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A review by aimee70807
The Paladin by C.J. Cherryh
5.0
As much as I love Cherryh's science fiction, my favorite books by her are the Rusalka series. This book feels a lot like those, although perhaps not nearly as stellar.
In addition to the world-building (a semi-China or Japan) and the general feel of the book, what I liked the most was the way Cherryh chose to use the problematic guy as the protagonist. It would have been oh so easy to write this story from the point of view of the young girl, but instead, we follow the less sympathetic man, who still manages to appeal to the reader.
As a side note, I just read this interesting factoid on Wikipedia: "Cherryh (pronounced "Cherry") appended a silent "h" to her real name because her first editor, Donald A. Wollheim, felt that "Cherry" sounded too much like a romance writer." I've been struggling with her name for decades!
In addition to the world-building (a semi-China or Japan) and the general feel of the book, what I liked the most was the way Cherryh chose to use the problematic guy as the protagonist. It would have been oh so easy to write this story from the point of view of the young girl, but instead, we follow the less sympathetic man, who still manages to appeal to the reader.
As a side note, I just read this interesting factoid on Wikipedia: "Cherryh (pronounced "Cherry") appended a silent "h" to her real name because her first editor, Donald A. Wollheim, felt that "Cherry" sounded too much like a romance writer." I've been struggling with her name for decades!