I really enjoyed the first book in this series and kept wondering where the other books were, well we get the second book in the Swordheart series now and the third and final one next year called Shieldborn. This was a long slow romantasy novel that I think will thrill T. Kingfisher fans. We have more information about The World of the White Rat and some call backs to her other works in the Clocktaur War series.
Daggerbound follows Learned Edmund who is ready to leave the temple he has served since he was a young boy. He wants to do something more, but has agreed to travel to with old books and an old sword. Waylaid by bandits, he pulls the sword from his sheath and unleashes The Dervish who has been locked away in the sword for hundreds of years. Daggerbound follows them as Edmund decides he will do what he can to have Dervish released from the sword. But they quickly pick up companions along the way (a gnole and a new type of species, a giant pillbug).
I loved Edmund and Dervish and Dog-Violet and Large Francis and everyone else we get to meet again in these pages from the first book and other series liked Zale. I laughed at times and felt Deverish’s pain at his torture and inability to free himself and the anger he has for his old commander, Sarkis. And you get Edmund’s love of books and focus on writing things down so someone else can find the answers to things that could one day save others. We read of animals, cures, wars, and everything in between.
We get even more information about The World of the White Rat and meet different settlements with some messed up values and even come across a dragon.
The book at times does move a bit slow, but I liked it. T. Kingfisher really adds so much worldbuilding to this book and I enjoyed all of it.
The ending of course leaves things open to the third book in the series, and eventually finding the third sword.
