{"id":10485,"date":"2018-04-16T13:41:45","date_gmt":"2018-04-16T17:41:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=10485"},"modified":"2024-08-09T10:11:15","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T14:11:15","slug":"swordspoint-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/10485","title":{"rendered":"Swordspoint"},"content":{"rendered":"

Swordspoint<\/a><\/em> (1987) Ellen Kushner<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I have no idea what brings it on, but I’ve been in one of those moods where I read a few paragraphs of a book, decide I’m not in the mood for it, and try something else. <\/p>\n

As is typically, I have to resort to something I know I love, so I can dive in and stay immersed. As is often the case, this time that book was Swordspoint<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Yet as many times as I’ve read this book, I am always surprised again by how political it is.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitics,\u201d he said flatly. \u201cJust like here. It went contrary to the ranking professors\u2019 findings, and they couldn\u2019t have that.\u201d <\/p>\n

The duchess nodded approval. \u201cPolitics. You should have stayed there. You would have learned a lot.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to learn that!\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It never seems it at the start, with all the sword fights and arguments and death, yet by the end you realize the whole really is about politics and power, and the subtle ways of wielding both.<\/p>\n

But of course it’s also about love and lust–both of power and sex.<\/p>\n

But mostly there’s Richard and Alec.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a swordsman.\u201d He shrugged, no easy feat with his head touching the floor. \u201cIf I stay active, I can\u2019t last much past thirty. There\u2019ll be someone better someday.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t care.\u201d Alec was still lounging picturesquely, long limbs on display; but the rigidness of his hands clenched on the frayed upholstery betrayed him. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all right,\u201d Richard said; \u201cit\u2019s what happens.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThen what,\u201d Alec articulated with crystalline clarity, \u201cin hell are you doing all that practicing for?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love this story so much, it’s hard not to immediately flip back to the beginning and just start again.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Spectra<\/p>\n

Rating: 10\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Swordspoint (1987) Ellen Kushner I have no idea what brings it on, but I’ve been in one of those moods where I read a few paragraphs of a book, decide I’m not in the mood for it, and try something else. As is typically, I have to resort to something I know I love, so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,27,668,2,148,41,26],"tags":[82,544],"class_list":["post-10485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-10-10","category-alternate-history","category-comfort-read","category-fantasy","category-queer","category-reread","category-romance","tag-ellen-kushner","tag-mm"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2J7","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2129,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2129","url_meta":{"origin":10485,"position":0},"title":"Swordspoint","author":"Michelle","date":"December 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners (1987) Ellen Kushner Why yes, I did just re-read Swordspoint. And it was good. Published by Bantam Rating: 10\/10","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/06\/Swordspoint-e1510885578236.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":388,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/388","url_meta":{"origin":10485,"position":1},"title":"Swordspoint","author":"Michelle","date":"June 3, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners (1987) Ellen Kushner I couldn't help myself. I re-read Swordspoint. Sometimes when you're feeling bad, you just have to turn to favorites.","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/06\/Swordspoint-e1510885578236.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2527,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2527","url_meta":{"origin":10485,"position":2},"title":"Swordspoint","author":"Michelle","date":"September 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners (1987) Ellen Kushner I just couldn't help myself. Every year or so I need to reread this book--because it's simply that awesome. Rating: 10\/10","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/06\/Swordspoint-e1510885578236.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4045,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4045","url_meta":{"origin":10485,"position":3},"title":"Swordspoint, Audio Edition","author":"Michelle","date":"September 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Swordspoint (1987\/2011) by Ellen Kushner (Author, Narrator) with Dion Graham, Katherine Kellgren, Robert Fass, Nick Sullivan, Simon Jones This review is of the audio recording of Swordspoint. Please check my review of the book Swordspoint for my thoughts on the story rather than the recording. First, Ellen Kushner is the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"swordspoint-audio","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/swordspoint-audio.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":288,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/288","url_meta":{"origin":10485,"position":4},"title":"The Privilege of the Sword","author":"Michelle","date":"July 29, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Privilege-of-the-Sword.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":76,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/76","url_meta":{"origin":10485,"position":5},"title":"Swordspoint","author":"Michelle","date":"June 1, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Swordspoint: A Melodrama of Manners (1987) Ellen Kushner While waiting for the last book in Sean Russell's 'The Swan's War' to arrive, I decided to indulge in a book I've read fairly recently and loved. This book is just as gorgeous as I remember. The writing is absolutely lovely, drawing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/06\/Swordspoint-e1510885578236.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10485\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}