Book Review :: Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher

Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher
Series: The Saint of Steel #1
Published by Red Wombat Studio
on 11 February 2020
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Medieval, Romance
Pages: 366
Goodreads

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.

Last updated on 13 July 2025

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What is Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher about?

Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher is the story of Stephen, whose god died three years ago. And when you’re a paladin without a god, there’s not a lot to live for.

He’s a shadow of the paladin he once was, drifting through life with nothing left to fight for except the hope that he might still be useful before the end finally comes. He’s not exactly aiming for a comeback, that’s for sure.

But then he meets Grace, a fugitive with secrets of her own, and finds himself in the middle of an assassination attempt that doesn’t quite go to plan. One minute he’s trying to keep his head down, the next he’s tangled in something far bigger than either of them expected.

“I fear that I am not the best possible person for this, but I am the best possible person available at this time, which is much the same thing.”

Now they’re navigating a dangerous web of betrayal, surrounded by spies and poisoners, with a silent killer, chopping people’s heads off, who is always just out of reach.

The story follows Stephen and Grace as they try to put the pieces of the puzzle together while trying to (unsuccessfully) ignore their growing feelings for each other. Naw. Classic.

My thoughts on Paladin’s Grace

I had a great time with this book. I listened to the audiobook version on a long road trip up the country (and stuck in traffic at multiple points along the way), and it was a great way to pass the time, but also be entertained at the same time.

Because that’s what this book was: entertaining.

It moved at a good pace, it was funny, it was quirky (Stephen knits!), it had great characters, and there was this mystery around who was severing people’s heads that ran throughout. There were some lovely lines in the story, too, and while I hadn’t read anything else by T. Kingfisher before, I was keen to check out some of her other books after I finished this one.*

“Relief feels like happiness, if you don’t know the difference.”

Grace is a perfumist, and so smell was a big thing in this book. She’s often remarking on the smell of something, thinking about what she could mix together to create perfumes, or heading off to collect a certain plant or flower to add to her next batch, and there’s a whole storyline about her making a scent for the Prince.

I loved the fact that Stephen was a berserker Paladin, all armour and fight, but that he knits socks for people. I mean, come on. That’s brilliant. In fact, knitting came up so often in the book (which I loved, obviously) that there was a huge paragraph or two. Apologies for the long quote, but it really is quite wonderful.

“He wished that he could break out his knitting, but for some reason, people didn’t take you seriously as a warrior when you were knitting. He’d never figured out why. Making socks required four or five double-ended bone needles, and while they weren’t very large, you could probably jam one into someone’s eye if you really wanted to. Not that he would. He’d have to pull the needle out of the sock to do it, and then he’d be left with the grimly fiddly work of rethreading the stitches.

Also, washing blood out of wool was possible, but a pain. Still, if he had to suddenly pull out his sword and fend off an attack, there was a chance he’d drop the yarn, and since he’d been feeling masochistic and was using two colors for this current set of socks, there was absolutely no chance the yarn wouldn’t get tangled and then he’d be trying to murder people while chasing the yarn around. And god forbid the tide rose and he went berserk. You never got the knitting untangled after that; you usually just had to throw it away completely.”

Simply marvellous, is all I can say. And if that doesn’t give you a feel for the book, I don’t know what quote would.

While there were definitely things that felt a little repetitive (I get that he smells like gingerbread and yes it’s a very lovely thing, etc, etc, but I don’t need to know every chapter, ya know?), I really did enjoy listening to this story. I will be picking up the next ones in the series (I basically went to Libby straight after I stopped driving to put holds on the next ones), and I’m excited to read more.

The next books (three of them), follow Stephen’s fellow paladins and by the looks of the synopses for each, they’re all already characters we were introduced to in Paladin’s Grace. 

It was a story of harshness and extremities like fighting and headless bodies, but then contrasted with this softer side of knitting paladins and perfume-making women. It was a combo I didn’t know I needed. I had a great time with this book and can’t wait to read the next ones!

Have you read Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher? What did you think?

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*I actually read Nettle and Bone afterwards and didn’t love it as much, unfortunately. But still looking forward to the others in The Saint of Steel series.