#Saint of Steel

[tkingfisher]

Is this a pre-order I see before me?!

It is! Coming December 5th, the fourth of the Saint of Steel books!

You can pre-order now wherever fine ebooks are sold*, and paperback orders are available from Argyll Productions! And Patreon patrons get it free, probably a few hours before midnight my time on the 4th.

This is Shane and Marguerite’s book, and it’s a chonker at 130k. There may even be a few more tidbits about the death of the god, in amid the adventure, romance, demons, and semi-accidental destabilization of the world economy!

*UK readers, you may have some glitches—OrbitUK is taking over the distribution there and we’re still ironing out transferring territorial rights—if the pre-order gets canceled, just re-order, it’s not you, it’s not even me, it’s the vast machinery of international commerce. But you also will get a snazzy paperback printing of all four books next year, which will not require ruinous shipping to the UK!

[tam--lin]

Good evening, I just spent two hours on a World of the White Rat "what religious order do you belong in" quiz.

[silverskye13]

Complete derailment of the rest of my morning, but the phrase:

"They love you. They will not love you less for being whole."

Followed up by:

"It was a hard thing to admit that a noble sacrifice wouldn't do any good."

Just. Knocks me out every god damn time. Man. [Laying on the floor] Just. Man.

[animezinglife]

“What if she kills you, boss?”

“Then either avenge me or put her in charge.”

- Paladin’s Strength, T. Kingfisher

[b-oredzoi]

Books I Read in 2024: Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher

…people didn’t take you seriously as a warrior when you were knitting. He’d never figured out why. Making socks required four or five double-ended bone needles, and while they weren’t very large, you could probably jam one into someone’s eye if you really wanted to... And god forbid the tide rose and he went berserk. You never got the knitting untangled after that…

[singlecrow]

Bishop Beartongue is destabilising the economy of an entire continent.

And it's not the main plot.

It's just.

[foldingfittedsheets]

I’m reading the T. Kingfisher Paladin series and it’s so good, I’m tearing through them. Just started the fourth book really hoping that Marguerite was gonna end up with Wren. Tragically the narrative immediately latched onto Shane, and it’s another straight couple. Wren deserves love too, boo.

[firstofficerrose]

Stephen: I kissed a girl...

Istvahn: Nice! Not a sin.

Stephen: and then I think I hurt her feelings...

Istvahn: Not nice, but also not inherently a sin.

Stephen: And then she stepped on a severed head

Istvahn: I'm going to need you to start over

[tovetar]

“My god, man, great love poems aren’t written about how lovers get eight hours of sleep a night and no one steals the covers."

T. Kingfisher, Paladin's Hope (The Saint of Steel Book 3)

[ravensilversea]

His idea of talking dirty might be 'I respect you enormously as a person. Let us pray.' -T Kingfisher, Paladin's Faith

[theinquisitxor]

October Reading Wrap Up

October was a great reading month and I got through ten(!) books in the month. That's more than I've read in a while, so it felt good to be able to know I can still read that many. I read some spooky/halloweenish books, as well as continued a few series, and finished a series.

1.Son of the Shadows (Sevenwaters 2) by Juliet Marillier, 5/5 stars. I started the month with reading the second Sevenwaters book. Just like with book 1, I enjoyed this immensely, and I found the characters and storyline to be strong and engaging. This one is even more romance heavy than the first books. Adult historical fantasy

2.Paladin's Hope (Saint of Steel 3) by T. Kingfisher, 4.5/5 stars. Another good installment in this series and new mystery that our characters are faced with. This one was a bit shorter than the first two books, and I wish this was a little longer, but otherwise it was great as always! Adult fantasy romance

3.The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got That Way by Bill Bryson This was my nonfiction book for the month, and I read this on audio. Enjoyable, but I felt like it was a little dated. I've read other more recent books on linguistics, and enjoyed them more. Nonfiction.

