I Read Books: Paladin of Souls
In this sequel to The Curse of Chalion, Bujold takes a minor character, Ista, from the first book and gives them a story. Or in this case a second story as her first one was a tragedy in the middle of the backstory of Curse. (This is highlighted by Ista suggesting that the Gods are parsimonious, using the same tool again).
Anyway everyone thinks Ista is mad, or rather was mad and not to be trusted, so to get out of the castle she goes on a pilgrimage. The Gods keep sending signs which she firmly ignores after what happened last time. Then everything goes wrong with raiders from the Northern Princedoms, a plague of demons (hinted at in the last book, expanded here), a dead man, or two men, and mysterious goings on in a castle. Ista has to come to terms with all this. In the previous book Cazaril had to figure out what was going on and the Gods did not actually explain anything (though they came on stage when he died (for the third time). The Gods don’t really explain themselves in this one but a couple of them turn up in several scenes and confirm and encourage.
Anyway, at the end the plots all come together, not quite like clockwork, with the characters having to fill in the gaps with courage and quick thinking and maybe a tiny miracle. Extremely satisfying.
Read This: For a smart fantasy novel about a middle-aged woman who everyone, including her, thinks has already had their story
Don’t Read This: If too much made-up theology, no matter how practical, turns you right off
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