Paladin's Hope

This is the first in this series I read, and I think I’m going to have to go back and read the other two since I’m invested in the story now. I was drawn to the series for the focus on the paladins living with their trauma and finding people who loved them with it, and that was an aspect I definitely enjoyed. But I knew I was going to love this book during the discussion of police corruption and the way the bishop was seeking to counter it in the second chapter, a theme that continues all through Earstripe’s arc and I really enjoyed the handling of that.

Also the worldbuilding around gnoles, their language and use of pronouns, was really interesting.

I adored Piper (and really sympathized with the combination of panic and wry practicality he brought to the situation), and felt for Galen, and watching their relationship build from initial attraction to realizing they really liked each other was a lot of fun. The underground maze was pretty cleverly constructed and Earstripe stole at least half his scenes.

I had a good time with this world and will look forward to returning to it!