Type of bind: Hardcover
Format: Bargain Price
Label: Eos
Manufacturer: Eos
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 464
Printing Date: October 01, 2003
Publishing house: Eos
Release Date: September 23, 2003
Sale Popularity Level: 1101834
Studio: Eos
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Brief Book Summary:
One of the most honored authors in the field of fantasy and science fiction, Lois McMaster Bujold transports us once more to a dark and troubled land and embroils us in a desperate struggle to preserve the endangered souls of a realm.
Three years have passed since the widowed Dowager Royina Ista found release from the curse of madness that kept her imprisoned in her family's castle of Valenda. Her newfound freedom is costly, bittersweet with memories, regrets, and guilty secrets -- for she knows the truth of what brought her land to the brink of destruction. And now the road -- escape -- beckons. . . . A simple pilgrimage, perhaps. Quite fitting for the Dowager Royina of all Chalion.
Yet something else is free, too -- something beyond deadly. To the north lies the vital border fortress of Porifors. Memories linger there as well, of wars and invasions and the mighty Golden General of Jokona. And someone, something, watches from across that border -- humans, demons, gods.
Ista thinks her little party of pilgrims wanders at will. But whose? When Ista's retinue is unexpectedly set upon not long into its travels, a mysterious ally appears -- a warrior nobleman who fights like a berserker. The temporary safety of her enigmatic champion's castle cannot ease Ista's mounting dread, however, when she finds his dark secrets are entangled with hers in a net of the gods' own weaving.
In her dreams the threads are already drawing her to unforeseen chances, fateful meetings, fearsome choices. What the inscrutable gods commanded of her in the past brought her land to the brink of devastation. Now, once again, they have chosen Ista as their instrument. And again, for good or for ill, she must comply.
Download Description:
'E-Book Extras: ONE: The Keys to Chalion: A Dictionary of People, Places, and Things; TWO: Chalion Miscellany. It's been three years since the curse was lifted, but Ista dy Baocia, Dowager Royina of Chalion, holds a dark secret: she was responsible for the destruction of Chalion years ago. When her kingdom is threatened once again, Ista must defend her homeland, and her soul. One of the most honored authors in the field of fantasy and science fiction, Lois McMaster Bujold transports us once more to a dark and troubled land and embroils us in a desperate struggle to preserve the endangered souls of a realm.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
I have been avidly following this author since Warrior's Apprentice. I buy all of her books hardback, as soon as they come out. Having said that-this is my favorite book to date.
I can painfully identify with the main character, Ista. She has been through a lot with no one to rely on buy herself. She has pulled herself through and SURVIVED. She is now doing more than surviving, she is finding her happiness. There are so many climactic scenes in this book it doesn't get dull for a moment. There is also a (non-steamy) romance. Happily, this isn't the romance of a young couple who has seen no pain. Instead it is the romance of an older couple.
Not only would I recommend this book for the normal sci-fi/fantasy crowd...I would recommend it for any one (especially any woman) who is (or has) gone through the pain of losing themselves.
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