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Review - Swordspoint
Mar. 29th, 2009 03:05 amEllen Kushner's Swordspoint is a very light and easy to read fantasy novel. The book is set in an unnamed city, in a world rather different to ours. The main character, Richard, is a swordsman, who earns his living by killing nobles by contract. This is basically done as a way to get around blood being on a noble's hands. The other main character, Alec, is mysterious and very, very messed up. Despite the fact that the cover doesn't breathe a word of it, Richard and Alec are lovers.
On one level, I really enjoyed Swordspoint. It's easy to read, the prose is clear and precise, and everything ticks along at a nice pace. The alternate world is built up with ease, and the dialogue flows along smoothly, if perhaps not as memorably as the author intends.
I did have quibbles about it, though. It slid by so smoothly that it didn't really get any hooks into me, and I didn't really care all that much about the characters. I love reading romance involving two men, but Alec and Richard didn't really convince me. Alec was strange and melodramatic and unreasonable, and I couldn't fathom Richard's attraction to him -- or what Alec really saw in Richard in return. In my copy of Swordspoint, there are three short stories from their world, and it's in "The Swordsman Whose Name Was Not Death" and "The Death of the Duke" that I really felt engaged with their relationship -- a brief humorous exchange about how Alec loves Richard only for his sword (hawhaw) and the story of Alec's death. Mostly in the latter. I suspect they might grow on me on a second reading, but I spent a lot of time wondering why they were together. Alec's backstory didn't really satisfy me, either.
Definitely fun, and I'll probably keep it around, but not quite what I'd been hoping, I guess. I have the other books set in this world, and it'll be interesting to see who shows up for a second round, and whether I feel less ambivalent about them.
On one level, I really enjoyed Swordspoint. It's easy to read, the prose is clear and precise, and everything ticks along at a nice pace. The alternate world is built up with ease, and the dialogue flows along smoothly, if perhaps not as memorably as the author intends.
I did have quibbles about it, though. It slid by so smoothly that it didn't really get any hooks into me, and I didn't really care all that much about the characters. I love reading romance involving two men, but Alec and Richard didn't really convince me. Alec was strange and melodramatic and unreasonable, and I couldn't fathom Richard's attraction to him -- or what Alec really saw in Richard in return. In my copy of Swordspoint, there are three short stories from their world, and it's in "The Swordsman Whose Name Was Not Death" and "The Death of the Duke" that I really felt engaged with their relationship -- a brief humorous exchange about how Alec loves Richard only for his sword (hawhaw) and the story of Alec's death. Mostly in the latter. I suspect they might grow on me on a second reading, but I spent a lot of time wondering why they were together. Alec's backstory didn't really satisfy me, either.
Definitely fun, and I'll probably keep it around, but not quite what I'd been hoping, I guess. I have the other books set in this world, and it'll be interesting to see who shows up for a second round, and whether I feel less ambivalent about them.
