Ellen Kushner
Thomas the Rhymer (1990)
I thoroughly enjoyed Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint, so I was excited when I saw that Thomas the Rhymer was being re-released.
Thomas the Rhymer is one of the books that managed to be precisely what I want to read. The tale is of Thomas the Rhymer, minstrel who falls for the queen of Elfland. The story is told from four different points of view: The longest narrative is from the point of view of Thomas, but the other three are those around Thomas, two of whom are an older couple who take Thomas in.
Oddly, it is one of those characters, Meg, who I like the best. Something about her view of life seemed to resonate with me. Not that I disliked any of the characters--there was just something about Meg that I particularly liked.
The writing is beautiful, and the storytelling is wonderful--this was one of those books that I read in two days, because I just didn't want to put it down (one of the reason I tend not to read novels during the week and during the semester.) The food, the clothes, the atmosphere--usually I hate reading about things like that, but they seemed so important in this book that I didn't skip those parts like I sometimes do.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I only wish that Ellen Kushner had more books out than the three I have already read.
Rating: 9/10
Swordspoint (Bantam/Spectra 1987)
This is a marvelous book.
Richard St Vier is a swordsman in a time and places where nobles hire swordsmen to fight their duels and to make points of honor. The system was originally created to formalize dueling, and to, one imagines, reduce the number of deaths that occurred because of dueling. Although a swordsman could challenge a noble to a duel, most duels occur between hired swordsmen.
And of those swordsmen, St Vier is the best. He will not take a written contract, relying upon the honor of the nobles who hire him to keep him from prison. St Vier's lover, Alex, is an enigma. Kicked out of the university, Alex lives seemingly only to offend those around him, which, much to his delight, frequently leads to St Vier killing those who would take action after taking offense.
But really, the writing is just gorgeous, drawing me in from the beginning.
The falling snow made it hard for him to see. The fight hadn't winded him, but he was hot and sweaty, and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He ignored it, making for Riverside, where no one was likely to follow him.
He could have stayed, if he'd wanted to. The swordfight had been very impressive, and the party guests and its outcome would be talked about for weeks. But if he stayed, the swordsman knew that he would be offered wine, and rich pastry, and asked boring questions about his technique, and difficult questions about who had arranged the fight. He ran on.
Under his cloak, his shirt was spattered with blood, and the Watch would want to know what he was doing up on the Hill at this hour. It was their right to know; but his profession forbade him to answer, so he dodged around corners and caught his breath in doorways until he'd left the splendors of the Hill behind, working his way down through the city.
Isn't that marvelous? This book makes me want to run out and take up fencing--except for the fact that I'm a complete klutz and would most likely end up impaling myself. Though it might be worth it.
There is a bit of sex in this book, so I would not recommend it for a younger reader, but it's not a lot of sex.
And as a bonus, there are additional short stories in the back of the book, so not only do you get to read just a little bit more, the book gets to surprise you with its ending, as you don't realize it's something. (Which is one reason why I like books with previews in the back. Not because I read the previews--I don't--but because they allow the end of the book to sneak up on me, and there's something satisfying about that.
The strange thing about this book is that although it's labeled as fantasy, it isn't--not really. There is no magic, no faerie, no supernatural creatures--the only fantasy is that the world where Swordspoint takes place has never existed.
I love everything about this book. I love Alec and St Vier, I love the writing, I love the story, it's all wonderful and perfect and I could sit right back down and read it again and enjoy it just as much.
Rating: 10/10
The Fall of the Kings with Delia Sherman (2002)
This book is set in the same world as Swordspoint, about two generations later. The story begins at the University, where Basil St Cloud is a young Doctor of History at the University. It is there that he meets Theron Campion, son of the Mad Duke and heir to Tremontaine.
I liked this book far less than I liked Swordspoint, which means that it's still a good book, although not a great book. What kept it from being great is that I just didn't care as much about the main characters as I did in Swordspoint. I was fond of some of the secondary characters, especially Justis, but I just couldn't get really attached to the main characters. I almost felt as if the author(s) knew that she (they) was (were) going to do bad things to some of the characters, and so didn't want to get too attached, so that she (they) could go through with it.
