Hello, Readers!
Yesterday I finished The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold. It is the first book I have read by this author, and I enjoyed it very much. It is a classic fantasy setting, one we might call "low" fantasy instead of "high". It is a pretty standard feudal society, everyone seems to be a human, and there is no magic but religious magic, and very little of that.
The first half of the book was slow, but not so slow that it became uninteresting. Then things sped up and I just couldn't put it down. The world is very well built. There are no maps but even so I was able to follow where things were happening. The culture and religion are well constructed and well integrated with the plot. The characters, especially the main character, were deep, sympathetic and believable.
I was able to guess a number of plot points before they happened, but there were plenty of surprises as well. I was so happy with the ending, but a cynical part of me wasn't thrilled with how evenly everything worked out.
I had a thought the other day. These reviews are for me, to get me to the point where I can write about writing, which will help me be a better writer.. I try not to include spoilers, but I may stop doing that. I'll try to add spoiler warnings. I may also try to write notes as I'm reading.
As for writing, not much has happened. I tried to write some backstory for a character but got hung up on worldbuilding and other issues. Maybe for my next book I need to focus on something that happens more in the real world. Then I don't have to worry about stuff like armor or medieval combat techniques, or medieval anything.
Actually, that gives me an idea, but I won't share it just yet. Maybe next week.
That's it for this time, Readers. Thanks for reading!
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