The Privilege of the Sword

by Ellen Kushner

Bantam/Spectra; $14; 378pp.

A wonderful, rich novel set in the world of Kushner’s previous novel of derring-do, Swordspoint, The Privilege of the Sword is a tale of a young noble lady’s coming-of-age in a most unexpected manner.

Lady Katherine Talbert’s family is barely getting by. Finances are very tight on their country estate. There is money in the family, but those purse strings are held by Katherine’s uncle, the strange and eccentric David Alexander Tielman Campion, know as the “Mad Duke of Tremontaine.”

Katherine is unexpectedly asked to come live in the city with the Mad Duke at glorious Tremontaine House. She must do his bidding in all things, train as his swordsman and remain incommunicado from her family for six months. If she does this, her family’s financial and legal worries will disappear.

Intrigued, Katherine thinks she is going to get a social season and some fancy clothes out of this along with her fencing instructions.

Wrong.

She finds that her uncle wants her to be trained for the sword so she can be his official swordsman and not only protect the duke from injury, but to take on any duels that come his way. Katherine also finds her few dresses tossed aside as she is fitted for breeches, vests and boots. She then is given into the very expert hands of Venturus, a master swordsman.

Not the life she expected at all.

But for us, as readers, it’s a fascinating world of intrigue and double-dealing. Of political shenanigans and power plays. Of love and romance in all its permutations. (Many of the characters love both males and females). We are immersed in the Mad Duke’s world, his parties, his loves and his fabulous homes. And he’s quite the dresser too.

Kushner handles the lush details of this Baroque-flavored world with a sure hand. Her descriptions are beautiful. And her characters are totally engrossing. Even though the Mad Duke can be effete and arch and a bit of a cold bastard, you still care what happens to him.

But the heart of this tale is following the bright-eyed, curious Katherine on her journeys of discovery among the denizens of Riverside and the Hill, the high and the low and the very colorful. And trust me there is plenty of swordplay along the way.

It’s a fabulous excursion. This is a novel not to miss. - Sue Martin