{"id":23372,"date":"2024-03-11T14:17:27","date_gmt":"2024-03-11T18:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=23372"},"modified":"2024-03-17T09:01:36","modified_gmt":"2024-03-17T13:01:36","slug":"paladins-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23372","title":{"rendered":"Paladin’s Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paladin’s Hope<\/em><\/a> (2021) T. Kingfisher<\/a> (The Saint of Steel)<\/p>\n

\"Paladin's<\/a>Galen is one of the broken paladins of the Saint of Steel. Like his brothers (and sisters) in arms, he works for the White Rat, and does his best to be helpful.<\/p>\n

He was one of the two paladins who survived Hollowbind, and the guilt sometimes overwhelms him.<\/p>\n

The good-looking red-haired fellow was new, but was cut from the same cloth as Stephen, which meant that he might well go into a battle-madness that could level a town but would feel extremely guilty about it afterwards.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Piper is a lich-doctor, and often called in to help determine the cause of death–especially in cases that might be murder or might be accidents. <\/p>\n

The doctor scowled. \u201cI do not like policemen.\u201d <\/p>\n

Galen raised an eyebrow. \u201cI thought you worked with them a lot.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cHow else would I know them well enough to dislike them?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He has also helped the White Rat on multiple occasions–especially since Bishop Beartongue learned his secret.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can watch them die?\u201d said Galen, his voice determinedly neutral.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot watch. I\u2019m on the inside, seeing what they saw and feeling whatever emotions they felt. Only the last few seconds, usually.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When Earstripe–the sole gnole in the city watch–asks Galen and Piper to help determine how how humans are dying and ending up in the river–they set off upriver with Earstripe’s cousin, Brindle, who has volunteered to drive an ox-cart for them.<\/p>\n

I remember being dissatisfied when I read this the first time, and I’m still dissatisfied.<\/p>\n

First, the story focused primarily on the maze and the ancient Wonder Engines. But we didn’t really learn very much of anything about the Wonder Engines or their makers, so that part of the story felt unpleasantly unfinished.<\/p>\n

Second, although I understand why Galen felt so broken, his actions with Piper didn’t feel quite right.<\/p>\n

Thirdly, I absolutely cannot believe that Galen would have gone to sleep without warning Piper. That goes against everything Galen is and does. It’s just wrong. And their first sexual encounter felt shoehorned in, rather than a growth of their changing friendship and relationship.<\/p>\n

Fourthly, Galen’s actions with Piper just felt wrong, and Piper’s accepting his explanation felt forced. Piper should have been far more offended than he was instead of simply accepting Galen’s change of mind. It all made Piper seem far weaker than Galen had believed him to be.<\/p>\n

So as much as I wanted to love this story–because I very much like Piper and Galen as characters–the whole thing felt rough and unfinished.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Red Wombat Studio<\/p>\n

Rating: 7\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paladin’s Hope (2021) T. Kingfisher (The Saint of Steel) Galen is one of the broken paladins of the Saint of Steel. Like his brothers (and sisters) in arms, he works for the White Rat, and does his best to be helpful. He was one of the two paladins who survived Hollowbind, and the guilt sometimes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[194,292,2,204,207,148,41,26,56],"tags":[213,544,212,723,262],"class_list":["post-23372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-5-10","category-ebook","category-fantasy","category-good","category-mental-health-rep","category-queer","category-reread","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-grief","tag-mm","tag-ptsd","tag-saint-of-steel","tag-t-kingfisher"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-64Y","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18359,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/18359","url_meta":{"origin":23372,"position":0},"title":"Paladin’s Hope","author":"Michelle","date":"October 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Paladin's Hope (2021) T. Kingfisher (The Saint of Steel) The third book in the Saint of Steel series. Piper is the lich-doctor (think coroner) for the White Rat. He'd worked with several of the paladins of the Saint of Steel in solving the a series of murders. Now it looks\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Paladin's Hope","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Paladins-Hope.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14219,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14219","url_meta":{"origin":23372,"position":1},"title":"Paladin’s Grace","author":"Michelle","date":"April 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Paladin's Grace (2020) T. Kingfisher (The Saint of Steel) Stephen was a paladin for the Saint of Steel until that god died, and all his paladins went mad. The remaining seven paladins now serve the Rat, in gratitude for taking them in and giving them some purpose. The Rat\u2019s priests\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Paladin's Grace","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Paladins-Grace.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Paladins-Grace.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Paladins-Grace.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Paladins-Grace.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":22614,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22614","url_meta":{"origin":23372,"position":2},"title":"Paladin’s Faith","author":"Michelle","date":"December 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Paladin's Faith (2023) T. Kingfisher (The Saint of Steel) Marguerite Florian left town in a hurry after helping her friend Grace led her to trouble (Paladin\u2019s Grace). Which wasn't necessarily unexpected, since Marguerite is a spy. So she turns to the White Rat. Apparently one of the problems they had\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Paladin's Faith","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Paladins-Faith.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Paladins-Faith.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Paladins-Faith.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23963,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23963","url_meta":{"origin":23372,"position":3},"title":"Paladin’s Grace, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"September 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Paladin's Grace, Audiobook (2020) T. Kingfisher narrated by Joel Richards (Saint of Steel #1) \u201cWhat in the name of the little household gods is that?\u201d \u201cAn abomination,\u201d said Stephen. \u201cI believe the cook called it gravy.\u201d \u201cGravy is not that color.\u201d \u201cI did not say the cook was correct.\u201d \u201cCan\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Paladin's Grace","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Paladins-Grace.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23242,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23242","url_meta":{"origin":23372,"position":4},"title":"Paladin’s Grace","author":"Michelle","date":"February 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Paladin's Grace (2020) T. Kingfisher (The Saint of Steel) The Rat\u2019s priests fixed things that could be fixed, and when things were broken past all mending, they helped people pick up the pieces. \u201cGentlemen,\u201d said Beartongue, \u201cI forbid you to smash the Archon\u2019s decor and try to duel with it.\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Paladin's Grace","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Paladins-Grace.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23370,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23370","url_meta":{"origin":23372,"position":5},"title":"Paladin’s Strength","author":"Michelle","date":"March 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Paladin's Strength (2021) T. Kingfisher (The Saint of Steel) For some reason, every time Galen said\"Boss\" to Istvhan I kept thinking of Loiosh from Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series. \u201cWhat are you afraid of, Boss?\u201d \u201cShut up, Loiosh.\u201d \u201cWhat if she kills you, Boss?\u201d called Galen. \u201cThen either avenge me\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Paladin's Strength","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/paladin-s-strength.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23372\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}