#vernon steele

[from1837to1945]

The Phantom Honeymoon (1919, J. Searle Dawley)

[gatutor]

Mae Marsh-Vernon Steele "Polly of the circus" 1917, de Edwin L. Hollywood, Charles Horan.

[crabs-with-sticks]

Just a lil rant about my newest beloved fantasy author

Something I love so, so much about T Kingfisher's (@tkingfisher) work is how she portrays the mundane as something so beautiful and wonderful. The majority of her protagonists are all quite regular people, with regular lives, regular hobbies, and regular bodies. And how despite that, all her characters are so interesting, so lovable, and so deeply and utterly human.

Its amazing seeing a series where multiple female romantic leads are plus sized, and there is a mix of both body positivity and body neutrality. Because like yeah, they are gorgeous. But also, at the end of the day bodies are just bodies. A bit in Paladin's Faith got me thinking about this, where the male lead asks about the female lead's stretchmarks, and its very much treated as just a normal thing that she has as a woman, not detracting from her beauty, not adding to it. They just are.

And don't get me started about how nearly all of her male romantic leads, who are for the most part, big, strong, sword-wielding paladins, have knowledge of some form of textile craft, and how it doesn't detract from their masculinity at all. And instead it is something that would actually be very useful for a soldier to know.

Tldr if anybody else is obsessed with T Kingfisher's work as much as I am please let me know so that my long suffering reading friend can have a break from it.

[weirdlookindog]

Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968)

[palabarian]

Three of Hearts

[noah-luck-easterly]

I’m only two books into T. Kingfisher’s Saint of Steel series and I think the Temple of the White Rat might be my favorite fictional religious order ever.

Their mandate seems to be just “do good,” lowercase g.

Feed the hungry. Tend the sick. House the homeless.

Temple lawyers to help with civil and criminal problems.

[babyspacebatclone]

So, I just finished my audiobook of @tkingfisher ‘s Paladin’s Grace.

My Thoughts:

I was made for life serving The White Rat, where may I sign up?

I was literally going to “Yes, I know how huge this book is. The second meet cute of the protags is absolute perfection, may we just have a romantic comedy between two 30-something traumatized people?” And then they found the corpse and the panicking “I swear they promised no one would die” failed assassin. Ah, well.

Grace is Autistic in a world without a word for that and I love her with my entire heart.

Stephen is also loved with my entire heart, on the other hand every single time he is chewed out for being an idiot who needs to let himself get laid I was cheering for the chewer-outers.

This is yet another world with literal contactable gods, a paladin force that literally specializes in demon hunting, and other fantasy elements, and every time a new magical element shows up I’m all “Wait, this is a fantasy setting???” This is a me-problem, I just find it funny how accustomed I get to some practically-written fantasy settings I forget other magic systems can happen.

I had so much trouble with that trial, mostly because I knew half the dirty tricks the Motherhood was planning. I had to keep pausing and bracing myself. Trick the last almost killed me.

Have I mentioned the world needs more romance novels featuring 30 something traumatized but well meaning people? Thank the rat there’s two more already published in this series…….

Have I mentioned I want desperately to work under Bishop Beartongue?? She is my spirit animal. Major props for her calmly telling Stephen exactly how much of a Lawful Good idiot he is at the end. (see point 4)

[onewit-torulethem-all]

Hey, is there an open Discord for fans of the Saint of Steel series and other works in the Temple of the White Rat universe? I'd be interested in joining or even making one.

[silverskye13]

"He was straightforward and trustworthy and uncomplicated, which people often mistook for simplicity, but he still understood how people worked."

Paladin's Faith (Saint of Steel, #4) by T Kingfisher

[ninsiana0]

Read PALADIN'S FAITH by T. Kingfisher if you love global politics, spies, big brothers, feeling hollow, taking baths, remote locations, mudslides, cults, doggos, feeling safe, running for your life, strike solidarity, gadgets, gods, a good pair of boots & salt.

[clannadmark]

whOOPSIE forgot to upload this one

doctor steel but he's drawn by twisted-doctor

[from1837to1945]

The Phantom Honeymoon (1919)

[polyamorousmisanthrope]

New Saint of Steel book ready for pre-order

I am very excited to find out that in early December, a new Saint of Steel book is coming out.

I enjoy these so much!

[the-dragongirl]

Okay, but seriously, how is there almost no fic for the Saint of Steel series? It has everything! A dead god! Dramatically self sacrificing paladins! World building that nicely hints at complexity while revealing it at a natural and satisfying rate! Engaging interesting characters with internal lives as love interests! Snark! A queer ship among the main characters! PINING! Yet there is almost no fic or art or ANY fan content. This is clearly an attack on me personally.

[weirdlookindog]

Barbara Steele and Mark Eden in Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968)

[kitabasis]

Ursula Vernon is an excellent author, but *damn* does she refuse to let any of her male leads realize that they’re people, not weapons! And frankly it’s driving me up a wall! I understand that characters don’t always develop positively, but can we please get a paladin whose arc is about unlearning seeing himself as a weapon, and learning to see himself as a full person who can live for himself and not just others? (My pie in the sky would be one unlearning their kinda Catholic ideas about guilt and suffering and justice but. I doubt that would happen.)