Reviews of favorite books

Fiction: Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

7/26/2025

Swordheart is a delightful romantic fantasy with a kindhearted heroine and a grumpy mercenary-warrior trapped in a magical sword. These two main characters are wonderfully mismatched: the heroine, Halla, is generous and kind at her own expense; the warrior, Sarkis, finds her curiosity and naivete exasperating. Halla is more capable than she gives herself credit for and part of the novel’s charm is watching her grow into her own power. She considers herself a dowdy, middle-aged widow, but Sarkis finds her beautiful.
When the novel opens, Halla has just inherited her uncle-in-law’s estate after taking care of the elderly gentlemen since her husband’s death some years ago. Her deceased husband’s mother and brother lock her in her bedroom hoping to steal her inheritance.

Halla takes an antique sword off the wall thinking she’ll impale herself and end everyone’s misery, but Sarkis appears when she unsheathes the sword.

The two of them escape the in-laws but find themselves fleeing bandits, street thugs, and bully-priests of the Hanged Mother. However, they also gain allies when they eventually reach the city: a lawyer named Zale serving the White Rat god and a badger-like creature called a gnole who drives the priest’s wagon. Halla also enlists the help of her uncle’s friend and fellow collector of antiquities, Bartholomew. Some very beautiful paladin’s of the Dreaming God also have a key role to play in plot events.
With the lawyer Zale’s help, Halla plans to regain her inheritance, hoping to share it with her two impoverished nieces (the rest of her family has died).

Her dead husband’s mother and brother don’t give up easily, and Halla soon finds herself in even deeper trouble from their underhanded scheming.

When her ex-brother-in-law threatens to kill her and marry her nieces (who would inherit)), Halla says: “You keep your clammy hands off my nieces, you slimy, weak-willed little shitweasel!”
Sarkis carries a dark secret concerning how and why he was cursed to live inside the sword—which isn’t revealed until late in the story. He believes he can never atone for his past mistakes and is burdened by guilt and remorse, which is doubled when Halla reacts badly to learning of his sordid past. At the climax he’s faced with an impossible dilemma when he’s ordered by the sword’s wielder to commit murder: his choice is redemptive.

It is Halla who thwarts her in-laws and rides to Sarkis’s rescue at the end. It’s great fun to watch the middle-aged widow mow down her enemies to save the man she loves. And the denouement nicely wraps up the love story between these two wonderful characters.
Swordheart is a standalone novel in the World of the White Rat series, meaning it's a complete story. Warning: it’s a page-turner and may keep you reading past your bedtime! Highly recommended.

For more in the World of the White Rat, read Paladin's Grace.
For more "romantasy," try Best New Romantic Fantasy, The Unspoken Name,
The Thousand Eyes, Fire Logic, and Earth Logic.
Other books by T. Kingfisher include Nettle & Bone, A Sorceress Comes to Call,
Thornhedge, and What Moves the Dead

Nonfiction: The Golden Thread by Kasha St. Clair

7/21/2025

The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History is full of fascinating stories and meticulous research tracing the evolution of textiles from the ancient world to the present.

Evidence of ground looms and drop spindles used to create fabric are common in archeological sites around the world—but the cloth was not necessarily the rough, dull garb depicted in popular renderings of prehistoric humans.
Some of the oldest threads discovered come from a cave in the Caucasus Mountains (the setting for my fictional world of Kolkha). They were plant fibers dating to 23,000 years ago dyed “gray, black, and turquoise; there were also yellow, red, blue violet, green, khaki, and even pink . . .”
“Neolithic fragments of brocaded fabric, complete with fringed border, were unearthed from some Swiss lake dwellings dating back to 3000 BCE.”

And ancient Egyptians made fibers from strands of glass “sometime around 1600 BCE.”

Flax was one of the most common fibers woven into linen cloth, despite being notoriously complicated to work with. The strength of its fibers and the fact that linen is light, breathable, and feels cool against the skin in hot climates made it a favorite in Mesopotamia and Egypt from ancient times.

Wool was more popular in northern climes and often “felted” to bind the fibers into a thick mat. Though shearing sheep is common today, in the past, loose wool was often pulled from the sheep in warmer months. According to the author, it takes “four or five people ten minutes or so to pull away all the loose hanks of wool from a single sheep.” But the pulled wool “is more water-resistant, and less carding—or combing—needs to be done to get rid of the short, new-growth woolen fibers that shearing includes.”

The author highlights the skill required to make textiles by hand:
  A skilled spinner draws fibers out of a jumbled mass and twists them into yarn, often using a weighted drop spindle. “This takes practice: jerky movements will result in lumpy, clotted thread, while drawing out too quickly will mean the finished product is either too thin or too thick. …under-twisted yarn will be too weak, but if it is over-twisted it will buckle up on itself and be prone to wayward knots and tangles . . .”
  Spinning thread and twisting it into yarn was often the work of women, “perhaps because it was the form of work most compatible with child-rearing: it could be done at home with only half an eye by those with experience, and could also usually be interrupted and resumed at will.”
  Weaving, on the other hand, was not always relegated to women. Historically women did the bulk of weaving in many cultures, but in India and southeastern Africa, men were the primary weavers.

