Well, I never read anybody else writing from the
perspective of an asexual female paladin from D&D, so this is a
first, and probably it will be also a last. The first book is very, very
raw and kind of stuffy, like a teenager who wouldn't really loosen up.
There is a lot of military life, and not much thinking. The MC is almost
a mistery because we are more told than shown what she feels, and very
little at that. Probably an editor cut away a lot of "telly" content,
but the author didn't fill up the void. That's better than telly all
right, though. It was a pleasurable, if a bit pedantic read, and I never
got disturbed by the ripped-from-D&D worldbuilding. I grew up with
the stuff.The second book starts tragic, it's very bad sword and sorcery with unconvincing characters and a dumbfounded, impenetrable protagonist. It ends up grand, with the author finally delving into Paks' thoughts and feelings. It's kind of like our girl finally left behind her drawn-in adolescent self to explore the depths of being young and got lost along the way. I left this collection lying around for MONTHS because I was utterly convinced Elizabeth Moon had completely messed up, but getting back to it was a really good idea after all.
The third book is as cliched as it comes. Our paladin is grown up in her role, and does paladin stuff all the time. It's a great way to railroad a character into plot armor and serendipitous quests. The language started to change in the second book, here Paks speaks like Arthurian legend and does Arthurian stuff all the time. It's adventurous and not thoughtless: Paks thinks about what is happening to her and reasons it through. Still it's not as good as the second part of the second book, but you needed this resolution to appreciate the character growth as a whole.
As a conclusion, this series is a roller-coaster. I am convinced the author had a hard time and had to patch a lot of holes while growing up herself as a writer. This is good, the final result is a fine fantasy that meets and exceeds its initial promise. It's no masterpiece, but I appreciated it far more than some more famous epic fantasy romps, both classic and modern.
Originally published on Goodreads
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