Book Review: Daggerbound, T. Kingfisher

The second installment to the Swordheart series about a magical sword that when unsheathed contains a man forced to protect and defend his wielder at all costs. Following shortly after the timeline of the first book in this series, this story picks up with another of the three known mercenaries trapped in swords. We met Sarkis previously, so now we’re meeting The Dervish. If you read the first book, then you’ll know (and I’m also sure you can imagine) that being trapped for eternity as an immortal in a sword can come with it’s traumas. The Dervish has hated all of his wielders… that is, until he meets Edmund. Learned Edmund—a scholar and priest—has recently decided to cut ties with his religious order, but is on one final mission to deliver a relic from one temple to another. But when a band of highway men are seconds from killing him he unsheathes the relic (aka The Dervish’s sword), and finds himself with a bonded defender who saves his life, is sexy as heck, but hates him (and did I say he’s sexy). Our story continues as this unlikely pair embark on a quest to a temple of knowledge picking up odd friends and foes along the way.

A huge thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group | Bramble for sharing an advanced readers copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I rated this book 3.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

I read Swordheart earlier this year and loved the writing, quick whit, banter, and journeying plot of the first book. It was my first fantasy novel by T. Kingfisher and felt quite different from the horror I have read by them. I was really looking forward to the second book in the series—Daggerbound, but unfortunately, I was rather let down.

🖨️A copy and paste book

What I liked so much about my first fantasy novel by T. Kingfisher was repeated in this book. Now you might be saying, “well Danyell, wouldn’t that mean you loved this one?” Yes, and no. What I mean by this, is that Daggerbound followed THE EXACT same structure as Swordheart. The characters felt the same, the journey was essentially the same, and ultimately the wielder falling in love with the sword was the exact same romance. Give me six months and show me these books again but switch the characters names around and I might not even pick up on the change.

I had a happy good time reading this though. Knowing the cycle and predictability of the story line didn’t necessarily detract for me, but it does make me worry about future books by T. Kingfisher. Is their fantasy writing just a one trick wonder? Can we get a sword romance where the mercenary trapped in the sword falls in love with someone who is NOT their wielder?? Will we get a story where the main love interest is not a shy chatty-cathy with the same exact personality stamped over and over again???

🐴A plot line of only traveling

Swordheart and Daggerbound both center heavily on the actual traveling journey that our characters are taking. I'm usually fine with a book that focuses more on atmosphere and vibes (see my obsession with One Dark Window), but like another reviewer I saw online said, “I need to love the characters for their interactions to be meaningful, and unfortunately, this book failed in that regard.” And the worst part of that statement is that I WANTED to love Learned Edmund and The Dervish sooo much. There was so much potential for these two to grow together during their travels through the encounters they had and the time spent, but most moments were spent connecting them to other side-characters or just simply making funny quips.

I DID LOVE the banter, whit, and writing style just as much as I did in Swordheart though. It feels a bit like a fanfic, and if you’ve seen any of my previous reviews, I am absolutely not against books that just feel fun. But in this book especially, I felt as though some of the jokes were made for the sake of the reader’s enjoyment rather than the progression of character development or plot. In my opinion, the best books can make these whitty quips while also elaborating on a character’s personality beyond just the joke.

😎Potential in these characters

I 1000% see the potential in all of these characters that we’ve met throughout the series so far. I wish wish wish we could explore each of these unique characters (including every single side character) even more.

In conclusion…

I’m recommending this book to all of my funky lit fic friends who are just dipping their feet into the world of fantasy. I’ll be very interested in reading whatever installments in this world that come next from T. Kingfisher. I’m not mad that this book is a direct copy and paste, but I will be excited to see what they do in future books set in this same world: hopefully a different romance and a plot line that doesn’t involve the sword falling in love with the wielder again. Maybe a progression of story without having to journey anywhere. Oh, and maybe we’ll dive further into some of these side characters.