Swordspoint begins with a single drop of blood on a field of new-fallen snow, an image that burned itself forever into my mind the first time I encountered it.I can close my eyes and see it still. It's a terrific opening, an unforgettable opening.., and the book just gets better from there. It is long past time that Swordspoint was back in print.

Hailed by critics as "a bravura performance" (Locus) and "witty, sharp-eyed, [and] full of interesting people" (Newsday), this classic melodrama of manners, filled with remarkable plot twists and unexpected humor, takes fantasy to an unprecedented level of elegant writing and scintillating wit. Award-winning author Ellen Kushner has created a world of unforgettable characters whose political ambitions, passionate love affairs, and age-old rivalries collide with deadly results...

On the treacherous streets of Riverside, a man lives and dies by the sword. Even the nobles on the Hill turn to duels to settle their disputes.Within this elite, dangerous world, Richard St Vier is the undisputed master, as skilled as he is ruthless--until a death by the sword is met with outrage instead of awe, and the city discovers that the line between hero and villain can be altered in the blink of an eye...

SWORDSPOINT

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

AFTERWORD

THE SWORDSMAN WHOSE NAME WAS NOT DEATHRED-CLoAKTHE DEATH OF THE DUKE