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I read this book years ago when I was an impressionable Mormon closet case, and I remember being intrigued and disturbed at the time by Kushner's depiction of lust, bisexuality and homosexual relationships. When I reread it today I rediscovered its brilliance, intricacy and poignancy. The relationship between the swordsman St Vier and "his young gentleman, the University student" had a glittering, frenzied, self-destructive beauty I associate with Matt Damon's Mr. Ripley, while finding an eventu...
First, I should point out that the audiobook of this novel is a fantastic treat, including multiple voices including the author, herself, but also ambient sounds such as background conversations and even a cat! Music, too! But don't let that dissuade you, either, because it's all low-key enough to let us focus mainly on the tale at hand.So what is this? Is it really fantasy?Honestly, I don't think there's much fantasy at all, but if you like swords and high 18th century culture on a slight stero...
Gorgeous and memorable book. There's not a lot that I can add that hasn't been said. I read it about the time I was discovering LGBTQ characters in spec fiction, and I remember wishing that everything could be like this.
Politics, class, sword fighting, and an intense, subtle M/M romance. This book just made me happy. It's clever but not baroque, emotionally resonant, sweet and bitter and tense. I get the impression this was Kushner's first published novel, and there are a few missteps -- most notably a belief that the reader will be as interested in secondary characters as in the protagonists. But what protagonists they are -- subversive, unfitting, sympathetic. It's also complex and nuanced, and I suspect when...
⚔️ My My What A Big Swashbuckling Fantasy Rip-Off We Have Here Buddy Read (MMWABSFROWHHBR™) with my fellow inmates at the Scarlet Citadel That Was But Is No Longer ⚔️Okay, so I said pretty much everything I had to say about this delightful masterpiece in my fascinating pre-review down there ↓↓, but I'm afraid (for you, not for me) that some things must be expanded and analyzed and stuff, so here goes. Let’s see, this book is supposed to be a Fantasy Classic. Everyone following me so far? Good. B...
my goodness, but this was fun.by the time I started worrying that the twisty subterfuge would drain the story of momentum I looked up and realized I'd practically inhaled this badboy to the 70 percent mark. and then some shit went down and my heart was pounding in my throat.meanwhile, this edition has a trio of follow-up stories at the end, so 70 percent turned out to be 90 percent. bravo!a lush, layered, ingeniously taut melange of gripping skullduggery, sword fights, bisexual escapades, and ev...
The audio production is a blast. It's often fully voiced (but weirdly, not all the time? Why not all the time?). There's a fun story here but it's kind of flippant and light the whole time. So a very chill listen overall, though I often wished there was something larger at stake.
I picked this up for a couple of euro in one of my favourite second-hand bookshops because I'd heard it recommended numerous times on my flist. Cheesy fantasy novel cover aside (as a side note, exactly why must the covers of 99% of fantasy books be so fantastically appalling?), the descriptions I'd heard of it made it seem as if the book was tailor-made to appeal to me. A well-written, slashy, historical fantasy-of-manners - what's not to like?Well, quite a lot, as it turns out. If the blurb by
I read very little of this book. While it is well written (I say this in respect to those who like it greatly) it is not a book I care to get involved in. The world while well crafted is one that creeps toward debauchery and cynicism on an almost monumental scale. There are actually (so far as I can see) no "heroes" here, very little that is redeeming. It's claim to fame is a drama in a world of those who see themselves as sly sophisticates. Please enjoy it if it's to your taste as fiction.. It
The full Tome & Tankard Review and Custom Cocktail is available here. This one is a bit special for me, as it turns out I’ve been a fan of Ellen Kushner for far longer than I realized. Thinking to myself “this name sounds awfully familiar” when Ellen tweeted me about Swordspoint, I looked her up only to find that I’ve been reading her Choose Your Own Adventure novels since I was about 8 years old – crikey! Turns out that those very CYOA novels were written in order to pay the rent when she was w...
