This is a sequel to “The Curse of Chalion” – though calling it a sequel is a bit off since the events in the book, though they take place with some of the same characters, are largely disassociated from those in the first. The main protagonist is a woman called “Ista” who was only a minor character in the first book. In Paladin of Souls, she takes off with her own story line and in my opinion, makes the story even more interesting than the first.
There’s a good bit of demon sorcery involved in “Paladin of Souls” – and some of the scenes remind me a bit of The Exorcist, which is probably the scariest movie I’ve ever seen. Just as in the first book, the five Gods are at the center point of the plot and provide the driving force behind the events. Especially the God called “The Bastard.”
Once again, the book is very different from standard fantasy fare and is unusually, told entirely through the eyes of a single person, just like the first book. This leads to a complete coherent storyline, whereas in works by other authors, the point of view can switch suddenly just in the middle of a juicy plot and really piss you off. And I really appreciate the way the author has given the Gods great powers, but has limited them dramatically at the same time. In many ways, the story deals with concepts of free will and whether or not a person wishes to be a “vessel” for the Gods.
The demonic system is an integral part of the book with detailed insights into how a demon can co-exist with the original soul of the body and who controls whom. In the book, there is a large influx of demons into the world, and “The Bastard” is pretty anxious to get them back into his domain, thereby trying to enlist the help of Ista.
From what I’ve heard, the third book in the series called “The Hallowed Hunt” doesn’t have the same characters as the first two books, and so I don’t think I’ll be reading it. Don’t want to get acquainted with another set of characters – can get rather tiring. So this is the last book I’ll be reading in the Chalion series and it’s been an interesting fantasy set. I highly recommend it to those who’re tired of usual fantasy fiction and are looking for something different.
I like the single person story telling. I recently read Scarlet the second book of The King Raven series by Stephen Lawhead. All told by this characters point of view. I'll try this book out on my Kindle if available or get it when I'm at the bookstore here soon. Thanks for the post.