4.Echo North by Joanna Ruth Mayer, 4/5 stars. This was an enjoyable YA fantasy, and a good blend of fairytales I really enjoy. I don't read a lot of YA anymore, but this reminded me of some of the 'older' YA that is really good. East of the Sun West of the Moon, batb, cupid & psyche retellings all blended together. The author also credits Robin McKinley, DWJ, and Edith Pattou as big inspirations, and I could tell. YA fantasy

5.Last Argument of Kings (First Law 3) by Joe Abercrombie, ?/5 stars. I honestly was so done reading this trilogy, and just wanted to know how it ended so I could just finish it. I skimmed most of it, and only read the Glokta chapters and the ending. This type of fantasy is 100% not for me. I only finished the series because my brother gifted me the boxed set (and he read them). Adult fantasy

6.I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacquline Harpman, 5/5 stars. This is a lesser known classic that's gotten some popularity recently. It's part dystopian, part science fiction, and reminded me a little of The Wall which I read earlier this year. Very poignant, dark, but an exploration of self and a woman on her own. This is translated from French!

7.A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher, 4/5 stars. Another good T Kingfisher fairy tale retelling (however this was quite loose on the retelling), but also dark, featuring child abuse and animal horror. But there is humor, and a good cast of adult characters trying to fix the situation, and I like how T Kingfisher writes competent adults.

8.Witch Week (Chrestomanci 3) by Diana Wynne Jones, 3/5 stars. I started this on audio, but finished with the physical book. Can't say I enjoyed this one as much as the first two. This just reminded me of how horrible middle school was! A good halloween time read though. Middle grade fantasy.

9.The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky, 4/5 stars. This is a historical fantasy that has been on my tbr since 2019. This is light on the fantasy elements, and about first contact between Inuit and Vikings in present-day Canada about 1000 years ago. Our main character is an Inuit shaman, and they and a viking have to team up to save the land and their peoples. Super detail rich and well written.

10. Graveyard Shift by ML Rio, 4/5 stars. A good read for Halloween, and excited to see that ML Rio is publishing again! A thriller about 5 people trying to discover who made a new grave in an abandoned graveyard. As someone who works in academia, I liked the academia element in this story, I only wish it was longer!

I'm on track to finish my Goodreads Reading Challenge this year, which is 80 books. Usually I get somewhere in the 90s, but not this year I guess. For Nov and December, I'm planning on finishing the Sevenwaters series, and Chrestomanci, so I'll be prioritizing those books.

November tbr:

The Scorpio Races (reread on audio)

Child of the Prophecy (Sevenwaters 3)

Heir to Sevenwaters (Sevenwaters 4)

Chrestomanci: The Magicians of Caprona (book 4)

Paladin's Fate (Saint of Steel 4)

Nonfiction

The Word for Woman is Wilderness

Cape Cod (on audio?)

The Virgin in the Garden

[polyamorousmisanthrope]

Oh, It Hit Me

When @tkingfisher is talking about how pretty the Dreaming God paladins are, THIS is the kind of person she's talking about...

So pretty...

[noah-luck-easterly]

I’m only two books into T. Kingfisher’s Saint of Steel series and I think the Temple of the White Rat might be my favorite fictional religious order ever.

Their mandate seems to be just “do good,” lowercase g.

Feed the hungry. Tend the sick. House the homeless.

Temple lawyers to help with civil and criminal problems.

[rabbitstitch]

I won't put it here (because spoilers) but I NEED you all to know that the last lines of T Kingfisher's Paladin's Hope has GUTTED me every time I've read it, and I don't think it will ever not hit me like a ton of fucking bricks. If you have access to this series in any capacity, I highly encourage you read it. Like DAMN.

[palabarian]

get meme'd on boi

[silverskye13]

SoS book 1: Steven is encouraged to pursue his love interest by Istvan

SoS book 2: Istvan is encouraged to pursue his love interest by Galen

SoS book 3: Galen is encouraged to pursue his love interest by Earstripe

SoS book 4 prediction: Earstripe is encouraged-

T Kingfisher, we need a gnole paladin stat!!

Barely, barely related, but I found this SoS fic today and I'm plugging it at you because its the hardest I've laughed since Tuesday.