Tiresome. Tedious. Repetitive. Populated with interchangeable, unlikable cardboard cut-out characters. The dialogue is endlessly crammed with discussions of fashion and parties and clothes and status-seeking. The action sequences either occur off-stage or crawl by at a snail's pace, and despite its name there's next to no sword-fighting in the actual narrative. I have no idea how this became considered a "new classic" nor even how it managed to become identified as "fantasy." It's more like an a...
It's hard to be happy about the fact you spent a day vomiting your guts up. But, when, a couple of days later, being too ill still to leave the house allows you to stay home and listen to the audiobook instead of going to see a show, it certainly makes you a little more grateful for sickness. That's how much I enjoyed this.I can only describe this book as being a total delight. For someone who isn't a fan of Austen, a fantasy of manners is often hit-and-miss for me. This was all hits. The charac...
Hahahahaha wow. Man I don't even know what to say about this. Okay basic run down: this book's got two primary narrators: Richard St. Vier and Michael Godwin. Everyone wants a piece of St. Vier because he's the most badass swordsman ever to exist and apparently stabbing people is an acceptable way to resolve conflicts in this world so long as you outsource the job. Michael Godwin is a doof with a talent for ruining his own life. Lucky for him he is rich good looking doof who catches the eye of o...
I read this book first many years agoSeduced by Canty's gorgeous cover orReviews in Locus, honestly, I don'tRecall or think it matters at this point.The point is: You should buy and read this book.St Vier and Alec, star-crossed lovers, ifThe stars were feeling just a bit perverse:St Vier the swordsman, best in RiversideAnd Alec, clad in ragged student's robes(but is his past mysterious? of course)Are caught in nobles' intrigues labyrinthine(for swordsmen are to nobles but a tool,for use as honor...
I really try to make an effort to read related titles in order, but I accidentally read The Fall of The Kings, which was billed as a sequel to Swordspoint, first. It was good enough that I went out of my way to get ahold of Swordspoint - and now I've read it!However, I wouldn't really call one a "sequel" to the other. The books take place in the same city, 60 years apart, and don't include any of the same main characters. Both are fully stand-alone works.The setting is a city which strikes me as...
Felt like re-reading this on Kindle instead of my well-loved copy with the unforgettable Thomas Canty cover (the reason I bought it a long time ago). There were some annoying formatting issues which I found somewhat maddening because this delicious and witty romp deserves better. With that said, Swordspoint will always have a special place in my heart because it packs more action and intrigue than many brick-thick trilogies. Each time I revisit Riverside I find something new and interesting. Dia...
Well, this one is unique! This is something I can honestly say I’ve never seen before, at least inside the fantasy genre, though I’ve seen it quite a bit outside of it. This is a comedy of manners in the classic sense, and reads like Jane Austin and Oscar Wilde got together to write a fantasy novel. It’s funny, well executed and very witty (so much of the dialogue has double meanings or insults hidden behind kind words that I found myself laughing out loud on multiple occasions).The plot alterna...
4.5 Stars. This book was a whole lot of fun! Humor and swordplay and romance all rolled into one. I'm usually not a big fan of the Fantasy of Manners subgenre but this one was very close to absolute perfection.I listened to the multi-cast audio with the "illuminated" bits, which were basically sound effects every now and then. If people were running you would hear footsteps, there was sound for sword play, the babble of voices in a crowded area, doors creaking open, and a few other things. It re...
I am an absurd fan of this book, although to be honest I'm not sure how I would feel about it if I first picked it up today as opposed to picking it up as one of my first m/m books ever.You see, this book was first published in 1987. 1987! The amazingness of a m/m that has both a happy ending and mental illness representation is just mind blowing. It shook me then, and it shakes me now. I don't even know how to properly express it. There are books published today that don't pull this off.And the...
Argh, I'm sorry I can't have loved this more. I think partly it was a misunderstanding of what this book was and partly my own personal sensibilities. I can see, if I had read this before I understood that withstanding abuse is not love, that I might have found it the exciting, passionate and violent story it wanted to be. But I did not read it then, and it's not so cute now.CONTENT WARNING: (no actual spoilers, just a list of topics) (view spoiler)[ infidelity, sadism, serial killers, domestic