Review: Pathfinder Tails: Gears of Faith

EricMesa

- 2 minutes read - 355 words

This is a fun book that takes place on Golarian, the world of Pathfinder. The author does a good job presenting the TTRPG elements - like Zae needing to prepare her spells each morning - without bogging the story down in these things. But for a few things like that, I think it could be handed to any fantasy fan and they would enjoy it without realizing it’s based on a TTRPG.

The overall plot is essentially a mystery plot and the mystery tropes kick in right away with the main characters being asked to travel under mysterious circumstances, pushing up the timeline for a pre-planned journey. From there they eventually have to help find a magical artifact. The story unspools slowly, but that doesn’t mean it’s boring. It just mean the story has room to breathe and the reader gets to know the environs and characters before things get into gear, raising the stakes on their success.

Who are our protagonists? Zae, a Gnome healer and tinkerer and Keren, a paladin. It’s possible I missed something, but while the story doesn’t explicitly state that they’re married, they are definitely a couple and the story mentions them having matching rings quite a few times. There is also Appleslayer, a dog - I don’t remember the breed, but in TTRPGs mastiffs are usually usable as mounts by small creatures and Zae definitely rides Appleslayer, including in battle.

I think for this book I’m a decent judge of my first paragraph claim that it can be enjoyed without knowing anything about Pathfinder. I currently only have a passing familiarity with the material. For example, the main story takes place in Absalom. I know it’s like the equivalent of NYC in Golarian, but that’s about all I know about it. Keren is a devotee of the goddess Iomedae, and I know she is a mortal who ascended via something called a Star Stone, but that’s about it. Everything else that was “Pathfinder-y” I either missed the easter eggs or connected it to the equivalent in D&D. Yet, I still enjoyed it enough to give it 4.75 star rating.