5/5 stars
Recommended if you like: fantasy comedy, (mis)adventures, queer romance
Big thanks to Bramble, Netgalley, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
I'll admit, I read Swordheart last year and I liked it but didn't love it. There was a bit too much humor to plot ratio for my taste. That being said, T. Kingfisher is T. Kingfisher, so of course I requested the ARC for this when it got added to Netgalley. And I have to say, I like this one so much better than Swordheart.
This book is still humorous, most of T. Kingfisher's books have at least some humor in them, but the ratio is much better this time and imo is more situationally appropriate. Likewise, I think all our characters here are dealing with much heavier shit in life than Halla, Sarkis, and Zale, so there's a darker tinge to the humor as well, which I appreciate.
Edmund is finishing one last task before he leaves his religious order forever, disillusioned by their bigotry and his inability to change them from the inside out. As he's spent most of his life in service to a god of learning (?), he's quite the nerd and tends to spout off interesting facts. While I can definitely see how this could come across as annoying, Kingfisher manages to write it in a way that's actually interesting and enjoyable, and like the humor a lot of Edmund's facts were situationally appropriate, even if they weren't all plot appropriate. I actually really liked Edmund and how quietly intelligent he was. (Apparently he's from one of her other series? I'll have to check that out)
The Dervish is our second sword and an unapologetic flirt. He's also quite pissed about the whole trapped-in-a-sword thing and has quite the grudge against Sarkis, seeing him as the reason for his misfortune (along with the sorcerer, of course). Despite his misfortunes, the Dervish is actually quite charming and warm, and he's actually remarkably quick to make friends despite the stink he puts up internally about having more people to protect. I liked seeing the Dervish grow and start to overcome some of the trauma from his past.
As with Swordheart, the main romance in this book is between the sword and the weilder, otherwise known as between Edmund and the Dervish. They definitely dance around one another quite a bit, and both of them make blunders as they try to figure out their roles and feelings. The two of them end up being very sweet together.
Dog Violet is a gnole Edmund and the Dervish meet on their journey. She is, perhaps, one of the few people who has been having even worse luck than they are. Aside from Large Francis, who I'll get to in a minute. Like the rest of our cast, Dog Violet has had some rough experiences in life and has the outlook, and humor, to show for it. She's fairly practical and knowledgeable abotu things, and I enjoyed her and Dervish bonding and being street smart together.
Large Francis...oh boy. I love Large Francis, she's quite literally getting to know the world for the first time and has such hilarious reactions to things. Definitely gives the vibes of if an alien studied earth in a textbook and then tried to be a diplomat here. She and Edmund get along swimmingly, they can and do talk for hours about all kinds of academic subjects while Dervish and Dog Violet get up to their own things. I'm hoping we see more of her in Angharad's book!
We do get cameos from all the main characters of Swordheart, so if you enjoyed that book you'll enjoy their presence. Overall this was an enjoyable, light read.
