Me, Cousin Alver, Aunt Malva, her maid, her sister, and two cousins. 'How many people are in this house?' he said, adjusting the buckles that held the scabbard in place. Cheesy, sitcom-level hijinks, with sitcom level dialogue (no word yet if the audio version includes a laugh track): As she is about to kill herself on a sword, she discovers it has a swordsman guardian. The character even speculates about her own murder. This is presented in a somewhat hilarious fashion (trigger warning-it is not). Not a bad place to start, right? Extended family immediately makes plans for her future, including forcible marriage and rape. In Swordheart, the cast-off female is a middle-aged widow who inherits money. Sometimes it works ( Minor Mage), sometimes it doesn't ( Nine Goblins). Kingfisher's strength is her whimsical approach to modernizing folk and fairy tales. This is probably going to be a solid miss for me. And sequels! I would swap a limb for Angharad and the Dervish's stories. Glorious funny dialogue, intense but clearsighted compassion and humanity, a fair bit of highly enjoyable murder. And talking of variety: curvy mid-30s heroine, important nonbinary character whose identity and pronouns are never an issue, queerness existing and unquestionably accepted. Very much more towards the romance side than other books, and does it beautifully.Īnd the world! Kingfisher is endlessly inventive in her threats and monsters, and also one of the few fantasy writers who can conceive of oppressive organised religions that aren't Catholicism in a funny hat. Except that what we're actually saving is a woman's self-respect and a man's humanity, which actually is stakes high enough for any book. Set in the Clockwork Boys world but with ostensibly far lower stakes-we're not saving the world from demons, here, just saving a widow from being forced to marry a cousin. I could really use a new T Kingfisher right now.Īn absolute joy. As comforting, wise, funny and sharp-edged as I recall. I was saving this one for time of need and by God this is one.

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