Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Sharing Knife: Passage by Lois McMaster Bujold

I keep thinking that Bujold has used this up - and that the next book can't possibly measure up to the previous one(s). Wrong again. Dag and Fawn have been forced to leave his people because they are unwilling/unable to accept their marriage. I'm reasonably sure that the American Indian and 19th century midwest agrarian societies are the models for the "farmer" and Lakewalker groups of the books. Here the Lakewalkers have the ability to see and manipulate "ground" ("the force" might be a fair analogy) and the mission of combating an ancient evil which threatens all of them. I touched on most of this when I logged books one and two. The Lakewalkers, who protect the world, are contemptuous of those who people the world they protect, and prove to be far more intolerant than the ungifted farmers.

As Dag and Fawn go out into the "farmer" world, Dag forms a personal mission to reconcile the two groups. No easy task, since the Lakewalker's attitude toward the farmers has generated a pervasive atmosphere of resentment and fear in return. Still, with Fawn's help he does a fair job on that portion of the world which they encounter - including a couple of young Lakewalkers.

I did wait a couple of months before reading this one. It has been in the queue for most of that time. At the moment I am fairly current. I have read the books for both book clubs, although I really should reread one of them. And it is still over a month until summer school starts and I've already done some of that reading - yes, I know I will have to reread it all - but it will be easier for having done it once. So I could probably talk myself into going ahead and getting book four of this series.

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