I think I’ve found a new favourite fantasy author. T. Kingfisher’s writing style is just the right mix of humour, seriousness and spice that I was looking for. This book was a delightful change of pace from Babel which left me in a somewhat agitated state. Babel was good but it was also an exhausting read. I needed something like Paladin’s Grace.
This book is genuinely quite funny at times, and it also manages to get a serious plot about a series of decapitation murders, a poisoned Crown Prince and an attempted murder trial. Also, it has a really lovely romance throughout. This book’s got a little bit of everything and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Yep, exactly what I wanted.
It is not the best romance plot I’ve ever read (that goes to The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno Garcia) but for one in a fantasy novel, it is really quite good. It is paced well throughout the narrative and the endpoint of the romance feels earned which isn’t always the case with romances in fantasy novels.
As far as characters go, the book is heavily focused on the titular paladin and Grace, the prodigious perfumer. There is a fun cast of other characters involved in the narrative of the book but I don’t think any of them get enough characterization for me to really form an opinion on them. I think that works in the book’s favour, it keeps the narrative focused and the page count low both of which I like.
I put the rest of the books in the series in my to-be-read pile. I’m not sure if I’ll continue reading the series next week or if I want to switch it up and try something else. Either way, I want to read the rest of this series at some point in the future.
P.S – I think I first heard about this book from cari of the cari can read YouTube channel so yet again, thank you cari.