Swordspoint

by Ellen Kushner
Oh, man, I liked this book a lot. It has a lot of things going for it. It’s a fantasy novel of sorts, though it’s more about sword-fighting and intrigue and politics than fantastical monsters or magic. It’s got interesting and complicated characters, a quiet and subtle writing style I quite enjoyed, and the fact that the two main characters, whose romantic bond has an important impact on the story, are both men — and that’s not a big deal! To the author or the people in the story. Awesome.
The plot is too convoluted to really try and explain here. I’ll just say that if you like stories set in worlds with complicated manners and politics and lots of scheming and a bit of swordfighting thrown in for good measure, do NOT miss reading this book.
Book 15 in 2008, though I failed utterly to update my blog about it and have tweaked the dating appropriately.