What are you currently playing?

... is a very generic title for a book that is anything but. I read it earlier this year (which is, by now, half a year ago) and wanted to write a post about it back then but not only was I internet-less at the time (I was visiting my mum and she had some trouble with her connection), I also had other great books to read. Like Transformation. I'm sure you remember Transformation. There's also a very obvious parallel between these two stories, but other than that, they're quite different. (I also started planning my own Twisted Magic about two months before I read Chalion and had a gigglefit over the parallels.)

Now, I promised Lenija a review because I named the child I adopted from two of her dragons Cazaril, and it's about time I wrote it anyway. This book too deserves all the readers it can get.
This turned out to be a very detailed review, but let me assure you that even f you read all of it, this is of course just a fraction of what you'll find in the actual book. ^.~

Note: "The Curse of Chalion" is the first of three books set in the same world, an award-winning sequel and a prequel, but I've read none of the others. So, Chalion can be read as a standalone; it's that self-contained.

* "Five Gods, it really is you. My lord dy Cazaril. I bid you welcome to my house."

Cazaril, protagonist and sole (3rd person) narrator of the book, has nowhere to go when he returns to the royacy of Chalion. Once a page, a courtier, a captain, castle warder and courier, the intrigues of a fellow noble gave him yet another role to play: For the past one and a half years, he has been a galley slave on an enemy country's ship and escaped only when he was washed ashore at the kingdom's coast.
He turns to the Provincara, in whose household he once worked as a page, for help, wanting nothing but a place to stay, nothing but a chance to live, out of sight and forgotten by the rest of the world, but the lady has other plans.
She wants him to take up yet another post, to be the tutor of her granddaughter, the princess Iselle (and to the princess's maid, Betriz), which should be an easy enough job for a man who can't get his broken body to do much else, but while Cazaril is grateful that she doesn't send him away, he also fears his new assignment: Being that close to the princess means that he will one day have to return to the royal court at Cardegoss, the very place where certain scheming nobles would be very interested in hearing that he is still alive...

* "What's the matter with him?" - "A madman, I suppose." - "Well, he'll fit right in here, then, won't he..."

Caz himself is easily the most memorable character of the book. He has one of the most distinctive narrative voices I've come across in a long time and you wouldn't mistake him for anyone else... it probably says quite a lot when he can, toward the end of the story, cheerfully inform us that the lady's nose is much more astonishing than a pebble and have it make perfect sense. I reread bits of the first two or three chapters before writing this post and seeing him think, in the state of mind he is in then, hurts, which is the highest praise I can give: He is, as the blurb on the back of the book so aptly puts it, "a man broken in body and spirit" and it's reflected in his narration as well. (There is another dialogue between him and his friend Palli that sums it up very well: "We slaves--" - "Stop that!" - "Stop what?" - "Stop saying that. We slaves. You are a lord of Chalion!") The good news is, we can only go up from there.
Cazaril's character development is excellently done and takes quite a few unexpected detours along the way; he ends up a character who's both likeable and intriguing and I have to (again, if you remember my last book review) give props to the author for writing him in a way that makes sure we feel for him, that makes us laugh and cry and hurt and celebrate with him - but never, not once, are we supposed to pity him. (Thank you.) Caz has his flaws and he has his strengths, and it's been a while since I've enjoyed a "reluctant hero" type so much. I love him dearly.

This does not mean that you'll easily forget about the other characters: They play their roles well, develop personalities of their own and form a strong ensemble cast to carry the rest of the book: Whether it's Iselle and Betriz, who have their own ideas about where they want the plot to go, Caz' childhood friend Palliar, who greets him most enthusiastically and refuses to keep his nose out of other people's business, especially when the people in question start complaining, the brothers Jironal, two formidable villains with intricate plans and a debt they'd rather not pay, "Mad Lady Ista" who is, of course, not half as mad as people say she is, or Umegat, a servant in charge of the royal menagerie and so much more than he seems to be at first sight (hint: he glows. No, really.). Or any of the other people running around in hat book. Orico, Teidez, dy Ferrej, dy Sanda, Bergon. You'll know all these strange names by heart by the time you've reached the final page 502.

* "Mercy, High Ones, not justice. Please, not justice. We would all be fools to pray for justice."

But. The characters are only one of the reasons why I love this books so much. Another is the writing itself, which is very solid and full of wit. Yet another is the worldbuilding, which is presented with almost no infodumping at all, just by being present and influencing people's lives. The best example, and easily my favourite, is religion. At first glance, Chalion's pantheon is one we've seen a dozen times before in a dozen other Fantasy books. But the closer we look (and trust me, we get a very good look at it in the course of the story), the more fascinating it becomes.
Sure, we start the circle of five Gods with the Daughter, the typical Maiden of Spring and the Mother, the equally typical Lady of Summer. We go on with the Son for Autumn and the Father for Winter and realise we have a happy little family and a complete cycle of seasons - and a God left, because I mentioned five of them. Number five, the Bastard, God of "all things out of season" could easily be their "bad guy," Chalion's equivalent of a devil or trickster god. Granted, he is a bit of a trickster, but he is also very much a member of the family, held in as high a regard as the other four.

Without giving too much away, I can say that I love the way religion influences both the plot and people's lives, from ceremonies on holy days to their view on the world. (One particularly interesting example is the attitude towards homosexuality, but I'm walking right into spoiler territory and will shut up now.)

* "Were you... were you a deserter?"

Religion isn't the only detail that makes sure we always know that we're in Chalion, not in Generic fantasy World Number 274917498. I'll name just one more and leave it to you to discover the rest when if you pick up the book yourself: When Caz, toward the beginning of the story, visits a bathhouse and is happily soaking in the water, the bath boy who brings wood for the fire to keep the water hot asks him if he's a deserter, because he's seen the scars on the man's back and knows that some of the only people who are punished by Chalion's law by flogging are deserters. Cazaril, who got his scars as a galley slave, doesn't have time to explain just that after he has told the boy that no, he's not a deserter, because the boy drops the bucket he was carrying and runs away as fast as he can. Caz remembers too late that the only other people punished like that are rapists... Needless to say, the boy's father and bathhouse owner throws him out faster than he can clear up the misunderstanding.
(There is, by the way, one other big strength of the book where it managed to make me love a pot element I normally can't stand, but I can't give anything away without spoiling the ending. If you're really interested, come back after you've finished the book and we'll talk. ^.~)

(What do you mean, "flaws?" Ah yes, of course, if I have to... There are a few instances were either the limited narration presents an obstacle (because we would love to know what happens elsewhere) or where some things fall into place a tad too conveniently. The latter complaint, however, isn't really one, as you will see once you know the whole story...)

Amazon asks seven Euro for the book. To me, it's worth every cent twice over.