The Spirit Ring

Last updated
The Spirit Ring
Spirit Ring Cover.jpg
First edition
Author Lois McMaster Bujold
Cover artist Stephen Hickman
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Genre Fantasy novel
Publisher(Baen)
Publication date
November 1992
Media typePrint Hardbound & Paperback &  E-Book
Pages367 pp (first edition, hardbound)
LC Class PZ7.B91114 Sp 1992

The Spirit Ring is a 1992 historical fantasy by Lois McMaster Bujold based on Agricola's De re metallica. It was combined with the folkloric tradition of the grateful dead and the life of Benvenuto Cellini. [1]

Contents

Plot

Set in the fictional Italian city-state of Montefoglia, The Spirit Ring follows 15-year-old Fiametta, daughter of a master metalworker and magician, Prospero Beneforte. He indulges her wish to learn to make magical items of metal, though it is not generally viewed as appropriate for her gender.

At the beginning of the story, Fiametta casts a lion's-head ring with a love spell that aims to identify a 'true heart'. The young girl is chagrined when the heart selected by the spell belongs to a young Swiss miner named Thur Ochs. Thur came to Montefoglia to work as an apprentice to Prospero Beneforte, a position secured by his brother, Uri.

Uri is killed in the fight when Duke Sandrino is usurped by an ambitious mercenary leader, Lord Ferrante. Ferrante's magician, Vitelli, pickles Uri's body in salt for future use in making a ring of power — the spirit ring of the book's title. Fiametta and her father manage to escape but are followed by Ferrante's men. Prospero dies of a heart attack while holding the attackers back to let Fiametta escape, and his body eventually is added to that of Uri as a resource for ring-making.

The story then follows Fiametta, Thur, and the local Abbot as they find out Lord Ferrante's plans and invent ways to block them. The grandest of these countermeasures is the use of a larger-than-life Perseus statue cast in bronze, though by the time of his death, Master Beneforte's masterpiece had only reached the wax model stage. After the casting and the voluntary investment in the spirit of Uri Ochs, the invincible soldier is able to lead a rabble of townspeople into the castle to kill Lord Ferrante just before the statue cools to immobility. The Abbot manages to shrive the spirits of the assorted casualties of the concluding battle. Fiametta manages to unmake the ring, and Master Beneforte in spirit form helps end the career of Vitelli.[ citation needed ]

Reception

Publishers Weekly praised it as "enthralling, crisply paced and fully developed", [2] while the SF Site called it "Bujold at her storytelling best" and "a fine and stirring yarn". [3]

Infinity Plus stated that it has "good writing, decent plot, engaging characters, and the logical, well put-together world", but found it to be "somehow lacking a certain snap that Bujold has consistently brought to her Science Fiction". [4] At Tor.com, Jo Walton noted that she "ought to like the book more", emphasizing that it had "wonderful ingredients", having "intellectual admiration" for it, and it would be easy to discuss the book "in a way that really made it sound amazing by dwelling on the things that are amazing". However, she ultimately concluded that "there's no spark", and Bujold had "written books that were so much better". [5]

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.

<i>Vorkosigan Saga</i> Science fiction book series by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Vorkosigan Saga is a series of science fiction novels and short stories set in a common fictional universe by American author Lois McMaster Bujold. The first of these was published in 1986 and the most recent in May 2018. Works in the series have received numerous awards and nominations, including five Hugo award wins including one for Best Series.

<i>Ethan of Athos</i> 1986 science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Ethan of Athos is a 1986 science fiction novel by American author Lois McMaster Bujold. The title character is Dr. Ethan Urquhart, Chief of Biology at the Sevarin District Reproduction Centre on the planet Athos, who is sent to find out what happened to a shipment of vital ovarian tissue cultures. Set in the fictional universe of Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga, the novel mentions but does not feature her usual protagonist Miles Vorkosigan. To date, Bujold has never revisited the settings of Athos or Kline Station in her many subsequent novels, but the events of Ethan of Athos are later referred to indirectly in the novels Borders of Infinity (1989) and Cetaganda (1995).

