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Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher

Impressions

Not quite reviews, I talk about books I read and enjoyed.

This was my treat to myself for getting a bunch of work things done, and it was totally worth the hard work I did to earn it.

Paladin’s Grace, by T. Kingfisher (also known as Ursula Vernon) is set in the Clocktaur Wars universe, in a land filled with gods and magic, but not in the cast-spells zap-your-enemies way. It is, as the author puts it, a “fluffy romance” filled with sexual tension, protagonists who love, well, everybody really but believe that nobody can love them, “helpful” friends, spies, intrigue, and a body count.

There are those of us who argue that “body count” isn’t normally a requirement for a fluffy romance, but that group of us obviously hasn’t read T. Kingfisher’s books. In fact, I was a bit worried about this one at first because the first confirmed dead body was so late in the book compared to some of the others….

Anyway, you will laugh, you will get sniffly, you will facepalm at the misunderstandings, you will demand a line of gingerbread-scented cologne, and you will sigh when everything ends as pragmatically happily ever after as possible.

Oh plus there’s a civet. Can’t have a book about a perfumer without a civet!

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Atomic Robo and the Temple of Od

Impressions

Not quite reviews, I talk about books I read and enjoyed.

Atomic Robo and the Temple of Od is written by Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener.

Atomic Robo is in pre-World War II China, where the Imperial Japanese Army is forcing a Chinese scientist to work on a super weapon. Fortunately, the good guys have volunteered Robo to save the scientist.

There’s a bit of a Casablanca feel to this tale, since Robo’s working with an old flame, Helen McAllister and her new love, Chen Zhen, both of whom are fighting for the Chinese Resistance.

“Was that a real explosion?”
“It was! Robo’s alive!”

Add in a hidden fortress and a constantly-switching-sides band of mercenaries called the Ghost Bandits, and it’s a winner of a tale.

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Atomic Robo and the Ring of Fire

Impressions

Not quite reviews, I talk about books I read and enjoyed.

Atomic Robo and the Ring of Fire is written by Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener.

Atomic Robo is back in his own time! Or he will be, as soon as someone finds his remains. The problem is that two years have past since Atomic Robo: The Savage Sword of Dr. Dinosaur and the Action Scientists have been broken up and scattered.

Oh, plus there’s this little problem of supergiant monsters attacking the world with a plan of destroying everything.

This one’s got spaceships, giant Japanese-style monsters attacking the coast, breaking-and-entering, robot body issues, and every bit of explosion-y fighting you’ve learned to expect from an Atomic Robo adventure.

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Atomic Robo and the Savage Sword of Dr. Dinosaur

Impressions

Not quite reviews, I talk about books I read and enjoyed.

Atomic Robo and the Savage Sword of Dr. Dinosaur is written by Brian Clevinger and drawn by Scott Wegener.

I love Dr. Dinosaur.

It is 100% clear that Dr. Dinosaur is totally out of his depth fighting Atomic Robo and his crew. It is also pretty clear that Atomic Robo underestimates Dr. Dinosaur, but exactly how that will play out is, as always, the plot of the book.

Dr. Dinosaur is only the primary plot of this volume, with the whole of Tesladyne Labs at risk of political and financial destruction by their enemies.

This book is simultaneously fun and goofy and a romp, and a serious step forward in the fate of Tesladyne Labs and Atomic Robo — with a cliffhanger ending, so grab Atomic Robo and the Knights of the Golden Circle while you’re at it.