Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collections
Publication
T. Kingfisher
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Romance. HTML: Stephen's god died on the longest day of the year... Three years later, Stephen is a broken paladin, living only for the chance to be useful before he dies. But all that changes when he encounters a fugitive named Grace in an alley and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now the pair must navigate a web of treachery, beset on all sides by spies and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind... From the Hugo and Nebula Award winning author of Swordheart and The Twisted Ones comes a saga of murder, magic, and love on the far side of despair..
User reviews
LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
Oh, excellent. Another in the Clocktaur universe, which Ursula apparently calls the World of the White Rat. Another paladin...sort of; as the blurb says, his god died three years ago. So he and his fellows are kind of in limbo - and currently working with, sheltered at, the Temple of the White Rat.
Show More
We get to see Zale again, and Bishop Beartongue. And Grace, a perfumer, who is fascinating. It is, like most of the Clocktaur stories, a romance - lots of lust and "I am not worthy" (from both sides), which I usually find annoying. But this is a Ursula Vernon (T Kingfisher) book, so there's also rich and vivid characters and lots more reason than lust for the protagonists to be together; and by the way, accusations of poisoning and clay golems and severed heads - oh, and a few gnolls. I started it and couldn't get to sleep until I finished the story. Lovely, and looking forward to almost anything she writes. Show Less
LibraryThing member lauriebrown54
Severed heads – found minus bodies- are what’s on Paladin Stephen’s mind when he is accosted on the street by a fugitive woman, who demands they pretend to be having sex against the wall to throw off her pursuers. As he walks her home, he discovers she’s a perfumer, living in a poor part of
Meanwhile, there is a visiting potentate, a couple of assassination attempts, more severed heads, thieves, and a lot more, all set in a world of several churches with real live gods, talking quadrupeds (there is one on the police force), magic that works, and a lot more.
I found this world very appealing. It’s well built (it’s the setting for several other novels by the author), and I liked most of the characters. It’s basically a rom/com set in pre-industrial times. I loved Stephen and Grace, even though their lack of ability to just bloody talk to each other made me crazy at times. It’s also a mystery- well, two different mysteries, actually. I really enjoyed the story and the characters, although the ending has a bit of a deus ex machina feeling to part of it. I fully intend to read everything else set in this world!
Show More
town. She’s got secrets; she was sold as a child and then again as an adult, and she’s been criticized and gas-lit into having a horrible image of herself. Stephen is the follower of a berserker god, one who died unexpectedly, leaving his followers with no steering. They did what berserkers do when upset; they went berserk. In the end, only a handful were left. They now help the Rat god, a sect with healers and lawyers. Now they live with constant guilt, and horrible self images. In other words, Stephen and Grace are perfect for each other, if only they could believe that someone could love a person as lowly as themselves. Meanwhile, there is a visiting potentate, a couple of assassination attempts, more severed heads, thieves, and a lot more, all set in a world of several churches with real live gods, talking quadrupeds (there is one on the police force), magic that works, and a lot more.
I found this world very appealing. It’s well built (it’s the setting for several other novels by the author), and I liked most of the characters. It’s basically a rom/com set in pre-industrial times. I loved Stephen and Grace, even though their lack of ability to just bloody talk to each other made me crazy at times. It’s also a mystery- well, two different mysteries, actually. I really enjoyed the story and the characters, although the ending has a bit of a deus ex machina feeling to part of it. I fully intend to read everything else set in this world!
Show Less
LibraryThing member dmturner
A fluffy romance with severed heads and golems
The title of this review is the author’s own words, and they are an accurate description, I consistently like T. Kingfisher’s writing—lovely, funny, brisk, and chock full of really neat ideas. The heroine’s ability to identify and construct
A fast read.
The title of this review is the author’s own words, and they are an accurate description, I consistently like T. Kingfisher’s writing—lovely, funny, brisk, and chock full of really neat ideas. The heroine’s ability to identify and construct
Show More
odors is one of the neater conceits I’ve encountered. A fast read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member N.W.Moors
Well, I'm officially an avid reader of T. Kingfisher. I loved this book and currently have four more of her books on my E-reader. She writes wonderful and funny fantasy in the style of Sir Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams (if he wrote fantasy). I laughed so many times while reading.
It's also a
I'd write more, but I'm actually going to start the next book in the series...
