Continuing my journey through the Saint of Steel universe, I decided to re-read my two favorite books in the series. I think that these held up well for me on the second time through. It had been a while since I’d read them, so I couldn’t remember precisely what was about to happen, just the broad strokes, which helps with a mystery based series. I do find them stressful because I care about the characters and they keep ending up in dangerous situations, so I have to keep flipping forwards to make sure they’ll make it through. But I guess it’s a stress I enjoy, like watching a horror movie. Sometimes we have to engage with media that makes us feel stressed in a fun way, it means that the world the author made is feeling very real.
Paladin’s Hope follows Piper, a lich-doctor, which is basically a medical examiner in this world, and Galen, a Saint of Steel paladin. Since the Saint of Steel died, Galen has been working for the Temple of the Rat but feels like he’s too broken to ever end up with anyone, especially since he has terrible nightmares and will go into beserker battle mode if anyone tries to wake him. Piper previously worked as a doctor but was too emotionally affected by it, so has ended up doing autopsies, which he enjoys. Both of them think that they’re going to be alone forever…but then…they both end up trying to help their mutual friend Earstripe, a gnole (badger-like sentient race) solve the mystery of where the bodies that keep floating down the river are coming from. I think the reasons that I particularly like this one is that a) it’s one of her gay romances, b) the central mystery is interesting and involves them trying to escape a series of traps trying to kill them, c) they also have to deal with anti-gnole racism, which is a part of this world that I find compelling, d) everything works together in a smooth way and moves along at a good pace, and then e) the sex scenes are more explicit than some of the other books in this series. The downsides is that because Galen thinks he’s no good and will be too much for Piper, we have to deal with some prolongation of their angst before they get together (again, just talk to each other!!). All in all, a fun read and one I’ll probably revisit in a few years once I’ve forgotten some of the plot elements again.
Paladin’s Strength follows Istvhan, a Saint of Steel paladin, and Clara, a lay sister of the Order of St. Ursa, who meet when they’re both on their own secret missions. They end up journeying together when Istvhan kills a young man and Clara gets given to him as part of the clan-based rules to mitigate the fallout from it. Istvhan and Clara both have secrets that they’re keeping from each other but as the story progresses, all is revealed and they end up working together. I think this one really works for me because I think Clara is such a cool character, and both of their plots intertwine in a satisfying manner. Unlike Paladin’s Faith, it never felt like it dragged to me, there was a lot of action and some really heartbreaking scenes. Kingfisher does a great job of getting across that bad things do happen in this world, which makes it feel more realistic, while ensuring that there is a happy ending. I think that works a lot with the more middle-aged characters, both of whom have their own baggage (Clara feeling like no man will ever actually want her if they know the truth about her, Istvhan believing that he will never fall in love and will have to always be super super careful with women because of how big he is). The relief and shared experience that both of them have as physically large people in a world designed for smaller people is a powerful element of this book, as is Istvhan’s dawning realization that Clara can handle him and he doesn’t have to hold back. I also liked the way that the world gets expanded here and we get to see how another city is run and how the Temple of the Rat tries to work there. Overall, everything gets wrapped up in a way I found satisfying and I will also re-read this in another couple of years, I imagine.
Plenty of warnings here for sex scenes, death, gore, violence, horror elements.
