Review - The Privilege of the Sword
Apr. 2nd, 2009 12:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wilderthanThe Privilege of the Sword is just as easy to read as Swordspoint. It's a little different in style, given that there are sections in first person and some in third. I think this is actually a little lazy on Kushner's part. It could easily have all been written in third person, it would have been much harder to do in first person. I think she should have picked one and stuck to it; the POV changes are odd and sometimes awkward.
Alec and Richard are no longer the main characters, but they're still important and they shape Katherine's life. This is more of a coming-of-age story than Swordspoint, with two of the main characters being teenagers. There's also a bit of genderbending -- not exactly, but Katherine feels like she's being transformed into a man, so almost.
The characters, again, didn't really get their hooks into me. I was glad for Katherine and Marcus and their happy end, but I didn't really care about them. Oddly my feelings about Alec and Richard matured a little, and the scene with them somewhere mid-book tore my heart a little. St Vier's condition in this book broke me a little, too. But in general, I didn't get that close to or convinced by the characters.
The last few chapters could have been expanded on, too. Everything seems to escalate very fast, in a fearful scramble.
Again, I didn't love it as much as I expected to, but it was a fun read and a quick one. Doesn't require too much time or concentration.
Alec and Richard are no longer the main characters, but they're still important and they shape Katherine's life. This is more of a coming-of-age story than Swordspoint, with two of the main characters being teenagers. There's also a bit of genderbending -- not exactly, but Katherine feels like she's being transformed into a man, so almost.
The characters, again, didn't really get their hooks into me. I was glad for Katherine and Marcus and their happy end, but I didn't really care about them. Oddly my feelings about Alec and Richard matured a little, and the scene with them somewhere mid-book tore my heart a little. St Vier's condition in this book broke me a little, too. But in general, I didn't get that close to or convinced by the characters.
The last few chapters could have been expanded on, too. Everything seems to escalate very fast, in a fearful scramble.
Again, I didn't love it as much as I expected to, but it was a fun read and a quick one. Doesn't require too much time or concentration.
