What do you think?
Rate this book
The Red Company Reformed #2
The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul
Before the Fall of the Empire of Astandalas, the Red Company was legendary. A dozen or so years after that cataclysm, they have almost faded into myth.
Pali Avramapul may not have gone under her own name since the dissolution of the Red Company, but she is no myth, and has certainly not faded. She fights folly and injustice as fiercely as ever—although, as a respected scholar of history at one of the Circle Schools of Alinor, she now tends to use her tongue and pen more than her sword.
She still keeps the sword sharp, of course. You never know when adventure will come calling.
She expects her sabbatical to be a decorous, respectable sort of adventure, the kind with which she can regale her colleagues in the Senior Common Room upon her return.
She’s not very upset when she finds one or two of her old friends and it turns out the adventure is much more likely to involve a plot to kidnap the Last Emperor of Astandalas.
There’s respectable, after all, and then there’s respectable.
Pali Avramapul may not have gone under her own name since the dissolution of the Red Company, but she is no myth, and has certainly not faded. She fights folly and injustice as fiercely as ever—although, as a respected scholar of history at one of the Circle Schools of Alinor, she now tends to use her tongue and pen more than her sword.
She still keeps the sword sharp, of course. You never know when adventure will come calling.
She expects her sabbatical to be a decorous, respectable sort of adventure, the kind with which she can regale her colleagues in the Senior Common Room upon her return.
She’s not very upset when she finds one or two of her old friends and it turns out the adventure is much more likely to involve a plot to kidnap the Last Emperor of Astandalas.
There’s respectable, after all, and then there’s respectable.
374 pages, Paperback
First published May 17, 2022
63 people are currently reading
277 people want to read
About the author
Victoria Goddard
43 books792 followersI walked across England in 2013, fulfilling a long-held dream. I'm currently the sexton of an Anglican church in Nova Scotia, which means I am keeper of the keys and opener of doors (and shutter-off of alarms). I have a PhD in medieval studies from the University of Toronto, looking at poetry and philosophy in the works of Dante and Boethius -- both the poetry and the philosophy come into my stories a great deal (and occasionally the Dante and the Boethius).
I like writing about the ordinary lives of magical people on the other side of the looking glass ... and the extraordinary deeds of ordinary folk, too. Three of my favourite authors are Patricia McKillip (especially 'The Riddle-Master of Hed' trilogy and 'The Bell at Sealy Head'), Connie Willis ('Bellwether' and 'To Say Nothing of the Dog,' which latter would make my top-ten books on a desert island), and Lois McMaster Bujold ('The Curse of Chalion' and its sequels).
I like writing about the ordinary lives of magical people on the other side of the looking glass ... and the extraordinary deeds of ordinary folk, too. Three of my favourite authors are Patricia McKillip (especially 'The Riddle-Master of Hed' trilogy and 'The Bell at Sealy Head'), Connie Willis ('Bellwether' and 'To Say Nothing of the Dog,' which latter would make my top-ten books on a desert island), and Lois McMaster Bujold ('The Curse of Chalion' and its sequels).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
June 18, 2022
I think I liked Kip too much for this book to work really well for me
June 4, 2022
Enjoyable as usual from Goddard. I think I suffer here not having read the Sisters Avramapaul books, because the Red Company series really, really isn't a standalone. It benefits from having read The Hands of the Emperor. It benefits from having read Greenwing & Dart. And the problem with this book is that unlike Fitzroy, the POV character in the last book, I've never spent any time with Pali. As such, especially with her irrational hatred of cinnamon roll Kip, she comes across as deeply unlikeable for most of the book. That isn't a problem in and of itself, and there's a lot about her I find interesting, but I don't really understand her motivation for being so mean. Maybe if I'd read her earlier book I would - thus my suggestion that these books don't really standalone.
Still enjoyed it, and it takes some metaplot elements forward in a way I think is exciting (if a little too serendipitous; though can we blame Fitzroy's Quest!Spell for that?). I'll happily read the next. Just... not quite my favourite.
Still enjoyed it, and it takes some metaplot elements forward in a way I think is exciting (if a little too serendipitous; though can we blame Fitzroy's Quest!Spell for that?). I'll happily read the next. Just... not quite my favourite.
May 31, 2022
Yes a big part of why I loved this book is the payoff from a huge cast of several multi-world storylines converging at last, but an even bigger part is that we get to see friends in their fifties and sixties, reunited after an adventurous youth and decades of separation as they work through the changes in their lives to reaffirm their love for each other and set off for further adventuring.
March 1, 2024
Once again. Tales of misunderstanding, reconciliation, adventure, quests and magic. The Nine Worlds of Victoria Goddard are fairly free of racism, bigotry and the general differences, which plague life in general. However, there are those who will speak their own mind and often do have aspects of greed and wants of power. Moreover there is magic. Not only the magic in Victoria Goddard's writing, but magic that is inspiring as well as just plain fun. For example, our mage, Emperor hero, on a quest to find an heir carries his bag. "The Bag of Unusual Capacities and Intermittent Returns." What could this possibly be, you ask? Hero's friend, who is a blacksmith, asked to join the heir quest, asks, "Would you please carry my spare anvil?" The answer is "of course." Into the bag goes the anvil with no noticeable increase in weight. Wardrobe changes, pillows, everything one can imagine is carried in "The Bag." Oh gee look! A bottle of vintage wine!
