Paladin of Souls

Lois McMaster Bujold
Paladin of Souls Cover

Paladin of Souls

shoreylj
2/19/2016
Email

I did not realize this was part of a series and it doesn't matter, as it works fine as a standalone novel. As I discovered with the Miles Vorkosigan series, Bujold is excels at writing standalone books in a series. The style of this book is different from most of the Miles series. It starts really, really slowly. I was not liking it but since it was Bujold, I kept on and sure enough I eventually found myself drawn in, but the slow start was painful.

Loved the main character -- 40 year old Ista is emerging from a very long depression. About 20 years ago, she was god-touched and things did not go so well and she was badly scarred. Feeling a desparate need to get away, she undertakes a pilgrimage under false pretenses. But she's not the only one with false pretenses on the journey.

This medieval (men are in charge and inherit) fantasy world is nicely built. There are five gods in charge and demons have become a problem. Ista and her party run into a lost army from the neighboring country. When Ista's real identity is discovered (her brother is the leader of her country), her captors are estatic, seeing $$$$ of ransom coming. But Ista is rescued and then the real fun begins.

Ista finds herself once again touched by a god -- a different one this time -- to undertake a major job, which includes dealing with the demons and helping the walking dead and the sleeping alive. A very enjoyable tale.