Beguilement

August 28, 2006
Compelling characters lift this first of a two-book romantic fantasy from Hugo-winner Bujold (The Hallowed Heart
), set in a dangerous land without a name, though individual towns, villages and hamlets are specified. Dag, a Lakewalker patroller with a dry wit, is dedicated to destroying the evil "malices" that blight the countryside. Fawn, a runaway farm girl, helps him kill a malice and its zombie-like mud-men, but not before the malice destroys her unborn child by taking its "ground" or life force. Fawn slays the malice with Dag's sharing knife, a bone blade created to carry the spirit of a dying patroller, but Dag's formerly empty knife now carries the baby's ground. Dag and Fawn fall in love while he helps her recover from her miscarriage. Bujold hints at an epic past of mighty kingdoms and ancient sorceries—a past that will hopefully be fully detailed in the sequel.

Starred review from August 1, 2006
" Beguilement "launches the Sharing Knife, a new multivolume adventure and love story. Unmarried, pregnant Fawn Bluefield leaves her family's home, preferring the anonymity of the city to family squabbling and village nattering. En route, she is captured by dark magic. Dag, a sorcerer-soldier of the Lakewalkers, rescues her, and the battle to do so inaugurates a bond between them. The Lakewalkers are a people with power whose skills are feared and respected by the farming communities. Fraternization between them and the farmers is considered improper and unlucky by both peoples. Fawn and Dag, coming to know each other, must decide whether to build on their bond and thereby flout custom and the loudly expressed disapproval of both sets of kin or to try to break the bond, with possible ill results for each of them. Bujold draws Fawn's world proficiently as she ineluctably draws the reader into the protagonists' quandaries, those of a adult team leader and widower, on the one hand, and a girl who got pregnant through romantic foolishness, on the other. Bujold develops the characters and their relationship skillfully" "enough to please romance as well as fantasy fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)

October 1, 2006
Adult/High School-Bujold's "The Curse of Chalion" (2001) and "The Hallowed Hunt" (2005, both Morrow/Avon) walked a fine line between fast-paced quest fantasy and character-driven romance. Here the fantasy is in the background, making the developing romance between the main characters, Dag and Fawn, the primary story. The two meet when the wandering adventurer Dag rescues the farmer's daughter Fawn from a Malice, a powerful demonic creature capable of bending the wills and flesh of others to itself. While there is action and drama, the end result is that the events seem built for the singular purpose of pushing Dag and Fawn together instead of moving along any other plot thread. This is a big shift for Bujold's fans, who might expect layers of political intrigue and thrilling action alongside the love story. Fortunately, the lovers are compelling characters, and Bujold delivers a novel that is a sweet, touching, and fast read. While it seems difficult to imagine how a love story can carry a whole fantasy series, teens will want to see how this tale continues in the next volume."Matthew L. Moffett, Ford's Theatre Society, Washington, DC"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.