It's also a
Show More
lovely story about a paladin whose god died and a perfumer accused of murder. There's a lot going on: assassination attempts, lost heads, a bevy of gods, and a great cast of characters. I'd write more, but I'm actually going to start the next book in the series...
Show Less
LibraryThing member quondame
Some fun, some corpses, some lovers with issues. Too much on the issues keeping the lovers from getting it on. Overdone and realistically it's after getting it on that most people have to deal with the issues. Lovely viewpoint work with Grace relating to the smell of everything and Stephen relating
Show More
to the threat of everything. Show Less
LibraryThing member LisCarey
Stephen is, or perhaps better say was, a paladin of the Saint of Steel. Three years ago, though, the Saint died. The paladins were triggered into a berserker rage, and not all of them survived. Now, the seven survivors are living in the Temple of the White Rat, and serving the Rat, who has never
Grace is a perfumer, a Master Perfumer by accomplishment, but officially merely an apprentice, because both her masters, both the original one and the one to whom he sold her apprentice papers, refused to put her up for Master, in order to keep control of her. The second master, whom she ran away from, is an important factor in this story.
Stephen and Grace meet entirely by chance, on a night when he's been out escorting a healer of the Rat to his patient, and when Grace has been out collecting ingredients for her perfumes. It involves an encounter with soldiers of the Motherhood, who don't like perfumers, or paladins of the dead Saint of Steel, and it's very tense and unpleasant.
It's not long before seemingly innocent and even positive events result in both Stephen and Grace being in very serious danger of death.
Along the way, Grace is presented at the Archon's court to present a gift of a specially created perfume to a visiting prince. Stephen thwarts an attempted assassination of the visiting prince, and also gets a bit obsessed with tracking a serial killer who is leaving only the heads of his victims behind, while the bodies are never found.
It's very exciting, while maintaining, as Kingfisher says of their own work, a very high banter percentage, which keeps even the most stressful parts of the story manageable even for those of us who might have been going through our own emotional crises while reading. Just saying!
It's a lot of fun, and very exciting, and Stephen and Grace have such relatable issues, individually and together.
Highly recommended.
In this case, I bought both the audiobook and the print, and listened to/read both, switching back and forth.
Show More
called paladins of his own, but is glad enough to accept the service of the former paladins of the Saint. Stephen worries, a lot, about going into a berserker rage again, now that the Saint no longer exist to channel it.Grace is a perfumer, a Master Perfumer by accomplishment, but officially merely an apprentice, because both her masters, both the original one and the one to whom he sold her apprentice papers, refused to put her up for Master, in order to keep control of her. The second master, whom she ran away from, is an important factor in this story.
Stephen and Grace meet entirely by chance, on a night when he's been out escorting a healer of the Rat to his patient, and when Grace has been out collecting ingredients for her perfumes. It involves an encounter with soldiers of the Motherhood, who don't like perfumers, or paladins of the dead Saint of Steel, and it's very tense and unpleasant.
It's not long before seemingly innocent and even positive events result in both Stephen and Grace being in very serious danger of death.
Along the way, Grace is presented at the Archon's court to present a gift of a specially created perfume to a visiting prince. Stephen thwarts an attempted assassination of the visiting prince, and also gets a bit obsessed with tracking a serial killer who is leaving only the heads of his victims behind, while the bodies are never found.
It's very exciting, while maintaining, as Kingfisher says of their own work, a very high banter percentage, which keeps even the most stressful parts of the story manageable even for those of us who might have been going through our own emotional crises while reading. Just saying!
It's a lot of fun, and very exciting, and Stephen and Grace have such relatable issues, individually and together.
Highly recommended.
In this case, I bought both the audiobook and the print, and listened to/read both, switching back and forth.
Show Less
LibraryThing member JudithProctor
A gentle romance between a paladin who has lost his god, and a perfumer who has lost everything before and is afraid she'll lose it all again.
With added severed heads and attempted murders, etc.
but a gentle book over all with an incredibly gentleman like paladin.
After all, who can resist a paladin
With added severed heads and attempted murders, etc.
but a gentle book over all with an incredibly gentleman like paladin.
After all, who can resist a paladin
Show More
who knits socks? Show Less
LibraryThing member kevn57
4 Stars I loved this book, it was much better than I thought it would be, usually books tagged as humor and romance on goodreads never cause me to chuckle, this book had me LOLing many times.
