Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners
The World of Riverside: Book One
Gay male protagonists. Dark fantasy.
. Highly Recommended.
November 23, 2005 | Revid 353 < prev | next >
Swordspoint starts out very slowly and Ms. Kushner seems to be trying far too hard to be literary. Pages of description and complex political machinations abound, especially in the beginning. I also question this book being labeled a "fantasy", because I saw no sign of magic anywhere in it, just sword-fighting in a quasi-medieval society that's quite well-drawn.
These complaints aside, I did enjoy the novel quite a bit, once I got into it. The action doesn't truly pick up until a third of the way into the book or later but once it does, I found it very hard to put the book down. The main characters, Richard St. Vier and Alec, are compellingly drawn and their relationship is very interesting. I would have enjoyed a little more background on how they met and fell in love but it was still quite well-done.
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