The peoples that are met along the way spring from Goddard's text as if they have been known for years.
I have said this before about Victoria Goddard and it is worth repeating. She is simply an excellent story teller.
The peoples that are met along the way spring from Goddard's text as if they have been known for years.
I have said this before about Victoria Goddard and it is worth repeating. She is simply an excellent story teller.
June 20, 2022
I have been a fan of Victoria Goddard’s books since I first read The Hands of the Emperor, and I have been eagerly awaiting this book, technically the second novel of The Red Company Reformed series within her greater Nine Worlds universe. The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul, as redoubtable as its titular character, absolutely lived up to my anticipation and excitement. In fact, I read this amazing book in one sitting, absolutely spellbound and vibrating in joy.
The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul has beautiful and descriptive prose, an expansive plot that nevertheless feels just the right length (while also leaving you hungry for more), and friendship and platonic relationships at its core. If you want found family, especially found family reuniting after a long time and finding home once more, this is the book for you.
It also provides a nuanced female main character who is allowed to be imperfect, to struggle with past trauma, who is accepted as-is but also works hard to be a better person and a friend. Pali Avramapul is given the space to be and to grow, whose decisions and viewpoint are clear and understandable, and I loved the combination of her being an academic and a warrior (who really, really wanted to get to stab something at least once during the book) and how both identities intersected. I also loved her journey of learning to forgive and attempt to become at peace with herself.
However, while it could technically work as a standalone, I would highly recommend at least reading The Hands of the Emperor, Petty Treasons, and The Return of Fitzroy Angursell. The reading experience will be much more rewarding, and a lot of plot points and character relationships will only make sense with the context of the previous books. Moreover, as someone who has read the first four books in the ongoing Greenwing and Dart series, I found that it enriched my enjoyment of reading The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul. The fact of the matter is that Victoria Goddard has created a sprawling, rich and interconnected world with many sub-series that are different in tone yet all containing the same heart — much like Discworld, in fact.
Read The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul — you will not regret it.
November 13, 2022
i appreciated this book for the pali avramapul of it all (the most comprehensive badass in the entire series), but did feel once again that this book was at most 1/3 of a proper book and extraordinarily self-indulgent (in that it mostly covers the content of two others, this time from pali's perspective). it is saved from having been annoying by the fact that pali's perspective rocks, and i appreciated how much frustration and grief and fury she was allowed to feel, none of which detracted one bit from her status in song and legend.
two niggling irritations i had with it: first of all, that this series is relentlessly straight, and while i don't necessarily have any strongly-held queer ships in it yet (besides, fine, i want cliopher and the emperor to KISS, okay!), i am tired of characters like pali and jemis and fitzroy being shepherded into supposedly life-changing romances that feature little to no chemistry. i just think if your characters are going to be heterosexual, you have to work a little harder to get me to believe in it.
secondly: i like kip entirely too much for pali to hate him this much, and i want to see them meet so that she can get over it and come to love him the way everyone else in the world does. or at the very least, i wanted to see fitzroy defend him to her. (because... i want them to kiss. lol)
two niggling irritations i had with it: first of all, that this series is relentlessly straight, and while i don't necessarily have any strongly-held queer ships in it yet (besides, fine, i want cliopher and the emperor to KISS, okay!), i am tired of characters like pali and jemis and fitzroy being shepherded into supposedly life-changing romances that feature little to no chemistry. i just think if your characters are going to be heterosexual, you have to work a little harder to get me to believe in it.
secondly: i like kip entirely too much for pali to hate him this much, and i want to see them meet so that she can get over it and come to love him the way everyone else in the world does. or at the very least, i wanted to see fitzroy defend him to her. (because... i want them to kiss. lol)
May 25, 2022
Fantastic but did you really have to leave off without telling me who Sardeet's penpal is?!
April 12, 2024
"Is it such a terrible thing, to be shaped by those you love?"
I love that this follow-up to The Return of Fitzroy Angursell is told from Pail's POV. Her perspective is sharp, blunt, and oh-so-different from any of the other voices we've gotten in the Nine Worlds series. She takes no quarter and has little sympathy for anyone, herself included.
I wasn't immediately sold on the choice for Pali's perspective to start as it began so far before where The Return of Fitzroy Angursell ended. I wanted to immediately get started where the last book had left off. I say 'immediately sold' though because I was eventually sold on it. Getting Pali's perspective of everything that leads up to that moment? It's powerful stuff that impacts our understanding of her character. Oh, and I love her character. She's so imperfect but also startling solid. She wants a fight and she struggles when has to deal with things that really can't be solved with a fight. The complexities of the world do her attitude no favors.
The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul brings up expectations, anger, powerlessness, getting older, and dealing with that pesky little thing called change. Pali has to learn to make room for hurt and to make room for healing. It's a powerful narrative.
Now, I adore Kip. Kip is who had me fall in love with Goddard's world. Pali's opinion on Kip is not flattering. Ironically it is that opinion that had me really rooting for Pali. She's learning to compromise, and I think Kip will be a huge part of that. Both are so important to Fitzroy is wildly different ways. Pali isn't a thoroughly reasonable character, but she is a thoroughly loyal one.
I had great fun with this and cannot wait for more of the Red Company Reformed!
I love that this follow-up to The Return of Fitzroy Angursell is told from Pail's POV. Her perspective is sharp, blunt, and oh-so-different from any of the other voices we've gotten in the Nine Worlds series. She takes no quarter and has little sympathy for anyone, herself included.