Sumptuary laws, which relegated certain textiles to certain classes of people, existed for thousands of years. They were common in Rome, England, and China, and generally limited fine silks, metallic threads, and lace to the upper classes, reinforcing social rank. “A garment made from silk that had been dyed before it had been woven, for example, could only be worn by someone above ordinary officer level [in China].”
These sumptuary laws give added significance to the fine velvet jackets and lace cuffs worn by pirate captains, likely plundered from well-to-do captives, but also symbolizing their disdain for the law and ”proper” social order in visual terms easily grasped by their contemporaries.

The chapter on the evolution of textiles for cold environments included harrowing stories of the horrid conditions early explorers used trying to survive the arctic in ice-encrusted woolens. I learned more than I ever wanted to know about the susceptibility of the human body to frostbite—particularly male genitalia (!).
  Similarly, the description of space-suit evolution highlighted the vulnerability of humans in the vast cold of outer space.
  Also fascinating was the use of spidersilk in textiles and why it’s never been upscaled despite the beautiful cloth produced (having enough flies to feed tens of thousands of spiders is nigh impossible and the farmed spiders eat each other).
  “Exceptionally light and airy,” sea silk is another beautiful animal-woven fiber. Sea silk is harvested from a mollusk native to Sardinia (from the fibers it creates to affix itself to rocks). Weaving sea silk was a skill passed down through the generations from ancient times on the Mediterranean island. “Today, only one woman is able to harvest and make sea silk.”

One of the most intriguing stories in the book is that of Su Hui, a fourth century poet who embroidered a 29x29-character poem to her husband, who had been sent to the borderlands.
According to some legends, he took his mistress with him rather than his wife, and the "Star Gauge" poem was either Su Hui’s revenge for his infidelity or an attempt to woo him back.
Her reversible poem can be read forward, backward, horizontally, vertically, diagonally, and around the perimeter. It contains nearly 3,000 possible poems. (Sign up for my July newsletter for more on reversible poetry)

The Golden Thread contains many more fascinating stories related to the history of textiles, and written in an entertaining and accessible style. Available from your local library or for purchase.

Fiction: Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher

7/15/2025

Paladin’s Grace opens with a shattering opening line: “Stephen’s god died a little after noon on the longest day of the year.”
Stephen is a skilled knight-paladin serving the Saint of Steel, and when his god dies, he and his fellow knights shatter and go berserk.
Three years later, the surviving knights now serve the White Rat (god) in return for being sheltered on the fateful day their god died. Stephen’s duties mostly involve escorting the Rat’s healers into the poorer sections of the city.
It is during one such venture he helps a perfumer named Grace evade minions of the Hanged Mother, a sect known for fanaticism. The two of them immediately hit it off, but circumstances keep them apart at first.

Stephen and Grace don’t exchange names and don’t know how to find each other in the crowded city. We get to watch them long for each other for a couple of chapters and root for them to find each other, creating wonderful suspense.

Grace the perfumer describes her world by smell. Her description after meeting Stephen: “He smelled clean and warm, with notes of leather and metal and, for whatever reason, gingerbread.”
Her best friend, Marguerite, gets Grace a commission to make perfume for a visiting Crown Prince, and also vows to find the mysterious paladin Grace is smitten with.
Marguerite and Grace are both from the neighboring city of Anuket, where we learn Grace was married to a cad named Philip who cheated on her and passed off her perfumes as his own.

Grace escaped Philip and through skill and hard work has slowly built up a thriving perfumery, though she still carries internal scars from Philip’s mistreatment and accusations of her poor sexual performance.

When Stephen is given guard duty for the foreign prince’s welcoming ceremony he sees Grace presenting her perfume as a gift to the Crown Prince. She becomes faint in the crowded room and he escorts her to the hallway where they discover a dead guard and a young boy holding a bloodied knife. The boy swallows poison before he can be questioned, then Grace’s friend Marguerite takes incriminating papers off his body and suggests Stephen meet them in Grace’s perfume shop to learn what they say.
The women leave and Stephen is questioned by inquisitors of the Hanged Mother, but released.

From there things become complicated, with stolen books and false allies soliciting “help” from Grace when the Crown Prince falls ill.

Grace is accused of poisoning the Crown Prince with her perfume and stands trial. Luckily the White Rat aids her with a smart lawyer named Zale. The minions of the Hanged Mother use the book stolen from Grace’s to insinuate her guilt.
Zale is able to question the case against Grace. Then the cad Philip shows up from Grace's past and falsely accuses Grace of crafting poisons in Anuket—then Stephen misbehaves, landing both he and Grace in prison.
One of the most satisfying scenes occurs later when Philip comes looking to hone in on Grace's perfumery and she throws him out of the shop.

