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limonotte's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
songwind's review
4.0
A note on shelving. I filed this under "fantasy," and it's generally considered such. However, there is really no fantastical element. It's more like a secondary world historical fiction, roughly Renaissance.
This is a secondary world tale of manners, and drama, and scheming, and romance, and lust. The two principal threads are the life of Richard St. Vier, a professional duelist, and the schemes of the nobility. The two are inextricably intertwined, as the profession of dueling (swordsman, as they are called in the story) is primarily concerned with proxy fighting between nobles for honor and social standing.
The plots are not terribly involved. Like most stories of this kind the meat and potatoes are the characters themselves and their interactions. I was able to follow the twists and turns, anticipated a few and guessed wrong on a few others.
The society on display is interesting. It's all the most decadent failings of nobility, but different from our historical ones in ways subtle and not-so-subtle. The separation of gender roles exists, but is different. Women, for example, wield considerable power in some instances, but are still expected not to fight and to be the caretakers of the household, etc.
Another major and obvious (but not belabored) difference is in the realms of sexuality. As one expects from these sorts of stories, there is a lot of bed-hopping. Said hopping seemed to have very little regard for gender in many instances. Homo- bi- and heterosexuality were all on display. This isn't terribly surprising as Kushner herself identifies as bisexual, but it's not written as any sort of message - it's just the way it is.
All in all, I enjoyed the story and began to care about what happened to several of the characters, despite it not being my usual sort of thing.
Audiobook note
Rather than a straight-up narration, the book was presented almost as a radio play. Kushner (an actor and radio presenter for NPR) was the narrator. There were actors for the primary characters' speaking parts, as well as Foley artists and crowd sounds where appropriate. It really helped to draw me in.
This is a secondary world tale of manners, and drama, and scheming, and romance, and lust. The two principal threads are the life of Richard St. Vier, a professional duelist, and the schemes of the nobility. The two are inextricably intertwined, as the profession of dueling (swordsman, as they are called in the story) is primarily concerned with proxy fighting between nobles for honor and social standing.
The plots are not terribly involved. Like most stories of this kind the meat and potatoes are the characters themselves and their interactions. I was able to follow the twists and turns, anticipated a few and guessed wrong on a few others.
The society on display is interesting. It's all the most decadent failings of nobility, but different from our historical ones in ways subtle and not-so-subtle. The separation of gender roles exists, but is different. Women, for example, wield considerable power in some instances, but are still expected not to fight and to be the caretakers of the household, etc.
Another major and obvious (but not belabored) difference is in the realms of sexuality. As one expects from these sorts of stories, there is a lot of bed-hopping. Said hopping seemed to have very little regard for gender in many instances. Homo- bi- and heterosexuality were all on display. This isn't terribly surprising as Kushner herself identifies as bisexual, but it's not written as any sort of message - it's just the way it is.
All in all, I enjoyed the story and began to care about what happened to several of the characters, despite it not being my usual sort of thing.
Audiobook note
Rather than a straight-up narration, the book was presented almost as a radio play. Kushner (an actor and radio presenter for NPR) was the narrator. There were actors for the primary characters' speaking parts, as well as Foley artists and crowd sounds where appropriate. It really helped to draw me in.
taarna's review against another edition
I like the concept but got close to halfway through before I realized I knew where this was going but was going to have to wait around another few hundred pages for it to get there and I really wasn't invested enough in any of these characters to do that.
xeyra1's review
3.0
Enjoyable read but it ended up not being exactly as good as I expected, especially as I had very high expectations regarding it.
For one, I hated Alec. Apparently he is well beloved by the fans of this novel but I found him to be a bit of a despicable coward. He had a few redeeming qualities, granted (I kind of slightly cheered during the trial scenes), but overall I didn't like him. His haughtiness and whiny personality rubbed wrongly on me. I couldn't quite understand how Richard could like him, unless it was because Alec was in need of protection and Richard liked to have someone to protect.
I also expected a bit more of court intrigue. Only halfway through the novel does anything of some substance happen and even then it's not what we're waiting for. In the end, it all ends up being rather petty.
