This sequel to The Curse of Chalion rich in sumptuous detail
and speculative theologyteems with equal parts of unearthly magic and
down-to-earth quasi-medieval lore.This engaging installment of Chalions mythical
history whets the appetite for new marvels yet to come.
Publishers Weekly

Three years have passed since the widowed dowager Royina Ista found release from
the curse of madness that kept her imprisoned in her familys castle of Valenda. Yet
her newfound freedom is bittersweet, and so the roadescapebeckons.

As Ista and her little party of pilgrims wander at will, they are unexpectedly set upon,
but a mysterious ally appears, a warrior nobleman who fights like a berserker. The
temporary safety of her enigmatic champions castle cannot ease Istas mounting dread,
however, when she finds his dark secrets are entangled with hers in a net of the gods
own weaving.

What the inscrutable gods commanded of her in the past brought her land to the brink of
devastation. Now, once again, they have chosen Ista as their instrument. And again, for
good or for ill, she must comply.

Lois McMaster Bujold burst upon the science-fiction world in 1986 with Shards of Honor, the first of the Vorkosigan Saga novels. She has won the Hugo Award four times and the Nebula Award twice. The mother of two, she lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Kate Reading is an award-winning narrator and actor who is a company member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre and has appeared on many other stages. She is married to actor-narrator Michael Kramer (Nick Bernard), and they live with their two children in the Washington, D.C. area.