Normally I hate quests, but this was the kind of ‘quest’ I could get behind, because their travel basically functions as a backdrop for lots of wonderful character interactions and funny conversations that make you feel like you are hanging out with your very witty friends. The plot is pretty mundane, as Halla and her sword/guardian/protector travel to a city, get a lawyer to resolve their dispute, and come back. I also kind of love fantasy books that focus on ‘ordinary’ people, and Halla definitely uses her very ordinariness as a weapon. I liked how she was a female character who was very aware of her vulnerable position but used the tools at her disposal well to combat them. She’s a no-nonsense heroine who has no particularly special powers other than being able to read social situations and diffuse tension through incessant questions. Halla, by far, is what sells this book for me. Some of the quirks of the worldbuilding were wonderful, and reminded me a little of Discworld in their way of making the ordinary unusual and fantastical. There were several times I disturbed my family by laughing like a maniac. I was not expecting this book to be so funny, as it’s quite different in tone from the book I’d read by her before. Humorous fantasy is such a difficult thing to get right, and Swordheart pitches it perfectly.

Heartwarming and laugh-out-loud hilarious moments It reads like a more adult version of Diana Wynne Jones’ Howl’s Moving Castle, complete with bickering love interests and found family feels.

I started it on the last day of 2019 (hoping to get a sneaky head start on my 2020 goodreads challenge) and ended up loving it so much that I finished it before the arrival of the New Year. Swordheart was such a lovely, light-hearted and completely unputdownable read. Kingfisher’s retelling ‘The Raven and the Reindeer’ and wanted some fantasy romance in my life. 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. Sarkis is an immortal swordsman trapped in a prison of enchanted steel. Halla is a housekeeper who has suddenly inherited her great-uncle’s estate… and, unfortunately, his relatives.