The Privilege of the Sword

The Privilege of the Sword (2006) Ellen Kushner

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

• Browse the archives:
  
• Cast in Courtlight » »
• « « The Golem’s Eye