Breakaway Books

Authored by Lois McMaster Bujold; Published 2001; Fantasy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️

This is the tale of magical court intrigue that I’ve been looking for. The Curse of Chalion narrates the journey of the faithful servant Cazaril as he becomes a vassal of the gods and breaks a generational curse hanging over the ruling family of his kingdom, Chalion.

I felt nervous when I started this one—it’s long, and it seemed to start the way that many mediocre fantasy stories do: a man, down on his luck, traveling on the road alone. But it quickly drew me in with Cazaril’s dry humor, his mistress Iselle’s intelligence and boldness, and the intrigue of the curse. 

Bujold is a master at building a rich world and weaving complex storylines together, and by the end, it all fit together beautifully. I was particularly taken with the way that Bujold describes the saints in Chalion and how they think about their service to the gods. Cazaril’s final musing about his service to the gods took my breath away in its sheer beauty and wisdom.

Even the politics shone in this fantasy novel. With machinations aplenty, the naive do not survive in the courts of Chalion. The politics blend seamlessly into the unwinding of the magical curse and the accomplishment of the gods’ will.

Cazaril is a true hero, noble to his very soul. Listening to the story largely narrated through his eyes made it a heartening read for those worried about the goodness of the human species. If that’s what you need, this is a good book for you.