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The Curse of Chalion  By  cover art

The Curse of Chalion

By: Lois McMaster Bujold
Narrated by: Lloyd James
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Publisher's summary

Lord Cazaril has been, in turn, courtier, castle-warder, and captain; now he is but a crippled ex-galley slave seeking nothing more than a menial job in the kitchens of the Dowager Provincara, the noble patroness of his youth. But Cazaril finds himself promoted to the exalted and dangerous position of tutor to Iselle, the beautiful, fiery sister of the heir to Chalion's throne.

Amidst the decaying splendor and poisonous intrigue of Chalion's ancient capital, Cazaril is forced to confront not only powerful enemies but also the malignant curse that clings to the royal household, trapping him, flesh and soul, in a maze of demonic paradox, damnation, and death for as long as he dares walk the five-fold pathway of the gods.

©2004 Lois McMaster Bujold (P)2004 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Bujold weaves a convincing and captivating fantasy world, well researched, with magic that works and gods that live without destroying the balance of this medieval society....A finely balanced mixture of adventure, swordplay, court intrigue, romance, magic, and religion makes this book a delightful read." (School Library Journal)

What listeners say about The Curse of Chalion

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,397
  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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Performance
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  • 2 Stars
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Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • 2 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Fantasy... Epic in feel, finite in pace

Although "Paladin of Souls" ties to this book and thereby engenders the label "series", the satisfaction of completing this well told tale with an actual ending cannot be denied. In the genre of Epic Fantasy with it's continuing storylines and characters, "The Curse of Chalion" encapsulates that flowing grandness into a single volume and deservedly leaves us wanting more. Not needing it, wanting it. That being said, Bujold's mastery of her craft is evident here with an intruiging deep portrayal of her protagonist, Caz. His journey is profound and heartfelt as it winds it's way along it's surprising path. The reading is excellent and kept me immersed throughout.

Well done by all.

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69 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant in every respect

When if first heard the voice of the protagonist, Lord Cazaril in The Curse of Chalion, I thought oh brother, this is not going to be good. Was I ever wrong. The narrator Lloyd James was brilliant. This is one of those rare books where the hero is about as reluctant or prepared as one can be to be a hero. But quite the spectacular one he is. This is the perfect fairytale.

While only middle-aged, in those days (whenever that was), he is certainly not young and virile. No, he is beaten-down and crippled by years on a slave ship. But his heart is strong and his mind is as sharp as ever and he rises to every occasion to meet and successfully deal with adversity. Adversity does not often come in the form of knockdown, drag out, hand-to-hand combat or epic wars but skillful and intelligent (often in spite of himself) dealings in royal politics and usually not so adroit magic. And this is a magical story.

While not originally drawn to the book by the court intrigue and romance, what the magic and even religion contributed, it all worked to draw me in deeply to a captivating world and a very sweet story. This was another example of a narrator adding a whole other dimension to the book. I loved it.

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33 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Action, Magic, Romance = Absolute Heaven!

A grizzled galley slave turns out to be a hero, and a very high magician. And that's just the beginning!

For anyone looking for a new series, or a new brilliant story teller, or a great reader -- look no further. Curse of Chalion is brilliant. I promise you will fall in love with the characters. LMB has a unique ability to create a world that comes alive. I enjoyed every minute of my time in Chalion, and know I will revisit it over and over again.

Also: Do NOT miss the sequel, Paladin of Souls. It is every bit as good. And when you've finished both of them, start the Sharing Knife series. It's exquisite, too! Then, it's on to the Vor books!

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29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

An imperfect hero captures your heart.

Though somewhat lacking in action, this tale of court intrigue and death magic held me in thrall. As in real life, the main characters were neither purely good nor evil. And most are far from perfect. The main protagonist is a case in point, he is an embittered, semi-crippled man, who is neither young nor handsome, yet his plight grabs the reader and the portrayal of his every action rings true-to-life.. This is a solid story unlike any other fantasy I?ve yet read, and well worth the book credit.

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29 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Perfect storytelling

The Curse of Chalion by Louise McMaster Bujold

This was my most recent Audible listen, and is most definitely one of the best single (non series) audiobooks I have ever had the pleasure of hearing.

This book is not epic fantasy, high fantasy, or dark fantasy, it falls somewhere in what I would call middle fantasy.

It has a low-magic feel, and is more character driven than any other fantasy piece I can remember. It would definitely appeal to mainstream fiction fans. I don't have any negative comments on this book, it was a fine example of what a fantasy novel should be.

This book gets a perfect 5 from me, and that's saying something, because I don't think I've ever given a perfect score to a fantasy novel before, not even to Tolkien, sorry.

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28 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

What makes a hero... LMB knows

I have yet to read any of LMB's work that does not play the full range of my emotions. She has an incredible knack of turning a person cursed with seemingly unconquerable disabilities of the mind, body or/and heart, giving them an impossible set of tasks and turning them into a hero that takes the reader on a wonderful adventure.

I thoroughly enjoyed the world she has spun with the Chalion series. It does a brilliant job at showing the multi layers that make up each true humans.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good, solid read

This book hasn't changed fantasy fiction forever, but I definitely enjoyed reading it and would read another book by this author. The world-building isn't amazingly cutting edge, but it's solid and internally consistent. The protagonist isn't utterly unique in the genre, but he's sympathetic, and the supporting characters serve their intended purposes. The plot is relatively straightforward, though there are a few delightful little twists. The writing style relies on a lot of internal monologue and narrative exposition, but this is hardly the only book in the genre to do so, and I've seen many books that did it less successfully. The narrator does a good job distinguishing the voices of the fairly large cast of characters.

In all, I was completely satisfied with this book and its presentation.

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Good, solid read

This book hasn't changed fantasy fiction forever, but I definitely enjoyed reading it and would read another book by this author. The world-building isn't amazingly cutting edge, but it's solid and internally consistent. The protagonist isn't utterly unique in the genre, but he's sympathetic, and the supporting characters serve their intended purposes. The plot is relatively straightforward, though there are a few delightful little twists. The writing style relies on a lot of internal monologue and narrative exposition, but this is hardly the only book in the genre to do so, and I've seen many books that did it less successfully. The narrator does a good job distinguishing the voices of the fairly large cast of characters.

In all, I was completely satisfied with this book and its presentation.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Lovely Book, Appalling Narrator

This is one of my favorite books, and I was very excited to start listening to it. Unfortunately, this narrator is awful. He imposes weird accents on the characters. The worst is probably Umegat, whom he probably intended to endow with an Arabic accent. Instead he sounds like Apu from the Simpsons (very distracting in a character who is supposed to be learned and spiritually deep). Palli sounds like a stereotypical comic book hero (think The Tick), and the main character Cazaril gruffs and growls his way through every scene. Beyond the accents, the narrator adds weird chuckles, grunts, and other verbal ticks not called for in the text. It's enough to drive a devoted Bujold fan mad. If you're not familiar with the book, perhaps it won't bother you, but if you are, I highly recommend you go with another book from this series (Paladin of Souls or Hallowed Hunt), or one of the books from the Vorkosigan novels (read by the excellent Grover Gardner) instead.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

green with envy

So Rich in detail that it made me feel apart of this brillant work. My review is a humble one not flowery or really discriptive at all but it was one of only a few that I did not want to end. Hung on every word and loved it all. Hope that this helps. Enjoy I am green with envy that you get to experience her work for the first time.

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14 people found this helpful