LM Bujold – Chalion series

Ista dy Chalion

A clear glass window, at a sea dawn by Lionpyh

'It is a perpetual irritation to divines of the Bastard that it is not possible to blaspheme against him. He has already thought of all the rude things one might instruct him to do. He would cheerfully do them. He minces one's oaths before one has got to them. He reduces one to the depths of decency.' Luscious prose & deliciously detailed world-building characterise this satisfying Umegat-centric novelette. Lovely!

[Added 10/01/2014; Drama; 6000-20,000; LM Bujold – Chalion series; Characters: Umegat, Ista dy Chalion, Bergon dy Ibra, Lupe dy Cazaril, OCs]

Communion of Saints by Rthstewart

'There were the usual disdainful looks at her rustic table manners but Clara was too hungry to pretend to be ascetic and she wolfed down several hard biscuits softened with goat cheese and honey.' In this triptych, Rthstewart creates rounded & engaging characters from minors & OCs to illustrate the travails & joys of being a saint

[Added 13/08/2015; Drama; 6000-20,000; LM Bujold – Chalion series; Characters: Clara, Umegat, Lupe dy Cazaril, Paginine, Bergon dy Ibra, Ista dy Chalion, Ser dy Ferrej, OCs]

The Saint, the Scholar, and the Whale by Neotoma

'Learned Bavo was pacing in a side courtyard, with his Islander guards like lazy cats around him. They were enormously tall, as if tree trunks had decided to put on clothes and walk like men, and their bushy beards made them even more like moving shrubbery.' This enjoyable & inventive tale, set in Jokona, succeeds in melding not just Penric–Desdemona canon but also The Hallowed Hunt with the Chalion sequence. The thoughtful world-building is supported by strong OCs

[Added 23/12/2017; Drama; 6000-20,000; LM Bujold – Chalion series; Characters: Desdemona, Ista dy Chalion, Illvin dy Arbanos, Liss, OCs]