Passage (The Sharing Knife, Book 3) [Mass Market Paperback]

Lois McMaster Bujold (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 30, 2008

Volume three in the epic fantasy saga from multiple Hugo Award-winning author Lois McMaster Bujold

Young Fawn Bluefield and soldier-sorcerer Dag Redwing Hickory have survived magical dangers, but the bigotry of blood kin cannot be easily overcome. Leaving behind all that they have ever known, they set off to find fresh solutions to the perilous split between their peoples—a passage that will not be ventured alone. New companions join them on their road: Fawn’s brother, Whit, escaping a hopeless future on the family farm; two novice Lakewalker patrollers fleeing the catastrophic consequences of an honest mistake; a young flatboat captain searching for her vanished father and fiancÉ; a shrewd backwoods hunter; and a farmer boy unintentionally beguiled by Dag’s growing magery. On an eventful journey to where great rivers join, the ill-assorted crew will be sorely tested and tempered as they encounter a new world of hazards both human and uncanny.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Compelling . . . Bujold excels at creating interesting and sympathetic characters, and this story will satisfy readers who enjoy romance as much as adventure.” (Publishers Weekly )

About the Author

One of the most respected writers in the field of speculative fiction, Lois McMaster Bujold burst onto the scene in 1986 with Shards of Honor, the first of her tremendously popular Vorkosigan Saga novels. She has received numerous accolades and prizes, including two Nebula Awards for best novel (Falling Free and Paladin of Souls), four Hugo Awards for Best Novel (Paladin of Souls, The Vor Game, Barrayar, and Mirror Dance), as well as the Hugo and Nebula Awards for her novella The Mountains of Mourning. Her work has been translated into twenty-one languages. The mother of two, Bujold lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Harper Voyager; Reprint edition (December 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061375357
• ISBN-13: 978-0061375354
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #203,526 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars And the beat goes on, June 17, 2009

By 

S. Pedrick "dmentia" (McMinnville, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Passage (The Sharing Knife, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

I really like that the author didn't stop after the hero wins the girl. I always like to know what happens after, do they accomplish anything else, what challenges do they face? This storyline delivers. Dag and Fawn start off alone but end up gathering a group of misfits and fellow adventures that become true friends. And yes, they encounter more prejudice and treachery (lakewalkers & farmers), but experience moments of hilarity and lightheartedness.
Dag and Fawn grow into their union learning more about strengthening a budding relationship that goes beyond the marriage bed. They even learn new skills that will help them reach their ultimate goal, IF they decide to continue to the city of the old ones.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So I wanted to write a review..., February 5, 2009

By 

Gary S. Jordan (Waverly, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Passage (The Sharing Knife, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

Lois Bujold writes fantasy with the same skill and intensity that she writes science fiction, and she's an award winner many times over. Passage is book 3 of 4 in The Sharing Knife series. You don't need to read the first two (but why would you not want to?) to enjoy Passage, there's enough background to make it independant.

Dag is a Lakewalker who's broken with his kin to marry Fawn, a farmer girl. Lakewalkers are the weilders of such magical powers as exist for humans in this world. Farmers are... everyone else. To be fair, there are halfbreeds and farmers with natural abilities. The Lakewalker rule is, Lakewalkers are lakewalkers, farmers are farmers, and never the twain... and Dag has broken that rule in a major way. You see, he wants to become a healer to farmers, which no lakewalker has survived. (If you don't cure everything every time, the farmers think you've hexed them or done it deliberately, and things can get ugly.)

And besides that, lakewalkers are secretive - and Dag is not. He wants farmers to understand both the abilities and the limits of those abilities.

The other aspect is Malices (blight bogles in farmerese.) Out of the ground from whence they appear, they are more powerful mages than any lakewalker, and only lakewalkers have the ability to fight them and kill them.

The rest is impossible to review without spoilers, save that Dag and Fawn and a growing cast of fellow adventurers are traveling down the great river to its mouth, from adventure to adventure.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A leisurely read, March 7, 2009

By 

S. L. Hill-Tanquist (U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Passage (The Sharing Knife, Book 3) (Mass Market Paperback)

Bujold is one of my favorite authors, but Passage is not one of her action-packed hilarity-filled page-turners. There are adventures on this river journey and the kind of writing that makes all her books worth reading, but it's a leisurely book that moves with the depth and lack of haste of the river. The Sharing Knife series is, in general, more romantic and less action-oriented than Bujold's Vorkosigan series, but this book has less action than the first two books in the Sharing Knife series. I love the characters and the questions raised by the book--I just hope the pace of the next Sharing Knife installment does a better job of keeping me awake.