Beguilement (2006)

The Sharing Knife: Beguilement is a fantasy novel by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold, published in 2006. It is the first book in the series The Sharing Knife.

Plot

Fawn, an 18-year-old farmer, has run away from her family, because another farmer has impregnated her and made it clear that he will not acknowledge the baby as his own. Dag is a Lakewalker patroller, charged with killing young "malices". He first encounters Fawn hiding in a tree. Later, they meet again, when Dag saves her from some slaves of a malice. She assists him in killing the malice. In the process, the "ground" or life-force of her unborn child creates a new sharing knife, the device used to kill malices. Eventually, they realize that they are in love, against the customs of both their cultures, and the real story begins.

Reception

Kirkus Reviews was luke-warm, finding "Flurries of action early on, devolving into stock fantasy-romance; overall, just about noteworthy enough to bring readers back for the promised conclusion." Jo Walton was positive about the series as a whole, praising the American setting and the small-scale focus of the stories.