I wasn't immediately sold on the choice for Pali's perspective to start as it began so far before where The Return of Fitzroy Angursell ended. I wanted to immediately get started where the last book had left off. I say 'immediately sold' though because I was eventually sold on it. Getting Pali's perspective of everything that leads up to that moment? It's powerful stuff that impacts our understanding of her character. Oh, and I love her character. She's so imperfect but also startling solid. She wants a fight and she struggles when has to deal with things that really can't be solved with a fight. The complexities of the world do her attitude no favors.
The Redoubtable Pali Avramapul brings up expectations, anger, powerlessness, getting older, and dealing with that pesky little thing called change. Pali has to learn to make room for hurt and to make room for healing. It's a powerful narrative.
Now, I adore Kip. Kip is who had me fall in love with Goddard's world. Pali's opinion on Kip is not flattering. Ironically it is that opinion that had me really rooting for Pali. She's learning to compromise, and I think Kip will be a huge part of that. Both are so important to Fitzroy is wildly different ways. Pali isn't a thoroughly reasonable character, but she is a thoroughly loyal one.
I had great fun with this and cannot wait for more of the Red Company Reformed!
July 5, 2022
Ah, I love Pali so much! She is so flawed, so angry, so stubborn, but Goddard does a wonderful job of showing why she behaves this way. Her relationship with Fitzroy is such a treat. I love the way Goddard creates these larger-than-life heroic, mythical characters and makes them completely real and human and believable. You might be able to travel to the land of the Sun and defy the Moon, but still be unable to communicate your feelings effectively when it most matters!
This is the book that made me fall in love with Fitzroy. I enjoyed The Return of Fiztroy Angursell, but didn't feel as emotionally connected to it (it didn't help that I read it right after Hands and just wanted more Kip!). This book gave more context and understanding, and I went back and re-read Return and loved it so much more.
The friendships were an absolute delight. All the feels. I adore the theme of old friends reuniting and finding their loyalty and connection still intact but needing to navigate through the different people they've turned into.
I love how every plot point and character from all the 9 Worlds books is getting tied together and wrapped up: how does she even keep track??! I've only read the first Greenwing and Dart book and the first Sisters Avramapul book, and now I want to go read the rest so I can fill in more world and character details. (I would say you only really need to read Hands of the Emperor and Return of Fitzroy before reading this one, but if you've read the others you'll enjoy seeing certain characters pop up and events be referenced.)
I need more Red Company adventures asap! Love this series to bits!
This is the book that made me fall in love with Fitzroy. I enjoyed The Return of Fiztroy Angursell, but didn't feel as emotionally connected to it (it didn't help that I read it right after Hands and just wanted more Kip!). This book gave more context and understanding, and I went back and re-read Return and loved it so much more.
The friendships were an absolute delight. All the feels. I adore the theme of old friends reuniting and finding their loyalty and connection still intact but needing to navigate through the different people they've turned into.
I love how every plot point and character from all the 9 Worlds books is getting tied together and wrapped up: how does she even keep track??! I've only read the first Greenwing and Dart book and the first Sisters Avramapul book, and now I want to go read the rest so I can fill in more world and character details. (I would say you only really need to read Hands of the Emperor and Return of Fitzroy before reading this one, but if you've read the others you'll enjoy seeing certain characters pop up and events be referenced.)
I need more Red Company adventures asap! Love this series to bits!
August 3, 2025
This is my favorite Victoria Goddard book since The Hands of the Emperor, which was the first one that I ever picked up. That earlier novel is often heralded as a great entry point to the author's extended Nine Worlds setting, however, which this other title is categorically not. It's instead more in the vein of a blockbuster Marvel crossover event, albeit one keyed to the writer's particular cozy fantasy sensibilities. There are no epic battle scenes here, just long-distant characters meeting and rejoicing over discovering their common ground. Still it's fantastic, in every sense of the word.
(The overall effect will of course be contingent on which volumes a given reader has previously explored. At a minimum, I would say that you should read this one after The Hands of the Emperor, The Return of Fitzroy Angursell, and at least some of the Greenwing & Dart sequence. The Terec novellas and the Sisters Avramapul trilogy, among others, will also provide excellent backstory for certain figures here. I personally got to this book as the 32nd entry in my winding way through the entire series -- having now read everything except At the Feet of the Sun, which takes place after it -- and I don't regret that choice in the slightest.)
Our protagonist is the title heroine herself, who is both a retired adventurer / bandit folk hero and a current professor of history on Alinor -- the world where the Greenwing & Dart books are set, which is remote but accessible from Zunidh, where The Hands of the Emperor takes place. Readers of that last novel will likely remember the time when she came to the imperial palace and was surprised to recognize His Radiancy as a former companion, whom she had not realized was so exalted. Here we see that moment again from her perspective, but only after she first travels to Ragnor Bella and meets Jemis Greenwing and her fellow ex-Red Company member Jullanar of the Sea (whose own alternate identity was revealed in Plum Duff and/or The Return of Fitzroy Angursell). Before traveling on, she spends time with the local innkeeper Basil White, hearing fond tales of his brilliant lost cousin Kip.
