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Eddie LaCrosse #1
The Sword-Edged Blonde
It should have been a case like any other: a missing princess, a king willing to pay in gold for her return. But before he realizes it, private investigator Eddie LaCrosse, a slightly shopworn sword jockey with a talent for discretion and detection, is swept up in a web of mystery and deceit involving a brutally murdered royal heir, a queen accused of an unspeakable crime and the tragic past he thought he'd left behind.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2007
44 people are currently reading
2033 people want to read
About the author
Alex Bledsoe
67 books794 followersI grew up in west Tennessee an hour north of Graceland (home of Elvis) and twenty minutes from Nutbush (home of Tina Turner). I've been a reporter, editor, photographer and door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman. I now live in a big yellow house in Wisconsin, write before six in the morning and try to teach my two kids to act like they've been to town before.
I write the Tufa novels (The Hum and the Shiver, Wisp of a Thing, Long Black Curl and Chapel of Ease), as well as the Eddie LaCrosse series (The Sword-Edged Blonde, Burn Me Deadly, Dark Jenny, Wake of the Bloody Angel and He Drank, and Saw the Spider). the Firefly Witch ebook chapbooks, and two "vampsloitation" novels set in 1975 Memphis (Blood Groove and The Girls with Games of Blood).
I write the Tufa novels (The Hum and the Shiver, Wisp of a Thing, Long Black Curl and Chapel of Ease), as well as the Eddie LaCrosse series (The Sword-Edged Blonde, Burn Me Deadly, Dark Jenny, Wake of the Bloody Angel and He Drank, and Saw the Spider). the Firefly Witch ebook chapbooks, and two "vampsloitation" novels set in 1975 Memphis (Blood Groove and The Girls with Games of Blood).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 396 reviews
July 7, 2014
In the medieval kingdom of Arentia, Queen Rhiannon has been charged with a particularly horrific case of infanticide. King Philip desperately believes in his wife's innocence, despite all evidence to the contrary. His only hope? Eddie LaCrosse, the tough as nails sword-for-hire investigator and the king's childhood friend. Having spent years trying to outrun his past, LaCrosse begrudgingly returns home and is forced to confront his demons while trying to unravel the mystery of whether or not the beautiful blonde bombshell actually killed her own son.
The Sword-Edged Blonde is the snappy title for this noir/fantasy mash-up that's light on the noir, easy on the fantasy, and not as snappy as I wanted it to be. This is a bit of fun and forgettable reading, perfect for vacation but little else. While I enjoyed the book as a light, quick read, I could have loved it if it weren't for a few peeves:
--First off, that cover. Ye gods, that cover. Even by the artistically lacking and inept standards of mass market paperback sci fi/fantasy covers, that is one fugly cover. And wtf it has to do with the novel, I have no idea. It appears as though a giant troll king will manifest somewhere in the novel, and it's difficult to tell if he will be friend or foe based upon the back-to-back stance with the protagonist. Is he being sneaky-sneaky, trying to catch our hero off-guard, or has he simply got his back, bro? You know what--doesn't matter because this character and this scene never appears in the novel, at least not in any recognizable form.
--Ditto with the title. Sure, there's a blonde, but nothing about her is particularly "sword-edged." She's basically clueless and pouty. The reality is that she's more of a butter-knife-edged blonde. Or maybe a spork blonde, kind of confused and essentially useless.
--The protagonist, Eddie LaCrosse, is a bland character. He's not hard-boiled enough. I expected a world-weary, wise-cracking antihero (maybe a character like Ash from Army of Darkness). But LaCrosse is basically just a good guy who wanders around while clues smack him in the face. The only real nod to noir is that he has a suitably tragic past, but it doesn't seem to have shaped his character in any significant way. He occasionally ruminates on his past woes, but then snaps back to the present and soldiers on.
--Ineffective use of the locked room mystery presented as the crux for the case. I won't say much regarding this since I don't want to ruin anything, but a locked room can have so much potential for an unexpected twist that The Sword-Edged Blonde never capitalizes on.
While I didn't particularly like the objectified female characters, such is the territory with a noir-esque novel and there's nothing here that suggests Alex Bledsoe harbors misogynistic tendencies; instead, he's just tipping his hat to one of the defining characteristics of the genre. Still, it bothered me a bit that so many other noir tropes were dodged, but this was the one that was adhered to.