This book is a fantasy about a paladin, it's a mystery about an assassination, but really it's is a rom-com
The Meet Cute
She was. In fact, she was trying to climb him like a tree. Stephen had to brace himself against the wall and grab for her leg, which she was trying to wrap around his waist. To his mild horror, she let out another cry of feigned ecstasy.
“Please,” he whispered. “My ears!”
“Sorry,” she whispered back. “Yes! Yes!”
The Motherhood priests were still staring at them. Suspicion? Voyeurism? Stephen had no idea.
I loved the inner dialogs of both Stephen and Grace.
She slapped it out, grumbling. Fire at least held no terror for her. She’d burnt herself far too many times distilling and smoking and steaming things.
Well, at least he didn’t have to save you from burning to death, on top of everything else.
“This was my favorite dressing gown,” she muttered. It was also her only dressing gown but he didn’t need to know that.
She was aware, yanking it tighter around herself and belting it more securely, that he’d probably seen a bit more than he’d expected. Great. Wonderful. First you grind on him like a wanton, then you swoon all over him, now you’re giving him a show. This is going marvelously. What’s next, tripping and falling on his cock on accident?
I knew who the poisoner really pretty early on, or at least strongly suspected them, but that didn't effect my enjoyment of the book at all and loved the denouncement scene.
It's nice having a fantasy book centered on a profession aside from Fighter/Healer/Mage/Thief, and it it fits strongly into the plot.
This book is a fantasy about a paladin, it's a mystery about an assassination, but really it's is a rom-com
Show More
it starts with the meet cute and the book is hilarious.The Meet Cute
She was. In fact, she was trying to climb him like a tree. Stephen had to brace himself against the wall and grab for her leg, which she was trying to wrap around his waist. To his mild horror, she let out another cry of feigned ecstasy.
“Please,” he whispered. “My ears!”
“Sorry,” she whispered back. “Yes! Yes!”
The Motherhood priests were still staring at them. Suspicion? Voyeurism? Stephen had no idea.
I loved the inner dialogs of both Stephen and Grace.
She slapped it out, grumbling. Fire at least held no terror for her. She’d burnt herself far too many times distilling and smoking and steaming things.
Well, at least he didn’t have to save you from burning to death, on top of everything else.
“This was my favorite dressing gown,” she muttered. It was also her only dressing gown but he didn’t need to know that.
She was aware, yanking it tighter around herself and belting it more securely, that he’d probably seen a bit more than he’d expected. Great. Wonderful. First you grind on him like a wanton, then you swoon all over him, now you’re giving him a show. This is going marvelously. What’s next, tripping and falling on his cock on accident?
I knew who the poisoner really pretty early on, or at least strongly suspected them, but that didn't effect my enjoyment of the book at all and loved the denouncement scene.
It's nice having a fantasy book centered on a profession aside from Fighter/Healer/Mage/Thief, and it it fits strongly into the plot.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Herenya
This is set in the same world as Clockwork Boys / The Wonder Engine and Swordheart. A paladin and a perfumer deal with politics, a wrongful accusation of poisoning and some weird murders.
I like my comfort reads to have an edge of darkness in them, so I’ve no objections to murder intruding into
The characters’ obvious physical attraction to each other undercut some of the tension for me -- and I wasn’t expecting to have that particular (clearly idiosyncratic) reaction to this story -- but the rest of the plot had enough uncertainty and surprises. And I still enjoyed reading this.
“I think I’d grab one of the candelabras instead. Some of those are nice and heavy.”
“Far too unwieldy. I could take you apart with the ice swan while you were still trying to get the candelabra off the ground.”
“Gentlemen,” said Beartongue, “I forbid you to smash the Archon’s decor and try to duel with it.”
“Yes, your holiness.”
“I'll have you both excommunicated.”
Stephen coughed. “Technically we’re not in your church, your holiness.”
“Then I will have you confirmed so that I can excommunicate you even harder.”
I like my comfort reads to have an edge of darkness in them, so I’ve no objections to murder intruding into
Show More
what is trying to be a fluffy romance. In stories, that is. The humorous bits are funny, and the characters’ support networks are heartening -- Stephen has his fellow paladins and the Temple of the White Rat, while Grace has her friendship with Marguerite and a sometimes-annoying-but-much-beloved pet. It’s also heartening to see two characters who have been hurt in the past, and who consequently have serious doubts about their desirability, discover joy and solace with each other. The characters’ obvious physical attraction to each other undercut some of the tension for me -- and I wasn’t expecting to have that particular (clearly idiosyncratic) reaction to this story -- but the rest of the plot had enough uncertainty and surprises. And I still enjoyed reading this.