From thence her disastrous audience with the Last Emperor and her follow-up conversation with his chancellor Cliopher Mdang, whom she loathes for in her mind keeping her friend bound up in the duties of his office. A lot of reviewers seem to dislike Pali for that irrational hatred of Kip, whom of course we all love as the hero of The Hands of the Emperor. But personally I appreciate the alternative perspective on his actions and consider her a richer character for it. She's already a rarity in the genre as an older female protagonist -- her age not explicitly stated beyond being somewhere north of fifty, not to mention the passage of time occasionally going haywire after the Fall of Astandalas -- and I love that she gets to be ornery and possessed of complicated human emotions to boot. In fact, it's just those sorts of feelings that form the crux of this novel and make her personal journey so appealing.
After leaving Zunidh and making a short visit back home, she re-encounters Jullanar in the company of their other old friends Fitzroy and Masseo. This is another scene we've seen play out from a different viewpoint before, in this case Fitzroy's in his own titular adventure. There's reconciliation and recrimination alike to be had in the companions reuniting, and at this point (where The Return of Fitzroy Angursell leaves off) we're still only halfway through the book.
I'm going into this level of plot detail because it really is impressive how seamlessly Goddard weaves in and out of her previous stories with this one, and all without the repeated moments ever seeming like a chore. The ties between the other books have often felt tangential at best, with sly allusions and bits of dramatic irony for readers in the know. This time we're getting a true crossover capstone with payoffs galore, and yet one that doesn't detract from the quiet griefs and reckonings powering the woman on her way.
Further adventures await once the friends set out again, including an encounter with Terec, the lost love of His Radiancy's chief groom Conju whose origins were related in The Hands of the Emperor, The Game of Courts, and the two novellas bearing his name. Eventually they meet up with yet another old comrade, bringing the total number of reunited Red Company members to five. (As that's still only half of their original contingent, I assume that this sub-series of The Red Company Reformed will continue on for additional sequels, at some point.)
The back half of the novel is slower and more deliberate, revolving largely around the characters of Pali and Fitzroy, who never quite found the way to accept or express their tender love for one another when they were younger and who have each now been indelibly affected by the decades of their respective lives that they were forced to spend apart. A reblossoming and belated embrace of their dynamic so long afterwards certainly seems possible, but there are hurt feelings, hard truths, and subtle misunderstandings that must first be addressed, which even legendary heroes can sometimes find daunting. (As the poet puts it, in a rather heartbreaking fashion: "I was a river, dammed against my will into a lake. I could not break the confines of my dam, and so... and so I reconciled myself to being a lake. Eventually I learned how to be still.")
Overall this story just works for me, even as I can spot the issues that might exasperate other readers. It's another Nine Worlds installment where plot is secondary to talking, and as mentioned, it all hinges on so much prior context that I know not everyone is going to bring to the task. And maybe that should be considered a mark against it, that it can't stand especially well on its own! But if you view this as the cozy equivalent of a tentpole cinematic universe extravaganza, centered around the emotions and complex inner lives of belovedly familiar characters…
Well, there's simply nothing else like it. Well done, Dr. Goddard. Top marks.
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/lesserjoke
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
(The overall effect will of course be contingent on which volumes a given reader has previously explored. At a minimum, I would say that you should read this one after The Hands of the Emperor, The Return of Fitzroy Angursell, and at least some of the Greenwing & Dart sequence. The Terec novellas and the Sisters Avramapul trilogy, among others, will also provide excellent backstory for certain figures here. I personally got to this book as the 32nd entry in my winding way through the entire series -- having now read everything except At the Feet of the Sun, which takes place after it -- and I don't regret that choice in the slightest.)
Our protagonist is the title heroine herself, who is both a retired adventurer / bandit folk hero and a current professor of history on Alinor -- the world where the Greenwing & Dart books are set, which is remote but accessible from Zunidh, where The Hands of the Emperor takes place. Readers of that last novel will likely remember the time when she came to the imperial palace and was surprised to recognize His Radiancy as a former companion, whom she had not realized was so exalted. Here we see that moment again from her perspective, but only after she first travels to Ragnor Bella and meets Jemis Greenwing and her fellow ex-Red Company member Jullanar of the Sea (whose own alternate identity was revealed in Plum Duff and/or The Return of Fitzroy Angursell). Before traveling on, she spends time with the local innkeeper Basil White, hearing fond tales of his brilliant lost cousin Kip.
From thence her disastrous audience with the Last Emperor and her follow-up conversation with his chancellor Cliopher Mdang, whom she loathes for in her mind keeping her friend bound up in the duties of his office. A lot of reviewers seem to dislike Pali for that irrational hatred of Kip, whom of course we all love as the hero of The Hands of the Emperor. But personally I appreciate the alternative perspective on his actions and consider her a richer character for it. She's already a rarity in the genre as an older female protagonist -- her age not explicitly stated beyond being somewhere north of fifty, not to mention the passage of time occasionally going haywire after the Fall of Astandalas -- and I love that she gets to be ornery and possessed of complicated human emotions to boot. In fact, it's just those sorts of feelings that form the crux of this novel and make her personal journey so appealing.
After leaving Zunidh and making a short visit back home, she re-encounters Jullanar in the company of their other old friends Fitzroy and Masseo. This is another scene we've seen play out from a different viewpoint before, in this case Fitzroy's in his own titular adventure. There's reconciliation and recrimination alike to be had in the companions reuniting, and at this point (where The Return of Fitzroy Angursell leaves off) we're still only halfway through the book.
