Sharing Knife

The Sharing Knife series is a nominally fantasy series by Lois McMaster Bujold, set in a post-apocalyptic world, sometimes referred to as the 'Wide Green World', which is a fictionalised version of pre-industrial America. It has a small rarelit fandom.
==Canon==
There are four novels, which were conceived as a two works that were split for publication:
*Sharing Knife: Beguilement (2006)
*Sharing Knife: Legacy (2007)
*Sharing Knife: Passage (2008)
*Sharing Knife: Horizon (2009)
The major characters in the first two novels are Dag Redwing & Fawn Bluefield. Dag is an embittered widower in his fifties from the Lakewalker culture, which resembles a cross between Native Americans & J.R.R. Tolkien's Rangers. He is traumatised by the loss of his wife in battle, as well as being disabled by the loss of his hand. Fawn is a teenager from the Farmer culture, who at the series' opening is pregnant by a man she despises. They share a cross-cultural, cross-generational romance, which results in their exile from both cultures. Espresso Addict describes Beguilement as reading a lot like a cross between Aragorn & Legolas with a hobbit Mary-Sue.espresso-addict: Bujold conference (accessed 3 July 2016) 
The cast expands in the later novels, with Dag's mentor Arkady Waterbirch, Dag's niece Sumac Redwing, Fawn's brother Whit and boat captain Berry Clearcreek being among the more popular characters. 
==Fannish Opinion==
==Fandom==
See also Timeline of Bujold Fandom
Some fans like the novels for the cute love stories, others enjoy the complex critique of Tolkien and derivative fantasy (and others like both). Sharing Knife fandom is small and largely exists within the umbrella of the general Bujold fandom; most fans were fans of other Bujold universes first. The series is covered by the general Bujold livejournal communities – lmbujold, Lois McMaster Bujold Fanfic Community or bujold_fic (link) & lmb_challenge – as well as LOIS-BUJOLD, the general mailing list, with no Sharing Knife-specific communities or other infrastructure. It is included in the Bujold Ficathon and is an occasional Yuletide fandom.
Fanfiction is perhaps the most common fannish activity, with a little available on Archive of Our Own, Skyehawke and in the bujold_fic community on livejournal. Fanfiction started to appear before the publication of Passage, and increased after that novel. One of the earliest online works is Entanglement by Adina, written for Yuletide 2007.Quietann posted a snippet of a WiP to bujold_fic on 5 June 2007, which might be the very earliest: bujold-fic: Wide Green World fic! (accessed 4 July 2016)
Short gapfillers or character studies are common. Fairbolt Crow's reaction to hearing about Dag's exploits is one frequently written scenario. KarenHunt wrote numerous long close-to-canon works in 2010–11, which often rewrite canon from different perspectives. Several Vorkosigan authors have also dabbled in the fandom, including Firefly124, Glishara, Gwynne, Philomytha and Shimotsuki. Fawn is popular among fans, despite ticking quite a few Mary-Sue boxes. Pairings are mainly the canonical m/f ones, Dag/Fawn, Sumac/Arkady & Berry/Whit. Rare fan art has been posted to DeviantArt.
Discussion focuses on the underlying North American history & geography, racial issues (in the light of Bujold's involvement in the Patricia Wrede part of the Race Fail debate),There is potential for fan-based academic research, particularly around indigenous representation in the Sharing Knife tetralogy. The editors would be especially interested in proposals addressing the Sharing Knife as a point of interest during RaceFail '09 or as an indicator of larger tensions in SFF fandoms in North American contexts. Regina Yung Lee, in a call for papers relating to the 2014 Bujold conference: CFP: Biology and Manners: The Worlds of Lois McMaster Bujold. Abstracts due 8 Jan 2016 (accessed 3 July 2016) the lack of religion, the genre (fantasy/science fiction/romance/Western), magic as technology, and the links with Tolkien's universe & other sources such as Mark Twain. A couple of papers on Sharing Knife were presented at the 2014 conference, Biology and Manners: The Worlds of Lois McMaster Bujold.A fannish review of the conference by Espresso Addict is online here
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanfiction===
*Entanglement by Adina. One of the fandom's earliest online works, written for Yuletide, it's a rare piece of m/m slash that explores the consequences for sex of the Lakewalkers' groundsense; Dag/Saun (2007)
*Ripples of Change by Becca Stareyes. Dag reports on the events of Passage to Fairbolt Crow; written for the Bujold Ficathon (2008)
*Hod's New Smile by Firefly124. Beguilement from Hod's point of view; also from the Bujold Ficathon (2008)
*A New Beginning by KarenHunt. Arkady/Sumac novella, retelling the events of Horizon (2011)
*Ripples in Still Water by Glishara. The effect of Dag/Fawn on Fawn's home village in five drabbles; written for the Bujold Ficathon (2011)
*The Worth of Water by Shimotsuki. Berry/Whit gapfiller at the end of Passage; written for the Bujold Ficathon (2012)
*Tent Bluefield by Philomytha. A close-to-canon postlude to the novels, written for Yuletide; the most popular work on AO3 (2014)
*Terminus by Castiron. A rare look at the mysterious apocalyptic backstory, written for Yuletide. Espresso Addict writes I've always found the barely there history the most intriguing aspect of the Wide Green World. Castiron weaves together the little that Bujold provides to give us a key scene in the First Malice War, deepened by hints of all the Lakewalker civilisation has lost. The ending is perfectly judgedEspresso Recommendations: LM Bujold – Sharing Knife series (accessed 4 July 2016) (2014)
===Fan Art===
*Dag digs Fawn by Bensen-Daniel. Beguilement character study; sketch (2007)
*Dag and Fawn Bluefield by AmarisGrey. Dag/Fawn portrait; pencil drawing (2008)
*The Sharing Knife by Jafean. Dag/Fawn full length; digital art (2011)
===Meta===
*The Sharing Knife. Insightful series review by Philomytha (2010)
*Absent Gods, Absent Catastrophes : The Sharing Knife and The Lord of the Rings by Bracketyjack (2014)
==Archives==
*Sharing Knife @AO3 (26 works as of July 2016)
==Resources==
*Fan-made Sharing Knife maps 
*Western Fantasy, Tussling with Tolkien by Jo Walton. Interesting reviews with responses from Bujold
==References==
Category:Sharing Knife