History Literature / Swordspoint

** Micah prefers men's clothing due to sensory issues, and also prefers short hair for the same reason, leading to being mistaken for a young boy. Slightly subverted in that while most people figure out quickly that Micah is AFAB, Micah doesn't seem to understand why their gender is even important.

* WholesomeCrossdresser: Katharine is shocked when Duke Tremontaine insists that she wear men's attire in her position as his house swordswoman. Eventually, she comes to appreciate the utility of the clothing, and much later, when she's in a position to wear what she likes, she has her seamstress create men's clothing with a feminine flare.

* AllMythsAreTrue: The early history of the City states that in the time of the kings, magic was commonplace and ubiquitous, though most learned people agree now that these stories are only myths. The plot of ''Fall of the Kings'' involves a group of scholars who suspect that the legends are nothing more than fact and seek a way to bring the magic back. [[Spoiler: It works, but not for long, and the nobles quickly suppress and deny the knowledge in order to retain their own power.]]

%% * AllMythsAreTrue: Toyed with in ''The Fall of the Kings''.

%% * BigBeautifulWoman: Tess the Hand in the ''Tremontaine'' books is considered extremely sultry and gorgeous by both men and women while being openly described as "fat."

%% * CityOfAdventure: The setting (it's never named).
%% * CityWithNoName: Riverside is a district within the city, but the city itself is never named.

%% * HitmanWithAHeart:

%% * JadeColoredGlasses

%% * LoveMakesYouCrazy: Richard and Jessamyn.

%% * LoversLedge: [[spoiler: How Richard dies, years after the main body of the story is over.]]

%% * NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The not-Shakespeare play.

%% * OffScreenBreakup: Both [[spoiler: Alec and Richard between ''Swordspoint'' and ''Privilege'']] and [[spoiler: Tess and Kaab between ''Season Two'' and ''Season Three''.]]

%% * RapeAsDrama: Implied in ''Swordspoint'', and a motivating incident for the main plot in ''The Privilege of the Sword.''

%% * SecretPolice: ''The Fall of the Kings'' features one, headed by the sinister Serpent Chancellor.

%% * UrbanFantasy: All takes place in an unnamed City.

** The title of ''The Fall of the Kings'' is part of the title of a fictional book written by Basil St. Cloud's mentor Dr. Tortua, ''Hubris and the Fall of the Kings''.

* MagicIsReligion: The magic of the wizards in ''The Fall of the Kings'', while not explicitly incorporating any worshipped deities, is nonetheless closely connected to fertility, harvest cycles, hunting, and the natural world in a way very reminiscent of pre-Christian paganism, and is heavily based on public rituals reinforcing the King's position as an avatar/icon of the land.

* TheMagicComesBack: The entire theme of ''Fall of the Kings'' is to prove that The magic was real.
* {{Mayincatec}}: Kaab's people and culture tend to be a fictionalized version of South America. Unlike most representations, it's plain that they're as civilized (if not more so) than the nobles of the City, and they're very powerful political players. [[spoiler: Their grasp of mathematics and navigation are actually a major plot point of ''Tremontaine, Season One''.]]

%% * RapeAsDrama: Implied in ''Swordspoint,'' and a motivating incident for the main plot in ''The Privilege of the Sword.''

%% * YouBastard: In a world full of bastards, Ferris managed to stand out.

* TheMagicComesBack: The entire theme of ''Fall of the Kings'' is to prove that TheMagicWasReal.

* ActionGirl: Jessica in ''The Fall of the Kings,'' Katherine in ''The Privilege of the Sword,'' and most definitely Kaab in the ''Tremontaine'' books.
* AllMythsAreTrue: Toyed with in ''The Fall of the Kings''.
* TheApprentice: Michael Godwin to Richard at times.

* BigBeautifulWoman: Tess the Hand in the ''Tremontaine'' books is considered extremely sultry and gorgeous by both men and women while being openly described as "fat."

* ButtMonkey:
* CityOfAdventure: The setting (it's never named).
* CityWithNoName: Riverside is a district within the city, but the city itself is never named.
* ComedicSociopathy
* DeadpanSnarker: Alec, most of the time.
* EveryoneIsBi: Not ''everyone'', strictly speaking, but certainly a large majority of the characters.

* GambitPileup: Lord Ferris is clearly on top of the pile, mind you.
** Well, he thinks he is. But when [[spoiler: Diane]] is the local MagnificentBastard, don't bet on Lord Ferris.
* HitmanWithAHeart:
* IfItsYouItsOkay: Tess (who appears to be bisexual) and Kaab (who is strictly about the ladies) briefly welcome [[spoiler: Vincent]] into their bed.
* JadeColoredGlasses
* [[spoiler: KillAndReplace: TheReveal in Tremontaine - this is what "Diane" - originally the serving maid Louisa - did to the ''real'' Diane Roehaven.]]
* LandOfOneCity: Noticeably averted.
* LoveHurts
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: Richard and Jessamyn.
* LoveRedeems
* LoversLedge: [[spoiler: How Richard dies, years after the main body of the story is over.]]

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The not-Shakespeare play.

* OffScreenBreakup: Both [[spoiler: Alec and Richard between ''Swordspoint'' and ''Privilege'']] and [[spoiler: Tess and Kaab between ''Season Two'' and ''Season Three''.]]

