The Curse of Chalion
by Lois McMaster Bujold · first published 1991
8mentions
3recommended by
3HN commenters
2015–2025first – last mentioned
100% recommend
A man broken in body and spirit, Cazaril has returned to the noble household he once served as page, and is named, to his great surprise, secretary-tutor to the beautiful, strong-willed sister of the impetuous boy who is next in line to rule. It is as assignment Cazaril dreads, for it must ultimately lead him to the place he most fears: the royal court of Cardegoss, where the powerful enemies who once placed him in chains now occupy lofty positions. but it is more than the traitorous intrigues of villains that threaten Cazaril and the Royesse Iselle here, for a sinister curse hangs like a swor
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…earlier books, then this would be a weaker start. 3. Falling Free: A stand-alone novel 200 years earlier in the main universe, which can be good or bad depending on your appetite. Honorable mention: The Curse of Chalion if you prefer fantasy. [0] _________ [0] There's also The Sharing Knife series which is... I dunno, fantasy of the hinted-post-apocalyptic variety? Somehow I was never drawn into those, in my dim memory…
on “Metals Fuse Together in Space” ↗…situations for their own sake.) I like the City Watch books (starting in Guards! Guards!) and Small Gods is a decent stand-alone. For Bujold, the Vorkosigan series is the flagship, where I'd put the Curse of Chalion (fantasy) as a second.
on “Consider Negotiating with Infringers” ↗…me.") I think you're reading in the wrong genre. There are dozens, and truly their boundaries are fluid, but self-help is perhaps the most vapid. You are missing out. I would recommend Bujold's "The Curse of Chalion" as a fantastic, mature novel with fantasy elements, or Stephenson's "Snowcrash" for a colorful adventure not without gravitas. If you're trying to gain non-fiction information, I would recommend Galeano's…
on “Ask HN: Are books worth it?” ↗Definitely -- and there are a million of them, so it can keep you occupied for a while. Her non-Vorkosigan fantasy books are also pretty great (Wold of the Five Gods series / Curse of Chalion, etc).
on “Murderbot, she wrote” ↗…was there or not. Toward the end of his visit there, he even said such things in her hearing, to see if he could frighten and enrage her, and then accuse her of becoming an unbalanced virago." --The Curse of Chalion, by Lois McMaster Bujold
on “The Terrifying Legacy of Gaslight” ↗…with blood is sold for coin, and then stolen back again. [...] It's a wondrous transmutation, where the blood of one man is turned into the money of another. Lead into gold is nothing to it." -- "The Curse of Chalion", by Lois McMaster Bujold
on “War Is a Racket (1935)” ↗…it was there or not. Toward the end of his visit there, he even said such things in her hearing, to see if he could frighten and enrage her, and then accuse her of becoming an unbalanced virago." (The Curse of Chalion, by Lois McMaster Bujold.)
on “Ask a Female Engineer: How Can Managers Help Retain Technical Women?” ↗…deepened. "The townsmen applauded..." > "Indeed. On average, one-half of all supplicants to come before a judge's bench must depart angry and disappointed. But not, by that, necessarily wronged." -- The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
on “Proposal to Ban Ghost Jobs” ↗