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Aug 2009
Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold - Voyager, 2004
* * *
Fantasy sequels are two-a-penny and are almost never as good as the original. One mistake is effectively to re-tell the original story with the same or different characters (David Eddings' Malloreon, Robin Hobb's Soldier Son trilogy). Another is the "what happens next" scenario for the protagonist, which must piggy-back on the world-building of the original and tends to be either dull or inconsistent (Stephen Donaldson's Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Robin Hobb's Tawny Man trilogy). Lois McMaster Bujold, talented writer that she is, has successfully circumnavigated these traps in this, her sequel to The Curse of Chalion. However, her choice of character and subject matter has made plain the holes in her world-building.
( Read more... )
Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold - Voyager, 2004
* * *
Fantasy sequels are two-a-penny and are almost never as good as the original. One mistake is effectively to re-tell the original story with the same or different characters (David Eddings' Malloreon, Robin Hobb's Soldier Son trilogy). Another is the "what happens next" scenario for the protagonist, which must piggy-back on the world-building of the original and tends to be either dull or inconsistent (Stephen Donaldson's Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, Robin Hobb's Tawny Man trilogy). Lois McMaster Bujold, talented writer that she is, has successfully circumnavigated these traps in this, her sequel to The Curse of Chalion. However, her choice of character and subject matter has made plain the holes in her world-building.
( Read more... )