Ellen Kushner

In an unnamed city, aristocrats fight murderous duels by proxy, and Richard St Vier is the best swordsman to be had for love or money. When the system's intricate etiquette is violated -- by a nobleman who learns to duel, by a lord who doesn't take refusals well, by an acidic scholar who has abandoned his birthright, and by St Vier's own peculiar moral code -- the entire city teeters on the edge of catastrophe.

This was excellent. If one had to quibble -- and, indeed, I love to quibble -- one show more might take issue with some of the supporting characters and their bottom-drawer stupid-fantasy-novel intrigues and motivations. And I spent the second half of the book waiting in vain for Michael Godwin to return and justify his predominance in the first half. But these are quibbles. It's not hard to take the long, magnanimous view of the book, because Richard and Alex are great. They carry the book effortlessly. They could carry a far worse book. show less

In a nameless city in a nameless country, the aristocratic rulers settle their disputes with one another by hiring professional swordsmen, a process involving complicated rules of honor and procedure. Richard St. Vier, considered the finest swordsman in the city, is much in demand, and finds himself embroiled in the various schemes and intrigues of the city's rulers in this work of fantasy from Ellen Kushner. Determined to protect his lover Alec, a sharp-tongued young man whose aristocratic show more origins are something of a mystery, Richard must also contend with the other residents of Riverside, the lawless section of the city in which he lives, and into which the City Watch does not come. Dark plans and serious plots are afoot, of which Richard knows little—will he be able to protect his lover and come out on top in a world where he has little power...?

The hardcover copy of Swordspoint that I read had a quote from Peter S. Beagle on the front dust-jacket flap, describing it as charming, and reading "as if Georgette Heyer had turned her hand to fantasy." I was struck by that quotation when first picking up the book, as I am a great admirer of Heyer's work. On the whole, I think it correct, as the customs of the upper crust in this story do have a kind of Regency feeling to them. The city setting on the other hand, with its lower and criminal class sections, reminded me a bit of The Lies of Locke Lamora. In any case, I enjoyed this one quite a bit, despite disliking many of the characters. I found myself at something of a loss to understand Alec's attraction for Richard for instance, given his unpleasant qualities, but that's love, I suppose. I don't think the strength here is really the emotional undercurrents, as I found many of the characters here opaque in that respect, and my heart untouched, but rather the swashbuckling adventure and complicated twists and turns of factions and plots. I would definitely read more in this series, although perhaps not right away. Recommended to those who enjoy adventure stories, and Ruritanian Romance—into which category I would place this, as it didn't really strike me as fantastical, in any magical sense—as well as those who enjoy Regency style manners in unusual settings. show less

This tale is set in a medieval-ish society where professional swordsmen can be hired to avenge matters of honor, or just kill people. I enjoyed seeing the upper and lower class character's lives, and the gorgeous descriptions of clothes, scents, and settings. Various people plot against each other and seek involve Richard St Vier, the leading swordsman. I'm terrible at understanding strategy and intrigue but appreciated that most of it was explained in the courtroom scene. I'll be thinking show more about Richard and Alec and wondering how they met and what became of them. show less

A tale of scheming and manners and swordplay set in an unnamed city that features a society that encompasses a sort of Elizabethan underworld and a Regency upper class, where the aristocracy answer insults, offences and challenges by hiring swordsman to do their fighting for them. The best swordsman is Richard de Vier, who hangs around an insalubrious part of the town where the City Watch fear to tread with his lover, an ex-scholar with an aristocratic accent, a caustic tongue and an show more apparent death-wish. After an unusually bloody fight at a winter party, events and plots are set in motion that will make life very uncomfortable for de Vier indeed.

This is a fundamentally romantic tale of manners and conspiracies, a drama of social and political maneuvering. Despite being central to the plot and part of the core concept, the sword fights themselves are not treated as thrilling climactic conflicts. The focus is very much on the personal and the political. If CJ Cherryh wrote a Regency novel, it might be a bit like this.

Interestingly, the homosexuality and bisexuality of the main characters came as a shock to me. Not because of the sexuality itself, but because it was presented without fanfare or elaboration, as if completely normal, and I can't remember when or whether I've read a genre novel that did that, and I wonder if that speaks to my conservatism in reading choices or the genre's conservatism in general. Anyway, it's all quite matter-of-fact, as is much of the worldbuilding, which is a masterclass in telling you as little as the narrative can get away with and still evoke a fantasy setting, eschewing infodumps and lessons in history and geography and whatever to avoid bogging the story down.

It took a while for the story to really grab me, but in the end it did, and the three stories at the end were pretty good, too. show less