An eccentric middle-aged noblewoman in a fantasy version of medieval Spain goes on a pilgrimage to escape stifling court life, leading to adventures involving raiders, demons and gods. Started kind of slow but had a good ending. The focus on theology put me off a little but the characters were great, with a wide range of heroes, villains and ordinary people caught up in great events. ( )

The style and language may be good. But it's the easy story I disappointed with. Too easy, too simple, too fast. It's like whole Vorkosigan saga abridged in one book. There is no savoring of overcoming difficulties, there is no twists of fortune, there is no trouble for a main heroine to solve anything it seems. It all looks like everything including backstage plot gears (dear Gods!) was given to drag her up and running. And where is the price? Where is the glory in all that? Bujold is too much fond of woman characters to actually hurt them. Connect that with knowing how she ends up every story and you get only disappointments in the process. ( )

review pending ( )

The second book of a series about the fantasy world of Chalion and it's 5 god mythology takes a side character from the first book and gives her starring role. Ista is a complicated character that you mostly saw in The Curse of Chalion through others eyes. I enjoyed having her as the lead of this story and seeing her find her way out of the limited world of Valenda and finding her strength and power. There was much more about the 5 god religion but I remain a bit confused by it all. I enjoyed reading this but my main complaint is the same I had about The Curse of Chalion, Bujold doesn't create a different world that really draws me in. I found some of the long descriptions of place hard to follow and the battle action even more so. The magic stopped feeling magical and mysterious and I stopped feeling invested in how this would all work out. I think, as someone who read these told me, Bujold likes her characters and wants good things for them and that sometimes makes the story a bit too nice and pat when it could have more complicated drama. Still, it was an enjoyable read and I do need a few of those these days.

Tres años han pasado desde que la enviudada Royina Ista diera con el modo de liberarse de la maldición que la mantenía prisionera en el castillo familiar de Valenda. Mas su nueva libertad es costosa, llena de recuerdos agridulces, arrepentimiento y secretos culpables, pues conoce la verdad sobre lo que llevó a su tierra al borde de la destrucción.
Pero otras cosas se han liberado de sus grilletes, cosas que van más allá de la definición de letal. Al norte se encuentra la fortaleza fronteriza de Porifors; allí también moran los recuerdos de guerras, de invasiones, del poderoso general Jokona. Y alguien, algo, vigila desde esa frontera: humanos, demonios, dioses.