extremely well plotted, and the villains well-cast and diverse if a bit mustache-twirly. I would have liked a little background into who dy Jironal was before the curse started working him, but I'm satisfied with the explanations Bujold gives.

My only real criticism is the ending. It's a little too pat for me. All the virtuous get their happily ever after and Caz starts 'leaking poetry.' I get that he's god-touched now and his character has grown amazingly, but everything at the end is still a bit too perfect to be believable. Then again, there are two more books in this series, so things can't stay perfect forever, and this cast has earned some peace.

I'm definitely continuing this series, though it'll be a bit because I don't have the whole thing. Highly recommended for people who like a few gods and demons in their heroic quest.