“I think I’d grab one of the candelabras instead. Some of those are nice and heavy.”
“Far too unwieldy. I could take you apart with the ice swan while you were still trying to get the candelabra off the ground.”
“Gentlemen,” said Beartongue, “I forbid you to smash the Archon’s decor and try to duel with it.”
“Yes, your holiness.”
“I'll have you both excommunicated.”
Stephen coughed. “Technically we’re not in your church, your holiness.”
“Then I will have you confirmed so that I can excommunicate you even harder.”
Show Less
LibraryThing member RedQueen
Fluffy romance? Maybe. Berzerkers, random heads found in the streets, gods, lawyers, conspiracies and evil politicians? Certainly. Delightful? Absolutely!
LibraryThing member rivkat
He’s a paladin whose god died, sending him and his brothers and sisters beserk. Now the survivors work for the Temple of the Rat, trying to make up for what they did when they lost control. She’s a perfumer whose best friend is a spy who gets caught up in some nasty business, including
Show More
beheadings and poisonings. They meet cute—she’s on the run from the witchburners and they pretend to have sex to throw the witchburners off her trail—and then get serious, despite his fear of losing control again and her fear of trusting another man, ever, after what her husband did to her. It’s got a lot more repetitive angsting than I usually like for my original fic, but I like the general worldbuilding and it’s good to know there will be more (and I hope more gnoles). Show Less
LibraryThing member krau0098
Series Info/Source: This is the first book in the Saint of Steel series, which is a trilogy. I bought this as an audiobook through Google Play.
Thoughts: My family listened to this audiobook on a recent road trip. My son is older (15 years old) but there were some parts of the book with explicit sex
The story follows a Paladin whose god has died, Stephen, and a perfumer, Grace. They end up being brought together when Grace witnesses a strange murder. Stephen and his surviving brothers have taken refuge at the Temple of the White Rat and do miscellaneous work for them. I did enjoy a lot of the murder mystery portions of this story. Grace and Stephen are excellent characters and getting to know both them (along with Stephen's brothers) was a delight. I did think that some of the story was a bit slow. Grace, as a perfumer, thinks in smells which I totally get, but the amount of time she revelled in Stephen's gingerbread smell got really old. I also thought there was too much page space spent on Grace and Stephen angsting about how wrong they were for each other or how unworthy they were for each other.
Aside from the above complaints I enjoyed Kingfisher's writing and enjoyed the humor throughout. I love the world of the White Rat and have a lot of fun spending time in this world. I do wish we had seen more of the Wonder Makers in this book, this is a fairly cut and dry political murder story, at least initially. My family enjoyed this story but pretty much agreed with the complaints I had. I wish they had gotten the opportunity to listen to the Clocktaur War duology first. As mentioned we listened to this on audiobook and everyone enjoyed it, the narration was well done.
My Summary (4/5): Overall this was a fun and humorous fantasy read. I loved the world and the characters. However, the story was bogged down some by our two romantic interests over thinking things about how they were not worthy of each other. I am curious to see where things go in the second book, since the murder mystery portion of this remains unresolved. I didn't like this as much as the Clocktaur Wars, but it was still a fun read.
Thoughts: My family listened to this audiobook on a recent road trip. My son is older (15 years old) but there were some parts of the book with explicit sex
Show More
language and scenes which were a bit awkward to listen to as a family. He rolled with it though. The relationships in here are healthy and well-balanced so it wasn't the worse thing for him to listen to as far as sex scenes go. I didn't enjoy this as much as the Clocktaur War duology, but it was still well done.The story follows a Paladin whose god has died, Stephen, and a perfumer, Grace. They end up being brought together when Grace witnesses a strange murder. Stephen and his surviving brothers have taken refuge at the Temple of the White Rat and do miscellaneous work for them. I did enjoy a lot of the murder mystery portions of this story. Grace and Stephen are excellent characters and getting to know both them (along with Stephen's brothers) was a delight. I did think that some of the story was a bit slow. Grace, as a perfumer, thinks in smells which I totally get, but the amount of time she revelled in Stephen's gingerbread smell got really old. I also thought there was too much page space spent on Grace and Stephen angsting about how wrong they were for each other or how unworthy they were for each other.