Essentially, this book is like a cheap and ugly hooker. Pay your $10, try not to look at it too hard, and you might have a relatively good time.
(That's right, I went there even after my little speech about objectifying women--hypocrisy, thy name is Amanda.)
Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder
The Sword-Edged Blonde is the snappy title for this noir/fantasy mash-up that's light on the noir, easy on the fantasy, and not as snappy as I wanted it to be. This is a bit of fun and forgettable reading, perfect for vacation but little else. While I enjoyed the book as a light, quick read, I could have loved it if it weren't for a few peeves:
--First off, that cover. Ye gods, that cover. Even by the artistically lacking and inept standards of mass market paperback sci fi/fantasy covers, that is one fugly cover. And wtf it has to do with the novel, I have no idea. It appears as though a giant troll king will manifest somewhere in the novel, and it's difficult to tell if he will be friend or foe based upon the back-to-back stance with the protagonist. Is he being sneaky-sneaky, trying to catch our hero off-guard, or has he simply got his back, bro? You know what--doesn't matter because this character and this scene never appears in the novel, at least not in any recognizable form.
--Ditto with the title. Sure, there's a blonde, but nothing about her is particularly "sword-edged." She's basically clueless and pouty. The reality is that she's more of a butter-knife-edged blonde. Or maybe a spork blonde, kind of confused and essentially useless.
--The protagonist, Eddie LaCrosse, is a bland character. He's not hard-boiled enough. I expected a world-weary, wise-cracking antihero (maybe a character like Ash from Army of Darkness). But LaCrosse is basically just a good guy who wanders around while clues smack him in the face. The only real nod to noir is that he has a suitably tragic past, but it doesn't seem to have shaped his character in any significant way. He occasionally ruminates on his past woes, but then snaps back to the present and soldiers on.
--Ineffective use of the locked room mystery presented as the crux for the case. I won't say much regarding this since I don't want to ruin anything, but a locked room can have so much potential for an unexpected twist that The Sword-Edged Blonde never capitalizes on.
While I didn't particularly like the objectified female characters, such is the territory with a noir-esque novel and there's nothing here that suggests Alex Bledsoe harbors misogynistic tendencies; instead, he's just tipping his hat to one of the defining characteristics of the genre. Still, it bothered me a bit that so many other noir tropes were dodged, but this was the one that was adhered to.
Essentially, this book is like a cheap and ugly hooker. Pay your $10, try not to look at it too hard, and you might have a relatively good time.
(That's right, I went there even after my little speech about objectifying women--hypocrisy, thy name is Amanda.)
Cross posted at This Insignificant Cinder
May 4, 2015
from my blog at https://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2015/...
Well, that was a surprise.
by Justin Sweet
(Cover) + (title) = Pass. Except that too many book-world friends read and enjoyed it, so I thought it was worth a try. Still, I cringed: this is a cover made for the e-reader. You know, the picture you don’t want any of your friends to see, because then they’d ask the obvious, and you’d have to explain how the blonde woman with the large bosom and missing legs was witnessing three mysterious men with swords hover around her (obvious much?) were clearly debating which one of them was going to cut off their own legs so that the mad doctor could suture them to her knees instead.
That’s my interpretation, at least.
The cover might have put me in a bad place, because I think around chapter two, I wondered if I was even in the mood to finish. It turns out, the first three chapters are somewhat of a blind, a prelude to the character of Eddie and his cases. Thankfully, the real story takes off after Eddie completes the current commission.
A mix of noir and fantasy, I feel like Bledscoe is still finding his stride, a sort of Terry Pratchett style of noir. Initially, plot, characters, dialogue–all written straight noir trope, plopped down into a generic but well-described fantasy setting. Characters named “Eddie,” “Kenny,” “Rachel,” and “Mike Anders,” talking about military school, an architect girlfriend–it’s more than a bit disconcerting after coming from writers who craft fantasy worlds like travel guides. At least, I assumed it was a tongue-in-cheek style until we start digging into Eddie’s emotional history. As Eddie tracks down the solution to a grisly murder, he winds through his own troubled history.
