The Sharing Knife: Legacy - Lois McMaster Bujold

Fawn Bluefield, the clever young farmer girl, and Dag Redwing Hickory, the seasoned Lakewalker soldier-sorcerer, have been married all of two hours when they depart her family's farm for Dag's home at Hickory Lake Camp. Having gained a hesitant acceptance from Fawn's family for their unlikely marriage, the couple hopes to find a similar reception among Dag's Lakewalker kin. But their arrival is met with prejudice and suspicion, setting many in the camp against them, including Dag's own mother and brother. A faction of Hickory Lake Camp, denying the literal bond between Dag and Fawn, woven in blood in the Lakewalker magical way, even goes so far as to threaten permanent exile for Dag. Before their fate as a couple is decided, however, Dag is called away by an unexpected—and viciously magical—malice attack on a neighboring hinterland threatening Lakewalkers and farmers both. What his patrol discovers there will not only change Dag and his new bride, but will call into question the uneasy relationship between their peoples—and may even offer a glimmer of hope for a less divided future.

At the end of volume one Dag and Fawn leave Fawn’s family farm to travel to Lakewalkers lands. They are unsure of their welcome but they hope to, eventually, win them over as they did with the farmers.

Unfortunately no all goes as they want. In fact, the first rift comes with Dag’s family. They refuse to accept Fawn and his marriage to her, forcing them to take shelter with Dag’s aunt, Mairi, and her family. And there are a lot of other Lakewalkers less than thrilled with Dag’s wedding to a farmer girl.

A lot of questions are addressed in this book – the age difference between Dag and Fawn, their different backgrounds and all her faults in terms of the Lakewalker world, the most important of which is her lack of a ground sense. Dag tries to explain that she is special in many ways, that she has a powerful intuition that leads her to do the right thing – what he calls a fluke. However, there seems to be a war against them and, since his family wants his marriage dissolved, the camp council will be called upon to decide.

In the middle of it though, Dag is summoned to fight a big malice. Despite the fact that his attitude and choices are being called into question he is still one of their most important patrollers. The malice in one of the biggest they have come across and his strong magic almost kills Dag and a few of his patrollers. It will take another of Fawn’s flukes to save them, but not even that is enough to guarantee them acceptance.

I did like what Bujold shows us of the Lakewalker world, in fact I’m sorry that we won’t be spending more time there, it seemed very complex. I’m however looking forward to know where she is taking us next. In a way I think she wants to show us that Dag has lived so much and been through so many challenging things that he is ready to start over. To start over with Fawn and in a new place with a new way of life. Fawn is still very much a young girl trying to find her way in an unknown world. Her love for Dag is her guiding light and her “flukes”, as he calls them, show him she is the right one. Because of her, but also because of what he has seen while out on the world, Dag believes that the right path is to cooperate with the Farmers, not despise them or antagonize them.

Bujold has made known to us both Fawn and Dag’s world. I think we are now ready to see what changes they are going to bring to both worlds.

Grade: 4.5/5