Aside from the above complaints I enjoyed Kingfisher's writing and enjoyed the humor throughout. I love the world of the White Rat and have a lot of fun spending time in this world. I do wish we had seen more of the Wonder Makers in this book, this is a fairly cut and dry political murder story, at least initially. My family enjoyed this story but pretty much agreed with the complaints I had. I wish they had gotten the opportunity to listen to the Clocktaur War duology first. As mentioned we listened to this on audiobook and everyone enjoyed it, the narration was well done.
My Summary (4/5): Overall this was a fun and humorous fantasy read. I loved the world and the characters. However, the story was bogged down some by our two romantic interests over thinking things about how they were not worthy of each other. I am curious to see where things go in the second book, since the murder mystery portion of this remains unresolved. I didn't like this as much as the Clocktaur Wars, but it was still a fun read.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jennybeast
Kind of a ridiculous book, and as much as I enjoyed the narrator for the audio, I suspect I might have liked reading it with my eyes better -- it just lags a bit in places and there is a certain amount of I-am-not-worthy-to-be-loved angst that goes on a wee bit long.
However! It's also just a
However! It's also just a
Show More
wonderful thing to spend time in this world and the characters are genuinely delightful. Love the whole Rat compound, particularly Zale and Bishop Beartongue. Really love the brotherhood of broken paladins. Excellent dueling storyline of mysterious happenings. Excellent to see main characters who are dealing with their mental health issues. Fascinating to even consider what the life of a perfumer might be like. Also, there's a very satisfying legal battle in addition to the random beheading situation. Marvelous. Show Less
LibraryThing member RandyMorgan
At a paladin’s core is the duty to serve, even when overcome with grief because of the death of their god. Stephen is one of few paladins to survive such an event. In a bind, Grace enlisted the help of Stephen to escape from clerics. Their attraction was instantaneous but the romance is delayed
Paladin’s Grace is a magic based fantasy filled with mystery and glittered with romance. T. Kingfisher really makes the reader contemplate the double entendre of the title. Her seamless transitions create depth that enchants the romance. The narrator, Joel Richards, has a gruff voice and a tempo that encourages examines the situations. Paladin’s Grace did fall a little flat on the character development for Grace. The conclusion of the book is satisfying and feels complete despite this book being part of a trilogy.
Show More
by the past, an assassination attempt, and an ambiguous killer.Paladin’s Grace is a magic based fantasy filled with mystery and glittered with romance. T. Kingfisher really makes the reader contemplate the double entendre of the title. Her seamless transitions create depth that enchants the romance. The narrator, Joel Richards, has a gruff voice and a tempo that encourages examines the situations. Paladin’s Grace did fall a little flat on the character development for Grace. The conclusion of the book is satisfying and feels complete despite this book being part of a trilogy.
Show Less
LibraryThing member spiritedstardust
I can’t believe this is the same author as nettle and bone - such very different books.
This was fun- a mystery, likeable characters, some romance and hijinks. I was entertained. Kinda wish nettle and bone had a bit more steam now that I know she can definitely write some spice.
I was more
Marguerite, who is you?…
This was fun- a mystery, likeable characters, some romance and hijinks. I was entertained. Kinda wish nettle and bone had a bit more steam now that I know she can definitely write some spice.
I was more
Show More
interested in the magical aspects like the killing of their saint rather than murder mystery though but I feel it might be going more towards the magic aspect considering what the murders were made out ofMarguerite, who is you?…
Show Less
LibraryThing member SpaceandSorcery
Paladins are soldiers (holy berserkers) called to the service of various gods, or Saints, and Stephen is one of those serving the Saint of Steel: one day his god dies, and Stephen, alongside his comrades, falls prey to blind rage and starts attacking everyone in sight. Only a handful of these
One night Stephen meets, in very… well, awkward circumstances, a woman fleeing from the acolytes of the Hanged Mother cult: her name is Grace, she is a talented perfumer and a person with whom the paladin feels immediately at ease, able to forget for a while the heavy burden of his past. Grace also has a painful past to deal with, and the two of them meet again in weird circumstances while their mutual attraction grows despite the constant comedy of errors plaguing their encounters. All the while, the city lives in fear of a brutal assassin who leaves severed heads (and no bodies) in his wake and political intrigue further muddies the waters, adding to the burden of troubles for the two would-be lovers.
