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A review by tessisreading2
The Paladin Caper by Patrick Weekes
3.0
The sloppy world-building became overwhelming in this one - despite the fact that the world is set up such that men and women seem to work whatever jobs interchangeably, the bad guys are all sexist (against women) and racist (against black people), and characters unexpectedly being gay is presented as a "gotcha!" (as in, "you assumed they were straight but gotcha! they are actually gay, it is very surprising!" No. It is not very surprising, lots of people are gay or bisexual). It is awkward to read a high fantasy mashup which tries, not very well, to use the language of social justice in the modern-day era and talks about "old white men" oppressing black women, to the point that said old white men are bashing black female characters using the same kind of language used to demonize black mothers in the 1990s. It's just a big WTF.
Add in the presence of Evil Magic Devices which are (a) evil but (b) function essentially like iPhones, and jokes about people walking off bridges because they're so busy consulting their devices, and it's just... okay, we get it. It's not really a trenchant commentary on the modern world, though, it's just sloppy and indicates a lack of imagination. Regardless, I have a certain affection for this series; it wasn't actively offensive, and it was definitely trying, it just... wasn't great. I won't be re-reading but I don't regret having read it.
Add in the presence of Evil Magic Devices which are (a) evil but (b) function essentially like iPhones, and jokes about people walking off bridges because they're so busy consulting their devices, and it's just... okay, we get it. It's not really a trenchant commentary on the modern world, though, it's just sloppy and indicates a lack of imagination. Regardless, I have a certain affection for this series; it wasn't actively offensive, and it was definitely trying, it just... wasn't great. I won't be re-reading but I don't regret having read it.