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Book Review: Swordheart, by T. Kingfisher

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I borrowed an e-copy of T. Kingfisher‘s Swordheart through Hoopla.
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Halla is a housekeeper who has suddenly inherited her great-uncle’s estate… and, unfortunately, his relatives. Sarkis is an immortal swordsman trapped in a prison of enchanted steel. When Halla draws the sword that imprisons him, Sarkis finds himself attempting to defend his new wielder against everything from bandits and roving inquisitors to her own in-laws… and the sword itself may prove to be the greatest threat of all. my review

This is the second T. Kingfisher book in a row that I’ve read and loved. I imagine I’ll be steamrolling my way through the whole rest of their back-list in short order. I absolutely loved the characters here; their personality and who Kingfisher opted to let them be—older than you’d expect, without perfect bodies, and not adhering to standard expectations of beauty, gender, or behavior.

I had so much fun and laughed often, all while appreciating the intricacies of the story being told. It’s isn’t a sweeping plot or full of action and adventure. It’s actually pretty small when you really stop and think of it. But it was enough to both contain and highlight the story and the characters.

While I realize, of course, that Halla weaponized the appearance of stupidity and was in no way actually stupid. She was somewhat flighty and I thought that did play into stereotypes of women a little. But I also enjoyed watching Sarkis come to terms with and then to admire her for that same quality. All in all, I’m hoping that open ending means there will be a second book. I can’t wait to meet the other two swords (fingers crossed).

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Other Reviews:

Review – Swordheart

Book Review – Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

REVIEW: Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

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Book Review: Vows of Gold and Laughter, by Edith Pawlicki

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I accepted a copy of Edith Pawlicki‘s Vows of Gold and Laughter for review, as part of the Love Books book tour.

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The meeting of four lonely immortals will change them – and the world.

High in the Heavens, an immortal court celebrates the betrothal of Jin, Goddess of Beauty, and Xiao, God of Pleasure. But as soon as the vows are made, the Sun Emperor collapses from a death curse.

Raised away from the Sun Court after her mother’s murder, Jin is called a useless goddess, but she is now the emperor’s only hope. The curse’s cure is locked in the Underworld, and even though the court dismisses him as a hopeless alcoholic, Xiao vows to help his betrothed find the lost key.

They hire a thief who is more interested in stealing the groom than recovering the key, and begin their search at the legendary grave of the Great Warrior – only it turns out he never died. Tens of millennia old, he is a master of everything but his own heart.

Their journey takes them from the icy peaks of the White Mountain and the lush banks of the Kuanbai River to the palace of the Sea Dragon and the halls of the Moon Deer, through court intrigue and bloody battles, power struggles and magical traps. Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld will forever celebrate their triumphs – and mourn their mistakes.

my review

I was initially attracted to this book because of the lovely cover. But I was a little hesitant because the characters on the front appear so youthful. I didn’t want to find myself in super young adult angst-land. But I am pleased to say that though this is a coming-of-age tale of sorts, the youths in question are 5-25k-years-old. Sooooo, you know, not too angsty. (The oldest ‘adult’ is roughly 75k-years-old, for comparison’s sake.) These are gods and elemental spirits (or Colors). And while they and their cultures have many many things in common with humanity, they are also notably different and I very much enjoyed the way Pawlicki wove this into the story.

I also appreciated that the circumstances Pawlicki put the four protagonists into could have lead to innumerable tedious jealousies and misunderstanding, driving the plot with artificial drama and…well, to use the word again, angst…the author didn’t go this route. While all of the characters have emotional growth throughout the book, they also try very hard not to hurt one another. Plus, they’re all intensely likeable most of the time. (Maybe not in some of those moments of growth, but generally.)

The book does deal with some heavy themes. Amongst them addiction, abuse, truly horrendous parents, past trauma, loneliness, regret, and guilt. But it’s never too heavy to bear.

While the writing and editing were very good over all. There was the occasional anachronistic turn or phrase or jarring oversight. (Like the person who clenched their fists (plural), after losing a hand.) But these were rare and stood out more for their rarity, I think.

Given the cover, it shouldn’t be surprising that the whole thing reminded me very much of Manhwa (think Bride of the Water God). I’m fairly sure that if you like that narrative style you will very much like this book. I did and I look forward to picking up book two, especially since this one ended on a cliffhanger.

