Bienvenidos a la Ribera, el barrio bajo de una ciudad sin nombre. A ella llega la joven Katherine, sobrina del duque de Tremontaine, esperando ser presentada en sociedad y convertirse en una dama. Pero su tío, conocido como el Duque Loco, tiene otros planes: para empezar, la viste como un hombre y la pone en manos de un preceptor de esgrima. Siempre imprevisible y completamente ajeno a los imperativos de la buena sociedad, el duque pretende algo escandaloso: convertirla en una mujer que pueda defenderse por sí misma. Como espadachina, Katherine tendrá una posición singular en una ciudad donde el privilegio de la espada queda reservado a los hombres. Al poder batirse en duelo por su honor, pondrá en tela de juicio los fundamentos del gobierno de la nobleza y se verá inmersa en las intrigas del Consejo de los Lores.

Looks and sounds like a sword-slinging, badass female fantasy adventure on the covers but vague smut book on the inside. The "main" character's story is more of a subplot. The deeper into the book the more nonexplicit sex there is.

The quote on the front cover called it whimsical. Perhaps it is. But the other side of the perspective coin is lazy.

Basically, I put this book in the broad, all-too-common category of fantasy novels that make me wonder if the author wanted to write erotica but didn't want to write explicit sex, wanted a dated scene but didn't want to research to develop an in-depth world, and wanted to remind herself to include action and so slapped on "The Privilege of the Sword" title and fun girl-bests-boys subplot. But again, this is just a subplot. Sex and social chit chat are the main plot.

This is all too common and disappoints me all the time as someone who loves pure strong heroine adventures and deep messages.

On a positive note, despite--or because of--the lack of development of the world, the story, and the characters (still no idea what hair color anyone has or what they do when they aren't smutting or playing social politics) it reads fast like a short story. So if the lack of deep content isn't a problem, one would likely enjoy a quick guilty pleasure. It also has some quirky lines and three quirky characters (out of the dozen it focuses on--seriously, "main" girl Katherine didn't have a large share of the screen time when there were so many short stories starring almost random characters weaved together.)

I found a tidbit of literary value though. One of the characters known popularly as the "Mad Duke" is actually a "normal" person in our current Western society and the "normal" people in the this story's society are backward irrationals--perhaps "crazy" if they were in our world. Nice juxtaposition.

I was so happy when it was finally over. I can't believe I stuck with it to the end. Oh, the end--ex machina left and right. ( )

I didn't like this one as much as I did The Fall of the Kings. I expected it to be more about Katherine than it actually was, and I thought it could have been a better book had it been more tightly focused on her. That said, I enjoyed reading about her learning to be a swordsfighter and doing well in her fights, and her friendship with Marcus. ( )

Funny, emotionally resonant, exciting, fun, and chock full of distinctive character, this book manages to touch on some heavy subjects without spoiling its generally light tone.

Though I picked up "The Privilege of the Sword" because it was a sequel to "Swordspoint", this second book is an improvement in almost every way on its predecessor. Besides that, I think it covers background and setting well enough to be a great standalone novel that doesn't require a reader to have touched the first volume. The only lack I felt comparing the two books was for that while "Privilege" has a couple surprises, it doesn't have nearly so twisty a plot as "Swordspoint".

Unfamiliar words in this book:
Chary: Cautiously reluctant to do something.
Ructions: A disturbance or quarrel. ( )

I wish I'd realized this was the second in a series before beginning. Reads like a romance, but the plot is more complex. Fantasy elements seem limited to the setting being not quite actual 18th century Europe, but close enough. ( )