Paladin of Souls

Last updated
Paladin of Souls
PaladinOfSouls(1stEd).jpg
Cover of first edition (hardcover)
Author Lois McMaster Bujold
Cover artistDavid Bowers
LanguageEnglish
SeriesWorld of the Five Gods
Genre Fantasy
PublisherEos (HarperCollins)
Publication date
September 23, 2003
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback) & E-book
Pages456 (hardcover)
496 (paperback)
Awards Hugo Award for Best Novel,
Nebula Award for Best Novel,
Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel (all 2004)
ISBN 0-380-97902-0
OCLC 51647768
813/.54 21
LC Class PS3552.U397 P355 2003
Preceded by The Curse of Chalion  
Followed by The Hallowed Hunt  

Paladin of Souls is a 2003 fantasy novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold. It won the Hugo, Locus, and Nebula awards. It is a sequel to The Curse of Chalion , and takes place approximately three years later. The series that it is part of, World of the Five Gods, won the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2018. [1]

Contents

Both Paladin of Souls and its prequel Curse of Chalion (2001) are set in the landlocked medieval kingdom of Chalion, which itself is a fictional equivalent of Castile and León during the time of the Reconquista , or Spanish Reconquest. [2]

Synopsis

The novel follows Ista, mother of Iselle, the young ruler of Chalion. Following the lifting of the curse on her family and the recent death of her own aged mother, Ista finds herself bored and restless. To escape from her guardians (who think she is partially mad), she sets out on a religious pilgrimage with the dy Gura brothers (minor characters from the earlier story) for protection; Liss, a feisty and clever courier girl; and dy Cabon, a plump priest of the Bastard (one of the five gods of the Chalion universe) as her 'spiritual guide'. The Bastard, god of disasters and of things out of season, guides Ista's path, despite her strong resistance.

The party is overrun and captured by a troop of Roknari raiders from the adjacent principality of Jokona, then rescued by a patrol led by Arhys, lord of the nearby Castle Porifors, a strong leader of men and very handsome to boot. Though she is attracted to him, she learns that he is the son of a man she had helped kill (in an ill-fated attempt to raise the curse). She also learns Arhys has a very young and very beautiful wife named Cattilara.

Once in the castle, Ista discovers a mystery. Lord Illvin, Arhys's half-brother, is unconscious except for afternoon wakings that match Arhys' naps. She has seen Illvin before, though, in a baffling dream sent by the Bastard. Ista, despite her attempts to avoid becoming once again a tool of a god, lets her curiosity get the better of her. She is saddened to discover that Arhys is actually dead. Cattilara has managed to force a demon to keep her husband "alive" by transferring to him some of Illvin's vitality, but Ista can see that both men are fading fast. To complicate matters further, Illvin and Ista are attracted to each other.

Then Porifors is besieged by a new force of Roknari from Jokona that includes its Prince, Sordso, and his mother, Princess Joen. The latter is an elderly daughter of the Golden General, a man of destiny blessed with many god-bestowed gifts whose death by magic had the side effect of creating the curse. Joen has created a troop of demon-ridden sorcerers, including her own son. She carefully strengthened each demon by "feeding" them souls with the talents she required. Joen seeks to fulfill the Golden General's thwarted destiny and conquer the non-Roknari realms.

As Porifors and its defenders suffer demonic attacks, Arhys and a picked troop make a night raid that kills some of the sorcerers, but eventually they are overwhelmed. Ista allows herself be taken as a hostage into the Princess' lair, supposedly to end the siege, but in reality to send the remaining demons back to the Bastard's care and defeat Joen. Ista accepts the Bastard's offer of a job in his service: to exorcise other demons let loose upon the land. Lord Illvin comes as a bonus.

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lois McMaster Bujold</span> American speculative fiction author (born 1949)

Lois McMaster Bujold is an American speculative fiction writer. She is an acclaimed writer, having won the Hugo Award for best novel four times, matching Robert A. Heinlein's record. Her novella The Mountains of Mourning won both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award. In the fantasy genre, The Curse of Chalion won the Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature and was nominated for the 2002 World Fantasy Award for best novel, and both her fourth Hugo Award and second Nebula Award were for Paladin of Souls. In 2011 she was awarded the Skylark Award. She has won two Hugo Awards for Best Series, in 2017 for the Vorkosigan Saga and in 2018 for the World of the Five Gods. The Science Fiction Writers of America named her its 36th SFWA Grand Master in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Connie Willis</span> American science fiction writer

Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis, commonly known as Connie Willis, is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards for particular works—more major SF awards than any other writer—most recently the "Best Novel" Hugo and Nebula Awards for Blackout/All Clear (2010). She was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Science Fiction Writers of America named her its 28th SFWA Grand Master in 2011.

<i>The Curse of Chalion</i> 2001 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Curse of Chalion is a 2001 fantasy novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold. In 2002 it won the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature and was nominated for the Hugo, World Fantasy, and Locus Fantasy Awards in 2002. The series that it began, World of the Five Gods, won the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">62nd World Science Fiction Convention</span> 62nd Worldcon (2004)

The 62nd World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon), also known as Noreascon 4, was held on 2–6 September 2004 at the Hynes Convention Center, Sheraton Boston Hotel and Boston Marriott Copley Place in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

<i>The Hallowed Hunt</i> 2005 fantasy novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Hallowed Hunt is a fantasy novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, published in 2005. It placed fourth in the annual Locus Poll for best fantasy novel, and the series it is a part of, World of the Five Gods, won the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Wells</span> American speculative fiction writer (born 1964)

