It is Dag--a Lakewalker patroller weighed down by past sorrows and onerous present responsibilities--who must come to Fawn's aid when she is taken captive by a malice. They prevail at a devastating cost--unexpectedly binding their fates as they embark upon a remarkable journey into danger and delight, prejudice and partnership . . . and perhaps even love.
Comment: I purchased this book in 2010, when my interest in fantasy and PNR was at its highest point. I also liked the opinion of a friend back then but only now did I finally pick the book.
In this fantasy story, we meet Fawn, a young woman who ran from home and is traveling alone, and in one occasion she stops at a farm to rest and meets a team of Lakewalkers - travelers who fight an evil malice, meaning magically evil creatures - but doesn't interact with anyone. Later, she is attacked by those evil creatures and Dag, one of the Lakewalker men she had seen, helps her and somehow the magic in his ability to defeat the evil gets linked with Fawn's spirit. As they decide to go together to meet his team, so they might try to get a clue on how that magical situation happened, they first must stop on her family's farm, to let them know she is well. On the road, their feelings intensify and they start falling in love....
Lois McMaster Bujold is renown for her work and is seen as a great voice in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. However, despite enjoying those genres, this is the first time I have the opportunity to read one of her books and, to be fair, it has been for very long in the pile. I suppose I was hoping for a certain type of story but was surprised, I must confess, by how romance centered it ended up being.
Investigating, I've seen some readers comment this Sharing Knife series is a little different from the author's other work precisely because of that, that other things have romance but the story isn't as heavily set on that. Personally, I liked this because I'm a romance reader and even in other genres I don't mind if the romance element is there, as long as it is done in a convincing way. I guess what I can say regarding this story is that while the romance is a nice element for certain, the overall effect of the whole picture just wasn't as engrossing as I would want.
The plot is simple: Fawn and Dag are from different groups: she is a Farmer and he is a Lakewalker, which I grasped as she being a regular human and he being from a group with some magical ability. there is also an age gap but their romance seems sweet and the knife incident, which bonds them somehow, simplifies their relationship a little, due to Lakewalker's traditions. Since this is a novelty even for Dag, they decide to inquire his family and the older members, but stop on the way to inform her family of she can't just stay. Fawn also hopes she will not have to return.
Until they reach Fawn's family farm, they share things about one another and through these conversations we get to realize they are falling in love. I think this was certain sweet and all that but it felt the connection was too quick. I suppose the magic in this might explain part of things, but while I was glad they found each other, their relationship seems to be based on too many simple details and it seems the biggest obstacles will be how their families and expectations will accept or not their bond. Since this is the first book, we only see how Fawn's family react and things aren't easy, even though somehow Dag convinced him he will be the right man for Fawn.
Fawn is a sweet and inquisitive young woman (she's 18) and this being a fantasy, of course her age means nothing when it comes to maturity and/or awareness, although I must say she is terribly naive. Could it be the goal is for us to see her maturing and demonstrate why she is perfect for an older, more experienced many such as Dag? He is 55 but he does share his Lakewalker blood means a slower aging somehow. I know it can be difficult to put aside the age gap but the author does try to showcase how and why this relationship works. But I must confess that while I can accept it considering the story and world building, I still think Fawn is just too... naive, and this means she has to be taught a lot by dag, so the whole dynamics feel rather unbalanced sometimes.
I will say I wish the author had been more direct in some of the setting up of this world she created. Throughout the duration of the story several things start to make sense and become easier to follow, but I kept wondering why - if not only for the sake of what fantasy world might entitle - she had to use words to name things and situations that are so different from a word we would now... it made reading some parts quite confusing. I also think Fawn was set up to be too innocent, perhaps to contrast more with Dag, but this made her seem rather juvenile when interacting with members of her family.
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