The other problem I had was that there was just too much sex for my tastes. Sure it may necessary to describe the sexual relationship between characters, because of the relationship between Kings and Wizards in history; I just don't care to read about all the details. Of course it wasn't as bad as I'm making it sound, I just would have preferred more detailed sword fights and fewer detailed sex scenes. (Which right there tells you plenty about me I suppose.)
Tied in, is the fact that when some of the characters made claims of being in love, I just didn't believe it. Lust I could believe. Obsession I could believe. But love? The story would have been far stronger if I could have believed it was a love story. I just didn't.
Oddly enough, I enjoyed the bits about research and scholarship, but then I do work in academia, so that shouldn't come as a huge surprise I suppose.
But, all in all, the book had political intrigue, romantic intrigue, and a fantastic plot, so the it is is well worth reading, despite my misgivings.
Rating: 7/10
The Privilege of the Sword (2006)
There are a handful of authors whose books I actively seek out, looking for crumbs of news of upcoming books: Sean Russell, Guy Gavriel Kay, Charles de Lint, and also Ellen Kushner. Well, July has been a good month for me; new Charles de Lint, and even more rare, a new Ellen Kushner book, The Privilege of the Sword.
For those who have read Swordspoint, The Privilege of the Sword takes place in the same world, with some of the same characters. (And if you have not read Swordspoint, you should drop everything and read it now. It is damn near perfect.)
Katherine's family has always been on the edge of financial solvency, and the continual lawsuits by her uncle, the Mad Duke Tremontaine don't help. So it's a blessing for everyone when the Mad Duke offers to forgive the Talbert debt--as well as settling a sum of money on the family--if only Katherine will come live with him and study the sword--it's an offer her mother can't refuse.
The strange thing about The Privilege of the Sword is that initially I was somewhat disappointed. Katherine is interested in gowns and balls and all the other things that young women are interested in. And I... am not. As she complains of her dress and of her practice with the sword, in the back of my mind I wonder, "what's wrong with her?" Well, nothing. I just sometimes find it hard to remember that some people like dressing up and doing their hair and other dainty and feminine things.
Additionally, the more time Katherine spent with Alec, the more I missed St Vier.
I got over all that quickly enough.
Although Katherine wants gowns and beautiful things, she also wants to do the best for her family, and so she goes to Tremontaine House, and learns to fence. Although her uncle is strange, and she hates having to follow his every whim, she settles in rapidly enough, and eventually takes an interest in what she's learning.
And then the story takes off.
I had no idea where the story was going, and what was going to happen to Katherine. I remembered the outline of what happened to Alec and St Vier in Swordspoint, but I was missing lots of little details. Both of these things combined to create a story that was surprising and fascinating (and really made me wants to reread Swordspoint)
This is most certainly a worthy heir to Swordspoint, and you could easily read this without having read Swordspoint, and still understand everything that is happening. After all, we are seeing the world through Katherine's eyes, and she knows little of Alec or St Vier or the politics of the city. Having read the previous stories was a bonus--not a requirement.
My only complaint about this story is that it was over far too soon--and the way Ellen Kushner writes, it will be years and years before I have a new book of hers in my hands.
And one comment. The format for this book was strange--although the book is a trade paperback, it's unusually thin--not as in the number of pages, but as in the width of the book. It was a disconcerting book to read, because every once in awhile when I picked it up, it felt just a little bit off.
Okay, two comments. There is sex in this book. Not a lot, and not extremely explicit, but it's there, so don't say I didn't wanr you.
So to sum it up, this is an excellent book you must run out Right Now and get this book so that you can immediately start reading it. Because as much as I love listening to Sound and Spirit, I'd love more books even more. And if you haven't read Swordspoint, you really need to read that. In fact, I'm trying to fight off an urge to reread it myself; my to-read list grew substantially after my birthday, and I've got some catching up to do.
Rating: 9/10
Books by Ellen Kushner:
Swordspoint (1987), The Fall of the Kings (2002) , Thomas the Rhymer (1990), The Privilege of the Sword (2006)
Ellen Kushner
Thomas the Rhymer (1990)
I thoroughly enjoyed Ellen Kushner's Swordspoint, so I was excited when I saw that Thomas the Rhymer was being re-released.