I'm going into this level of plot detail because it really is impressive how seamlessly Goddard weaves in and out of her previous stories with this one, and all without the repeated moments ever seeming like a chore. The ties between the other books have often felt tangential at best, with sly allusions and bits of dramatic irony for readers in the know. This time we're getting a true crossover capstone with payoffs galore, and yet one that doesn't detract from the quiet griefs and reckonings powering the woman on her way.
Further adventures await once the friends set out again, including an encounter with Terec, the lost love of His Radiancy's chief groom Conju whose origins were related in The Hands of the Emperor, The Game of Courts, and the two novellas bearing his name. Eventually they meet up with yet another old comrade, bringing the total number of reunited Red Company members to five. (As that's still only half of their original contingent, I assume that this sub-series of The Red Company Reformed will continue on for additional sequels, at some point.)
The back half of the novel is slower and more deliberate, revolving largely around the characters of Pali and Fitzroy, who never quite found the way to accept or express their tender love for one another when they were younger and who have each now been indelibly affected by the decades of their respective lives that they were forced to spend apart. A reblossoming and belated embrace of their dynamic so long afterwards certainly seems possible, but there are hurt feelings, hard truths, and subtle misunderstandings that must first be addressed, which even legendary heroes can sometimes find daunting. (As the poet puts it, in a rather heartbreaking fashion: "I was a river, dammed against my will into a lake. I could not break the confines of my dam, and so... and so I reconciled myself to being a lake. Eventually I learned how to be still.")
Overall this story just works for me, even as I can spot the issues that might exasperate other readers. It's another Nine Worlds installment where plot is secondary to talking, and as mentioned, it all hinges on so much prior context that I know not everyone is going to bring to the task. And maybe that should be considered a mark against it, that it can't stand especially well on its own! But if you view this as the cozy equivalent of a tentpole cinematic universe extravaganza, centered around the emotions and complex inner lives of belovedly familiar characters…
Well, there's simply nothing else like it. Well done, Dr. Goddard. Top marks.
Like this review?
--Throw me a quick one-time donation here!
https://ko-fi.com/lesserjoke
--Subscribe here to support my writing and weigh in on what I read next!
https://patreon.com/lesserjoke
--Follow along on Goodreads here!
https://www.goodreads.com/lesserjoke
--Or click here to browse through all my reviews!
https://lesserjoke.home.blog
June 5, 2022
I love the story, very well written, but I dislike Pali. She's so full of herself, so superior and egocentric. Very little empathy for others or in situations she can't control. So harsh. It diminishes the pleasure in what is actually a great story.
Happily, Jullanar and Sardeet are wonderful. Warm, kind and true friends.
Happily, Jullanar and Sardeet are wonderful. Warm, kind and true friends.
February 14, 2024
I don't know how to rate this book. 1 star for Pali, 5 stars for everything else?
Let me elaborate. Until now I have been under impression that I can handle an unlikable character if the story or the themes are interesting. Or that I can handle an unlikable person if the character is interesting (hello Dalinar). Well, I have found my limit here. Pali is an extremely obnoxious person. Her ego is as vast as the former empire, every scene that happens she twists so that it's about her (even when in fact it's NOT), she treats everything as a fight (if you have to remind yourself that your friend is not your enemy, you have a problem), and every fight she has to win (even if it's waiting for a bird to pick a bread crumb; it just had to be a crumb *she* offered). Girl...
I did not enjoy the story from her POV, but I must admit she is written well. And I also admit that the last scene with Pali and Fitzroy was excellent.
Everything else was amazing. And heart-wrenching (Terec, Basil, every mention of Kip, especially one of the last ones, my heart!).
Let me elaborate. Until now I have been under impression that I can handle an unlikable character if the story or the themes are interesting. Or that I can handle an unlikable person if the character is interesting (hello Dalinar). Well, I have found my limit here. Pali is an extremely obnoxious person. Her ego is as vast as the former empire, every scene that happens she twists so that it's about her (even when in fact it's NOT), she treats everything as a fight (if you have to remind yourself that your friend is not your enemy, you have a problem), and every fight she has to win (even if it's waiting for a bird to pick a bread crumb; it just had to be a crumb *she* offered). Girl...
I did not enjoy the story from her POV, but I must admit she is written well. And I also admit that the last scene with Pali and Fitzroy was excellent.
Everything else was amazing. And heart-wrenching (Terec, Basil, every mention of Kip, especially one of the last ones, my heart!).
May 22, 2022
this book is the best thing that has ever happened to me personally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
February 18, 2024
Pali is one of the most unlikeable main characters in a book by an author I really like. She was so unbendable, rigid, full of herself, irritating and irrational, and resistant to reason (despite being a scholar).
I really struggled for the first 3/4 of the book where the story focused on Pali, and enjoyed the last 1/4 where there was plenty of interaction with other characters, and I loved those.
It's still a very well written book, and it's not like there wasn't any character development for Pali, on the contrary.
But the last part with Fitzroy... oh my heart! I'd read double the lenght of book for that part alone gladly.
I really struggled for the first 3/4 of the book where the story focused on Pali, and enjoyed the last 1/4 where there was plenty of interaction with other characters, and I loved those.
It's still a very well written book, and it's not like there wasn't any character development for Pali, on the contrary.
But the last part with Fitzroy... oh my heart! I'd read double the lenght of book for that part alone gladly.
September 28, 2025
2.5
Quite a unique perspective and honest description of challenges one might face when their friend returns from the dead (pro). Pali in the current iteration (con).
