I enjoyed this one less than the first (Paladin's Grace), but it got me out of a post-thesis reading slump and I'm grateful for that. God, what a solid addition to this already brilliant, chaotic series. 

This time, The Paladins (except for Stephen who's in love I guess) are on the trail of the killers from the previous book, the Smooth Men (in addition to other fantasy errands). However, complicated social rules get broken along the way, and they end up harbouring a nun with a mission of her own - saving her kidnapped sisters. What follows is an angst-filled and nonetheless hilarious romp through very requited (but unaddressed, because these fools can't communicate) feelings, gladiatorial combat, wilderness trekking, and pining.

Kingfisher humanizes her fantastical and heroic characters into entirely relatable people, with their own insecurities, hopes, and fears. And their day-to-day lives are relatably "human" as well - Istvan makes muscle rub in his spare time, as established in the first book of the series. Clara sometimes uses her ability to

change into a bear

to look for truffles, which her religious order sells. Fantasy protagonists tend to be very idealised, so to see these heroes go about their lives like us normies is refreshing after reading more epic fantasy for a while. Maybe I'm biased - the stories read like DnD campaigns, almost, which I personally am a part of, and tend to love. What can I say, I'm the target audience.

The Church of the White Rat are brilliant as always. MVPs, all of them. I need to read Swordheart at some point though, because my favourite nonbinary lawyer didn't appear in this book and I miss them. 

I'm also extremely looking forward to the next book in the series, Paladin's Hope, because the glimpses I got of Galen in this one make me excited to experience a whole narrative centered around him. Fruity weasel beserker man? Sign me up.