Swordheart
2 journalers for this copy...
I got this softcover from an online seller. I adored the audiobook, and wanted a hard copy to release.
It's a fantasy novel in which a middle-aged widow inherits her great-uncle's estate, but is promptly set upon by his other relatives - they're determined to force her to marry one of them to keep the money in the family. She's... not happy about this, and considers drastic measures to escape such a fate, but when she draws the ancient sword hanging above her bed in hopes of figuring out how to fall on it, something very surprising happens: a hunky, though battered, swordsman appears! Seems the sword is host to an immortal guardian who's now at her beck and call - though he only remains in human form as long as the sword is (at least partially) unsheathed. There's much amusingly snarky banter between the protagonists as they try to escape their pursuers, and in an interesting twist on many fantasy/romance setups, their first goal is to find... a good lawyer! (And they do; Zale (they/them), is a lawyer/priest of the White Rat, and solidly in the hypercompetent-sidekick category. And while Zale doesn't get as many snarky lines as the two main characters, they have their moments: "Zale grinned like a shark that had eaten the cat, the canary, and several innocent bystanders.")
The narrative includes a lengthy journey by ox-cart, with Brindle the gnole (gnoles are a vaguely badger-like people) doing the driving (and providing occasional pithy commentary). Along the way they're harrassed by agents of the Hanged Mother, perhaps the most malevolent of this world's religions, and after being forced into defending themselves by violence, wind up on a very, very unusual route through a hollow-way and into the Vagrant Hills. The Vagrant Hills actually do move, it seems; they're an eerie, mystical place, home to species unknown in the rest of the world. Our heroes encounter some rune, a kind of deer-folk (of whom I'd like to know more in some future book), and have an utterly terrifying encounter with bizarre near-transparent flying predators of a truly nasty type.
Having survived all of that, you'd think things would go smoothly - but there are a few more challenges in store. But our heroes manage to triumph, though not without some anguish along the way. (Also, more snarkery.) Quite entertaining, and if the main couple take a bit too long to come to a mutual understanding, well, they did have other things on their minds {grin}.
[This book is part of the same 'verse as Kingfisher's "Saint of Steel" books, starting with Paladin's Grace, which takes place some years after this book, and also her "Clocktaur War" duology, starting with Clockwork Boys, which takes place some years before this one.]
It's a fantasy novel in which a middle-aged widow inherits her great-uncle's estate, but is promptly set upon by his other relatives - they're determined to force her to marry one of them to keep the money in the family. She's... not happy about this, and considers drastic measures to escape such a fate, but when she draws the ancient sword hanging above her bed in hopes of figuring out how to fall on it, something very surprising happens: a hunky, though battered, swordsman appears! Seems the sword is host to an immortal guardian who's now at her beck and call - though he only remains in human form as long as the sword is (at least partially) unsheathed. There's much amusingly snarky banter between the protagonists as they try to escape their pursuers, and in an interesting twist on many fantasy/romance setups, their first goal is to find... a good lawyer! (And they do; Zale (they/them), is a lawyer/priest of the White Rat, and solidly in the hypercompetent-sidekick category. And while Zale doesn't get as many snarky lines as the two main characters, they have their moments: "Zale grinned like a shark that had eaten the cat, the canary, and several innocent bystanders.")
The narrative includes a lengthy journey by ox-cart, with Brindle the gnole (gnoles are a vaguely badger-like people) doing the driving (and providing occasional pithy commentary). Along the way they're harrassed by agents of the Hanged Mother, perhaps the most malevolent of this world's religions, and after being forced into defending themselves by violence, wind up on a very, very unusual route through a hollow-way and into the Vagrant Hills. The Vagrant Hills actually do move, it seems; they're an eerie, mystical place, home to species unknown in the rest of the world. Our heroes encounter some rune, a kind of deer-folk (of whom I'd like to know more in some future book), and have an utterly terrifying encounter with bizarre near-transparent flying predators of a truly nasty type.
Having survived all of that, you'd think things would go smoothly - but there are a few more challenges in store. But our heroes manage to triumph, though not without some anguish along the way. (Also, more snarkery.) Quite entertaining, and if the main couple take a bit too long to come to a mutual understanding, well, they did have other things on their minds {grin}.
[This book is part of the same 'verse as Kingfisher's "Saint of Steel" books, starting with Paladin's Grace, which takes place some years after this book, and also her "Clocktaur War" duology, starting with Clockwork Boys, which takes place some years before this one.]
Journal Entry 2 by 
GoryDetails
at LFL [OBCZ] - New Searles Rd, #46 in Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Thursday, February 29, 2024
GoryDetails at LFL [OBCZ] - New Searles Rd, #46 in Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Thursday, February 29, 2024
Released 3 mos ago (3/1/2024 UTC) at LFL [OBCZ] - New Searles Rd, #46 in Nashua, New Hampshire USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this book in my Little Free Library on this chilly, windy day; hope someone enjoys it![See other recent releases in NH here.]
Released for:
** 2024 Great Backyard Bird Count challenge, for the author's name. [See GBBC info here.] **
** 2024 Heads Shoulders Knees Toes challenge **
I'm reclaiming this from my LFL, as it's gone unchosen for a while now.
I'm adding this book to the Here Be Dragons, etc. shrinking fantasy/sci-fi/horror bookbox, which will be on its way to its next stop soon. Hope someone enjoys it!
I'm claiming this from the Here Be Dragons shrinking fantasy/sci-fi/horror bookbox.
