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A review by tamaraneans
The Privilege of the Sword by Ellen Kushner
4.0
Hmm. HMM. What do I think of this book? That's actually very hard to say. On the one hand I am incredibly appreciative of the characters, their diversity and the general air of sexual acceptance (how often do we have a bisexual female teenager as the lead, one who isn't ashamed of herself for it?), on the other, I am incredibly frustrated that oftentimes with these characters we are only given bits of them to make them sympathetic and interesting, but they neither work through their issues, nor become more than that. The obvious exceptions to the that are Artemisia and Katherine, who became favorites and experience a great deal of growth throughout the book, but male characters, like Marcus and even the Duke, hardly grow at all.
The story follows a young woman, Katherine, who is sent for by her uncle, the "Mad Duke" to become a swordsman for him--a task very much not for young ladies. Katherine agrees to it anyway, not because she's intrigued, but because this very same uncle has spent his life trying to make her family destitute and her agreement means her family's salvation. Thoough she must endure time without her mother and family by her side, she feels it is her duty to try, and she will impress her uncle in all she can.
She arrives at the Mad Duke's house in the hopes she can impress him, but soon discovers that he really did mean swordsman and she must dress as a male and learn swordcraft like a male. It causes her a good deal of emotional torment to dress as a boy, but she adapts and begins to learn her new trade. For a story that makes it a point to call her out on how oddly she's dressed, it never becomes a plot point directed at her personally. The way she dresses is associated with her in a way that doesn't directly affect her choices and treatment--which seems odd given the clear significance of it. Yes, she's treated as an oddity, but not as a clown.
The rest of a book is an intriguing romp into personal proclivities, desires, the necessities of station and honor and how people are bound to the rules even if they hate it. Katherine spends a great deal of time learning about her world, herself and swordfighting, but the story is also told by several other characters, simultaneously and concurrently to the main story. Their own stories are intriguing and I found myself intensely curious to how their stories ended up as well, and I was satisfied and not at the same time.
I did enjoy the book, I did find all of the characters endearing, the story intriguing and while the end was a bit lackluster and too easily resolved, I'm content in the fact things were decisively resolved. What I'm not content with is the character resolutions--of which there are few and far between. The epilogue is woefully lacking in actual conclusions. We never learn the outcome with the Black Rose, we never learn if Katherine takes up with Artemisia and/or Marcus (wouldn't have that been a treat?), we never learn how Katherine feels about being left like that. I suppose we understand the reasons why the Duke does what he does (I have yet to read the prequel to this, Swordpoint, and I am torn between endless curiosity and the trepidation of knowing it will kill my heart), but it's abrupt, and sudden, and it feels like a quick means to an end as opposed to a cohesive resolution. The resolution happens off-screen, I think, and that's why I'm frustrated. I want to see what happens to the characters, how they react to the ending, not see them all content and rearranged in their lives.
I'm not saying this isn't a good book--it is, I truly like it, I'd love to read more, but it just feels unfinished or unresolved. Not in a bad way, but I'm endlessly curious about what happened to certain characters and I can't help but want to know more.
The story follows a young woman, Katherine, who is sent for by her uncle, the "Mad Duke" to become a swordsman for him--a task very much not for young ladies. Katherine agrees to it anyway, not because she's intrigued, but because this very same uncle has spent his life trying to make her family destitute and her agreement means her family's salvation. Thoough she must endure time without her mother and family by her side, she feels it is her duty to try, and she will impress her uncle in all she can.
She arrives at the Mad Duke's house in the hopes she can impress him, but soon discovers that he really did mean swordsman and she must dress as a male and learn swordcraft like a male. It causes her a good deal of emotional torment to dress as a boy, but she adapts and begins to learn her new trade. For a story that makes it a point to call her out on how oddly she's dressed, it never becomes a plot point directed at her personally. The way she dresses is associated with her in a way that doesn't directly affect her choices and treatment--which seems odd given the clear significance of it. Yes, she's treated as an oddity, but not as a clown.
The rest of a book is an intriguing romp into personal proclivities, desires, the necessities of station and honor and how people are bound to the rules even if they hate it. Katherine spends a great deal of time learning about her world, herself and swordfighting, but the story is also told by several other characters, simultaneously and concurrently to the main story. Their own stories are intriguing and I found myself intensely curious to how their stories ended up as well, and I was satisfied and not at the same time.
I did enjoy the book, I did find all of the characters endearing, the story intriguing and while the end was a bit lackluster and too easily resolved, I'm content in the fact things were decisively resolved. What I'm not content with is the character resolutions--of which there are few and far between. The epilogue is woefully lacking in actual conclusions. We never learn the outcome with the Black Rose, we never learn if Katherine takes up with Artemisia and/or Marcus (wouldn't have that been a treat?), we never learn how Katherine feels about being left like that. I suppose we understand the reasons why the Duke does what he does (I have yet to read the prequel to this, Swordpoint, and I am torn between endless curiosity and the trepidation of knowing it will kill my heart), but it's abrupt, and sudden, and it feels like a quick means to an end as opposed to a cohesive resolution. The resolution happens off-screen, I think, and that's why I'm frustrated. I want to see what happens to the characters, how they react to the ending, not see them all content and rearranged in their lives.
I'm not saying this isn't a good book--it is, I truly like it, I'd love to read more, but it just feels unfinished or unresolved. Not in a bad way, but I'm endlessly curious about what happened to certain characters and I can't help but want to know more.