Miles Naismith Vorkosigan is a protagonist of a series of science fiction novels and short stories known as the Vorkosigan Saga, written by American author Lois McMaster Bujold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Wrede</span> American author

Patricia Collins Wrede is an American author of fantasy literature. She is known for her Enchanted Forest Chronicles series for young adults, which was voted number 84 in NPR's 100 Best-Ever Teen Novels list.

Peg Kerr is an American fantasy author.

<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">NESFA Press</span> American science fiction book publisher, Framingham, MA, US (first book 1971)

NESFA Press is the publishing arm of the New England Science Fiction Association, Inc. The NESFA Press primarily produces three types of books:

The Sharing Knife is a romance/fantasy series by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, published in 2006–2019. The original story grew so long in the telling that it was split into two volumes: Beguilement (2006) and Legacy (2007). Bujold then wrote a sequel, which was also divided, into Passage (2008) and Horizon (2009). The original title of the sequel was The Wide Green World, but Bujold and her publisher decided to make "Sharing Knife" the overall title, with the individual books given one-word subtitles and numbered 1–4. The fifth story in the series, a "short novel" titled Knife Children, was released as an electronic book on January 25, 2019.

<i>Shards of Honor</i> 1986 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Shards of Honor is an English language science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold, first published in June 1986. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the first full-length novel in publication order. Shards of Honor is paired with Bujold's 1991 Barrayar in the omnibus Cordelia's Honor (1996).

<i>The Warriors Apprentice</i> 1986 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Warrior's Apprentice is an English language science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold, part of the Vorkosigan Saga. It was the second book published in the series, and is the fifth story, including novellas, in the internal chronology of the series. The Warrior's Apprentice was first published by Baen Books in 1986, and was included in the 1997 omnibus Young Miles.

<i>Cetaganda</i> 1996 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Cetaganda is a science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold, first published in four parts from October to December 1995 in Analog Science Fiction and Fact, and published in book form by Baen Books in January 1996. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and was included in the 2001 omnibus Miles, Mystery and Mayhem.

<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 Ring of Solomon</i> 2010 novel by Jonathan Stroud

The Ring of Solomon is a children's novel of alternate history, fantasy and magic. It is a prequel to the Bartimaeus trilogy, written by British author Jonathan Stroud. The first edition (paperback) was published in Oct. 2010 by Doubleday in UK.

<i>Brothers in Arms</i> (Bujold novel) 1989 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Brothers in Arms is a science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, part of the Vorkosigan Saga. It was the fifth book published in the series, and is the twelfth story, including novellas, in the internal chronology of the series. Brothers in Arms was first published by Baen Books in January 1989, and is included in the 2002 omnibus Miles Errant.

<i>Among Others</i> 2011 novel by Jo Walton

Among Others is a 2011 fantasy novel written by Welsh-Canadian writer Jo Walton, published originally by Tor Books. It is published in the UK by Corsair. It won the 2012 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the Hugo Award for Best Novel and the British Fantasy Award, and was a nominee for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.

<i>Captain Vorpatrils Alliance</i> 2012 science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance is a science fiction novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, part of the Vorkosigan Saga. The action centers on Miles Vorkosigan's cousin Ivan Vorpatril, now a captain, and a Jackson's Whole refugee called Tej. By internal chronology, the book is set a year or so after Diplomatic Immunity (2002), about four years before Cryoburn (2010).

<i>Komarr</i> 1998 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

Komarr is a 1998 science fiction novel by Lois McMaster Bujold. It is a part of the Vorkosigan Saga, and is the twelfth full-length novel in publication order. It was included in the 2008 omnibus Miles in Love. It won the Minnesota Book Award (1999).

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

References

  1. Author's note in The Spirit Ring
  2. The Spirit Ring, reviewed at Publishers Weekly ; published November 2, 1992; retrieved September 23, 2021
  3. The Spirit Ring, reviewed at the SF Site , by Peter D. Tillman; published 1998; retrieved September 23, 2021
  4. The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold, reviewed by Simeon Shoul; at Infinity Plus; published August 7, 2002; retrieved September 23, 2021
  5. Magical Goldsmithing: Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Spirit Ring, by Jo Walton, at Tor.com; published February 13, 2013; retrieved September 23, 2021