Quite a unique perspective and honest description of challenges one might face when their friend returns from the dead (pro). Pali in the current iteration (con).
January 12, 2025
It's an interesting series structure that I don't recall seeing before (although I'm sure folks can come up with other examples) of a very braided set of stories. This one starts a few months before a scene in The Hands of the Emperor at the halfway point of that book, and then skips forward to the scene near the end of The Return of Fitzroy Angursell, which is at the halfway point of this book, and then proceeds with the amalgamation of characters. (There are also references to the Greenwing and Dart books, but I've not yet finished that series). Part of this is due to the loose nature of time in this universe, but it creates a very braided series of books.
The POV is the titular Pali, a prickly warrior-academic, who has to learn how to deal with her various emotions, especially in regards to her mixed emotions to Fitzroy and what he has been up to. She has not much use for tact, preferring edged weapons, but those are not so useful when dealing with friends. It all comes to a nice catharsis. In particular I likes her description of climbing a hillside, right after I finished a trip to Alaska with several hilly hikes.
My one quibble is there is a fair amount of repetition, of memories/scenes/themes, but I'm coming to see that as part of Goddard's writing. Overall I enjoyed it and read it quickly.
The POV is the titular Pali, a prickly warrior-academic, who has to learn how to deal with her various emotions, especially in regards to her mixed emotions to Fitzroy and what he has been up to. She has not much use for tact, preferring edged weapons, but those are not so useful when dealing with friends. It all comes to a nice catharsis. In particular I likes her description of climbing a hillside, right after I finished a trip to Alaska with several hilly hikes.
My one quibble is there is a fair amount of repetition, of memories/scenes/themes, but I'm coming to see that as part of Goddard's writing. Overall I enjoyed it and read it quickly.
May 31, 2022
Do you have a best friend? I do. I have this whole theory that people with real, true, healthy best friend relationships tend to fare better (or at least feel like they're faring better in life).
I am lucky, and I have a best friend. We met in college. I was good at chemistry and she was good at calculus, which doesn't sound like much of basis for a friendship, but when I met her, I just felt comfortable and seen and loved. We've been best friends now for over two decades (!!!!!). I have wonderful sisters and parents, great friends and neighbors, amazing cousins, very good dogs, and a spouse I adore, but I really think it's my best friend, in a lot of ways, that gets me through.
I think Victoria Goddard has a best friend, and I think this book was written for them. This book, which focuses on Pali, gives us another look at a number of stories we've already heard, but through a new viewpoint.
On its own, it is a ringing celebration of best friendship. Of how we need people who are not us, who look at the world differently, and who love us even when we are being awful. Who trust us to be ourselves, and trust us to be able to find our way back to our hearts when we go astray.
The funniest thing about my best friend and I is that in a lot of ways we "shouldn't" work. You wouldn't necessarily choose us for each other on paper. But our hearts fit together, and we have each other's back, and she feels like home. Much like Pali and Jullanar.
This is a wonderful book and you should read it right away.
I am lucky, and I have a best friend. We met in college. I was good at chemistry and she was good at calculus, which doesn't sound like much of basis for a friendship, but when I met her, I just felt comfortable and seen and loved. We've been best friends now for over two decades (!!!!!). I have wonderful sisters and parents, great friends and neighbors, amazing cousins, very good dogs, and a spouse I adore, but I really think it's my best friend, in a lot of ways, that gets me through.
I think Victoria Goddard has a best friend, and I think this book was written for them. This book, which focuses on Pali, gives us another look at a number of stories we've already heard, but through a new viewpoint.
On its own, it is a ringing celebration of best friendship. Of how we need people who are not us, who look at the world differently, and who love us even when we are being awful. Who trust us to be ourselves, and trust us to be able to find our way back to our hearts when we go astray.
The funniest thing about my best friend and I is that in a lot of ways we "shouldn't" work. You wouldn't necessarily choose us for each other on paper. But our hearts fit together, and we have each other's back, and she feels like home. Much like Pali and Jullanar.
This is a wonderful book and you should read it right away.
February 20, 2023
Repetitive to the point of being distracting. Pali’s emotional immaturity and blindness to the emperor’s true identity don’t ring true.
July 19, 2024
4,5 estrelas
eu estava lendo esse livro pensando, nossa com a pali é inexorável, firme nas convicções e opiniões e não aceita estar errada nelas e assim, são ótimas características para um personagem, mas para um personagem principal onde o livro todo é no ponto de vista dela? eu não achava que seria uma boa escolha, MAS EU ESTAVA ERRADA, não sei por que eu duvido da victoria goddard, essa mulher nunca me decepciona, nossa que estudo de personagem, que análise, que desenvolvimento, eu terminei esse livro abismada em como eu acabei gostando da pali por ela mesmo, não apenas ela em relação ao seus amigos (e que relacionamentos são esses, amo tanto a red company, sabemos tão pouco deles, mas o que sabemos e os membros que acompanhamos, quero mais!), achei esse livro um estudo de personagem perfeito, mas em relação de enredo peca um pouco, não avança muito, por mais que seja uma continuação de return of fitzroy angursell, o trabalho interno de personagem foi maravilhoso, que livro
"She wanted the quest to seek dzēren, to change, to grow, to discover who she might be if she were not afraid of losing herself, but instead willing to see what she could become. Because no, it was not such a bad thing, to change and be changed by those whom you loved."
