Legacy (The Sharing Knife, Book 2) [Hardcover]

[This book is not a stand-alone novel. It is part two of a two-part work, and can not be read by itself. In this review, I will discuss "The Sharing Knife" as a whole.]

The Sharing Knife is a dramatic change of pace for Lois Bujold. She became known for her series of science fiction stories centering on the character of Miles Vorkosigan. Then she tried her hand at fantasy works in medieval settings (The Spirit Ring, Curse Of Chalion, etc.). But in each case, the stories featured extremely well-drawn and fascinating characters experiencing and resolving a plot crisis.

What's different in this work is the "plot crisis" element. It really doesn't exist in the same way as her other books. Instead, we are dropped into a situation that is something of a stalemate between the forces of chaos, the forces of order, and the forces of growth. The chaos is represented by "malices", creatures of magic that literally erupt from the ground to suck the life force from the world. The order is supplied by the Lakewalkers, descendants of the mage-lords who created the malice plague in the first place. And the growth is supplied by the Farmers, ordinary people who live in uneasy symbiosis with the Lakewalkers. The Farmers can not protect themselves from the malices, but the Lakewalkers rely on the Farmers for tools and goods that can not be produced in nomadic camps.

Into this three-part dynamic, Bujold drops a love affair between a burnt-out Lakewalker patroller and a young Farmer girl who is too bright and restless to really fit into her society. The two accidentally join together to kill a malice and end up falling in love.

The first book details the initial relationship, the reaction to it from Farmer society, and the marriage between Fawn and Dag. This second book starts up immediately after, with Fawn and Dag attempting to find some acceptance in Lakewalker society.

In a previous Bujold story, this would have resulted in some sort of shared triumph that resolved the basic crisis of the plot. But in this book, the shared triumph does resolve something on a personal level for Fawn and Dag, but it very much does not bring about a plot resolution. Unlike Miles Vorkosigan, they are able to realize that they can not change the world by force of will alone, or even by the righteousness of their cause. The situation they are in is unsolvable by its very nature.

And so, Bujold instead crafts a story that is more pure romance than any of her other works. Instead of resolving the plot crisis, she is able to just have her characters realize that they must look after their own lives on their own terms. They can't change the Farmers or the Lakewalkers, and they can't solve the malices. But they can choose to be true to their own love and honor. And who knows? Since business as usual isn't really working, maybe their choice will turn out to save the world some other day.

I reviewed "Beguiled" and my advice to myself and others at that time was basically "wait and read part II before passing final judgment." I was pretty irate that the book had been split into two parts, and I'm still not crazy about it. And if you haven't read Beguiled, you really must do that before reading Legacy. I just don't think Legacy can stand by itself...

So, what to say? Lois McMaster Bujold is a beautiful writer. Her ability to tell a story is stellar. And I really can't think of any still living, still writing writer who I have read in the last decade who is a better writer than Bujold. And her superior writing skills shine forth from every page in The Sharing Knife. And the "reading is easy", at least it was for me. I read Legacy in one sitting and didn't notice the passing of time at all.

My problem (not hers) is that I really didn't *enjoy* reading the book. Does that make sense? Reading a story where the primary external conflict for the two protagonists are their disfunctional families and incompatible cultures is not a fun read. I adore Bujold's Miles' books (SciFi is my genre of choice and I have been a "Trekkie" since 1968) and I really like her more recent fantasy series set in the Chalion universe but this particular story was too ... well, not to my taste. I've read Steinbeck, Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, all the really great American novelists and maybe Bujold is heading down that path. She's that good. But I read those novels because I took a LOT of literature classes when I was in college... Back in those days, in my own free time, I watched Star Trek reruns, read the "Dune" books, Tolkien, Zelazny's Amber series, and ... well, I won't go on. You get the point. I do read "seriously" but non-fiction. My last non-fiction read dealt with the societal and economic impact of the end of slavery in the deep South in the years immediately following the civil war, so there! ... but I'm shallow in my 'reading for enjoyment' tastes. Very shallow. Sigh.

I'm not going to spoil the plot, but I would have preferred if the very last two pages of the very last chapter of Legacy were the actual 3rd chapter of The Sharing Knife (one chapter for Beguiled, one chapter for Legacy and then ... the rest of the plot continuing onwards from there revealing the back story slowly slowly as the adventure continued. (What is coming next on down the road seems much more interesting to me than anything and everything that came before and took two books to describe.)

Four stars ... and really, it deserves five stars, except for, well, except for even though it sticks in my mind, I don't like any of those characters... they're just too messed up and carrying way too much baggage and I get enough of that in real life. Will I buy her next book set in this universe? You bet! Wouldn't miss it. She's a great writer. Read Beguiled, read Legacy.

p.s. and I don't beg for another Miles book. If I have read between the lines correctly, Lois is going to kill Milles off for good if we rabid fans don't leave it alone. He's married, he's happy, he's father of twins, and he's out of my life <sob> and I wish him a long one...

I am a real fan of Lois McMaster Bujold's work - she was initially known for her Miles Vorkosigan series of nearly 20 books but I actually preferred her foray into fantasy, "The Curse Of Chalion" and "Paladin Of Souls" particularly. "The Sharing Knife" duology (the first book called "Beguilement" and then this one, "Legacy") is set in a different time and world than that of the Chalion/Hallowed Hunt books - this world is more like an agrarian early America.

My first comment is that if you haven't read "The Sharing Knife: Beguilement" yet then you need to buy that book before you even consider this one. These two books are a duology but, unlike pretty much all Bujold's other books, I felt this one would have been rather a struggle if read on its own. So if you haven't read "Beguilement" then get it first and don't read on as this review of "Legacy" has spoilers for the first book.

**SPOILERS FOR BOOK 1***
This book starts off where "Beguilement" left off - Dag and Fawn are married and are making their way to Dag's home. We have gone through the difficulties Fawn faced with her family's dubious acceptance of her new husband - now we get the same from Dag's people's point of view. Only worse.

A lot of this book seems to be about cross-cultural clashes. The Lakewalkers and Farmers are different groups of people and it seems that neither can accept the other. Dag's marriage with Fawn has actually broken some Lakewalker rules and despite him being a semi-hero it seems his friends and relatives don't cut him a lot of slack.

The first half of the book is about Fawn and Dag trying to settle down in Lakewalker territory - and struggling. They also try to find out more about the primed Sharing Knife that Fawn now has - it seems this is something a little outside Lakewaker experience. Then they hear of another Malice/Blight Bogle attack and Dag has to go on patrol, Fawn being left behind to fend for herself amongst unfriendly people.

There's a lot in this book about the "grounds", the Lakewalker magic which Fawn cannot see. There's also more about the Malice and how it takes over people and ground as well as some interesting vignettes into Lakewalker life. I enjoyed the book but I didn't always know quite what was going on with some of the more esoteric "ground" discussions.

Lois Bujold's writing style is as appealing as ever. As usual her characters carry on quite a lot of inner monologues so you get to understand how different people interpret the same events. I still have some residual doubts about the wisdom of a 55 year old man marrying an 18 year old woman but, after all, this is fiction. Poor Fawn has to deal with not only being nearly 40 years younger than her husband but also being rather inept in the Lakewalker territory, being a farmer girl. Her skills, and she does have some, aren't really appreciated except by Dag and she puts up with an amazing amount of insults.

I enjoyed "Legacy" - it was a fun read, had some nice moments of romance as well as a message about tolerance between different groups - but I didn't feel it was quite up to the standard of "The Curse Of Chalion". It still deserves 5 stars though!

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, [...] Helen Hancox 2007