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A review by xeyra1
Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner
3.0
Enjoyable read but it ended up not being exactly as good as I expected, especially as I had very high expectations regarding it.
For one, I hated Alec. Apparently he is well beloved by the fans of this novel but I found him to be a bit of a despicable coward. He had a few redeeming qualities, granted (I kind of slightly cheered during the trial scenes), but overall I didn't like him. His haughtiness and whiny personality rubbed wrongly on me. I couldn't quite understand how Richard could like him, unless it was because Alec was in need of protection and Richard liked to have someone to protect.
I also expected a bit more of court intrigue. Only halfway through the novel does anything of some substance happen and even then it's not what we're waiting for. In the end, it all ends up being rather petty.
Still, it was an enjoyable read, even if it didn't meet my high expectations on it.
For one, I hated Alec. Apparently he is well beloved by the fans of this novel but I found him to be a bit of a despicable coward. He had a few redeeming qualities, granted (I kind of slightly cheered during the trial scenes), but overall I didn't like him. His haughtiness and whiny personality rubbed wrongly on me. I couldn't quite understand how Richard could like him, unless it was because Alec was in need of protection and Richard liked to have someone to protect.
I also expected a bit more of court intrigue. Only halfway through the novel does anything of some substance happen and even then it's not what we're waiting for. In the end, it all ends up being rather petty.
Still, it was an enjoyable read, even if it didn't meet my high expectations on it.