* RapeAsDrama: Implied in ''Swordspoint,'' and a motivating incident for the main plot in ''The Privilege of the Sword.''
* SecretPolice: ''The Fall of the Kings'' features one, headed by the sinister Serpent Chancellor.

* UrbanFantasy: All takes place in an unnamed City.

* YouBastard: In a world full of bastards, Ferris managed to stand out.

* RomanticTwoGirlFriendship: Katherine and Artemisia have one of these, particularly in their letter-writing where they take to calling themselves by the names of the male/female romantic leads of their favorite novel.

''Swordspoint'' tells the story of Richard, the best damn swordsman in Riverside, and Alec, a university student (possibly from the Hill) who lives with him. When Richard kills two men in a duel in an aristocrat's garden, he finds himself embroiled in a rather unpleasant business. There are few he can turn to for help (which he likely wouldn't do anyway) because, every day, swordsmen become less and less respectable.

* YourCheatingHeart

* BiTheWay: Bisexuality is completely socially accepted in this world, and much of the cast is at least incidentally bisexual.

* TheBaroness: Diane, who maintains an air of feminine helplessness while actually controlling almost everything behind the scenes. [[Spoiler: And she isn't too dainty to resort to cold-blooded murder if someone causes her too much trouble.]]

''Swordspoint'' is a cult classic fantasy of manners (with elements of urban fantasy and heroic fantasy) written by Ellen Kushner in 1987. Later on, it saw two sequels: ''The Fall of the Kings'' (which was co-written with Delia Sherman) and ''Literature/{{The Privilege of the Sword}}''. All three were critically acclaimed and are often held up as examples of a peculiar type of novel, with the basic setting of high fantasy but none (until The Fall of the Kings) of the magic.

* ActionGirl: Jessica in ''The Fall of the Kings''.

* ButtMonkey

* HitmanWithAHeart

* [[spoiler: KillAndReplace: TheReveal in Tremontaine - this is what "Diane" - originally the serving maid Louisa - did to the REAL Diane Roehaven.]]

* LoversLedge
* TheMagicComesBack

* ProfessionalKiller
* RapeAsDrama: Implied in ''Swordspoint''.

* UrbanFantasy

* YouBastard

''Swordspoint'' is a cult classic fantasy of manners (with elements of urban fantasy and heroic fantasy) written by Ellen Kushner in 1987. Later on, it saw two sequels: ''The Fall of the Kings'' (which was co-written with Delia Sherman) and ''The Privilege of the Sword''. All three were critically acclaimed and are often held up as examples of a peculiar type of novel, with the basic setting of high fantasy but none (until The Fall of the Kings) of the magic.

''The Privilege of the Sword,'' set a generation after ''Swordspoint'', tells the story of Katherine, a young noblewoman living in genteel poverty who is suddenly summoned to the city by her uncle, the Mad Duke. Katherine hopes that the summons means an upgrade in her marriage prospects, only to learn, to her horror, that the Mad Duke wants to dress her as a boy and train her to be a swordsman.

* ActionGirl: ''The Privilege of the Sword'' is, to some extent, about Katherine learning to become one of these. In ''The Fall of the Kings'' her cousin Jessica turns out to be one as well.

* RapeAsDrama: ''The Privilege of the Sword'' has an example which deals very respectfully with the subject.
** Implied in ''Swordspoint'' as well.

** "The privilege of the sword," as discussed in the book, is a privilege only available to men. There's some legal squabbling when Katherine takes up a sword to defend the honor of a female friend, the question being if a woman is legally allowed to defend her own honor with a sword or if she is simply a murderer.

''Swordspoint'' tells the story of Richard, a swordsman in Riverside, and Alec, a university student (possibly from the Hill) who lives with him. When Richard kills two men in a duel in an aristocrat's garden, he finds himself embroiled in a rather unpleasant business. There are few he can turn to for help (which he likely wouldn't do anyway) because, every day, swordsmen become less and less respectable.

''The Privilege of the Sword'' is set a generation after ''Swordspoint'', and ''The Fall of the Kings'' is set a generation (give or take) after that. ''Tremontaine'' is the most recent addition, currently published by Serial Box. It's a prequel taking place roughly a generation before ''Swordspoint'' with a young Diane Tremontaine as one of the main cast.

* TitleDrop

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/swordspoint.jpg]]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/swordspoint.jpg]]

''The Privilege of the Sword'' is set a generation after ''Swordspoint'', and ''The Fall of the Kings'' is set a generation (give or take) after that.

''Swordspoint'' is a cult classic fantasy of manners (with elements of urban fantasy and heroic fantasy) written by Ellen Kushner in 1987. Later on, it saw two sequels: ''The Fall of the Kings'' (which was co-written with Delia Sherman) and ''The Privilege of the Sword''. All three were critically acclaimed and are often held up as examples of a peculiar type of novel, with the basic setting of high fantasy but none of the magic.

* JerkassWoobie: Alec. He does some pretty awful things (like picking fights with other swordsmen so he can watch Richard kill them) and he's regularly sarcastic, bitter, and cruel, even to people he loves--but once you've gotten a sense of just ''how'' screwed up he is and why, it's hard not to feel sorry for him in spite of his behavior.