Helpful Score: 1
Fantastic, Bujold at top form. A nice fable-like story with a realistically detailed (i.e. not fluffy pseudo-Wiccan nonsense) magical system, a great sense of the historical period, and fully dimensional characters, with a sweet love story to boot.
And it has to be mentioned, it features a young black woman as its heroine! And she KICKS ASS. I can't even think of another historical fantasy book featuring a minority who's not a stereotype/sidekick/exotic-object-of-lust. Kudos to Bujold.
And it has to be mentioned, it features a young black woman as its heroine! And she KICKS ASS. I can't even think of another historical fantasy book featuring a minority who's not a stereotype/sidekick/exotic-object-of-lust. Kudos to Bujold.
Helpful Score: 1
Bujold is an excellent writer, but I didn't feel the plot was as tight as some of her other works.
