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World of the Five Gods
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World of the Five Gods is a fantasy series by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold.
It was awarded the Hugo Award for Best Series in 2018.[1] It consists of four
novels and ten novellas, with six of the novellas included in the award. Three
novels and two of the novellas were nominees for or winners of major awards.

The World of the Five Gods was informally called "the Chalion series" at first,[2]
but the name was abandoned as the series expanded.
OverviewEdit

The World of the Five Gods series explores an alternate reality on a world
analogous to Earth, influenced by conflicts between the old shamanic religion, the
new dominant Quintarian religion, and the heretical Quadrene faith, mirroring the
spread of Christianity in pagan lands and the later clashes between Catholicism and
Islam.[3] Quintarians acknowledge five gods — the Father, Mother, Daughter, Son,
and Bastard — while Quadrenes deny the Bastard, claiming he is a demon rather than
a god. In the series, the various gods intercede in events, but must do so by
influencing people through dreams and visitations as they have no power to act
directly on the world.[4] As explained by a character in The Hallowed Hunt, "The
gods have no hands in this world but ours. If we fail Them, where then can They
turn?"

Bujold has stated that she intends to write a novel that focuses on each god. The
Hallowed Hunt features the Son, The Curse of Chalion the Daughter, and Paladin of
Souls the Bastard.[4] The Penric novellas predominantly focus on the Bastard. The
first three Penric novellas were published in January 2020 by Baen Books in a
single volume, under the title Penric's Progress.[5]

The works in the series share a world and theology, rather than related characters,
in contrast to Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga.[4]

The Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls are set in the landlocked medieval
kingdom of Chalion, which is a fictional equivalent of Castile and León during the
time of the Reconquista, or Spanish Reconquest. Chalion and its neighboring
countries are on the Ibran Peninsula, a reversed version of the Iberian Peninsula.
The Hallowed Hunt is set in the Weald, an area roughly similar to medieval Germany,
southwest of the Ibran Peninsula.[3] In the novellas, Penric begins in the Cantons,
north of the Weald. His adventures take him to Adria, Orbas, and Cedonia, northwest
of the Cantons and the Weald, as well as a disputed island off the coast of Adria.
[6]
Internal timelineEdit

Bujold's reading-order guide states that the works in the World of the Five Gods
can be read in any order, although Paladin of Souls has spoilers for The Curse of
Chalion. Using the internal chronology of the stories, the events in the works take
place in this order:[7]

The Hallowed Hunt

"Penric's Demon", approximately 150 years after The Hallowed Hunt
 "Penric and the Shaman"
"Penric's Fox"
"Masquerade in Lodi"[8]
"Penric's Mission"
"Mira's Last Dance"
"The Prisoner of Limnos"
"The Orphans of Raspay"
"The Physicians of Vilnoc"
The Assassins of Thasalon
"Knot of Shadows"
The Curse of Chalion, approximately 100 years after the novellas
Paladin of Souls, a few years after The Curse of Chalion

Awards
See also
References
Last edited 11 months ago by Schazjmd
Related articles

The Curse of Chalion

2001 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold

The Hallowed Hunt

Lois McMaster Bujold bibliography

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