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missbear's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
I wouldn't have picked up The Paladin if not for a friend of mine, who was convinced that we had both read the book as teenagers and wanted to read it again, as she thought that the central relationship may have aged poorly in retrospect. So, that's not a very auspicious reason to read something. Now that I'm done, I can say that I'm not really all that sure I did read it before, and that it definitely aged poorly.
This book is split into two distinct halves, which I had two distinct problems with. The first half, which is a very slow, peaceful, slice-of-life kind of story (the sort of thing I tend to like), focuses on Taizu, the main character, as she learns sword fighting and begins to trust Saukendar, her teacher. It's unfortunately uncomfortably blighted by Saukendar's constant thoughts about how much he would like to have sex with her despite the fact that she is explictly, verbally afraid of him raping her. And they talk about this a lot, so it's not really something that you can look past.
In the second half, the story transforms into a cross-country adventure tale with lots of combat and political intrigue, which is not my favorite kind of story. I found the descriptions of court politics and the geography of the land they were crossing to be particularly confusing, somehow both vague and overspecific. By this point in the story, Saukendar and Taizu are in fact sleeping together, which puts a stop to all the talk about rape, but is still uncomfortable, as Taizu's motives in agreeing to have sex are a little hard to puzzle out.
I will say that I did enjoy the conceit of having the story told from Saukendar's perspective but be focused on Taizu, and I think I would have really enjoyed watching Saukendar slowly grow to respect and admire Taizu if not for his constant thoughts about having sex with her. But all in all, this was largely a slow and uncomfortable read for me and I probably would have put it down if not for my friend.
This book is split into two distinct halves, which I had two distinct problems with. The first half, which is a very slow, peaceful, slice-of-life kind of story (the sort of thing I tend to like), focuses on Taizu, the main character, as she learns sword fighting and begins to trust Saukendar, her teacher. It's unfortunately uncomfortably blighted by Saukendar's constant thoughts about how much he would like to have sex with her despite the fact that she is explictly, verbally afraid of him raping her. And they talk about this a lot, so it's not really something that you can look past.
In the second half, the story transforms into a cross-country adventure tale with lots of combat and political intrigue, which is not my favorite kind of story. I found the descriptions of court politics and the geography of the land they were crossing to be particularly confusing, somehow both vague and overspecific. By this point in the story, Saukendar and Taizu are in fact sleeping together, which puts a stop to all the talk about rape, but is still uncomfortable, as Taizu's motives in agreeing to have sex are a little hard to puzzle out.
I will say that I did enjoy the conceit of having the story told from Saukendar's perspective but be focused on Taizu, and I think I would have really enjoyed watching Saukendar slowly grow to respect and admire Taizu if not for his constant thoughts about having sex with her. But all in all, this was largely a slow and uncomfortable read for me and I probably would have put it down if not for my friend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship
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