While, in my opinion, the story got of to a slow start, by about the 1/3 marker it really started to take off. This is the first book by Ms McMaster Bujold and I am already marking other works of hers to read! This first novel of Chalion is a fantasy novel. However, it is more about political manoeuvrings than about fantastical battles. More about religious theology than magic systems. The world Ms McMaster Bujold has created is intricate and pieced together nicely. But more than the setting are the characters. All of her characters are dynamic and real. The hero is flawed. The villain sympathetic. All the characters actions fit their character. None were out of place. This is a great piece of character fantasy. I can't wait to read more of Ms McMaster Bujold's works.