Young Fawn Bluefield and soldier-sorcerer Dag Redwing Hickory have survived magical dangers with their passionate hearts strong and united. The bigotry of blood kin, however, cannot be easily overcome. Leaving behind all that they have ever known, the couple sets off to find fresh solutions to the perilous split between their peoples—but their passage will not be ventured alone. New companions join them on their road: Fawn's brother, Whit, escaping a hopeless future on the family farm; a pair of novice Lakewalker patrollers fleeing the catastrophic consequences of an honest mistake; a young flatboat captain searching for her vanished father and fiancé; a shrewd backwoods hunter; and a farmer boy unintentionally beguiled by Dag's growing magery. On an eventful journey to where great rivers join, the ill-assorted crew will be sorely tested and tempered, as they encounter a new world of hazards both human and uncanny.
The Sharing Knife, volume three, Passage (2008) 411 pages by Lois McMaster Bujold
Fawn and Dag leave the lakewalker camp and take a trip down the Grace and Gray rivers to the sea. As stated in the previous two volumes there is a separation between the farmers and lakewalkers. Dag is taking it upon himself to bridge this gap between cultures. He is doing this by trying to dispel the misconceptions that farmers have about lakewalkers.
On the trip down the river, the hire on to a flatboat, Fawn's brother, Whit, and a few others are along for the ride. I could go into plot details, but I don't want to be a spoiler. In the early '80s, Clifford Simak was my favorite author, and though I don't readily remember the stories, he had a fairly unique style, known for pastoral SF. The tempo of Passage, reminds me a lot of Simak. I could also make comparison to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, ah, that's enough.
I'm looking forward to volume four, but I have enough books to tide me through until it comes out in paperback.
