I'll leave the detailed reviewing of The Sharing Knife to Ms. Bujold's many other fans. Recently I read a short article she wrote on creating particular scenes for TKS and she refers to some readers reactions when she veers outside the lines. Come on folks, this is the time creativity blooms and the writer takes her readers into unknown territory! Might bother a few but there are many of us who like it a lot.
So, keep coloring outside the lines, turn the paper over and draw anything you want, Ms. Bujold. I'm looking forward to Vol. 2!

Nancy D.

This story is a sweet but somewhat predictable romance. A winter - spring romance coupled with different cultures and you have the makings of an eventual tragedy that will probably occur in volumne 3. One of Lois McMaster Bujold's strengths as a writer is she makes her characters likeable and sympathetic. If you like an occasional romance with fantasy/ magic aspects you will enjoy this book.

Can Bujold, one of my favorite artists, really have written this not-even-up-to-potboiler level novel. It drags, it is too long by half, and it's got a goodly splop of (very) soft-core porn. Not awful per se, but un-Bujold-like writing. An early novel reborn to grab the Bujold-faithful market?

But don't just listen to me. Heres what some of my very good friends say about it:
Aral: "Well, everyone can miss now and then."
Cordelia: "Oh my dear, did you really have to publish this?"
Miles: "Well, it's not quite so bad as some things I have done in my life... but close!"

This is the first book by Lois Bujold I've read. The story was intriging and very well written. I can't wait for number two!

On the 20th anniversary of her 1st novel, Lois Bujold has put out another top tier book. As always, the character and personality seem real and tangible - the action unfolds swiftly, and the understanding lags pages behind as she reveals a world and peoples at the same time familiar and wildly different than we are.
Should be on every fantasy enthusiast's shelves.