Saint's Blood

Fantasy Three Musketeers vs religion. The Greatcoats have so far provided great entertainment, with the camaraderie between the leads Falcio, Kest and Brasti forming the backbone of the story. The setting of a country riven with petty rivalries, between callous Dukes uncaring for the common man provides a suitably dark setting with echoes of the revolutionary French setting of Dumas' original. At the start of this 3rd entry the Greatcoats are actually in a relatively strong position. They had managed to get the King's heir Aline and her Realms Protector into an actual position of influence, with Dukes actually paying at least some nominal attention. This time the enemy comes from a different direction, in the form of religion.

The mythology building in de Castell's world is mightily impressive, so the religion here is built on impressive foundations. The various Saints exist as living paragons of specific virtues, with 6 gods forming the Pantheon. In Saint's Blood we see this order upended. Someone is killing the Saints (+more). The mutability of religion vs the immutability of law then becomes the central theme of this book. This of course follows useful parallels in real life - religions have evolved over the years, but the main laws, even promoted by religions, have a certain similarity across time and culture. Yes, there is a certain anti-religiousness to the story, but the main thing here is preaching against blind faith and extremism, which again I find very relevant. This is present in the inquisition - they are presented as followers of the faith and religious law, and come out quite strongly against the new religion being presented here. It is kind of funny when the inquisition is the moderate religious influence in a story!

Anyway, this was a thoroughly enjoyable entry into a great series. Looking forward to reading the conclusion!

CAWPILE SCORE
C-8
A-8
W-7
P-7
I-9
L-8
E-9
TOTAL-8/10

CAWPILECharactersFalcio—starts to let go of his wife. Aline—Moves forward in face of fear. Grows into her power and commandThe Blacksmith – an unrecognized. Immense smarts. Similar to the tailorQuentis—an inquisitor become greatcoats. Finally a good character that stays on the side of GoodValianaDuke Jillard and his changesObladius—evil priest. Not sure how he survived his first encounter with FalcioKest—doesn't have to be the best anymore. Growing, his feelings for Falcio, using a shield to protect and attack.AtmosphereI always feel like I'm really in this world. The desperation of the characters their emotions. The helplessness while fighting the god.WritingGreat prose as always. Small issue with pacing in beginning but quickly resolvedPlotThe church is being used by the Blacksmith to create a new god. To Rule over the Country.InvestmentLiterally couldn't put this book down after 50%LogicThe Law binds the gods. The Actions the characters take is true to their character. Even the peasants and nobiliyEnjoymentI really enjoyed this book and the discussion about magic and the saints and gods.MiscGod of ValourDuke Jillard and Tommar at the endThe Old Aline. Visions between Aline and the King.Masking valianaNew Queen's Names

I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/