Skip to main content

The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner

I finally got around to reading this one after reading review after glowing review by a host of well-known authors, among them Tamora Pierce, Neil Gaiman, and Holly Black. The Privilege of the Sword is indeed high, swashbuckling fantasy that reads like a cross between Georgette Heyer and Guy Gavriel Kay. And for the first half of the book, I really enjoyed it.

Katherine is a very nice young noblewoman from the country. When her uncle, the Mad Duke, offers to raise her family out of impending poverty in exchange for Katherine coming to live with him in the city and training as a swordswoman, she doesn't even think about it twice. To save her family (and perhaps make a good marriage in town), Katherine jumps at the chance. Trouble is, her uncle really does appear to be "mad" and, in lieu of joining him in his bouts of debauchery and midnight carousing, Katherine is left to fend for herself. After her initial horror at wearing men's clothes, she surprises herself by taking to the art of sword fighting quite quickly. The duke's faithful servant Marcus takes her under his wing as well. The two of them quickly become friends and partners in their secret quest to find out just what the devil the duke and his secret, highborn visitors are up to.

Its rich, heady atmosphere and fast pace are the story's strong points. And the Mad Duke Tremontaine is priceless. I never did grow very close to Katherine, though. And her developing relationship with Marcus seemed forced, as though they got together for lack of having anyone better around. I didn't buy that they really cared that much for each other. I did buy that they both cared about the duke, and with good reason. I wanted more on his character and the machinations of his Hamlet-style, mad north-north-west mind. The story felt like it wanted to go in so many different directions, and explore so many characters at once, but didn't have the necessary space nor sanity to do so, that it was hard to care about the characters you wanted to. I enjoyed it for the most part. I just wish it had stayed in one place long enough for me to really fall in love.

Links
Bookshelves of Doom Review
Bookslut Review
Emerald City Review
Strange Horizons Review
Labels:

Comments

  1. Anonymous6:12 PM

    The earlier book, Swordspoint, is all about the Duke's early years.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Angiegirl6:23 PM

    That's what I've heard. I may pick that one up since I loved him and St. Vier especially.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Kimberly Swan7:52 PM

    You've been busy Angie! I haven't read this author yet. If you get a chance to read the previous book you'll have to let us know if this book seems better after that. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous7:22 AM

    If you love St. Vier, too, definitely, definitely give Swordspoint a try.

    Not that I'm bossy or anything.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Angiegirl4:09 PM

    Lol. Leila, feel free to boss me around if there's a book I simply must read. I definitely love St. Vier, so I'm thinking I'd better give Swordspoint a shot.

    Kimberly, I'll let you know how it goes. Though I don't imagine I'll feel better about Katherine, I'll probably feel more satisfied in general. Which I'll take.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Liviania10:06 PM

    Haha, I was going to direct you to SWORDSPOINT but it seems others have beat me.

    Thanks for entering my contest!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Angiegirl12:11 PM

    Hey, Liviana. Thanks for chiming in. Swordspoint seems to have my name on it.

    And thanks for having the contest!

    ReplyDelete
  8. rachel4:49 PM

    Good point about Marcus and Katherine--there was so much confusion/desire on Katherine's part that I wondered if it was just convenience that she and Marcus hooked up.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

You Might Also Like

Angie's 2026 Must Be Mine

As ever, begin as you mean to go on. And so here are my most anticipated titles of 2026: And no covers on these yet, but I'm just as excited for each one: The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 9 by Beth Brower Finest Kind of Fate by J.J. Mulder My Kind of Guy by Sarina Bowen Ravenous by Kresley Cole Mastermind by Sarah MacLean Game of Rogues by Julie Anne Long Grim Tidings by B.K. Borison Villain Edit by Rosie Danan What titles are on your list?
2 comments
Read more

Retro Friday Review: Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted here at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out-of-print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time! So this is a book I've spent a lot of time talking about. Chances are, if you've hung around these parts, you've heard me push it. But I actually read it for the first time way back in the olden days before the blog was, well, what it is now. I read it shortly after it was first published, back in 2007, when I was writing monthly posts, mere collections of mini-reviews. So Song of the Sparrow  got shortchanged. I decided to address that situation today. The fun thing is lots of friends have read (and reviewed) it since, and so I was able to trip through their lovely thoughts and remember my own. When I heard about a retelling of Tennyson's " Lady of Shalott ," I was so in. I mean, I'...
16 comments
Read more

Bibliocrack Review | Don't You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane

There's really very little to say, isn't there? I hope you are well, wherever you are. I hope that your loved ones are. I hope that you're finding small ways to stay afloat, to remain connected to something, someone, someplace (real or fictional) that sustains you. Dark and difficult times, indeed. I've rather been holding on to this review. I felt so much, so quickly, so irrevocably for this book that it rapidly became hard to talk about to anyone who hadn't read it. And so I hope I can do it justice, just barely enough justice that, if you haven't, you'll run right out and do so. Now is the perfect time. I feel strongly that this book is what you need in your life at this moment. And so. You might want to prepare yourselves. I'm about to wax rhapsodic. But first, and introductory excerpt: At the end of that session, Fay said, What if it's not what happened with this boy you regret, it's you? It's the  you  who you left behind. It's ...
6 comments
Read more