What I read in January 2025
Paladin's Grace (The Saint of Steel #1) by T. Kingfisher, 398p: This was a great read for me! I loved how it played with Fantasy/Dungeon & Dragons elements. An order of Paladins struggles after their God (The Saint of Steel) dies mysteriously. Most of them go berserk and only a few three of them survived. The surviving paladins join the Temple of the White Rat, an order focused on public services such as law and medicine. They aim to stay useful while coping with the severe psychological impact of their god's death. Stephen is one of them, and he just wants to help people, while battling with his depression. One night he meets Grace, a woman fleeing from the acolytes of the Hanged Mother cult. She is an independent perfumer, who has learned to fend for herself. There are also mysterious murders going on, many severed heads, political intrigue and romance. And it's fun, I loved the sense of humour of this book. I want to read the second one to learn more about the severed heads mystery (and the other paladins!).
Barrayar (Vorkosigan Saga (Publication Order) #7) by Lois McMaster Bujold, 390p: Barrayar continues right after the events of “Shards of Honor”. Cordelia and Aral Vorkosigan are now in their new political leadership roles in Barrayar. We spend most of the time inside Cordelia's head, and I loved it! She is trying to adapt to barrayaran cultural standard while trying to change a few things. We get a lot more worldbuilding that is expertly done as the story develops. There are excellent interactions between characters: they grow and evolve. There are heart-breaking moments, but also good action-packed scenes. It plays with this duality of technologies of birth and death. But there is so much more: motherhood, cultural differences, warfare, love, vengeance. It was so exciting to see Cordelia taking charge of things in the end and being just bad-ass (that's the scene where she “goes shopping” – if you know you know). It was an incredibly good read for me!
Never Have I Ever With a Duke (The Spitfire Society #1) by Darcy Burke, 270p: Cute romance, but I didn't find it engaging. I had issues with the writing style, something didn't click with me. I think the story was too predictable. The dog (Buscuit) was great, though!
The Warrior's Apprentice (Vorkosigan Saga (Publication Order) #2) by Lois McMaster Bujold, 372p: This book starts with young Miles Vorkosigan doing 17-year-old shenanigans in space. It's super fun, fast paced with the most absurd heist escapades. I couldn't help but love Mile's “in control” attitude but also internally panicking about the situations he put himself into.
The story includes a lot of military strategy, which is never boring due to its absurdity. Miles is an engaging character—confident, super smart, and likely has ADHD (super active). We also see him struggling with his decisions and feeling uncertain, making him relatable despite his crazy choices. He's lucky and always wants to help people, so it's hard not to like him. Miles has a physical disability and knows his limitations (most of the time), but he never feels like less of a person because of it. Overall, he's a very confident and funny guy. It was a fun read. I want to continue with the series.
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Post 71/100 of 100DaysToOffload challenge (Round 2)!
#100DaysToOffload #100Days #readinglist #books #reading
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By Noisy Deadlines
Minimalist in progress, nerdy, introvert, skeptic. I don't leave without my e-reader.