Thomas the Rhymer is one of the books that managed to be precisely what I want to read. The tale is of Thomas the Rhymer, minstrel who falls for the queen of Elfland. The story is told from four different points of view: The longest narrative is from the point of view of Thomas, but the other three are those around Thomas, two of whom are an older couple who take Thomas in.
Oddly, it is one of those characters, Meg, who I like the best. Something about her view of life seemed to resonate with me. Not that I disliked any of the characters--there was just something about Meg that I particularly liked.
The writing is beautiful, and the storytelling is wonderful--this was one of those books that I read in two days, because I just didn't want to put it down (one of the reason I tend not to read novels during the week and during the semester.) The food, the clothes, the atmosphere--usually I hate reading about things like that, but they seemed so important in this book that I didn't skip those parts like I sometimes do.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I only wish that Ellen Kushner had more books out than the three I have already read.
Rating: 9/10
Swordspoint (Bantam/Spectra 1987)
This is a marvelous book.
Richard St Vier is a swordsman in a time and places where nobles hire swordsmen to fight their duels and to make points of honor. The system was originally created to formalize dueling, and to, one imagines, reduce the number of deaths that occurred because of dueling. Although a swordsman could challenge a noble to a duel, most duels occur between hired swordsmen.
And of those swordsmen, St Vier is the best. He will not take a written contract, relying upon the honor of the nobles who hire him to keep him from prison. St Vier's lover, Alex, is an enigma. Kicked out of the university, Alex lives seemingly only to offend those around him, which, much to his delight, frequently leads to St Vier killing those who would take action after taking offense.
But really, the writing is just gorgeous, drawing me in from the beginning.
The falling snow made it hard for him to see. The fight hadn't winded him, but he was hot and sweaty, and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He ignored it, making for Riverside, where no one was likely to follow him.
He could have stayed, if he'd wanted to. The swordfight had been very impressive, and the party guests and its outcome would be talked about for weeks. But if he stayed, the swordsman knew that he would be offered wine, and rich pastry, and asked boring questions about his technique, and difficult questions about who had arranged the fight. He ran on.
Under his cloak, his shirt was spattered with blood, and the Watch would want to know what he was doing up on the Hill at this hour. It was their right to know; but his profession forbade him to answer, so he dodged around corners and caught his breath in doorways until he'd left the splendors of the Hill behind, working his way down through the city.
Isn't that marvelous? This book makes me want to run out and take up fencing--except for the fact that I'm a complete klutz and would most likely end up impaling myself. Though it might be worth it.
There is a bit of sex in this book, so I would not recommend it for a younger reader, but it's not a lot of sex.
And as a bonus, there are additional short stories in the back of the book, so not only do you get to read just a little bit more, the book gets to surprise you with its ending, as you don't realize it's something. (Which is one reason why I like books with previews in the back. Not because I read the previews--I don't--but because they allow the end of the book to sneak up on me, and there's something satisfying about that.
The strange thing about this book is that although it's labeled as fantasy, it isn't--not really. There is no magic, no faerie, no supernatural creatures--the only fantasy is that the world where Swordspoint takes place has never existed.
I love everything about this book. I love Alec and St Vier, I love the writing, I love the story, it's all wonderful and perfect and I could sit right back down and read it again and enjoy it just as much.
Rating: 10/10
The Fall of the Kings with Delia Sherman (2002)
This book is set in the same world as Swordspoint, about two generations later. The story begins at the University, where Basil St Cloud is a young Doctor of History at the University. It is there that he meets Theron Campion, son of the Mad Duke and heir to Tremontaine.
I liked this book far less than I liked Swordspoint, which means that it's still a good book, although not a great book. What kept it from being great is that I just didn't care as much about the main characters as I did in Swordspoint. I was fond of some of the secondary characters, especially Justis, but I just couldn't get really attached to the main characters. I almost felt as if the author(s) knew that she (they) was (were) going to do bad things to some of the characters, and so didn't want to get too attached, so that she (they) could go through with it.
