Series: World of the White Rat / Saint of Steel by T. Kingfisher ("Clockwork Boys" / "Paladin's Grace")

[Anna]

Gush about all things in the World of the White Rat!
Like idk, Zale! Bishop Beartongue! Gnoles!!!

Go here for all your other T. Kingfisher / Ursula Vernon related babbles.

Reading order:

Clocktaur duology
Clockwork Boys
The Wonder Engine

Swordheart

Saint of Steel
Paladin's Grace (Stephen's book)
Paladin's Strength (Istvhan's book)
Paladin's Hope (Galen's book)
Paladin's Faith (Shane's book)
Marcus's book (2025?)
Wren's book
Judith's book
Jorge's book?!

The Clocktaur duology is one book split into two parts, so read together. Swordheart is standalone, but makes sense to read in order. Saint of Steel are standalones with different protagonists, but they have an ongoing mystery, so should be read in order.

Swordheart and the Paladins are definitely romance books, but also fantasy with very dark bits. Clocktaur has romance, but leans more fantasy?

A gnole recommends a human stops twisting its whiskers and reads all of them, in order. Humans can't smell.

White Rat wiki: https://wiki.templeofthewhiterat.com/...
Map: https://twitter.com/UrsulaV/status/15...

[Raucous]

I didn't know, from reading her other works, that T. Kingfisher had such a thing about big swords.

I'd skipped over The Wonder Engine for a bit to do a "buddy listen" of Swordheart with my spouse. I may have missed some important gnole wisdom by doing that. Swordheart also mentions some key events in The Wonder Engine so, yeah, I'm with the gnole there.

We'd talked about the Swordheart audiobook earlier. I'm about half way through and it's gotten better for me after a rough start with some of the early voices.

[〰️Beth〰️]

I really enjoyed the duology, but have not had time to read the others. I also really enjoyed Jackalope Wives and Other Stories.

[Anna]

Raucous wrote: "I'd skipped over The Wonder Engine for a bit to do a "buddy listen" of Swordheart with my spouse."

No! I thought you'd just simplified by only listing Clockwork, this is just all kinds of wrong! :o

〰️Beth〰️ wrote: "I also really enjoyed Jackalope Wives and Other Stories."

Yeah I love pretty much everything by her! Should we have another thread for all her retellings? Yes, I'm taking over the group with T. Kingfisher threads EVERYWHERE!

[Stephanie]

Yes I love this thread! I read all 5 of these books in 2021 which shows how much I am enjoying T. Kingfisher :)

I did not read them in order but luckily it worked out for me!

I loved Zale in Swordheart. So many good quotes.

[Rachel]

I have not done the clockwork yet but I just tried it ignore it whenever it gets talked about in the other books lol.
Also - I need to space them out and not go too fast!

I’ve only done the audios for her other re-tellings so far. Tell me more about which ones are good or not good!

[Anna]

Stephanie wrote: "I did not read them in order but luckily it worked out for me!"

Do share other reading orders that worked!

I love Zale! <3 I want them to have their own book! Imagine a 600 page Zale romance! I keep trying to make Allison read Swordheart, because Zale is the most badass lawyer in the universe, but she has a cold, cold heart and hates romance :(

[Anna]

Rachel wrote: "I’ve only done the audios for her other re-tellings so far. Tell me more about which ones are good or not good!"

Swordheart audio isn't horrible, but the narrator is too young and the voices are all wrong. Paladin's Grace audio was surprisingly OK.

Clocktaur audios must've been neutral, because I don't remember anything about them.

I'll continue about the others in the other thread! :)

[Stephanie]

Anna wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "I did not read them in order but luckily it worked out for me!"

Do share other reading orders that worked!

I love Zale! <3 I want them to have their own book! Imagine a 600 page..."

They are the best! If that book were written I would buy it immediately.

that is a tragic circumstance :'(


I read the Paladin books first, then the Clocktaur duology, then Swordheart. I do think it would probably read best starting from Clocktaur, but I still enjoyed everything the way I read it.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I support all the things Anna said

[Anna]

Allison, there is something wrong with your rating, you should fix it ;)

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

i should but my cold heart controls the circulation to my fingers. I've got lock jaw of the hand.

[Anna]

That sounds painful, you should try warming your hands in the blazing fires of an excellent romance! ^_^

[Rachel]

Swordheart is where I started and maybe it would warm Allison’s cool heart b/c who doesn’t like old crotchety romance with a dude of fantasy, violence and of course... an Ox

[Anna]

And a gnole. A human must not forget a gnole.

[Michelle]

Bishop Beartongue is one of my favorite characters! I have been in the mood for the Clocktaur books of late, but I need to finish a couple of things first. Allison never read Swordheart?! Maybe we've all gushed too much and it's become a deterrent. Kinda like publishing hype is.y

[Rachel]

A human could never further a gnole!

[Rachel]

Ugh. Forget. First it tried to make me not forget a gnome

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

in place of a heart i have a social contract. and this part is a personal one, not one i subscribe to

[Anna]

You'd read a gnole romance, though? Surely? And gnole poetry?

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

poetry, for sure. romance... :/

[Anna]

I am seriously going to need to perform an exorcism on you.

[Mel]

I loved the Clocktaur duology and Swordheart. The Paladin books have been patiently waiting in the wings; clearly I need some T. Kingfisher to get me out of my Spring Slump.

A couple days ago I was laughing with one of my good friends and her boyfriend over their early texts, facepalming over how clueless and inept at flirting she was. I badly wanted to tsk tsk and mutter in gnole-fashion, "Humans cannot smell."

[Anna]

I love that :D

[Raucous]

I finished Swordheart and was quite taken with it. I wouldn't exactly call it a "sweet" romance but for me it was both a compelling and satisfying one.