Still, it was an enjoyable read, even if it didn't meet my high expectations on it.
For one, I hated Alec. Apparently he is well beloved by the fans of this novel but I found him to be a bit of a despicable coward. He had a few redeeming qualities, granted (I kind of slightly cheered during the trial scenes), but overall I didn't like him. His haughtiness and whiny personality rubbed wrongly on me. I couldn't quite understand how Richard could like him, unless it was because Alec was in need of protection and Richard liked to have someone to protect.
I also expected a bit more of court intrigue. Only halfway through the novel does anything of some substance happen and even then it's not what we're waiting for. In the end, it all ends up being rather petty.
Still, it was an enjoyable read, even if it didn't meet my high expectations on it.
blastoise's review
medium-paced
3.5
I picked this book up from a 2nd hand book store cos it was on my to-read list, though I couldn't remember why I put it there. 4 chapters in and I knew why, its very GAY.
Gay, political, swordsman drama/fantasy.
The gayness is not just implied or hinted at, its very obvious and there are multiple gay/bi/queer characters. Its also socially acceptable so no homophobia which is great.
I did zone out a bit at all the political drama, not really my jam, but stayed for the badass bi master swordsman and his upperclass melodromatic pretty boy twink.
Clear class heirarchy, lords and ladies and servants. Shakespearean city setting.
There was one character storyline that bugged me, a main character was pretty much written out over half way through and we didn't see much of him at all. Maybe there is more of him in the sequels, just felt his arc was left unresolved/unsatisfying.
I feel like some of the nuance went over my head, I'm not very book-smart, it would have been more enjoyable if I was. Wouldn't say no to reading the sequel. 3.5 stars.
Gay, political, swordsman drama/fantasy.
The gayness is not just implied or hinted at, its very obvious and there are multiple gay/bi/queer characters. Its also socially acceptable so no homophobia which is great.
I did zone out a bit at all the political drama, not really my jam, but stayed for the badass bi master swordsman and his upperclass melodromatic pretty boy twink.
Clear class heirarchy, lords and ladies and servants. Shakespearean city setting.
There was one character storyline that bugged me, a main character was pretty much written out over half way through and we didn't see much of him at all. Maybe there is more of him in the sequels, just felt his arc was left unresolved/unsatisfying.
I feel like some of the nuance went over my head, I'm not very book-smart, it would have been more enjoyable if I was. Wouldn't say no to reading the sequel. 3.5 stars.
destobie's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
laurentined's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Disaster bisexuals causing problems and occasionally doing sword fights, a good time. I can't usually separate my opinions on the technical skill or a book from my enjoyment of it but I think this is one of those cases where I just enjoyed reading enough that I turned my brain off to story critiques—one character just sort of gets sent away mid plot and doesn't get an ending! But the prose is enjoyable and the dialogue is clever without doing too much. I am a sucker for high society verbal sparring and there's plenty of that to go around. I really just wanted to keep reading about what kind of trouble they were all getting into even despite the main character St Vier mostly lacking much of a personality of his own.
feralratgirl's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
emilyrandolph_epstein's review
5.0
With lush prose and vivid imagery, Swordspoint is a breathtaking drama. The characters are none of them heroes or villains, but schemers each in their own right. Each character is both heart-wrenchingly appealing and marginally repulsive. The third person omniscient POV allows for a full picture of each character so the reader finds themselves unsure of which side they'd like to win.
I listed to the audio version of the book, which was brilliantly read, with a full supporting cast for Ellen Kushner's narration. The music is haunting and exhilarating and the sound effects were well done and not at all distracting as they sometimes can be.
I listed to the audio version of the book, which was brilliantly read, with a full supporting cast for Ellen Kushner's narration. The music is haunting and exhilarating and the sound effects were well done and not at all distracting as they sometimes can be.
spikeanderson1's review
3.0
Swordpoint is a decent book, along the lines of the Lies Of Loche Lamora, but it did not hold my interest well enough to really dig it.