Circles and rings, dragons and kings, weaving a charm and a spell. Blessed by the night, holy and bright, called by the toll of the bell. Let’s armor up for Hellknight, by Liane Merciel.
Synopsis:
The Hellknights are a brutal organization of warriors dedicated to maintaining law and order at any cost. For devil-blooded Jheraal, even the harshest methods are justified if it means building a better world for her daughter. Yet when a serial killer starts targeting hellspawn like Jheraal and her child, Jheraal has no choice but to use all her cunning and ruthlessness in order to defeat an ancient enemy to whom even death is no deterrent.
Source: Goodreads
SPOILERS BELOW
In Cheliax, a mysterious killer is using an evil artifact to murder tieflings and steal their souls. It falls to three unlikely protagonists to uncover the nefarious scheme motivating the crimes: Jheraal, a tiefling Hellknight working to protect her secret daughter; Ederras, a paladin of Iomedae with a checkered past who is drawn back to the city by news of his brother’s untimely death in an incident related to the serial killings; and Velenne, a wicked sorceress who worships the archdevil Asmodeus and shares a complicated past with Ederras.
What really sold me on this book were its beautifully written characters. I was immediately invested in the various relationships: Jheraal and her daughter Indrath, who can pass for human and was given up for adoption so that she might live a life free of the discrimination and prejudice directed at tieflings; and Ederras and Velenne, who are drawn together by mutual attraction even as they are torn apart by their differing faiths and alignments.
It’s funny: when the plot of this book is looked at objectively, not much was actually accomplished. The protagonists recovered and neutralized the evil artifact being used in the killings, yes; but the assassin went free, and the graveknight who was behind the whole thing can’t be brought to justice on the grounds of already being an immortal undead that can’t get any deader. Normally, that kind of non-resolution really sours me on a story. But the way this was written, I got so much more invested in the characters themselves than what they were doing. Even though all they’ve really done is maintain status quo in Cheliax, it feels like a victory, because of the relationships they have forged with one another and the ways their characters have developed. I came to love these characters, and dearly wish they could have gotten another novel. The fact that it makes me desperately wish for more is a sign of its quality. I can recommend this novel as a Pathfinder story of the highest quality.
Final Rating: 5/5
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