I don't quite have the words to describe this book and how it made me feel... Really lovely. ( )

Almost cozy fantasy? It’s a slow burn, character building world of political intrigue a la GOT but without the gore, incest or rape. ( )

Wonderful sorta historical fantasy. Court intrigues, strange gods, swordfights...I'd heard good things about this author, and now I see why. ( )

This first book in the World of Five Gods series is the first non-Vorkosigan book by Bujold I have read. Unlike the Vorkosigan books, this one is strictly fantasy (rather than science fiction). As I had expected, Bujold does a great job with the world-building in this and her characters are well developed. I was intrigued by the Quintarian religion: they worship The Father, The Mother, The Son, The Daughter and the Bastard (and by the Roknari variant which omits The Bastard).

In her sci fi epic Vorkosigan series, Bujold often presents us with ideas about how society & women's lives might be different if procreation was assisted by technology in various ways (such as the Uterine Replicator); it appears that in this series, the theme will be theological. That theme is of less interest to me but Bujold still wraps her ideas in exciting stories with some humor & some romance.

In addition, this tale, though in a completely fictional world, mirrors the real-life story of Queen Isabelle of Castile which adds some fun to the reading. Just as with Iselle has to struggle through court politics & marries with a view to forming a larger kingdom for her children, so did Isabelle when she married Ferdinand against the wishes of her court. There are some other parallels if you look for them.

Lloyd James did a good narration. He was particularly good as Cazaril but yet I missed Grover Gardner who was so magnificent in the Vorkosigan books... ( )

In medieval Chalion, a country that worships five gods -- four seasonal avatars and the out-of-season Bastard -- Lupe dy Cazaril returns home after months of slavery and suffering. Cazaril eagerly grasps at blessed obscurity, but neither his government nor his gods have forgotten him, and Cazaril is soon snarled together with a Chalion princess, her fetching handmaiden, a demonic tumor, death magic, royal intrigues, miracles, and a generations-old blood curse.

Cazaril is hardly the heroic archetype of doorstop epic fantasy. His traumatic experiences in a slave galley have left lasting injuries, and Cazaril is achingly conscious of his own deficiencies as a knight errant. Cazaril is all tender edges; Cazaril weeps at nothing. All its demons and princesses aside, The Curse of Chalion is the long, thoughtful account of Cazaril's slow recovery. ( )