Horizon

December 1, 2008
Bujold's Sharing Knife series concludes on a cheerful note that will please fans of fantasy romance. The Lakewalkers have been humanity's only defense against the Malices, vicious creatures who turn their victims into murderous zombie-like “mudmen.” Dag, a former patroller exiled for insisting that the deliberately aloof Lakewalkers reach out to farmers, has finally found a Lakewalker “medicine maker” willing to teach him healing magic. When Dag disobeys the rules to help a seriously ill farm boy, he's kicked out again, and he and his pregnant farmer-born bride, Fawn, head north to a friend's home, braving mountains swarming with mudmen. The frontierlike setting and its postapocalyptic elements are the stars here. Although the first half of the book is slow going, Bujold piles on the action later, making her characters earn their happy ending.

January 15, 2009
With a small group of loyal friends, Lakewalker Dag Redwing Hickory and his farmer-born wife, Fawn Bluefield, have finally reached the port city of Graymouth only to learn that if Dag is to control his new power as a healer, he must find a teacher. Bujold ("Vorkosigan Saga") excels at blending strongly developed characters and complex social interactions, and her eventful conclusion to her latest series proves that her talent for storytelling persists regardless of genre. A strong addition to most libraries, particularly where the series has a following.

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2009
The fourth book of Bujolds saga about two people of radically different cultures searching for a place that will accept them bothand their attempts to bring their peoples togetherbegins with Fawn and Dag in a southern Lakewalker camp. Dag is apprenticed to a master groundsetter to learn healing, and eventually Dags experiments oblige the couple to leave, and Master Arkady and assorted others leave with them. Dag has been trying, with limited success, to make shields that will protect farmers from malicesunnatural and destructive creatures against which Lakewalkers have some protection, but farmers none. In a fight against a dangerously mature malice, a shield Fawn has modified proves effective, but the fight nearly costs Fawn her life. Bujold is masterly at portraying previously introduced and new characters and showing the difficulties of peoples who for generations have distrusted one another. The pace here is very leisurely, making this no book for action fans. Those who have enjoyed the Sharing Knife so far, however, should be very happy with it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)