Reviews

The Paladin by C.J. Cherryh

nigellicus's review against another edition

adventurous emotional

5.0

Kind of an interesting one, this. A ragged peasant turns up at the refuge of an exiled master swordsman asking to be taught the skill that will allow her to take revenge. Most of the book is taken up with the point of view of the master, and how he reacts to the young woman he takes under his wing, for reasons that are not entirely altruistic or selfless. This very much demystifies the 'wise old master' trope, portraying him as honourable, concerned for her welfare, but also lonely and horny and frustrated - as much by her dogged stubborness to pursue vengenace as her refusal to share his bed - and very much the product of a patriarchal misogynistic society, but this portrayal is not without sympathy, since Cherryh is incapable of writing a character that isn't three dimensional. Ultimately their relationship leads them to depart the refuge together, inadvertantly sparking an uprising against the cruel regent responsible for the death of her family. 

winterreader40's review against another edition

 DNF on page 134 because the MMC keeps thinking to himself that raping the FMC will make her see sense and give up her quest, he hasn't acted on it but it's come up a ridiculous number of times. 

rickytickytavi's review against another edition

1.0

This book made me so mad. I forced myself to read through chapter 9 and couldn't take anymore. DNF. Very disappointed.

eric_conrad's review against another edition

4.0

Almost a character study or a play with two players. Different than her other work, but still enjoyable.

emvdw's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

I really loved the first two thirds of the book, but the final third was a bit disappointing and quite confusing. Also not sure how I feel about the romantic relationship in this one...

annaswan's review against another edition

3.0

Nice little self-contained novel

rxh05d's review

3.0

 I really enjoyed the plot and I really liked Taizu but Shoka is the worst. I really hope Cherryh intended him to be an unreliable narrator with how he saw himself as honorable while he's not touching Taizu but pressuring her to sleep with him every other day given the massive power imbalance. I am so over romances between old male mentors and young naive pretty female mentees. 

pctek's review against another edition

4.0

Again with her books I liked most of it.
Started well, the girl who is determined to be trained as a warrior, she persists and convinces the old master to train her.
He rather fancies her but she resists all attempts by him to get his way.
She does well, not perfectly as being female she doesn't have the strength but he teaches her to compensate.

He fails to discourage her on her mad quest for revenge and reluctantly tags along. Great.

And here is where it falls down.
Why did she make the character

Spoiler

not only give in but agree to marry him? Ugh. And then the stupid they save the world fight type scenario....Ugh.

So much for the last 3rd of the book...

rogue_runner's review

3.0

Easy reading, but the weird age gap and constant trying-to-bang-Taizu from Shoka was uncomfortable throughout the first half of the book. Really not great. The second half lost the energy as the plot turned to a much bigger war, with a lot more characters that were never really properly introduced. It was disappointing that Taizu's story got lost where she could have been made out to be a lot more badass than she was sidelined into.

testpattern's review against another edition

3.0

I've been sick, okay. So I read this. Fanciful knights and swords tyoe novel set in a fairytale China. And it was totally like reading a Shaw Bros. period swordplay film. So, it was okay.