★★★☆☆ A Saint of Steel romance, then something else

Paladin's Faith

T. Kingfisher

At first, T. Kingfisher's Paladin's Faith looks like the previous three Saint of Steel romances. We begin in Marguerite Florian's point of view. We know Marguerite already: she was Grace's best friend from Paladin's Grace. She's a merchant and spy. She goes to Bishop Beartongue looking to hire a couple paladins as bodyguards. The two she ends up with are Wren and Shane. As usual in a Saint of Steel romance, we also get to inhabit the paladin's point of view, Shane in this case. It is, to be honest, a cramped and dull space. By now we know what paladins of the late Saint of Steel are like, and Shane is the most paladinly of paladins. Because we are in both Marguerite and Shane's heads, we know that they are attracted to each other. And there is a little mystery to be solved -- a missing person problem this time rather than a murder.

And so we tool along for three quarters of the book. Then, at 75%, the plot takes an abrupt turn. I won't spoil it for you -- it begins when a new character called the Wisdom appears in the plot. This final quarter of the book is virtually a new story, quite different from anything we've seen before in the Saint of Steel series, and substantially better and more interesting.

There is even an epilog with a hint that the story could continue. Since Paladin's Faith only appeared in Dec 2023 (two months ago as of the writing of this review), it seems possible that a fifth Saint of Steel book is in the works. I was frankly getting rather bored with the series, and willing to abandon it, but this new twist has reawakened my interest. Thus, if another novel appears, I will read it.

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