Autumn C. (autumnc) reviewed on 10/17/2015 + 4 more book reviews

This is what I consider Gateway Fantasy - no dragons, elves, wizards, orcs, etc. It has a curse, a demon, and five gods, all within a world of Bujold's creation, but mostly the book is about politics and religion with a bit of romance thrown in.

This story kind of snuck up on me. The first few chapters were ho hum, and for a while I was considering ditching the book. I don't even know what point it was that I stopped thinking about whether the book was worth my time and just started enjoying it. The somewhat boring setup all comes into play later in the book rather brilliantly, so I felt my patience (such as it was) was well rewarded.

Despite all the intrigue and deaths and somberness, I laughed out loud several times. Bujold hit just the right balance, I think.

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