I had a lot of fun with Paladin’s Grace: it was all that I’ve come to expect from a story by T. Kingfisher, and more. It even surprised me by putting a romance at the core of the novel and making me enjoy it, which is so very unusual since it’a a theme I tend to avoid, but the growing relationship between Stephen and Grace was so fun to follow that I felt completely invested in it and ended up rooting for these two people so badly hurt by life’s hard blows that they deserved some happiness…
Grace is the typical Kingfisher heroine: a very human, very relatable mix of strength and vulnerability, someone who has learned to fend for herself in a world that too often proved hostile and cruel, always ready to take away what she had managed to gain through hardship and sacrifice. Despite the difficult baggage that she carries, Grace is still capable of humor that comes delightfully across in her inner musings, and she also learned the kind of self-sufficiency that turned her into a very independent woman - granted, she’s terribly shy and still suffers from a certain sense of inadequacy, but she knows to rely only on herself:
Rescue was bad. People who wanted you to be vulnerable and grateful tended to get very angry when you stopped being vulnerable and didn’t act grateful enough.
Which makes Stephen’s not-so-smooth attempts at taking care of her all the harder. He’s laboring under some heavy baggage himself, constantly battling with the depression caused by the death of his saint and with the underlying fear of going berserk again and wreaking irreparable havoc. The only moments when he feels that burden lifted are those he spends with Grace: one might say they are both broken people who find in each other the possibility of healing their wounds and becoming whole again - and that’s probably the reason I found the romance in this story so intriguing, so real and worthy of cheering on.
Secondary characters are just as captivating as the main ones, particularly the members of the Temple of the Rat: from brother Francis the healer, whom we meet at the start of the novel, to Bishop Beartongue, an older woman whose no-nonsense attitude blends with tongue-in-cheek humor that made me happy for every scene in which she appeared, to lawyer Zale whose apparent offhand attitude hides a keen intellect, they all incarnate an ideal of service to others that counterbalances the darkness of the social and political background in which the story is set. Getting to know them, and their attitude toward humanity, it’s not surprising that they were the ones to offer the broken paladins a home and a reason to go on living. Fellow paladin Istvhan is another wonderful character I enjoyed reading about: a mix of brotherly concern and hands-on advice, he’s the perfect foil for Stephen’s uncertainties - not to mention one of the recipients of his brother-in-arms’ knitted socks. Yes, you read me correctly, Stephen knits socks in his spare time: after all even warriors need a hobby, don’t they? And let’s not forget either Marguerite, Grace’s landlady, friend and accomplished spy in incognito, and Grace’s pet - something of a cross between a cat and a ferret, as far as I understand it - which fills the by-now-expected role of animal companion that seems to be a fixed element in all Kingfisher books.
There is a great deal to enjoy in Paladin’s Grace besides the amorous fumblings from Grace and Stephen: the required political games typical of the setting offer an interesting background that at some point morphs into intense courtroom drama, and the dreadful mystery about the severed heads is not fully resolved, making me hope that more will be explained in the next two books of the series, but what comes to the fore more intensely is the message that even damaged people can find a way of overcoming the injuries from the past and find in others the strength to face the future - hopefully a better one. It’s indeed a powerful message, one that makes this already enjoyable story something more than just a story…
Show More
paladins survive the ordeal, and they are always on guard for the return of the madness; presently, three years later, these surviving Paladins are affiliated to the Temple of the White Rat, an order dedicated to public services like law and medicine, where they hope to remain useful while dealing with the heavy psychological consequences of their god’s death.One night Stephen meets, in very… well, awkward circumstances, a woman fleeing from the acolytes of the Hanged Mother cult: her name is Grace, she is a talented perfumer and a person with whom the paladin feels immediately at ease, able to forget for a while the heavy burden of his past. Grace also has a painful past to deal with, and the two of them meet again in weird circumstances while their mutual attraction grows despite the constant comedy of errors plaguing their encounters. All the while, the city lives in fear of a brutal assassin who leaves severed heads (and no bodies) in his wake and political intrigue further muddies the waters, adding to the burden of troubles for the two would-be lovers.