I always look forward to T. Kingfisher's characters. Halla was the standout for me in this book. The unfolding rationale for why she behaved the way she did was especially well done (and too understandable). The various decadent southern god sects and their impact on the society was another fascinating aspect of the book for me.

This book worked as a standalone but there were a couple of spoilers for the The Wonder Engine that I had to try to ignore. I probably could have made better reading order choices. A gnole knows what a gnole knows.

[Carro]

I do like the main characters in the various books, but one I especially like through the White Rat books is Zale - it is nice to see them turning up, with competence, calm and a hint of a sigh.

[Raucous]

One thing that I missed in Swordheart was seeing more of Bishop Beartongue. Now that I'm reading Paladin's Grace (early on) I'm getting my wish. She doesn't disappoint. It's hard to keep paladins in line but I like her approach: "I will excommunicate everyone and no one will get to go to the circus."

[Anna]

Beartongue is great, I love her very small but hilarious part in Paladin's Strength.

[Carro]

Huh. I've read Paladin's Strength twice this year, and I cannot think what Beartongue's part is. I remember her being in the book, but cannot remember the hilarious bit. Oh dear, I'll just have to re-read.....:)

[Anna]

Just everything they say/think about her 😊

[Carro]

Ah.

[Nicky]

I... rated Clockwork Boys 1*. Oops. I just couldn't enjoy it, I really couldn't. So Kingfisher was a one time only thing for me, I'm afraid.

[Anna]

Paladin's Hope!!!!

!!!!

!!!

[Anna]

I'm flailing and screeching. I've been waiting for this for SO LONG! This is Galen's book and my body is ready.

... she says 3 minutes after planning on starting a thread about how to deal with massive reading slumps. This. This is how you deal with reading slumps!

[Rachel]

Yay!

[Anna]

Oh, I also read that Strength is coming on audio soon! I wish they came in reverse order so I could reread the previous one on audio before the new one is out, but as long as there are audios, I’m happy. At least if the narrators are decent!

[Raucous]

Anna wrote: "Paladin's Hope!!!! ... (lots more of those)

Wow. I just started Paladin's Strength this weekend, thinking that once I'd finished it I'd have finally caught up on the White Rat books. Not a hope...

Still: Yay! 🐁

[Anna]

Perfect timing! 😄

[Mel]

Anna wrote: "Paladin's Hope!!!!

Ahhh!!! Next week!? Best. Surprise. Ever!

Just pre-ordered my hardback copy from Argyll Productions. Can't wait. :)

[Stephanie]

Anna wrote: "Paladin's Hope!!!!

!!!!

!!!"

I saw this news today and I was so excited! It's coming out during my quarantine and the perfect thing to look forward to :)

[Stephanie]

I've already finished Paladin's Hope and I have EMOTIONS

[Anna]

I haven't started yet :( I have things I need to do over the weekend, and I didn't want them interrupting my reading time. I hope to start as soon as possible, hopefully tomorrow, but by next weekend at the latest!

[Stephanie]

Understandable :(
I can't wait to hear your thoughts though!!

[Anna]

I'm pretty sure I can give you my thoughts before I even open the book:

SQUEEEEEE!!!!! <3

[Mel]

Still waiting for my hardback copy to arrive, but so ready to SQUEE right along with you!

[Anna]

I saw a tweet today that said something about physical copies, possibly that they’re ready to ship?

Just finished it, will comment tomorrow when I’m not on the phone.

edit: Here’s the print info tweet:

https://twitter.com/argyllbooks/statu...

[Mel]

Thanks for the info Anna! I'm going to try to be patient, but the immediacy of ebooks sure does have its appeal at times like these...

[Stephanie]

Ahhh great! I will have to write out my thoughts too after I finish my coffee :)

Melissa, I'd love to have a hard copy too! I just live in a place where English books are $$$ and typically only the most popular/well-known are available, so I mostly end up reading ebooks.

[Anna]

Paladin's Strength audio preorder is available, comes out on November 23rd.

[Anna]

It's time a human stops twisting its whiskers and comments on Paladin's Hope.

(view spoiler)[ First of all, I spent most of Saturday and Sunday seeing everyone complain about the last line, and Ursula cackling and saying it wouldn't be touched on (at all?) in the next book, but possibly in book 5 or 6. So I was expecting something mind-blowing and kept guessing what it could be. When I finally got there, it almost felt like nothing :D "Oh? That's it?" I mean yeah I'm happy to read more about that, but I'm not *dying* to know :P It's cool though, I didn't think we'd ever learn more about what happened to the Saint of Steel, I thought that was just their background story.

So the plot. It was like Cube (the movie) on crack. I was so anxious for a huge chunk of it, despite knowing that our couple would make it through. I also trust that Ursula wouldn't let a gnole die !!!! so I wasn't *too* worried for Earstripe, but my body was reacting to everything like I was was the one stuck in a death maze. Not cool, brain! I actually had to take a break and listen to a children's book for a little bit when Galen went into the apple masher room!

Gnoles! <3 Oh my goodness, I love gnoles so much, I didn't know it was possible to love them even more! I keep thinking if I want a gnole book, with a gnole protagonist, but I think gnoles are best served on the side, in perfect little bite sized servings :)

And we even got a Zale mention! <3 I was hoping for it, and I still want a Zale book!

Favorite Piper moment: The end when he talks Earstripe out of prison.

Favorite Galen moment: Kissing is dangerous. It’s probably too near your brain or something.

Favorite Earstripe moment: “Humans are doing the best they can,” said Earstripe, in a tone Piper usually identified with teachers of small children trying to excuse the slowest members of the class. (hide spoiler)]