Swordheart - Rambling Readers

Alex Keane reviewed Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

Fun Read

5 stars

I always love T Kingfisher books and this one was no exception.

Halla is a widow who's been taking care of her late husband's uncle until he dies, leaving her everything. Great you say, but you've never met Halla's in-laws now murderously set on keeping the inheritance in the family. She escapes their clutches with the help of a man trapped in a magic sword but must return to town to claim her inheritance.

This one's going next to The Princess Bride in "I guess it's technically a love story BUT LOOK AT ALL THE ADVENTURE!"

Seriously, it's good, and the travelogue-y bits where we get to know the characters and see them both oblivious to the relationship forming are fun to read. Plus it's T Kingfisher so there's bonus bloody scenes!

David Bremner reviewed Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

Formulaic, but in a good way

4 stars

I think I read somewhere about a panel on "Comfort Fiction" that included T. Kingfisher, and the describes this very well. I think if you have read the Paladin series some of this will feel suspiciously familiar, but at the time it was just what I needed.

Simon reviewed Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

Review of 'Swordheart' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Despite being set in the same universe, this is not a Clocktaur Wars book. I think it's best described as a slow-paced romance between a woman and her magic sword.

I loved it at first, because of the conceit of a magic sword story told partially from the perspective of the sword. I continued to enjoy it throughout thanks to the humour in the writing, and to the author's usual ability to produce characters with silly quirks who nevertheless feel realistic... but at the same time I found parts of it slow: the story had to go through a great many places to get to the end, but much of this felt repetitive - reflected in-world by the characters mostly travelling up and down the same bit of road repeatedly! This felt a bit prolonged, and I think some sequences could have been omitted. And that's why only three stars. …

Despite being set in the same universe, this is not a Clocktaur Wars book. I think it's best described as a slow-paced romance between a woman and her magic sword.

I loved it at first, because of the conceit of a magic sword story told partially from the perspective of the sword. I continued to enjoy it throughout thanks to the humour in the writing, and to the author's usual ability to produce characters with silly quirks who nevertheless feel realistic... but at the same time I found parts of it slow: the story had to go through a great many places to get to the end, but much of this felt repetitive - reflected in-world by the characters mostly travelling up and down the same bit of road repeatedly! This felt a bit prolonged, and I think some sequences could have been omitted. And that's why only three stars. Probably three and a half if I could.

Plus points for unconventional protagonists, unremarked queerness in-universe, shades-of-grey ethics that aren't heavy-handed, and a wonderful unremarked non-binary secondary character.

ghosttie

rated it

Nov. 22, 2021