Alec was rude and recklessly self-destructive, and the other characters were either clearly villainous or aimlessly self-absorbed. But he was the only main character that was, to me, in any way likeable. Wanting to know what would become of St Vier was the main driver that propelled me through the book. On the one hand the main characters, the swordsman Richard St Vier and his lover Alec, were fascinating and well-drawn. The characters of Swordspoint were both a strength and a weakness. 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. Even when my interest in the story faltered, I was always happy to read the next sentence. Kushner writes with a lovely, pastoral elegance that makes even mundane settings a joy to read about. (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.)

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. 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. It’s a small and contained fantasy-of-manners, a heavily character-driven story of political intrigue and romance. 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. I’m a bit conflicted by Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint.

Ellen kushner's swordspoint