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Other Reviews:

Vows of Gold and Laughter (Book Review) by Edith Pawlicki

Review: Vows of Gold & Laughter By Edith Pawlicki [Sunday (Tuesday) Book Club]

Vows of Gold and Laughter

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Book Review: Dark and Otherworldly, by Kristen Brand

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Author, Kristen Brand sent me an ecopy of the Omnibus of Dark and Otherworldly for review.
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Leigh Morgan has one mission: to stop the fae who abducted her sister from ever kidnapping another human again.

Dredarion Rath wants one thing: to disgrace his older brother and prove himself the worthier heir to Otherworld’s throne.

When their paths cross, it changes everything, and neither Otherworld nor the human realm will ever be the same.

Three romantic urban fantasy novels; one darkly enchanting volume. The Dark and Otherworldly Omnibus includes:

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Poison and Honey
She hunts the fae. The last man she should fall for is a cunning fae prince.

Sting of Thorns
She’s been cursed by the queen of Otherworld. Now the only one who can save her is the man she betrayed.

The Cruelest Curse
When dark forces threaten Otherworld, she’ll have to join forces with her enemies to save the kingdom… and the prince.

my review

I wrote brief individual reviews as I finished each of these novellas. But I’ll make a few quick general statements before I get to them. First I liked this quite a lot. I loved the way Leigh and Dredarion grated on one another, but also came to respect aspects of the other.

Second, I know that my hatred of serials is a personal issue that not everyone shares. Many people will have no issue with this story being broken into 3 volumes. And at 519 pages it is too long to feasibly be published as a single book. But it is 100% a single story. While the author finds acceptable stopping points, none of it stands alone and I think it could have been edited down to fit into a single longish book. I just see no reason that it needed to be broken into 3 pieces. I wouldn’t have even chanced reading it if I hadn’t been offered the Omnibus and that would have been a shame because, as I said, I liked it quite a lot.

Third, I can’t write this review and not mention the giant elephant that is Leigh falling in love with her en-slaver and, because of that love, being willing to return and fight for the peoples who were still actively enslaving her own. By the end Dredarion may have changed his views, but no one else had. So, even by the end she loved and worked for the betterment of people who were enslaving her people. It’s hugely problematic and if it wasn’t in a fantasy setting it would have been wholly intolerable.

Since it is a fantasy I was able to suspend my disbelief enough to put up with it. But even then I noticed that the issue of slavery was more and more often euphemistically referred to as servitude as the series went on.

Now, moving on to my thoughts each individual novella.

Poison and Honey
I liked this a lot. I liked both Leigh and Dredarion and I liked what they appreciated about each other. I thought the world was interesting and both Leigh’s determination and Dredarion’s obvious blind spot around the enslavement of humans interesting. I did think the romance aspect moved too quickly and disliked that it ended on a cliffhanger, such that it’s not a complete story. And at only 136 pages, it had room to be. It did feel like it was a spin-off of something, with quite a lot of named, but otherwise unknown, characters showing up right at the end as if we should know who they are. But as far as I can tell it isn’t.

Sting of Thorns
In a way I think I enjoyed this second installment more than the first. All those unknown characters who showed up out of the blue at the end of Poison and Honey are finally introduced and I liked them all. Leigh and Dredarion are forced to get to know the real versions of each other and I enjoyed that, though I still feel their ‘love’ is unsupported. I just decided to roll with it like any other fantasy element. I did see the twist coming and it, of course, explains so much.

The Cruelest Curse
Honestly, this was my least favorite of the three. It brings the story to a satisfactory conclusion, but it lost the tension and delicious banter between Leigh and Dredarion. They became love-sick saps instead. Plus, while I was always bothered by the way the humans’ enslavement is glossed over as servitude, you really feel it here. I don’t think the word slave is even used. And when Leigh negotiated for better conditions for the humans, it included pay and the ability to leave a position, but not that humans wouldn’t be kidnapped anymore. Perhaps this is inferred, but I use it as an example of how the slavery aspect weakened as the series progressed. Despite all that, when I look at the series as a whole, I’m happy to have read it and will happily pick up another of Brand’s Books.

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Other Reviews:

Darkest Sins Blog

Whiskey & Wit Book Reviews