The Sharing Knife
Volume Two: Legacy

by Lois McMaster Bujold

Review posted March 16, 2010.
eos (HarperCollins), 2007. 377 pages.
Starred Review

The second book I had to read when I got back from Christmas vacation was also the second volume in a story I'd begun.

The Sharing Knife is the story of a cross-cultural romance in another world. Since both cultures are strange to readers, we can read about the troubles of Fawn and Dag with a fresh perspective. She's one of the farmer people, and he's a Lakewalker. The two peoples have very different customs, but one they share is that they should never intermarry.

The Lakewalkers use magic to protect the world from Malices, horrible sources of evil that feed on life and possess it for their own ends. The farmers don't trust them, and horrible rumors have sprung up about the dark rituals they must practice.

Fawn and Dag would like to be a bridge of understanding, but first they need a little understanding and acceptance from Dag's own family. While they are working on that, a Malice attacks, springing up in a farmer city and killing many. Dag is among those who go to deal with it, and he ends up needing his farmer wife's help.

This is primarily a love story, but the fascinating setting gives it an extra hold on the reader's imagination. There are some more volumes in the saga, and I will definitely be reading on.