Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

Released November 2018

I was pretty sure this book was going to be “okay”. Maybe even “alright”. I was wrong. This book is hilarious, sweet, intelligent, and made me want to read everything T. Kingfisher has written.

The story starts off with Halla being mistreated by her dead husband’s family, but then quickly veers away from where I thought this was going. After getting locked up in her bedroom, Halla a 30+ year old widow contemplates killing herself by falling on a sword. Only, she doesn’t know how to go about it. (I was at work reading this and laughed out loud. Pretty sure my new coworker thinks I’m deranged.)

The characterizations of Halla and Sarkis (the sword in question) are phenomenal. Each have their own strange quirks and because of this feel like real people. The same can be said of the worldbuilding. Kingfisher has other books in this world, so, perhaps that is why the world feels full of strange things that add complexity and originality to her fantasy world. (I’ve already purchased the other books written in this world!)

Because the world and characterizations are so on point, the story of two people on a quest to secure an inheritance and ultimately falling in love can be explored in such minute detail. There is so much dialog in this book, internal and external, that the full scope of what the decisions Halla and Sarkis are making can be (and are) explored while also having discussions about other races, religions, and cultures.

This book was so well written that I didn’t realize I’d spent my entire shift at work sitting in the same position just reading until I got up to leave and felt my body protesting the mistreatment. I know I’ll read this over and over again and it seems like Kingfisher is incredibly popular, so, I expect many other people will read this for a long time.

Where to buy:

Kindle

Audiobook

Paperback