Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner

First book in February.

This was marketed as fantasy (I think), so I expected it to have magic, but it didn’t. It was also marketed as a melodrama of manners, which it lived up to pretty admirably. I’m a fan of swashbuckling, and the world of Riverside was pretty compelling. There was a lot of killing, which I was a bit surprised by - usually death is taken a little more seriously than in this book, but it fit with its tone.

I guess I would describe the tone as somewhat detached and flippant, which made me both like it and not feel too attached to it. While I was glad that it avoided the epic fantasy style of taking itself really seriously, the characters were not particularly likable (or unlikable.) That’s not really a bad thing.

I will be reading further in the series (but am determined to make inroads into the 220 books I own but still need to read. Any recommendations as to what to read next are welcome.

Posted on LibraryThing on Feb 4, 2011