Review – Swordheart by T. Kingfisher (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 426 pages
Publisher: Red Wombat Studio
Release Date: (November 27, 2018
ASIN: B07KGDDW7J
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed ebook from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars
“Halla is a housekeeper who has suddenly inherited her great-uncle’s estate… and, unfortunately, his relatives. Sarkis is an immortal swordsman trapped in a prison of enchanted steel. When Halla draws the sword that imprisons him, Sarkis finds himself attempting to defend his new wielder against everything from bandits and roving inquisitors to her own in-laws… and the sword itself may prove to be the greatest threat of all….”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book in the World of the White Rat series. It is set after the Clocktaur Wars series but before The Saints of Steel series. I borrowed a copy of this ebook from the library.
Thoughts: This was a cute fantasy romance story that is a bit heavy on the romance side of things. It was similar in tone to the Saints of Steel series. The story revolves around Halla, a housekeeper who has suddenly inherited her great-uncle’s estate. The rest of her family objects to her inheritance, locking her in a room while they plot her marriage to one of the male family members. While locked in the room Halla draws a sword and finds out it is home to Sarkis, an ancient warrior who was bound to the sword. He helps her escape capture and Halla sets off on an adventure to secure her inheritance.
The characters in here are very quirky and cute; I really enjoyed them all. However, very similar to the Saints of Steel series, the characters are incredibly self-deprecating which gets repetitive at times. At times I was rolling my eyes, “Yes, we know you think you are unworthy of each other…again..please let’s move on.”
There is a lot of humor in here and I love the temple of the White Rat and their involvement in this story. I also love that the characters journeyed into the mysterious and changeable Vagrant Hills again. There a ton of fun side characters and I really enjoyed how everything played out. This is a goofy, fun story with some action and quite a bit of romance. There are some sex scenes in here but they weren’t all that explicit, so just a heads up on that.
This story is a bit more deliberate in pace, but I didn’t mind that. I enjoyed the banter between the characters and the strange situations they got themselves into. I did feel like the story was a bit incomplete. Things seem to be set up for another book in this series but given that this was written back in 2018 I am not sure where that second book stands.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I enjoyed this book. Previous to reading this I had also read The Clocktaur War series (loved it) and the first two Saints of Steel books (fun but not as good as the Clocktaur War books). This is more similar to the Saints of Steel series. It is a fun fantasy romance with some adventure. It is full of quirky characters and goofy situations but was heavier on the romance than I expected. It also feels a bit unfinished and I am hoping at some point Kingfisher comes back and adds to this series.
