Adeline
4 stars * slight spoilers
Fourth book in the Saint of Steel quadrilogy, a Romantic high fantasy mystery, it follows Shane another Paladin that accompanies as a bodyguard to Marguerite a spy fleeing from her former employer and trying to find an artificier whose invention might bring an economic revolution.
So this book in the quadrilogy was quite good though not exceptional and not my favourite from this series.
As always T. Kingfisher created exceptional world building, compelling characters with an gaging prose that made this a page turner of a book.
The plot in this book involved spying and cult which as a premise really interested me.
I actually liked the first part of the book but the second part was a bit underwhelming for me. Subplots and side characters that I was interested in during that first part didn’t really come to play in the second. Also the subplots (the cult and the demon) from the second part felt too rushed, and while interesting overall the story lacked tension and I wished the atmosphere was a bit more horror like. I also wished we had seen more really spying in action.
The romance was also a bit underwhelming in its development, especially in that second part was also rushed.
I feel the author wanted to tackle a lot of aspects but it didn’t feel fully formed. Maybe adding more pages or shaving off subplots might have made this more impactful.
I really liked the epilogue and the fate of a certain side character but I wished we had seen more of them throughout the story so that it would have impacted me more. That being said I would love to see another book about that character or even others in that world following what happened after book three of the series.
Overall an imperfect yet entertaining fourth book, but the series was definitely worth reading and I enjoyed it as a whole. I’m looking forward to reading more works by T. Kingfisher.
4 stars * slight spoilers
Fourth book in the Saint of Steel quadrilogy, a Romantic high fantasy mystery, it follows Shane another Paladin that accompanies as a bodyguard to Marguerite a spy fleeing from her former employer and trying to find an artificier whose invention might bring an economic revolution.
So this book in the quadrilogy was quite good though not exceptional and not my favourite from this series.
As always T. Kingfisher created exceptional world building, compelling characters with an gaging prose that made this a page turner of a book.
The plot in this book involved spying and cult which as a premise really interested me.
I actually liked the first part of the book but the second part was a bit underwhelming for me. Subplots and side characters that I was interested in during that first part didn’t really come to play in the second. Also the subplots (the cult and the demon) from the second part felt too rushed, and while interesting overall the story lacked tension and I wished the atmosphere was a bit more horror like. I also wished we had seen more really spying in action.
The romance was also a bit underwhelming in its development, especially in that second part was also rushed.
I feel the author wanted to tackle a lot of aspects but it didn’t feel fully formed. Maybe adding more pages or shaving off subplots might have made this more impactful.
I really liked the epilogue and the fate of a certain side character but I wished we had seen more of them throughout the story so that it would have impacted me more. That being said I would love to see another book about that character or even others in that world following what happened after book three of the series.
Overall an imperfect yet entertaining fourth book, but the series was definitely worth reading and I enjoyed it as a whole. I’m looking forward to reading more works by T. Kingfisher.