Dragon Jude's Meandering Thoughts

I have been a fan of Onley James since I first discovered her writing not quite two years ago. Every book has had something to offer and enjoy. Paladin did not disappoint me.

The characters are richly developed and the context they are set in is vibrant. Readers sometimes do not think about the effort it takes to write a contemporary novel and not allow anything to insert a sense of disconnection for the reader. This is not a fantasy or alternate world where the unrealistic can happen, so everything must ring true to the reader – the details must ‘feel’ right.’ When the writer is dealing in areas that are transgressive – an act or behaviour that is seen as illegal or immoral in our culture – it becomes even more challenging to build the fictional world and the story so the reader is not jarred but instead is able to say ” yes ” to buy in and immerse themselves fully.

Paladin – in spite of the opening scene, develops as a sweet love story even if it is between a steely survivor and a feral gremlin. As much as I enjoyed the developing romance, I was just starting to feel like an element was missing in chapter fourteen, when, with fantastic pacing, Onley deftly inserted the next twist in the story and that feeling was washed away as the plot developed even more. Yes – the villains are revealed and retribution is about to happen.

In addition to the fact that Onley’s writing is not only entertaining, and her attention to detail creates a world we can immerse ourselves in, her subject matter is incredibly thought-provoking, and I believe that this is a huge part of her appeal as a writer. If you have not yet read my offering about Necessary Evils series under transgressive elements, you might want to do that.

Onley writes: “Killing was wrong. But Ever had met a lot of bad, wrong people since Jennika bought him and Arsen didn’t feel bad about what he did to her. None of them felt bad. Even if they did bad things. But was it really bad? Killing Jennika had saved him. Arsen had referred to her as a horrible person. And she was. The worst kind of person. So, what was the real sin? Allowing an evil person to keep hurting innocents or wiping out the evil to protect others?”

How many of us have grappled with this very question? How many of us have wished for some group to deal with these evils as we can not and many (if not most) feel there is no true justice in our justice system – they are bound and tied by the very laws they seek to protect.

I think Ever says it best: “It seemed so surreal to think that Ever lived among killers but had never felt safer.”

Onley, I eagerly await Rouge and the next step in Jericho’s Boys.

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