The Privilege Of The Sword

Though The Privilege of the Sword is actually the second in a series, the witty and intelligent novel does well a highly praised stand-alone, winner of the Locus award and nominated for both World Fantasy awards and Gaylatic awards. The novel starts out with naïve, teenage heroine Katherine, who moves from the countryside to live with her uncle in the city, where she meets a host of women whose lives are controlled by men. Luckily for her, she escapes out of the cycle of marriage and enters training to become a swordsman, dressing like a man, and more often than not, being perceived as one, a scenario that all women have (let's face it) imagined at some point.Though the novel does receive some demerits for an abrupt ending, this is still a fun read, especially if you'd like a break from magic interfering with everything, as this one has none.Read if You Like: coming of age stories, gender-bending, swordplay