Paladin's Hope

The Saint of Steel, Book 3

By: T. Kingfisher

Narrated by: Joel Richards

Piper is a lich-doctor, a physician who works among the dead, determining causes of death for the city guard's investigations. It's a peaceful, if solitary profession . . . until the day when he's called to the river to examine the latest in a series of mysterious bodies, mangled by some unknown force.

Galen is a paladin of a dead god, lost to holiness and no longer entirely sane. He has long since given up on any hope of love. But when the two men and a brave gnole constable are drawn into the maze of the mysterious killer, it's Galen's job to protect Piper from the traps that await them.

He's just not sure if he can protect Piper from the most dangerous threat of all . . .

©2021 T. Kingfisher (P)2022 Tantor

Cute story/similar plotline

I really enjoy everything I’ve read by T. Kingfisher (which is most of what is currently available on Audible)! This story is sweet and it ties up a few loose ends from the first 2 books. This book follows 2 characters from the prior books, Galen (one of the St. Of Steel’s paladins) and Piper (one of the local mortuary doctors, or “lich Dr.”). They end up on a wild chase to stop a murderer. Following the clues with a friend, Earstripe the knoll, who had worked for the city guard.
I will say that after having read the first two books, you can see many of the same patterns emerging. Lots of the same tropes used… like eyes “locking on to [their] lips”. Or a paladin feeling guilty (and in this case, usually feeling broken, useless, and unworthy) etc. However, the plot was varied, the characters absolutely great.., basically, even though I occasionally noticed the romance novel tropes, they didn’t detract from enjoying the story. Worth reading, especially if you enjoyed the first two books, and are interested in finding out what happened to these two fantastic guys from previous books.

Not the best in the series, but not bad

This book features a male-male relationship, which was harder for me personally to get into compared to the other stories in this series. I did appreciate the characters and the plot line though, so overall I’d give it a B rating while the books before this all would’ve gotten an A from me.

Humorous and suspenseful

Thus was likely the funniest and most romantic of the series so far. Really enjoyed this.

Amazing World Building and Character Depth Minus the Smut

I am completely in love with the world building, lore, culture, humor and character depth. The smut holds this story back tremendously for me, yet I must be a masochistic for cringing through it all for this amazing story. Thanks for experience either way. haha This really is a great series just like your novels Defensive Baking and Minor Mage. You caught me off guard and now I get what my wife likes to listen too lol

Adorable and heartstopping

The characters are fun and the plot is well paced with a great balance of romance and adventure. I really appreciate how each romance of this series feels fresh and exciting despite sticking to a similar format.
I really love that this book took 2 characters we had already been introduced to and wove a love story between them. The foreshadowing is impeccable.tthe way each characters own insecurities hold them back while being unique from other characters is so impressive