I had a lot of fun with Paladin’s Grace: it was all that I’ve come to expect from a story by T. Kingfisher, and more. It even surprised me by putting a romance at the core of the novel and making me enjoy it, which is so very unusual since it’a a theme I tend to avoid, but the growing relationship between Stephen and Grace was so fun to follow that I felt completely invested in it and ended up rooting for these two people so badly hurt by life’s hard blows that they deserved some happiness…
Grace is the typical Kingfisher heroine: a very human, very relatable mix of strength and vulnerability, someone who has learned to fend for herself in a world that too often proved hostile and cruel, always ready to take away what she had managed to gain through hardship and sacrifice. Despite the difficult baggage that she carries, Grace is still capable of humor that comes delightfully across in her inner musings, and she also learned the kind of self-sufficiency that turned her into a very independent woman - granted, she’s terribly shy and still suffers from a certain sense of inadequacy, but she knows to rely only on herself:
Rescue was bad. People who wanted you to be vulnerable and grateful tended to get very angry when you stopped being vulnerable and didn’t act grateful enough.
Which makes Stephen’s not-so-smooth attempts at taking care of her all the harder. He’s laboring under some heavy baggage himself, constantly battling with the depression caused by the death of his saint and with the underlying fear of going berserk again and wreaking irreparable havoc. The only moments when he feels that burden lifted are those he spends with Grace: one might say they are both broken people who find in each other the possibility of healing their wounds and becoming whole again - and that’s probably the reason I found the romance in this story so intriguing, so real and worthy of cheering on.
Secondary characters are just as captivating as the main ones, particularly the members of the Temple of the Rat: from brother Francis the healer, whom we meet at the start of the novel, to Bishop Beartongue, an older woman whose no-nonsense attitude blends with tongue-in-cheek humor that made me happy for every scene in which she appeared, to lawyer Zale whose apparent offhand attitude hides a keen intellect, they all incarnate an ideal of service to others that counterbalances the darkness of the social and political background in which the story is set. Getting to know them, and their attitude toward humanity, it’s not surprising that they were the ones to offer the broken paladins a home and a reason to go on living. Fellow paladin Istvhan is another wonderful character I enjoyed reading about: a mix of brotherly concern and hands-on advice, he’s the perfect foil for Stephen’s uncertainties - not to mention one of the recipients of his brother-in-arms’ knitted socks. Yes, you read me correctly, Stephen knits socks in his spare time: after all even warriors need a hobby, don’t they? And let’s not forget either Marguerite, Grace’s landlady, friend and accomplished spy in incognito, and Grace’s pet - something of a cross between a cat and a ferret, as far as I understand it - which fills the by-now-expected role of animal companion that seems to be a fixed element in all Kingfisher books.
There is a great deal to enjoy in Paladin’s Grace besides the amorous fumblings from Grace and Stephen: the required political games typical of the setting offer an interesting background that at some point morphs into intense courtroom drama, and the dreadful mystery about the severed heads is not fully resolved, making me hope that more will be explained in the next two books of the series, but what comes to the fore more intensely is the message that even damaged people can find a way of overcoming the injuries from the past and find in others the strength to face the future - hopefully a better one. It’s indeed a powerful message, one that makes this already enjoyable story something more than just a story…
Show Less
LibraryThing member JorgeousJotts
Well drat. The premise really appealed to me, but the actual book I found very predictable and tiresome. Things I did like, the heroine remaking herself from difficult circumstances and building a business, and the perfume aspect was decent. And the hero was admirable, which is nice, and he was
Show More
cute interacting with her pet. Those things were largely outweighed by the tediousness of the trial if you'd already guessed the circumstances (it took an age to catch up and get on to something else, and in the meantime you have to just watch them bumble about), and the heroine being a bit of an emotional basket case of awkwardness and nerves. I think the latter was supposed to be relatable or humorous, but it just felt like a slight variation on the 'heroine always being a hopeless klutz' archetype. I'm really disappointed I didn't enjoy this more, but I just didn't. =/ Show Less
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
I complained a while ago about reading a lot of books featuring people who lost their gods and this one is one of the better examples. Steven is one of a few surviving Paladins who live in the Rat God Temple, their god died and some of them went berserk so now they try to atone for what they did
AND he knits socks.
I was charmed and amused and want more of them.
Show More
(and there's a lot of angst in Steven) Steven fears going berserk and not being able to control it so he mostly avoids relationships and being out and about. One day he is returning to the temple when he comes across a damsel in distress, Grace is a perfumer and has fallen foul of the followers of the Hanged Mother and as the layers about this are unravelled she and he fall for each other.AND he knits socks.
I was charmed and amused and want more of them.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Tom_Wright
The characters' refusal to talk about their feelings was an annoyance like other works by T. Kingfisher, but still a fun read.
Awards
Original publication date
2020-02-11
Local notes
Clocktaur War, 5
DDC/MDS
| Fic SF Kingfisher |