This is a “slow-burn” romance between Grace and Stephen: it takes them most of the book to act on their growing desire for each other, but when they do, it is thoroughly satisfying. The two of them complement each other perfectly: Stephen is the balm for the scars she carries from Philip, and Grace is unafraid of the former paladin’s brokenness.
The novel’s climax is a celebration of friendship and loyalty, with Stephen and Grace facing down the Hanged Mother’s guards with Stephen’s fellow former paladin’s and priests of the White Rat. The resolution is unexpected but absolutely perfect.
Paladin’s Grace is a standalone novel in the World of the White Rat series, meaning you can enjoy it without reading any of the other books. It’s a page-turner for both the exciting plot events and the lovely romance between two endearing characters. Highly recommended.

Read more in the world of the White Rat: Swordheart
For additional mature "romantasy," try Best New Romantic Fantasy, The Unspoken Name,
The Thousand Eyes, Fire Logic, and Earth Logic.
Other books by T. Kingfisher include Nettle & Bone, A Sorceress Comes to Call,
Thornhedge, and What Moves the Dead

Fiction: Babylonnia by Costanza Casati

7/5/2025

Babylonia is the fictional biography of Sammuramat (Semiramis in Greek), who became queen of the Assyrian Empire in 811 BCE.
We meet Semiramis as a young girl living in the small village of Eber-Nari. Abandoned by her mother (who drowned herself shortly after giving birth), she’s raised by the head shepherd of the village. Her drunken stepfather beats her regularly and she schemes to escape into the larger world, hiding gold under her mattress—gold she took off a dead man, the former governor. Her only ally is her beloved stepbrother, but he can’t protect her from his father’s wrath.

When the new governor, Onnes, arrives to take charge of Eber-Nari, Semiramis boldly goes to the river where he is bathing. The two of them flirt during the welcome feast as well. During the feast she also visits a seer who foretells a great destiny in the east.

Then her stepfather finds her hidden gold, accuses Semiramis of stealing, and beats her bloody. She goes to Governor Onnes and tells him her father stole gold from the former governor. Her stepfather is punished (his hand is severed), then Onnes takes Semiramis with him, back to the capital of the empire.
These traits of ambition, boldness, and deceit are consistent aspects of her story throughout the novel. By taking revenge against her stepfather, she forever alienates her beloved stepbrother and the rest of the village. We see her affection for her stepbrother in the novel’s opening, but this love is not enough to keep Semiramis from seeking revenge against her stepfather or pursuing her ambition to be part of the larger world.

Part of the story is told from the point of view of King Ninus, who has recently executed his brother in a brutal civil war. Ninus is uncertain of his rule and relies on his childhood friend and sometimes-lover Onnes for guidance. He is initially jealous and dismissive of Semiramis, but comes to love and respect her. The dynamic triangle between King Ninus, Governor Onnes, and Semiramis forms the core of the novel.
The slave Ribat is the third primary point-of-view character, providing an interesting take on the capital city of the empire and palace dynamics. Despite his lowly status, he aspires to be a scribe, and recognizes a kindred spirit in ambitious Semiramis.
Other characters include:

The ruthless queen mother who disdains Semiramis for her common birth.
The general who berates King Ninus for his weakness and disdains Onnes because he is a royal bastard.
And the eunuch spymaster who, like the slave Ribat, sees a potential ally in Semiramis.

The author does an excellent job creating the world of ancient Assyria. During the village feast: “Men stand close to large vats of beer, drinking through large tubes. Women are seated on rugs, biting into flat-breads and ripe figs.” At a wedding: “Men and women recline on crimson couches, hair plaited with beads of rare amber, arms covered with bracelets. Between them, three-legged tables are laid with roasted ducks and pigeons. Attendants wind through them, their arms heavy with wine jars and trays of honeyed almonds.”

Ribat navigating the city: “The lower part of the citadel is a quagmire. His feet sink into the mud—the air is heavy with its odor. He tries to step around animal droppings, to follow the tracks of the other passersby.”

Although I liked the story overall, there were some details that defied plausibility.

At one point, Semiramis insists on making a wild leopard her personal pet. This leopard lounges about her palace for the rest of the story like a domesticated cat.
It attacks an enemy at the end of the novel, but otherwise serves no story purpose I could discern (and this attack was unwarranted since guards were present to defend Semiramis).

Another implausible part of the story for me was Semiramis training in weapons with the men and joining them in war.
I suspect the author included this because the historical Sammuramat led military campaigns when she was queen regent, but I found her martial exploits in the novel highly improbable.
Similarly, when Semiramis asks the king to spare female prisoners of war after a bloody battle, it felt like a modern sensibility and not true to the times—and not likely to be granted for both military and political reasons.

Despite these shortcomings, I enjoyed Babylonia. The characters are interesting and the political intrigue deadly. Governor Onnes is a complicated man haunted by dark secrets; King Ninus struggles to be the leader his empire needs without losing his soul; and Semiramis fascinates with her passion, intelligence and endless ambition.

For more on ancient Assyria, read I am Ashurbanipal and Assyria

Fiction: Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

Nonfiction: The Golden Thread by Kasha St. Clair

Fiction: Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher

Fiction: Babylonnia by Costanza Casati

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