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I do love a hero who knits socks in his spare time. The Saint of Steel died and all his paladins ran mad. Only a few survived the shock and, three years later, Steven is still broken, but is gradually beginning to get his life back. Employed and sheltered by the Temple of the Rat, led by the indomitable Bishop Beartongue, the few surviving paladins of the saint are mostly tasked with suitable physical missions where violence is likely. Steven is acting as protector to a healer in a rough area of town. On his way home he sees a young woman being chased as a witch by the Hanged Mother’s priests, a particularly cruel sect. He saves her and then lets her go. Grace is a perfumer, trying to lead a quiet life as she’s run away from an unfair and two-timing husband. Steven and Grace meet again at an official palace event and are immediately thrown into a plot of assassination and false accusations. This is a romance but taut and exciting, as Grace’s landlady turns out to be a spy, and Grace is accused of attempted murder, again, by the Hanged Mother’s priests. This is a re-read via Audible. Christian Rodska reads very well, and I thoroughly recommend this in audio or written form.
This is a re-read for me via Audible. I like listening to audiobooks that I’ve read (and enjoyed) before. The Saint of Steel died and all his paladins ran mad. Only a few survived the shock and, four years later, are beginning to get their lives back. Paladin’s Grace is the story of Steven, and Paladin’s Strength is the story of Istvahn, a giant of a man, and Clara, lay sister of the order of St Ursa. Istvahn is travelling with a convoy of (empty) barrels while trying to find out more about the smooth men, who have left a trail of severed heads and headless bodies, not necessarily matching (and there are fewer bodies than heads). Clara is following a group of her sisters who have been captured and kidnapped for reasons that eventually become horribly clear. If I say any more it will be too spoilery. Suffice it to say that this becomes a romance between two middle-aged, somewhat over-sized people that is utterly charming. T Kingfisher is good at this sort of romance. Her dialogue is witty, and I forgive her for ignoring the fact that the two protagonists could get together far sooner if only they were honest with each other. Clara, in particular, has good reason for keeping her secret. Ms Kingfisher is extremely good at spinning out the sexual tension, and having the couple’s carnal intentions thwarted in a number of amusing ways.
The House of Diamond, and The Mountain of Iron
I'm reviewing these together because it's really one story in two books.
In The House of Diamond Lyra is orphaned in one violent incursion into her previously peaceful home led by her bastard half-brother. The House of Volfrieds was one of the most important houses on the River Tanglelore, but now it's destroyed. She escapes by hiding in a cupboard and runs off ill prepared for survival. She's found by Sadrao, a dog soldier, literally a sentient upright dog-person with warrior skills and an inbuilt need to protect. She goes from a sheltered comfortable life to a tough life on the road while Sadrao tries to teach her to fight. They meet up with Sadrao's old friend Sinai and her lover Jacyl, elves of Anu'tintavel who have been charged with transporting the half-elf Trent to the mind wizards of the House of Diamond. Trent is the son of dark wizard Vade, got by rape on Sinai's cousin, the elf Lythara. The mind wizards should be able to ascertain whether he's genuinely escaped from his father or whether he's a plant, not to be trusted. They meet dangers on the road and Lyra gradually falls for Trent, so when the House of Diamond turns out to be not what they all expected, she has to carry out a daring rescue.
In the Mountain of Iron, Lyra, Trent and Sadrao are journeying to warn the elves of danger from Trent's wizard father, Vade, along with Spite and Gunnar, an acerbic Ferran and a giant Slothan. A storm of cataclysmic proportions separates Lyra from her companions and she's trapped in a cave system full of sentient, evil hyena-people. She escapes, but accepts hospitality from the wrong person, and meets Kuroinu. Lyra is devastated when Trent is recaptured by his father, but it's not the only shock she'll receive. Lyara's new talents, learned on the journey, are going to come in handy for a battle she never expected to have to fight.
Apparently these books were written when Ursula Vernon was still in her teens, so <respect>. They show the development of the writer that is to come.
T Kingfisher is the pen name of Ursula Vernon in her writing-for-adults mode. She's become a buy on sight author for me.
Nine Goblins is the story of—well—nine goblins from the Nineteenth Infantry (the Whining Niners) cut adrift from their own army in the middle of a battle. A wizard accidentally transports them some fifty miles behind enemy lines, so they immediately set off to try and make it back without being seen by either elves or humans. The goblin vet, Sergeant Nessilka, is in charge, but her goblins have a variety of talents and quirks. Murray and Algol are her corporals. The troopers include a pair of twins who finish each others' sentences and have no sense of self preservation, a goblin who is told what to do by his teddy bear, and one who can't keep his fingers out of his own orifices.
Sings-to-Trees is an Elven vet. Not the seasoned trooper kind, but the kind that fixes up injured animals. We meet him while he has one arm buried to the shoulder in a pregnant unicorn, trying to deliver a breech-birth foal. Poor Sings rarely seems to escape mud, blood, slime and amniotic fluid. Most elves are pristine, but Sings is a glorious exception. When one of the Goblins is injured, Sings-to-Trees steps in to help. There's suspicion and misunderstandings, but then a bigger magical threat throws them together.
This is a short book, novella length. Though there's serious peril, it's laugh out loud funny in places, mainly because of the character's voices, which are spot-on. I loved it. Highly recommended.
Booklog 56/2019: T Kingfisher: Minor Mage
Sep. 14th, 2019 02:00 am
Oliver is a very minor mage, in more ways than one. He barely has any magic, and he's a twelve year old child, but he's all the village has got, so when there's a drought he and his familiar, an armadillo, are sent off by a mob (formerly his friends and neighbours) to the Rainblade Mountains to bring back rain. Oliver muses on the transformation of a crowd into a mob, but his mother isn't at home to say no, so off he trudges. He would have gone anyway, but he rather resents being sent. A twelve year old and an armadillo encounter bandits and monster and even though he can only manage three spells (and one of them is to cure his allergy to armadillo dander) he manages to think his way out of some dangerous corners. T Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon) is one of my writer discoveries this year. She's well worth reading. I'm puzzled as to why this has been published under Ms Vernon's T. Kingfisher pseudonym which I understood was the name she kept for her adult books. She writes as Ursula Vernon for children. Granted not all books with a child protagonist are intended to be read by children, but this one is perfectly suitable for the older end of Middle Grade.
