Richard St Vier is a master swordsman living with his lover Alec in Riverside, a twisted district inhabited by beggars and thieves. St Vier hires out his services to the aristocracy that live up on the Hill, where both political gain and personal spite may inspire a man to contract a murderer. A pair of job offers draws St Vier into a web of schemes and intrigue, wherein a dozen characters struggle against each other, each with everything to gain and his own life to lose. Although Swordspoint contains no fantasy except for its setting, Kushner nonetheless weaves a fairytale. Her characters, sword master and madman, political figure and young aristocrat, are vividly conceived. Their complex, conflicting motivations that create the plot, which is a careful balance between intrigue and passion. The book's conclusion seems a bit too simple for such a complex story, but all told this is wonderful book, clever and romantic in equal measures, and I recommend it.

Swordspoint takes a few pages to come into itself--not because Kushner begins slowly, but rather because she begins at a run, swift with action and intrigue, and it takes the reader a little while to catch up. Once he does, however, the book becomes a joy to read--provided that the reader has an appetite for courtly intrigue and bloody swordfights, because Kushner embraces both with a passion. As one of the original "fantasies of manners," the book is foundational in that respect. The plot weaves a dense maze, but it is never illogical or impossible to follow, nor does it ever overwhelm the other aspects of the book. In fact, the plot is largely driven by the conflicting forces of its characters. All of these characters are vividly imagined, even where the image is unsavory. They err just on the side of fairy tale greatness, large and brightly colored, but never become unbelievable--a compromise that makes them both ideal and real.

Characters are driven by their own motivations, and these motives build the plot, pulling unlikely allies and enemies together. Kushner balances cunning intrigue against heartfelt passion, another successful compromise that enlivens the intelligent thrill of haughty personalities and careful schemes with baser human instinct and passion, such that the reader is never distanced from the story. These various balancing acts are the result of skillful writing, and Swordspoint is a joy to read: intelligent and bloodied, artistic and romantic. Given all of these factors, the book's conclusion is somewhat of a let down. It's certainly not bad, but against the complex plot it's just too simple. The book begs a bigger finale with some romantic suffering and--given that the protagonist is a swordsman for hire--a bit more blood.

All told, however, the conclusion is the only drawback, and hardly a major complaint at that. Swordspoint is a great novel. Vivid, passionate, and brilliant, it is a fairy tale driven not by magic but by the power of its characters. It's a fulfilling read for fans of fantasy of manners--and as a foundational novel for the mini-genre, required reading as well. I'm glad that I received this recommendation, because I enjoyed the book have already picked up the sequel to read next. I recommend the book to fans of fantasy and of other genres alike.

SWORDSPOINT by Ellen Kushner was recommended to me over and over after I finished Lynn Flewelling's Nightrunner series as another fantastic fantasy. Though the summary didn't intrigue me, after some persuading, I finally bought the book a couple of years ago.

Swordspoint is a fantastic book. Richard St Vier is an engaging character and his relationship with Alec is great. They obviously care for each other, a lot even, but Alec barely shows Richard affection. Plus, it seems Richard sometimes is at a loss.

The setting of the book is great. It's a very dark city, with Riverside as the darker part, the place where the poor citizens of the city live. And the hills (I can't help but be reminded of Hollywood everytime I read it) house the richer population of the city.

Ellen Kushner's way of writing is very distinct and engaging. The politics in the story are enjoyable to read, as are the feelings of the Nobles and the smart ways both St Vier and Alec mock nobles that choose to treat them without much respect.

Overall, a fantastic book with great characters, a good setting and a good pace throughout all of it. The beginning immediately sucked you in and didn't let you go until the very last page. Excellent work!

I enjoyed SWORDPOINT, but didn't love it as much as I wanted to. The prose in this book is wonderful, and I love many aspects of the fantasy world that Kushner has created. However, this book is essentially a novel of political intrigue, showcasing the intricate machinations of characters that are difficult to care for.

The emotional center of SWORDSPOINT is a gay romance, but it makes up a very small portion of the novel's plot. I enjoyed this part best, and wished the novel focused more on this element of the story. Instead, Kushner focuses too much time on the politics, which I just didn't find very interesting.

In the end, SWORDSPOINT is worth taking a look at, since many consider it to be a minor classic. Kushner has won a world fantasy award for her later work, and is very well respected. But in the end, I just didn't find this book as engaging as I would have liked.

I suppose Swordspoint is supposed to be a fantasy, but the fantasy is pretty much just the 'different setting'.

Here, a professional swordsman and duellist gets a bit more involved in the politics and machinations of the place than he would like, and has to try and keep both himself and his lover safe while doing the right thing.

In Riverside a famous Swordsman named Richard St Vier lives and dies by the sword. He and his lover Alec go all around Riverside. Alec tries to get himself killed by somebody better than him and St Vier kills the men for him.
When Richard St Vier is blackmailed he knows what he must do:

"A swordsman can't afford to be blackmailed."

Richard is accused of murder now and he doesn't know if he'll live or die. It's a matter of honor to what he did to a noble but will the court believe that? Will they understand the twists and turns that even Richard doesn't understand? Let's hope that Alec will come to save the day... Will he?

I would like to congratulate Ms. Kushner on a wonderful book! Some people said this book was slow. It's true that in some points of the story you may feel like you're getting absolutely nowhere but I assure you that it'll pass and you'll enjoy this book a lot. And remember: "Everyone lives at Swordspoint."