Swordheart

De: T. Kingfisher

Narrado por: Jesse Vilinsky

Return to the world of Clockwork Boys in this all-new novel from T. Kingfisher!

Halla is a housekeeper who has suddenly inherited her great-uncle's estate...and, unfortunately, his relatives. Sarkis is an immortal swordsman trapped in a prison of enchanted steel. When Halla draws the sword that imprisons him, Sarkis finds himself attempting to defend his new wielder against everything from bandits and roving inquisitors to her own in-laws...and the sword itself may prove to be the greatest threat of all....

©2018 T. Kingfisher (P)2021 Tantor

Another wonderful novel from T. Kingfisher

Superb world building, laugh out loud dialogue, characters I enjoy spending time with - Swordheart is another win from this author.

Halla, the FMC, is wonderful. She’s not a great beauty, not famous, or preternaturally talented. Instead she is kind, funny, curious, and smart enough to weaponize the appearance of stupidity to protect herself, especially when dealing with men. Her superpower is being underestimated.

The MMC’s superpower, beyond the ones that come with enchantment, is that he can see the strength and intelligence behind Halla’s smokescreen.

As usual with this series, in addition to simply enjoying the story, I’m struck by the author’s deftness with world building and how they give readers the information we need without any long blocks of explanation.

For instance, the sword is subject to an enchantment with very specific rules. The characters themselves are figuring out the rules of the enchantment, so we learn with them. No explanatory passages needed.

I love all of these characters, and especially enjoy the recurring characters of the Clockwork Boys’ world. The gnole and his ox, the lawyer-priest of the Rat, the Bishop, and the Paladins all bring a wonderful sense of consistency that anchors the reader in the world the author has created.

An interesting premise with an unusual choice for a major character

The premise—that a magic sword comes with a swordsman who defends the owner of the sword—is interesting, as is the character of the swordsman. It took me some time to get used to the main female character, and I initially found her so irritatingly ditzy that I stopped listening several times. As the story progresses, we learn more about her strengths, and I enjoyed the book quite a bit.

They must deal with quite a few people who are predators who mean them harm (only some of whom are strangers), they pick up a few allies, and they have a perilous supernatural adventure. It’s always nice when the Temple of the White Rat is involved. It’s lovely to think of such a wholesome religion.

An unexpected comfort read

Right off the bat, I knew I was going to love this story. The book itself is a fresh breath of air. The characters are older, the story is unique, each character has their own flaws, the found family/friends are so good, and the humor is top notch.

The story follows our FMC, a 36y widow who just came into an inheritance from her husbands side of the family. His family obviously doesn’t take kindly to this which is how she ends up locked in her room, forced to remain prisoner or marry into the family again. Her internal monologue is literally ✨everything✨ as she decides she would rather unalive herself than face what life has in store for her. When she unsheathes her weapon of choice, a man magically appears out of nowhere claiming that he is there to protect the wielder of the sword. And then the journey (full of banter laughs) begins.

My only issue is that by the end, the book was dragging on. I think it could have been shorter!

The narrator was absolutely amazing. So much so, I would’ve given her a standing ovation. Her different voices and sound effects were excellent. I’ll be listening to more of her for sure!

Hilarious and heartwarming

The narrator’s performance was amazing. So great with all the different voices. Great world building!

Just absolutely delightful

I don’t know that I’ve ever identified more directly with a heroin. She’s curious, deeply human and sweet. Absolutely loved this book!!!

amazing narrator

what a fun and wild ride this book's got a little bit of everything and the narrator did an amazing job of bringing the characters to life.
highly recommend this book for those that like fantasy, adventure and characters with a witty fun personality.

Good story

Entertaining plot and the narration is very well done. Always love a T Kingfisher story.

Just a fun time.

This was such a laugh out loud, fun time. T. Kingfisher’s sense of humor makes for a truly entertaining adventure.

Fantastic listen!

Loved the story! Loved the characters! This was laugh out loud funny and the narrator was exceptional! Highly recommend!

On Chapter 5

We’re on chapter 5 and loving this book so far. Characters are delightful and the narrator is good. Looking forward to the rest of it.