I Should Read That

Book review¹

Halla has unexpectedly inherited the estate of a wealthy uncle. Unfortunately, she is also saddled with money-hungry relatives full of devious plans for how to wrest the inheritance away from her.

While locked in her bedroom, Halla inspects the ancient sword that’s been collecting dust on the wall since before she moved in. Out of desperation, she unsheathes it―and suddenly a man appears. His name is Sarkis, he tells her, and he is an immortal warrior trapped in a prison of enchanted steel.

Sarkis is sworn to protect whoever wields the sword, and for Halla―a most unusual wielder―he finds himself fending off not grand armies and deadly assassins but instead everything from kindly-seeming bandits to roving inquisitors to her own in-laws. But as Halla and Sarkis grow closer, they overlook the biggest threat of all―the sword itself.

Readers of this blog are well aware that I’m on a bit of a T. Kingfisher tear at the moment. Having finished the Saints of Steel series, I dove straight into Swordheart, a (currently) standalone fantasy book set in the same world. While it is not her strongest book, it’s still a fun and charming romantic fantasy adventure.

One of the delights of Swordheart is the link to the Saints of Steel books, as well as the Clocktaur War duology. We see some familiar faces from these other books – one of my particular favourite side characters from Paladin’s Grace plays a large supporting role in this story and was an absolute delight. The Temple of the White Rat is the connective tissue of this particular fantasy universe, and I’m always happy to see our do-gooders play a role in Kingfisher’s stories. We also get introduced to the concept of her particular brand of magic swords, which was just so cool and gave us a glimpse into the wider world and magic.

Halla and Sarkis are our romantic leads, and I really enjoyed their banter and relationship arc, though it wasn’t as strong as some of the relationships she writes in later books. I do think that their individual characters could have been a little more fleshed out. This is where her experience as a writer comes into play. I can see what she was trying to do with these characters, especially Halla, but unfortunately I don’’t think she quite hit the mark. Rather than being a multidimensional and complex character, Halla came across as just not that bright, while Sarkis was quite single-minded and repetitive. However, they did ultimately compliment each other and the romance was charming.

Swordheart is one of her earlier titles – it initially came out in 2018. You can see how she has grown as a writer – this book features her trademark charm, lightheartedness, and tinge of darkness. I actually went back and counted how many books she’s published since Swordheart‘s initial release – fourteen! I always enjoy going back through a beloved author’s backlist and seeing how they have evolved, and Swordheart is no different.

I’d definitely recommend Swordheart as a fun standalone title, but perhaps not as one’s first Kingfisher book . While not her strongest book, I think fans will still delight in digging into her backlist. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that books about the other two swords – we’ll have to wait and see!

1. A copy of this book was provided by Orbit Books in exchange for an honest review ↩︎