Review: Sword’s Edge by L. S. King

Sci-fi/fantasy with an excellent twist!

A girl can never be a Ranger. This is the lesson that Tamissa “Tam’s” father has driven home to her for fifteen years, even as he has trained her in the ways and laws of being a Ranger. The only child of Valdhor, a Ranger Chief, Tam has lived with him in a cottage all her life but Valdhor has never found her good enough to keep up with him or to be worthy of being a Ranger.

Today, however, things change. Alcandhor, Thane of the Rangers, is coming to talk to his older brother. Treachery is afoot and shadows move, not only among the nobles, either. The Rangers may be compromised. He has need of a spy whom none will suspect, a spy Trained as a Ranger. In short, Alcandhor needs his niece. He needs Tam.

Unfortunately for him, she has no idea that they are family.

The Story

Having been told all her life that she will never live up to her father’s or the Rangers’ standards, Tam is flummoxed when she reaches their capitol with her father and the Thane, where she is not only Presented to their conclave, but Confirmed as a Ranger. What surprises her more, though, is that her father is not – as he had told her – the last of his line. The whole conclave is made up of her extended family! She has family who love her and see more in her than her father will admit.

But this happiness is short-lived, as Alcandhor must take her to the capitol of their nation, Lairdton. Lairdton is home to the Laird (Lord), the leader of their country. Alcandhor fears several nobles plot to overthrow him; he wants Tam to discover the ringleaders of this conspiracy against the Laird and his heir, the Aethling. Since she is a girl, they will never suspect her as a Ranger spy. Tam accomplishes this but learns that her uncle has moved too late. Tam watches the conspirators confront the Laird and tell him that they have the Aethling. The traitors promise to release the prince unharmed if the Laird will step down and allow them to rule their provinces as they see fit.

But the Laird knows their proposition is a flat out lie and refuses. Tam has a front row seat to his murder, then has to fight to escape when the conspirators try to hide the Laird’s body. Meanwhile, Valdhor has gotten news of the Aethling’s capture along with the location where he is held to Alcandhor. When the brothers and their escort are ambushed soon after, however, Tam arrives in time to watch her father die. Alcandhor is left seriously wounded, and since she is closest, he gives her this command: go to the Forbidden Peninsula. Find the Aethling. Get him back alive.

Tam will have to face her own doubts about her abilities if she hopes to not only accomplish the mission, but to save her world. That is just the start of the mysteries that surround her, for Tam has secrets even she does not know she possesses. When these come to light the world of Sword’s Edge will never be the same.

The Characters

For all her skills in fighting, wilderness survival, and tracking, Tam is sorely lacking in knowing anything about being female. Alcandhor literally has to tell her how to dress as a mountain girl, turning beet red when he finds she cannot put on her own female undergarments, since she has only worn men’s clothes. Tam has no idea when boys her own age or a little older are sexually interested in her or what sexual innuendo and threats even mean. Her uncle is not wrong to label her an ingenue, at least in this area, one that may be more dangerous than all the fighting she must do in the novel!

Alcandhor is a loving father and uncle stuck in an unenviable position. Foresight prophecies are given weight of law, so when Alcandhor’s father told him not to interfere with his older brother’s raising of Tam based on foresight, the Thane did as he was told. Once he learns just how little love Valdhor showed his daughter, how much he didn’t teach her just because she was a girl, he both wants to pound his older brother and beat his own head on a wall for not interfering earlier.

Side characters in the novel all jump vividly to life, from tradition-bound Valdhor to Loki-like prankster and good friend Marcalan. Even the villains attempting to wrest control of the government for themselves have personality. Only Valdhor seems to be a bit one-note, but his death scene is nonetheless moving as it hints at the person hiding behind this intent silence.

The World

While presented primarily as a fantasy world, the location is soon revealed to be a planet where an alien species known as the Enaisi put mankind. These Enaisi also interbred with humans, which is why the Rangers often have darker than average skin and golden eyes, as well as beyond-human abilities. There is also a knowledge of genetics, portals, and space that would be out of place in a straight fantasy setting but which works well here. The world abides by a Medieval style of governance and technology, but knowledge of higher technology exists, even if the species that brought it is considered elvish by many and godly by some.

Politics

None.

Content Warning

There are murders and executions. None are especially graphic but they are adequately sketched out and leave the imagination to fill in the blanks. A few frank but delicate discussions of sex and female attire are also part of the narrative.

Who is it for?

Young readers looking to sink their teeth into a good story would be remiss not to buy this one, and those who love deep worldbuilding – or good worldbuilding in general – will definitely want it. Fantasy and sci-fi lovers will enjoy this novel wholeheartedly, as will those who like coming-of-age tales. People who would like to read more stories with heroes and heroines who have extended family will want this book. Those who seek some honest consideration of a world under a Medieval-style government chafing as change comes, but is threatened to come too quickly, will enjoy it as well. Anyone looking for a female-led book that does not browbeat men will also want this book, too, as Tam never thinks herself better than the men around her. In fact, she often thinks the opposite, and thus she tries to prove herself their equal...even when that is impossible.

Why buy it?

It’s The Lord of the Rings in space. The book will keep a reader seated all day or awake all night. A novel that will do this is rare, so why not buy it?