Swordheart
Ratings106
Average rating4
This was a delight! I love this world and really hope that she does eventually write about the other two swords!
A weirdly light-hearted book about a magical sword man and his wielder (who he'd like to be wielded by in a different way...). It was delightful and though the journey could have been cut down towards the end, it was still an enjoyable low stakes fantasy read.
I've been wanting to read something by this author for a while now but there was just so much to choose from I had no idea where to start. I guess you could say I was a bit intimidated. Luckily my friend Destiny recommended this one to me and I absolutely loved it. Halla is amazing. I love her personality but I know not everyone will. Sarkis is also amazing and doesn't really know how to deal with Halla which makes for some very funny times. This book was full of humor and I laughed through pretty much all of it. I only had 2 small complaints about this book and that was that it felt a bit too long and Halla's reaction to Sarkis' revelation in the end was a little bit overdone in my opinion. But despite that I absolutely loved this book and it's still perfect in my eyes.
Good, lighthearted and fun book. I think it could have added more character depth while still being as cozy as it is, but overall, if you want something to relax to and feel warm and cozy, this fits the bill.
A housekeeper picks up a sword, which turns out to contain a swordsman who is obliged to protect its wielder.
The ending was a bit cheesy but otherwise a wholesome fantasy-romance book.
There are days when you want a book to be predictable - or at least, predictable in the sense of quality. Like: you know this is going to be good, even before you've even opened it. And that was definitely the case with this novel: I knew it was going to be good, even before I'd opened it, because it was by T. Kingfisher and it was set in the World of the White Rat. And while the story and characters were different from the Clocktaur War duology and the Saint of Steel series, it was still an incredible, feel-good read. Definitely, DEFINITELY recommend to anyone who's looking for a oneshot intro to T. Kingfisher's fantasy novels.
Swordheart is the funniest book I've read since Gideon The Ninth. It's funny in a lighthearted way, without making you think too much which is exactly what I needed in this day and age. I thoroughly recommend it.
As for characters, there's Sarkis, an immortal man trapped in an enchanted sword. There's Halla, a ‘respectable' widow homekeeper who inherits Sarkis's sword, there's Zale a non-binary priest. There's non-humans, and monsters and horrible relatives. They all mush together in wonderful ways, with humor sprinkled very thoroughly throughout.
If you like The Princess Bride, you'll like this book. Seriously. Just go pick it up, you absolutely won't regret it.
My life has been so much better since [a:K.J. Charles 7123498 K.J. Charles https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1418032373p2/7123498.jpg] introduced me to T. Kingfisher through the [b:Clockwork Boys 36618062 Clockwork Boys (Clocktaur War, #1) T. Kingfisher https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1511019840s/36618062.jpg 58376790] duology. Her writing is funny, smart, snarky and lively, and when you add in romance - well, I'm totally in my happy place. Although the adventures in Swordheart have lower stakes than those in Clockwork, they're still great fun and full of memorable secondary characters, (thank goodness the gnoles are back!) religions, and just enough violence to keep it interesting.And then there are Halla and Sarkis. At first I thought I wouldn't like Halla as much as Slate from Clockwork - she's ditzy and passive and has none of Slate's edge. But then you realize that her ditziness is a weapon (and a very effective one), and she becomes much more the author of her own story as the novel progresses. Setting one of the climactic scenes in the exact same place as the opening helps underscore how much less helpless she has become through her quest to regain her rightful inheritance. And what can I say about Sarkis, who has lived inside a sword for almost 500 years? He's pretty sure that stabbing people will solve every problem, his facial expressions seem to consist of a variety of different scowls, and he is falling desperately in love with Halla despite all the reasons that he shouldn't. He reminds me of Tiger from Jennifer Roberson's [b:Sword-Dancer 127645 Sword-Dancer (Tiger and Del, #1) Jennifer Roberson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328000456s/127645.jpg 2168409] series, and that is a high compliment. Kingfisher promises two more books in this series, and they can't come quickly enough. Halla and Sarkis get their HEA but there is a major plot thread left dangling that needs to be addressed. I'm sure this wonderful author will not disappoint her readers because fortunately for us, as she explains in the author's note, she has a lot to say about magic swords.
Always a great storyteller and I stay up way to late reading her stories. Often giggling.
She always has a new angle on the classic tropes - this one being a magical sword and respectable widow on an adventure. Slowly because of Prettyfoot the ox.