I read the second installment of the Saint of Steel series entirely on audiobook. I found listening to this book – in comparison to Paladin’s Grace – to be less grating, but it still suffered from a few of the things that I didn’t love about the first book in the series. There is so much going for this book – the characters are delightful; the inclusion of a big/tall/possibly fat woman as the FMC is amazing; the side characters are a joy; the secondary plots of solving the decapitations and finding the FMC’s sisters keep things moving and engaging; the world is interesting – and yet something is just falling flat for me. I’ve narrowed it down to two options: either the audiobook narrator isn’t really doing it for me, or the writing isn’t, or possibly both.
Just quickly – we meet Clara and Istvhan where their individual journeys collide. Istvhan has been sent on a semi-secretive expedition to follow the threads of the decapitation plot from the first book and find whoever is cutting off heads. Clara, we find out later, is trying to find her captured sisters. She is a not-a-nun from the order of Saint Ursa, and her sisters have been kidnapped and dragged across the continent. It slowly becomes apparent that they’re headed for the same city.
I really enjoyed both of the main characters. Istvhan is sensible, respectful, confident, and reminds me a lot of Raoul from Tamora Pierce’s Tortall series – a mostly gentle giant who can fuck shit up when needed, and a personal favorite character of mine. Clara is also sensible, well-adjusted, capable, and (mostly) comfortable and confident in her skin. I also really loved that she is a larger woman. She’s described as tall and large, and her boobs, belly, and thighs get generous shout-outs so I read her has fat (not negatively, just descriptively). They are both delightful, and I was rooting for them the whole time.
The sub-plots (decapitations and kidnappings) don’t really get much air time until Clara and Istvhan reach Morestore – I think I’m spelling that right, but I listened to the book so maybe not. The road to Morestone is mostly filled with pining, traveling, avoiding people who are also trying to kidnap Clara, and several narrow misses for sex. Once they arrive in the city, the plot picks up and things move pretty quickly with the head chopping issue, the missing sisters issue, and eventually the sex issue.
On to my grievances. I don’t feel equipped to declare that the writing isn’t good, or the narration isn’t good, but I do think they just aren’t working for me. There are enough bits and bobs that end up being quite repetitive that I was left frustrated and rolling my eyes at various features by the end of the book. How many quips about men wanting an animal in bed are necessary? Probably fewer than what were included in the book. How many times must the main characters almost have sex and then be interrupted by a door opening and then spring apart like guilty teenagers? Too many. How much pining must the readers endure? So. Fucking. Much. I was glad when a side-character finally told Istvhan, “She doesn’t know what you’re thinking”. After that, we finally got more of Istvhan actually using his words to discuss his feelings instead of just more fraught inner monologues from him, but still plenty of inner monologues from Clara. I think the romance aspect especially suffers from far too much telling and not enough showing. I am not an expert in writing, narrating, or romance, but I have to believe that is a more interesting way to portray a slow-burn romance. Otherwise, I think I’m just not well-suited to consuming fiction audiobooks. I’ve liked it in the past for autobiographies, but this isn’t working for me. I tend to do quite a lot of skimming when I read, and having to listen to every word is taxing on my attention span.
Overall, I think I wanted to like it more than I actually liked it. I’m going to take a break from the series for a bit, and if I come back to it I’ll try the written versions rather than the audio versions.