The other problem I had was that there was just too much sex for my tastes. Sure it may necessary to describe the sexual relationship between characters, because of the relationship between Kings and Wizards in history; I just don't care to read about all the details. Of course it wasn't as bad as I'm making it sound, I just would have preferred more detailed sword fights and fewer detailed sex scenes. (Which right there tells you plenty about me I suppose.)
Tied in, is the fact that when some of the characters made claims of being in love, I just didn't believe it. Lust I could believe. Obsession I could believe. But love? The story would have been far stronger if I could have believed it was a love story. I just didn't.
Oddly enough, I enjoyed the bits about research and scholarship, but then I do work in academia, so that shouldn't come as a huge surprise I suppose.
But, all in all, the book had political intrigue, romantic intrigue, and a fantastic plot, so the it is is well worth reading, despite my misgivings.
Rating: 7/10
The Privilege of the Sword (2006)
There are a handful of authors whose books I actively seek out, looking for crumbs of news of upcoming books: Sean Russell, Guy Gavriel Kay, Charles de Lint, and also Ellen Kushner. Well, July has been a good month for me; new Charles de Lint, and even more rare, a new Ellen Kushner book, The Privilege of the Sword.
For those who have read Swordspoint, The Privilege of the Sword takes place in the same world, with some of the same characters. (And if you have not read Swordspoint, you should drop everything and read it now. It is damn near perfect.)
Katherine's family has always been on the edge of financial solvency, and the continual lawsuits by her uncle, the Mad Duke Tremontaine don't help. So it's a blessing for everyone when the Mad Duke offers to forgive the Talbert debt--as well as settling a sum of money on the family--if only Katherine will come live with him and study the sword--it's an offer her mother can't refuse.
The strange thing about The Privilege of the Sword is that initially I was somewhat disappointed. Katherine is interested in gowns and balls and all the other things that young women are interested in. And I... am not. As she complains of her dress and of her practice with the sword, in the back of my mind I wonder, "what's wrong with her?" Well, nothing. I just sometimes find it hard to remember that some people like dressing up and doing their hair and other dainty and feminine things.
Additionally, the more time Katherine spent with Alec, the more I missed St Vier.
I got over all that quickly enough.
Although Katherine wants gowns and beautiful things, she also wants to do the best for her family, and so she goes to Tremontaine House, and learns to fence. Although her uncle is strange, and she hates having to follow his every whim, she settles in rapidly enough, and eventually takes an interest in what she's learning.
And then the story takes off.
I had no idea where the story was going, and what was going to happen to Katherine. I remembered the outline of what happened to Alec and St Vier in Swordspoint, but I was missing lots of little details. Both of these things combined to create a story that was surprising and fascinating (and really made me wants to reread Swordspoint)
This is most certainly a worthy heir to Swordspoint, and you could easily read this without having read Swordspoint, and still understand everything that is happening. After all, we are seeing the world through Katherine's eyes, and she knows little of Alec or St Vier or the politics of the city. Having read the previous stories was a bonus--not a requirement.
My only complaint about this story is that it was over far too soon--and the way Ellen Kushner writes, it will be years and years before I have a new book of hers in my hands.
And one comment. The format for this book was strange--although the book is a trade paperback, it's unusually thin--not as in the number of pages, but as in the width of the book. It was a disconcerting book to read, because every once in awhile when I picked it up, it felt just a little bit off.
Okay, two comments. There is sex in this book. Not a lot, and not extremely explicit, but it's there, so don't say I didn't wanr you.
So to sum it up, this is an excellent book you must run out Right Now and get this book so that you can immediately start reading it. Because as much as I love listening to Sound and Spirit, I'd love more books even more. And if you haven't read Swordspoint, you really need to read that. In fact, I'm trying to fight off an urge to reread it myself; my to-read list grew substantially after my birthday, and I've got some catching up to do.
Rating: 9/10
Books by Ellen Kushner:
Swordspoint (1987), The Fall of the Kings (2002) , Thomas the Rhymer (1990), The Privilege of the Sword (2006)
