T. Kingfisher

Women of ordinary beauty go on adventures with tall men and amusing side kicks

I think the first T. Kingfisher book I read was Paladin’s Grace. It’s sort of an odd story, to be honest. I want to say it’s a murder mystery—except the murder investigation doesn’t wrap up with this book (spoiler, I guess?) and there are two other plotlines besides the sweet romantic subplot.

It’s an interesting story, a good introduction to the world. The characters are unique, and likable. Grace is a perfumer—somewhat antisocial for a variety of reasons—but she’s drawn into the public eye by happenstance and meets Stephen, a broken paladin now serving a different god because he has to do something.

Here is the Goodreads’ summary:

Stephen's god died on the longest day of the year…

Three years later, Stephen is a broken paladin, living only for the chance to be useful before he dies. But all that changes when he encounters a fugitive named Grace in an alley and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now the pair must navigate a web of treachery, beset on all sides by spies and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind…

From the Hugo and Nebula Award winning author of Swordheart and The Twisted Ones comes a saga of murder, magic, and love on the far side of despair.

I found this story surprisingly cozy—maybe because it’s low stakes fantasy. There is no siege or army, just a few people in a magical world with relatively ordinary problems. Also magical problems.

There is a large supporting cast, as well, though most have very small roles in this story. They do feature again in the other books in the Paladin series and also Swordheart. (Each book centers on a different paladin of the dead god.)

The world is rich enough—sort in a deliberately, almost snarkily, rich enough way—which sort of makes the naming conventions play for humor rather than irritating me.

I really enjoyed the romance between Stephen and Grace. They are both quite broken, but find a way to have a relationship anyway.

In terms of pure enjoyment of a book, I actually like book 2 of the series (there are 3 out, and a 4th on the way) the best so far. Istvan—another paladin of the dead god—is less tortured than Stephen, and Clara is just awesome. He’s questing across the land to track down a serial killer, she’s questing across the land to find her kidnapped lay-sisters. She’s a nun. Well, no, she’s a lay sister. They fall into one another’s quests. It’s a bit more high adventure than book 1, which is probably why I liked it.

Full disclosure, though—the serial killer aspect is gross and kinda disturbing in a body horror way. I’m not a fan of body horror, but I can cope with it much better than, say, sexual violence. The murders are an important plot point but are not the bulk of the story so should be easy to skim if needed.

Book 3 follows Galen, who we’ve known since book 1, on a completely new investigation that results in him partnering up with Piper—a world appropriate version of a medical examiner, who we’ve also known since book 1. This story, necessarily, involves more corpses. It’s a bit more on the puzzles and mystery, and is a M/M romance. It comes full circle back to the paladins reaching a bit of closure about their deity literally dying.

—As an aside, I think this concept is really interesting. It explores the pain and—to be honest—absolute terror of losing your faith. Obviously, this is a fantasy world with a pantheon—but no one tells stories about deities dying. Especially since most fantasy worlds with pantheons have either all powerful deities or deities who draw their power from being worshipped. Honestly, what the paladins of the Saint of Steel had to go through is world shattering and devastating. Because, it wasn’t that they had faith in something that didn’t exist, it wasn’t that they were wrong, it’s that their god failed.

Anyway, that’s quite heavy, but the stories, even with their exploration of this loss of faith, are fundamentally hopeful. And I could probably write an eight page paper exploring the philosophical implications of this but it would involve spoilers and I want you to read the series.

T. Kingfisher also wrote Swordheart—about a man in a sword and a respectable widow—and the Clocktaur War series, which is about a condemned man, an assassin, a forger and a priest—actually, here’s the Goodreads’ blurb:

A paladin, an assassin, a forger, and a scholar ride out of town. It’s not the start of a joke, but rather an espionage mission with deadly serious stakes. T. Kingfisher’s new novel begins the tale of a murderous band of criminals (and a scholar), thrown together in an attempt to unravel the secret of the Clockwork Boys, mechanical soldiers from a neighboring kingdom that promise ruin to the Dowager’s city.

Clocktaur War series

It’s as fun a lark as it sounds.

Stylistically, I think T. Kingfisher overwrites just a little—but on the whole I really don’t care because I enjoy her characters and stories. She writes women who are physically soft (except for maybe Clara, because she is TALL) and usually not fighters or having any great beauty. Her men tend to be physically imposing, but also not conventionally beautiful. I think the youngest protagonist is in the Clocktaur War, and she’s gotta be in her 20s. Kingfisher also takes the time to flesh out people so they feel like people. I also find her handling of sex to be winsome and honest—poking gentle fun at the romance genre’s tendency to have sex in the most uncomfortable places and also not letting things like achy joints kill the mood without pretending they don’t exist. Her books tend to be a 3¹ on the spice-o-meter.

T. Kingfisher is a pen name, and I believe the author is better known for her middle grade. She does have one middle-grade-ish book under the T. Kingfisher name, The Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking. It’s about a girl whose magic talent is imbuing baked goods with life. She has a sourdough starter familiar. It’s quirky and fun. Apparently she had a difficult time selling it because it’s a little dark for middle-grade (there is another serial killer in this one) but it otherwise feels like middle-grade.

I have a mix of audiobooks and ebooks, the audiobooks are quite good. I also appreciate that with exception of the Clocktaur War books, they really stand alone quite well. So if you just want to read one, without committing to a long series, you can.

You do need to read the blurbs when picking out books, though, because a lot of her books—especially more recent ones—edge deeper into the horror genre. If that isn’t your soup, be forewarned.

I know it probably sounds weird for me to say “These books are light and fun! They grapple with world crushing implications and also the author writes horror so be careful picking from her titles!” But REALLY, they ARE light and fun. I laugh often when I read/reread.

Because—you guys—the gnoles are these short, sentient, sapient, otter like race, and they are hilarious important side characters in most of the stories. Also, the priests of the Rat god do not disappoint.

You should really give a listen.

1. 3 - No fade to black but if you don’t already know how to have sex, you won’t learn the actual mechanics. But you might learn some good foreplay techniques.