Oath of Gold - audiobook review

[alobear]

Oath of Gold concludes the Deed of Paksenarrion trilogy by Elisabeth Moon, and poor old Paks really goes through the wringer in this one.  For about two thirds of the book, very little actually happens, though it's enjoyable to accompany Paks on her fairly random wanderings and watch her regain her confidence and come into her powers as a paladin.  Then, the rather cliched plot finally kicks in and she gets called to quest by the gods, charged with finding the long lost rightful king of Lyonia, who was stolen away into slavery as a young boy.  Of course, he turns out to be Paks' old mercenary company commander, but before she can restore him to his throne he is kidnapped by evil priests and Paks is forced to surrender herself to them in order to save him.  Then follows five days and nights of horrific torture before the gods deign to have her rescued so she can charge off on her magic horse to save the king again from more bad guys.

I'm making it all sound fairly terrible, but I actually mostly enjoyed this audiobook.  As ever, a good narrator really helped, along with a strong and likeable protagonist.