Lakewalker novella. Fatherhood!
Knife Children (The Sharing Knife #4.5) by Lois McMaster Bujold
Ah, the Lakewalkers! It's been so long since I've read the Sharing Knife series that I'd almost forgotten Malices, and Bonded knives. The Lakewalker's commitment to rid their world of the blight monsters that feed on living things, and as they grow more powerful, reproducing vassals out of mud from animal and humans. Eew!
I'd also forgotten about the beguilement aspects of the Lakewalkers.
Barr Foxbrush out of Pearl Riffle Camp, had discovered two years after her birth that he'd shockingly fathered a daughter, Lily Mason, with a farmer's girl, Bell Mason, he'd had a brief liaison with. And yes he had beguiled her, although as Barr tried to tell himself, "He’d not mistaken those artful glances of admiration she’d cast his youthful good looks." Something his leader would have been more than furious about if she'd known. His confession to his mentors Dag and Fawn Bluefield resulted in the mantra about Lakewalker persuasion never being used "on farmers for sexual favors, ever," was well and truly hammered home." As was Barr's responsibility.
Whenever he could make the detour to near Hackberry Corner he'd kept an eye on Lily from a distance in case she "threw to her Lakewalker bloodline."
On this visit he discovered Lily had run away. He trails her only to find she is indeed a Lakewalker in need of training and grounding. Of course their journey back to the camp is eventful.
I guess the part I really related to was the way Barr gradually found himself growing to care for Lily, appreciate her and fear for her. The way the father-daughter bond begins to develop.
As always with Bujold's writing, the twists she brings to her storytelling are intriguing.
A thoughtful addition to the series.
A Subterranean Press ARC via NetGalley
****
Ah, the Lakewalkers! It's been so long since I've read the Sharing Knife series that I'd almost forgotten Malices, and Bonded knives. The Lakewalker's commitment to rid their world of the blight monsters that feed on living things, and as they grow more powerful, reproducing vassals out of mud from animal and humans. Eew!
I'd also forgotten about the beguilement aspects of the Lakewalkers.
Barr Foxbrush out of Pearl Riffle Camp, had discovered two years after her birth that he'd shockingly fathered a daughter, Lily Mason, with a farmer's girl, Bell Mason, he'd had a brief liaison with. And yes he had beguiled her, although as Barr tried to tell himself, "He’d not mistaken those artful glances of admiration she’d cast his youthful good looks." Something his leader would have been more than furious about if she'd known. His confession to his mentors Dag and Fawn Bluefield resulted in the mantra about Lakewalker persuasion never being used "on farmers for sexual favors, ever," was well and truly hammered home." As was Barr's responsibility.
Whenever he could make the detour to near Hackberry Corner he'd kept an eye on Lily from a distance in case she "threw to her Lakewalker bloodline."
On this visit he discovered Lily had run away. He trails her only to find she is indeed a Lakewalker in need of training and grounding. Of course their journey back to the camp is eventful.
I guess the part I really related to was the way Barr gradually found himself growing to care for Lily, appreciate her and fear for her. The way the father-daughter bond begins to develop.
As always with Bujold's writing, the twists she brings to her storytelling are intriguing.
A thoughtful addition to the series.
A Subterranean Press ARC via NetGalley
****
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