eu estava lendo esse livro pensando, nossa com a pali é inexorável, firme nas convicções e opiniões e não aceita estar errada nelas e assim, são ótimas características para um personagem, mas para um personagem principal onde o livro todo é no ponto de vista dela? eu não achava que seria uma boa escolha, MAS EU ESTAVA ERRADA, não sei por que eu duvido da victoria goddard, essa mulher nunca me decepciona, nossa que estudo de personagem, que análise, que desenvolvimento, eu terminei esse livro abismada em como eu acabei gostando da pali por ela mesmo, não apenas ela em relação ao seus amigos (e que relacionamentos são esses, amo tanto a red company, sabemos tão pouco deles, mas o que sabemos e os membros que acompanhamos, quero mais!), achei esse livro um estudo de personagem perfeito, mas em relação de enredo peca um pouco, não avança muito, por mais que seja uma continuação de return of fitzroy angursell, o trabalho interno de personagem foi maravilhoso, que livro
"She wanted the quest to seek dzēren, to change, to grow, to discover who she might be if she were not afraid of losing herself, but instead willing to see what she could become. Because no, it was not such a bad thing, to change and be changed by those whom you loved."
June 2, 2024
idk how Victoria Goddard can write these dozens upon dozens of novels which are just different characters' slants on the exact same five events and i will gobble them down endlessly and gratefully, but so it is and this was wonderful. i love Pali, she's such a messy bitch. love a woman who'll stab you first, and then hop around on one foot agonising about it and when she finally manages to open her mouth to ask questions much, MUCH later, she trips and stabs you again. she is perfect 2 me, and much in the same way that my response to HotE was "I hope HR and Kip get to hold hands more in the sequel," i hope in the sequel Pali and Jullanar get to braid each other's hair
October 30, 2022
This was a good book with many familiar characters and overlapping heavily with other books in the series. The story is a personal one about reconnecting with others, accepting change, and fighting perfectionism. While I didn't find it as powerful as The Hands of the Emperor or The Return of Fitzroy Angursell, it was still very enjoyable and makes me confident the upcoming book will be excellent.
For a full review, check out my blog: https://strakul.blogspot.com/2022/10/...
For a full review, check out my blog: https://strakul.blogspot.com/2022/10/...
dnf
December 26, 2024I hated this?
10% in is all i could after months and months
I was already trying to read like a chapter at a time but could barely manage a few pages
Pali is truly a terrible character for this series and she has kinda put me off the whole series and I hateeeeeee that
10% in is all i could after months and months
I was already trying to read like a chapter at a time but could barely manage a few pages
Pali is truly a terrible character for this series and she has kinda put me off the whole series and I hateeeeeee that
August 19, 2024
It's so good, I could follow this campaign of retired legends forever
October 8, 2025
I probably would have appreciated what was going on in this book more if I had read The Sisters Avramapul and the Greenwing & Dart series. For me, the majority of this book was unnecessarily repetitive, as I had no reason to be especially attached to Pali's perspective. I was quite disappointed that most of the book was a rehashing of The Return of Fitzroy Angursell, with the slightest bit of momentum toward new information at the end.
I think I have also identified another point of frustration with these shorter novels: everything is far too tidy. These reunited members of the Red Company seem to perfectly read into each other's words and actions, and yet there are still so many juvenile misunderstandings. I also cannot help but be critical of how easy it is to box readers into feeling a certain way about a character; we are always supposed to be proud of Cliopher's accomplishments, we are always supposed to admire Pali's silver tongue and tough personality, and we are always supposed to feel heart-wrenching pity for Fitzroy's past.
And yet... "I was a river," he said after a terrible silence. "Dammed against my will into a lake. I could not break the confines of my dam, and so ... and so I reconciled myself to being a lake. Eventually I learned how to be still." — I'll be thinking about this passage in particular for a long time.
I still think that the consistent focus on the beauty of friendship is one of the greatest strengths of this series, and this book did a particularly good job of highlighting just how special it is to make new friends. It is all the more special that these themes are conveyed through older characters who have each experienced their share of troubles, and who aren't afraid of allowing their friends to help heal them.
I think I have also identified another point of frustration with these shorter novels: everything is far too tidy. These reunited members of the Red Company seem to perfectly read into each other's words and actions, and yet there are still so many juvenile misunderstandings. I also cannot help but be critical of how easy it is to box readers into feeling a certain way about a character; we are always supposed to be proud of Cliopher's accomplishments, we are always supposed to admire Pali's silver tongue and tough personality, and we are always supposed to feel heart-wrenching pity for Fitzroy's past.
And yet... "I was a river," he said after a terrible silence. "Dammed against my will into a lake. I could not break the confines of my dam, and so ... and so I reconciled myself to being a lake. Eventually I learned how to be still." — I'll be thinking about this passage in particular for a long time.
I still think that the consistent focus on the beauty of friendship is one of the greatest strengths of this series, and this book did a particularly good job of highlighting just how special it is to make new friends. It is all the more special that these themes are conveyed through older characters who have each experienced their share of troubles, and who aren't afraid of allowing their friends to help heal them.
November 21, 2023
A beautiful adventure story where all the adventure is walking and talking and being insensitive to your friends. Goddard's world is deep and engrossing and filled with colorful, rich characters, and I guess should probably just read the rest of the books because I definitely didn't catch all the references.