Martha Wells is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has published a number of fantasy novels, young adult novels, media tie-ins, short stories, and nonfiction essays on fantasy and science fiction subjects. Her novels have been translated into twelve languages. Wells has won four Hugo Awards, two Nebula Awards and three Locus Awards for her science fiction series The Murderbot Diaries. She is also known for her fantasy series Ile-Rien and The Books of the Raksura. Wells is praised for the complex, realistically detailed societies she creates; this is often credited to her academic background in anthropology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ursula Vernon</span> American comic creator and writer

Ursula Vernon is an American freelance writer, artist and illustrator. She has won numerous awards for her work in various mediums, including Hugo Awards for her graphic novel Digger, fantasy novel Nettle & Bone, and fantasy novella Thornhedge, the Nebula Award for her short story "Jackalope Wives", and Mythopoeic Awards for adult and children's literature. Vernon's books for children include Hamster Princess and Dragonbreath. Under the name T. Kingfisher, she is also the author of books for older audiences. She writes short fiction under both names.

"Cassandra" is a science fiction short story by American writer C. J. Cherryh. It was first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in October 1978, and won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1979. It was only her second published short story, after "The Dark King" (1977).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aliette de Bodard</span> French-American speculative fiction writer

Aliette de Bodard is a French-American speculative fiction writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">N. K. Jemisin</span> American science fiction and fantasy writer

Nora Keita Jemisin is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. Her fiction includes a wide range of themes, notably cultural conflict and oppression. Her debut novel, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and the subsequent books in her Inheritance Trilogy received critical acclaim. She has won several awards for her work, including the Locus Award. The three books of her Broken Earth series made her the first author to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel in three consecutive years, as well as the first to win for all three novels in a trilogy. She won a fourth Hugo Award, for Best Novelette, in 2020 for Emergency Skin, and a fifth Hugo Award, for Best Graphic Story, in 2022 for Far Sector. Jemisin was a recipient of the MacArthur Fellows Program Genius Grant in 2020.

<i>Barrayar</i> 1991 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Barrayar is a science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold. It was first published as four installments in Analog in July–October 1991, and then published in book form by Baen Books in October 1991. Barrayar won both the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 1992. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the seventh full-length novel of the series, in publication order. Barrayar is a direct sequel to Bujold's first novel, Shards of Honor (1986), and the two are paired in the 1996 omnibus Cordelia's Honor.

<i>A Civil Campaign</i> 1999 science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

A Civil Campaign: A Comedy of Biology and Manners is a science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, first published in September 1999. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the thirteenth full-length novel in publication order. It is included in the 2008 omnibus Miles in Love. The title is an homage to the Georgette Heyer novel A Civil Contract and, like Heyer's historical romances, the novel focuses on romance, comedy, and courtship. It is dedicated to "Jane, Charlotte, Georgette, and Dorothy", novelists Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, Georgette Heyer, and Dorothy L. Sayers.

<i>The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms</i> 2010 novel by N. K. Jemisin

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is a 2010 fantasy novel by American writer N. K. Jemisin, the first book of The Inheritance Trilogy. Jemisin's debut novel, it was published by Orbit Books in 2010. It won the 2011 Locus Award for Best First Novel and was nominated for the World Fantasy, Hugo, and Nebula awards, among others. Its sequel, The Broken Kingdoms, was also released in 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Leckie</span> American science fiction author (born 1966)

Ann Leckie is an American author of science fiction and fantasy. Her 2013 debut novel Ancillary Justice, which features artificial consciousness and gender-blindness, won the 2014 Hugo Award for "Best Novel", as well as the Nebula Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the BSFA Award. The sequels, Ancillary Sword and Ancillary Mercy, each won the Locus Award and were nominated for the Nebula Award. Provenance, published in 2017, and Translation State, published in 2023, are also set in the Imperial Radch universe. Leckie's first fantasy novel, The Raven Tower, was published in February 2019.

This is the complete list of works by American science fiction and fantasy author Lois McMaster Bujold.

<i>Nebula Awards Showcase 2006</i> 2006 anthology edited by Gardner Dozois

Nebula Awards Showcase 2006 is an anthology of award-winning science fiction short works edited by Gardner Dozois. It was first published in trade paperback by Roc/New American Library in March 2006, which also issued an ebook edition in July 2009.

Sarah Pinsker is an American science fiction and fantasy author. She is a nine-time finalist for the Nebula Award, and her debut novel A Song for a New Day won the 2019 Nebula for Best Novel while her story "Our Lady of the Open Road won the 2016 Nebula Award for Best Novelette. Her novelette "Two Truths and a Lie" received both the Nebula Award and the Hugo Award. Her fiction has also won the Philip K. Dick Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Award and been a finalist for the Hugo, World Fantasy, and Tiptree Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fonda Lee</span> Canadian-American author of speculative fiction

Fonda Lee is a Canadian-American author of speculative fiction. She is best known for writing The Green Bone Saga, the first of which, Jade City, won the 2018 World Fantasy Award and was named one of the 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time by Time magazine. The Green Bone Saga was also included on NPR's list, "50 Favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books of the Past Decade".

World of the Five Gods is a fantasy series by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold. It was awarded the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2018. It consists of four novels and eleven novellas, with six of the novellas included in the award. Three novels and two of the novellas were nominees for or winners of major awards.

References

  1. 1 2 "2018 Hugo Awards". World Science Fiction Society. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 2018-04-02.
  2. ↑ Oberhelman, David D. (2013). "From Iberian to Ibran and Catholic to Quintarian". In Croft, Janet Brennan (ed.). Lois McMaster Bujold: Essays on a Modern Master of Science Fiction and Fantasy. McFarland & Company, Inc. pp. 159–171. ISBN   978-0-7864-6833-1.
  3. 1 2 3 "2004 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-07-12.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.