A review by reclusivebookslug
Paladin's Hope by T. Kingfisher

adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I was really looking forward to reading Galen and Piper's story, but this book kind of disappointed me. It's the shortest in the trilogy and felt quite unlike the first two books. The plot was much more straightforward and the inter-character conflict took more of the center stage. It also felt like Galen's internal conflicts about getting into a relationship were too similar to Stephen's. What I thought would be the overarching conflict of the series, the smooth men, was resolved in book two, and wrapping up the series with an entirely new thing felt odd to me. I also really wish Piper's wonderworker ability was brought up more. It seemed like such an interesting thing to explore, but it was mainly used as a utilitarian plot device.

This is not to say I disliked the book. The fantasy portrayal of prejudice and discrimination through the gnoles was very interesting, I love when fantasy authors choose to eliminate homophobia from their worlds, and the epilogue felt like a nice sendoff to the series. The last line was especially impactful.

I had no idea before reading this book that Kingfisher had other books written in this same world, but I will definitely be looking into that.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings