Fantasy-Hive

Main Menu

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Interviews
    • Author Spotlight
    • By Author Surname
  • Book Reviews
    • Latest
    • Hive Reads
    • Self-Published
    • By Author Surname
  • Writing
    • Write of Way
    • Worldbuilding By The Numbers
  • Features and Content
    • Ask the Wizard
    • BookTube
    • Busy Little Bees Book Reviews
    • Cover Reveals
    • Cruising the Cosmere
    • Excerpts
    • News and Announcements
    • Original Fiction
      • Four-Part Fiction
    • SPFBO
    • The Unseen Academic
    • Tough Travelling
    • Women In SFF
    • Wyrd & Wonder
  • FAQ

logo

Fantasy-Hive

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Interviews
    • Author Spotlight
    • By Author Surname
  • Book Reviews
    • Latest
    • Hive Reads
    • Self-Published
    • By Author Surname
  • Writing
    • Write of Way
    • Worldbuilding By The Numbers
  • Features and Content
    • Ask the Wizard
    • BookTube
    • Busy Little Bees Book Reviews
    • Cover Reveals
    • Cruising the Cosmere
    • Excerpts
    • News and Announcements
    • Original Fiction
      • Four-Part Fiction
    • SPFBO
    • The Unseen Academic
    • Tough Travelling
    • Women In SFF
    • Wyrd & Wonder
  • FAQ
Book ReviewsFantasy
Home›Book Reviews›Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

By Dorian Hart
January 18, 2018
4259
1

Swordspoint (Riverside) by Ellen KushnerI’m a bit conflicted by Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint. Having pondered it for a few days after finishing it, I’m putting it in the “liked it but didn’t quite love it” category.

It’s a small and contained fantasy-of-manners, a heavily character-driven story of political intrigue and romance. There is no magic, no fantastical or supernatural elements to speak of, so it only lands in the fantasy genre by dint of its nobles-and-peasants setting and the prominent role of swordsmen in the social fabric of its society. Its scope is small and tight, with only two settings of note: the Hill where the nobles live, and the town of Riverside below it, home to a variety of lower class rabble. (I think the author made a conscious choice to limit the narrative focus only to a thin slice of the world’s characters and events.)

The writing is gorgeous. Kushner writes with a lovely, pastoral elegance that makes even mundane settings a joy to read about. Even when my interest in the story faltered, I was always happy to read the next sentence. She has a particular knack for finding just the right odd detail to focus her camera upon to both color a scene and deliver sparkling moments of characterization.

The characters of Swordspoint were both a strength and a weakness. On the one hand the main characters, the swordsman Richard St Vier and his lover Alec, were fascinating and well-drawn. Wanting to know what would become of St Vier was the main driver that propelled me through the book. But he was the only main character that was, to me, in any way likeable. Alec was rude and recklessly self-destructive, and the other characters were either clearly villainous or aimlessly self-absorbed. (There was a minor character, a retired Swordsman, who was sympathetic, but he didn’t get much page time.)  Also, one of the POV characters never found a real place in the story, and had drifted away to an afterthought by the time the book came to an end.

The political intrigue was excellent and handled with a deft touch, but I was left feeling that despite the clever machinations and entertaining sword duels, there was little sense of stakes. Alec is aware of his own tendency to self-destruction, and St Vier comes right and out tells you he doesn’t expect to live long as a Swordsman. Since the protagonists didn’t seem to care if and when they were in danger, it was hard for me to care. And there’s nothing outside the story, no sense of the events fitting into a world larger than the political maneuvers of this one city.

I may be being unfair, faulting the author for things she consciously didn’t prioritize. And there’s a lot to like about the book. The dialogue is excellent and sprinkled liberally with humor; the role of swordsmen in society is fascinating; the intrigue falls nicely into the satisfying strata of “complex-but-not-byzantine”; the two main characters, whatever you may think of them, are fascinating to watch interact with those around them; and the romance is believable and handled well without needing to be explicit.

If you’re in the mood for something small, beautiful, and character-focused, without a need for high magic and epic quests, Swordspoint will fit the bill very well.

TagsEllen KushnerFantasy ClassicsFantasy of MannersPolitical IntrigueRiversideRomanceSwordspoint

Dorian Hart

Dorian Hart grew up in Narnia, Prydain, Middle Earth, etc. as much as he did in the Philly suburbs. He somehow leveraged a creative writing degree from Wesleyan U. into a 20-year career as a video game designer (Ultima Underworld 2, System Shock, Terra Nova, System Shock 2, Thief, Freedom Force vs. the Third Reich, BioShock, Card Hunter). He became a novelist and stay-at-home dad several years ago, and has written and self-published the first two books (The Ventifact Colossus and The Crosser's Maze) of an eventual five-book epic fantasy series. Dorian wrote the interactive SF adventure "Choice of the Star Captain" for Choice of Games. While he suspects he's far less witty and talented than the other members of the Hive, he would probably beat them all at ping-pong.

1 comment

  1. Author Spotlight - Christian Cameron (aka. Miles Cameron) | The Fantasy Hive 5 September, 2018 at 08:08 Reply

    […] Kushner. She wrote a novel called ‘Swordspoint’ which remains one of the finest fantasies I’ve ever read. I bet I’ve read it ten times.  Do […]

Leave a reply Cancel reply

Welcome

Welcome to The Fantasy Hive

We’re a collaborative review site run by volunteers who love Fantasy, Sci-fi, Horror, and everything in-between.

On our site, you can find not only book reviews but author interviews, cover reveals, excerpts from books, acquisition announcements, guest posts by your favourite authors, and so much more.

Have fun exploring…

The Fantasy Hive Team

Visit our shop

Features

Support the Site

Books by A.Z. Anthony/Alex Knight

Books by A.Z. Anthony/Alex Knight

Jeramy’s Books

The Akallian Tales by Jeramy Goble

More from Jonathan

  • Ballad of Black Tom (Feature) The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle posted on December 6, 2017
  • Book of the New Sun (Feature) The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe posted on November 13, 2017
  • 13 Minutes (Feature) 13 Minutes by Sarah Pinborough posted on December 6, 2017
  • Paper Menagerie (Feature) The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu posted on December 6, 2017
  • Interview with Steven Erikson posted on November 1, 2018
  • Hex (Feature) HEX by Thomas Olde Heuvelt posted on November 15, 2017
  • Fifth Season (Feature) The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin posted on November 14, 2017
  • Binti (Feature) Binti by Nnedi Okorafor posted on November 18, 2017
  • THE DOLORIAD by Missouri Williams (BOOK REVIEW) posted on March 3, 2022
  • MORDEW by Alex Pheby (Book Review) posted on August 6, 2020

Laura’s Books

Books by Laura M. Hughes

More from Laura

  • Malazan Characters: Bridgeburners by Shadaan (Feature) A Beginner’s Guide to Malazan Characters: ‘Gardens of the Moon’ posted 6 years ago
  • The Faithful and the Fallen by John Gwynne 5 Reasons to Read ‘The Faithful and the Fallen’ posted 6 years ago
  • Ruin (Feature) Ruin by John Gwynne posted 6 years ago
  • Malazan Characters 2 (Feature) A Beginner’s Guide to Malazan Characters: ‘Deadhouse Gates’ posted 6 years ago
  • The Killing Moon (Feature) The Killing Moon by N. K. Jemisin posted 6 years ago
  • Prince of Fools (Feature) Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence posted 6 years ago
  • Slow Regard of Silent Things (Feature) The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss posted 6 years ago
  • Larcout (Feature) Larcout by K. A. Krantz posted 6 years ago
  • Beyond Redemption (Feature) Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher posted 6 years ago
  • The Emperor's Blades (Feature) The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley posted 6 years ago