Elements: swordplay
Rating:
- Characters - 5 - Each character is highly unique and distinct from the others.
- Setting - 5 - The City is a very unique take on the classic European city, and each section of it is highly distinct, with its own feel and its own people. Very excellently crafted.
- Plot - 4 - The plot is actually highly intricate, though at first it was quite confusing to follow. By the end of the book it pulls you along, but it takes a while to comprehend what's happening.
- Genre Elements - 5 - The Historical aspects of this sort of fantasy come into play here. Swordfighting, a world before commonplace books, a world of Nobility but not Royalty...all excellent pieces of a whole that make this world feel real.
- Voice - 5 - You never mistake any of these characters for each other. Each has such a unique outlook on the world that even when point of view changes, it is always obvious after only a few words who is speaking.
- Romance Elements - 4 - As it is not the central point of the story, it's not fully delved into here, but it is a nice love story, and it is there. However, if you read purely for romance sake, you might feel a little let down here.
- Overall - 4.5 - An excellent story, and definitely worth buying and reading for anyone into male/male romance.
Riverside isn't a place to wander lightly. Unless you're the type who lives there. The story of a Swordsman, his lover, and a Plot.
My thoughts -
I really didn't know what to expect going into this one. I have a few paperback books in the male/male book genre, but aside from Mercedes Lackey, I'd never read any. All of my reading in this genre had been online or in eBook form. I couldn't help wonder what an actual published book might be like.
I was very pleasantly surprised. Kushner's world is real. It feels right, and the characters just fit. Richard St Veir is an enigma in a world that loves enigmas. Alec, his lover, is as well. It's probably one reason they fit so well together. I loved the casual bisexualness of this world, too. That so many have flings with both men and women, with no thought or worry about how it will affect their lives as far as others' opinions of them.
The beginning is a little hard to follow, and it takes a while to work out who the players are that you want to be paying attention to. However, the story slowly emerges from the world, and becomes clear. Because she's taken so much time to give you an overview of the world, what follows is far more complex than you might otherwise be able to follow without that detail.
The short stories that follow the main are lovely as well. Especially the Death of the Duke, which will give most romance readers exactly the ending they crave.
Warnings -
Some less than pleasant things happen to Alec, but there is no graphic detail, and it's just a beating, not anything more, though there is implication it could be.
Overall Recommendation -
Overall, I very much enjoyed this story. I highly recommend it to Fantasy and History male/male readers.
Link to the story - Swordspoint (on Goodreads)
Author Link - Ellen Kushner (on Goodreads)
If you liked this story, try -
- The Adorned by John Tristan (Goodreads) (read my review here)
- The Ennik Series by Kim Fielding (Goodreads) (read my review here)
- Seducing Stephen by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon (Goodreads) (read my review here)
- The Prince's Boy by Cecilia Tan (Publisher's site) (read my review here)
- Dolls and Seesaws by Menswear (AO3 - unfinished story)
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