January 17, 2023
This is the second book in the Red Company series and is also closely connected to other books by Goddard set in the same world (or, strictly, worlds). It centers, naturally enough, on the eponymous Pali Avramapul, whom I found a very satisfying character: dangerous, sharp, clever, loyal, lonely, angry.
The book is lyrical and engaging. It is perhaps a little in love with its characters, but, then again, so am I. It particularly delighted me whenever Kip / Cliopher was mentioned (Kip is the principal character from the author's wonderful "The Hands of the Emperor"). Pali has adventures during the course of the book, but in a gently-paced way. This is not a book of nailbiting close escapes, but rather of friendships tried, lost, resumed.
Four out of five fencing stars.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).
The book is lyrical and engaging. It is perhaps a little in love with its characters, but, then again, so am I. It particularly delighted me whenever Kip / Cliopher was mentioned (Kip is the principal character from the author's wonderful "The Hands of the Emperor"). Pali has adventures during the course of the book, but in a gently-paced way. This is not a book of nailbiting close escapes, but rather of friendships tried, lost, resumed.
Four out of five fencing stars.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).
July 20, 2024
I don’t know how Goddard manages to make each new book in this series even more cozy but this one had me just beaming and brimming over with joy at the ending. I absolutely love Pali as a protagonist and the idea of the Red Company being a bunch of middle aged adventurers reuniting their party after a long sabbatical to go on one last quest just fills me with so much joy.
And of course it was wonderful to see Fitzroy through Pali’s eyes after meeting him through Kip’s and then getting to hear his story in his own words.
I bought this and the Return of Fitzroy because my library didn’t have them and then I didn’t have the patience to wait 9 weeks for At the Feet of the Sun so I ended up buying that one too.
As a therapist I find these books particularly meaningful. They’re just so wonderfully compassionate and gentle and it’s so nice to get to spend hours immersed in this marvelously complex universe without any huge drama or turmoil. I honestly can’t wait to go read all the earlier books in the series. What’s the opposite of hurt no comfort? All cozy all the time?
Tl;dr go on Victoria and take all my damn money!
And of course it was wonderful to see Fitzroy through Pali’s eyes after meeting him through Kip’s and then getting to hear his story in his own words.
I bought this and the Return of Fitzroy because my library didn’t have them and then I didn’t have the patience to wait 9 weeks for At the Feet of the Sun so I ended up buying that one too.
As a therapist I find these books particularly meaningful. They’re just so wonderfully compassionate and gentle and it’s so nice to get to spend hours immersed in this marvelously complex universe without any huge drama or turmoil. I honestly can’t wait to go read all the earlier books in the series. What’s the opposite of hurt no comfort? All cozy all the time?
Tl;dr go on Victoria and take all my damn money!
July 7, 2023
Oh damn. I don’t know. There was sooo much I didn’t like about this book.
1. The POV character came across as immature and unlikeable
2. The first half of the book was a rehash of older events we already know about but from the (unlikeable) new POV.
3. These characters…I know emotions are complex etc. but it seems they have an argument resulting in some emotional breakthrough but then a chapter or two later they are having the same argument again!
4. The author repeats information way way too much.
5. Ostensibly the characters are on an adventure but nothing of note really happens
6. The main plot device is Fitzroy magically stumbling upon some other character that was a minor character mentioned in some other story (here it was basil and Terec). The first time or two this was surprising and astounding. The next five times it was like “ok how convenient to randomly find this person”
And yet despite all of this…I liked it? Not as much as hands of the emperor of course but…I still want to learn more about this world and to see the red company completely reformed. Hopefully the next book will have a more likeable main character…
1. The POV character came across as immature and unlikeable
2. The first half of the book was a rehash of older events we already know about but from the (unlikeable) new POV.
3. These characters…I know emotions are complex etc. but it seems they have an argument resulting in some emotional breakthrough but then a chapter or two later they are having the same argument again!
4. The author repeats information way way too much.
5. Ostensibly the characters are on an adventure but nothing of note really happens
6. The main plot device is Fitzroy magically stumbling upon some other character that was a minor character mentioned in some other story (here it was basil and Terec). The first time or two this was surprising and astounding. The next five times it was like “ok how convenient to randomly find this person”
And yet despite all of this…I liked it? Not as much as hands of the emperor of course but…I still want to learn more about this world and to see the red company completely reformed. Hopefully the next book will have a more likeable main character…
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 8, 2024
Another incredible story in this amazing universe. I loved seeing events from The Return of Fitzroy Angursell from a different POV. I did have a tough time with Pali. She’s wonderfully complicated but I’m sure I’m not the only reader who feels wildly protective of Kip. Immediately upon finishing the book I had to go to At the Feet of the Sun and find the section where I love the intertwining of all the books. I am hard pressed to think of a series that brings me as much joy as this one.
November 17, 2024
While you don't need to have read The Return of Fitzroy Angursell before this one, I do think it works best if you have, plus Hands of the Emperor. I continue to enjoy this world and these characters!
[2022 READING CHALLENGE: while I will hold out hope for finding a Canadian literature book featuring both a car chase and a bear, because I would like that extra point, Goddard is Canadian so I declare this to be acceptable for the BEAR IS DRIVING category.]
[2022 READING CHALLENGE: while I will hold out hope for finding a Canadian literature book featuring both a car chase and a bear, because I would like that extra point, Goddard is Canadian so I declare this to be acceptable for the BEAR IS DRIVING category.]
Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews