★★★☆☆ Istvhan and Clara

Paladin's Strength

T. Kingfisher

We met Istvhan in Paladin's Grace. He's a paladin of the defunct Saint of Steel. So, like all the Saint of Steel's paladins, he's a berserker who used to make mayhem at the direction of the Saint, but then his god died and he went through an experience so traumatic that only a few of the paladins survived. Istvhan's deal is that he's BIG. That's the first thing that anyone notices when they meet him.

Clara is new. She used to be a lay sister of the convent of St Ursa. The convent was burned a month ago and all the nuns kidnapped. Clara was released because she was sick -- dying, her captors thought. Clara has a secret. I won't spoil it, but you will find out what it is at the 26% point, and you'll already have guessed it before that. Like Istvhan, Clara is a big person.

The story begins with an unusual meet-cute: Clara is given to Istvhan as a slave. Now, because the novel is told both from Clara and Istvhan's point of view, we know that they are attracted to each other. Indeed, it felt like much of the book consisted of Clara looking at Istvhan and admiring his large body parts -- broad shoulders, mostly -- and Istvhan looking at Clara and admiring her large body parts -- you can probably guess which ones. This becomes tiresome. But I am being unfair -- it is not all about physical admiration. Clara and Istvhan are both nice folks and you're glad to see them get together.

In addition to this there is rather a good mystery/adventure plot. Istvhan is hunting the weird pottery golems that we read about in Paladin's Grace, and actually makes some progress. And then there's the whole business of Clara's secret and the kidnapping of the nuns of St Ursa.

Now, let me confess that I am not a fan of romance novels. Thus it was unlikely from the start that I would be fascinated by Clara and Istvhan's story. The mystery/adventure plot was not bad, but it felt to me personally that there was far too much of Clara admiring Istvhan's broad shoulders and Istvhan admiring Clara big whatevers. I will, however, continue to read the Saint of Steel series.

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