I’m damn lucky I decided to continue reading this great series. Even though the first book bored me, “Divided Allegiance” really makes up for it. Finally we see something of what Paksenarrion has within her and what makes her special. This book suffers from none of the flaws the first one did. There are elves, dwarves, gnomes, and some really nice paladin stuff.
Some parts of the book remind me of christianity, but Elizabeth Moon clearly doesn’t want to copy it whole. She shows us some interesting examples of how religion can be narrow minded and how followers can refuse to believe that god can favor anything other than their own faith. In this book, Paksenarrion decides she’s had enough of fighting for the sake of fighting and wants to do some good in the world. To this end, she seeks out further training and gets herself tangled up in a lot of adventures.
The book ends in a very sad manner – setting us up for “Oath of Gold” which is book three. I can hardly find anything to complain about this awesome follow up novel. It’s really given me a break from standard sword and sorcery fiction. And for that, I thank Elizabeth Moon immensely.
OK – So I’m glad you loved it…