As an aside: must Bledscoe have named towns Neceda (real name: Necedah), Muscodia (real name: Muscoda) and Boscobel (real name: Boscobel)? These are real places in Wisconsin, and are infinitely distracting to the one twentieth of the U.S. population that lives there. The first two likely reflect corrupted Native American place names, so they don’t particularly set well with the Eddies and Mikes of the naming world. But hey–I guess I can admire the commitment to copying from the modern world.
What saved it for me was the emotional core of the story, the gooey center of self discovery and a sort of wistful romance. There’s also an element of mythology which I rather enjoyed but is incompletely explained for those who like a lot of detail. Taking pains to not spoil, I’ll note that the mythology component explained a lot of me that made potentially problematic females characterization and action more acceptable. The villain was ominous and a decent foil.
When I picked this one up from the library, I thought I was reading a fantasy. It turned into a noir mystery, and then evolved into a hero’s quest for redemption and discovery. And not a legless woman in the bunch. Just goes to show that you can’t judge a book by its cover.
May 19, 2014
I have been reading a lot of fantasy recently, and so much of it has just blended together in my mind. There's a fair amount out there that is good, but much of a sameness with everything else that's out there. There are relatively few distinctive voices.
So, when this fantasy-crossed-with-noir popped up, I was more than ready to read it.
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
So, when this fantasy-crossed-with-noir popped up, I was more than ready to read it.
Note: The rest of this review has been withdrawn due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook
March 5, 2014
The Sword Edged Blonde is hardboiled noir in a fantasy world. Only it's not that hardboiled really and the fantasy is minimal. It's pretty great stuff all the same. I hear the word fantasy when referring to a novel and I immediately hit the panic button, visions of pages full of filler descriptions, epic quests that involve dragons and wizards and protagonists with 4 d's and 7 apostrophes in their name unfold before me and groans escape from my lips. With his debut novel Bledsoe seemingly rejects such hackneyed cliche writing, preferring instead to take the route of Stephen King or at a stretch Terry Pratchett, in writing a fantasy world that could very easily be our own but without science.
Lip service is paid to magical creatures, priestesses, wizards, goddesses, omnipotent beings and other such staples of the genre, he even acknowledges the rejection of these tropes explicitly within the text; Eddie LaCrosse your hardboiled sword jockey narrator attempts to name his horse Loyola in true fantasy style of giving things ridiculous names but the horse lets him know in no uncertain terms that this isn't going to work for her. I read a lot of hardboiled detective fiction and almost all of it is set in a strange city that I've never visited, that same sense of otherness tempered by knowledge is present here, Eddie could just as easily be in Florida or Manilla or Glasgow for all the exotic familiarity present in his world.
For this reader that is the most important skill Alex Bledsoe could have brought to the table, combining it with an interesting and somewhat unique genre protagonist plus the exciting mystery at its heart you're left with a fresh and entertaining read that promises the potential for a long and enjoyable series of similar adventures. It could also be said that sequels are completely unnecessary to this novel and just might lessen the impact of this one. But I'm willing to give the author the benefit of the doubt at least once.
Lip service is paid to magical creatures, priestesses, wizards, goddesses, omnipotent beings and other such staples of the genre, he even acknowledges the rejection of these tropes explicitly within the text; Eddie LaCrosse your hardboiled sword jockey narrator attempts to name his horse Loyola in true fantasy style of giving things ridiculous names but the horse lets him know in no uncertain terms that this isn't going to work for her. I read a lot of hardboiled detective fiction and almost all of it is set in a strange city that I've never visited, that same sense of otherness tempered by knowledge is present here, Eddie could just as easily be in Florida or Manilla or Glasgow for all the exotic familiarity present in his world.
For this reader that is the most important skill Alex Bledsoe could have brought to the table, combining it with an interesting and somewhat unique genre protagonist plus the exciting mystery at its heart you're left with a fresh and entertaining read that promises the potential for a long and enjoyable series of similar adventures. It could also be said that sequels are completely unnecessary to this novel and just might lessen the impact of this one. But I'm willing to give the author the benefit of the doubt at least once.
December 19, 2008
I was writing my review as I read this book, and prepared to recommend it with some caveats, when in the last ten pages, the author pulled out something that pissed me off so badly I would very much like to mail him a half-pound of dead catfish by surface mail in August. I'm giving it three stars, because it's good writing, and perhaps it deserves four, but I'm just not capable of that kind of magnanimity.
First, in its favour, the book is a good example of the noire detective story in a fantasy setting. I've seen it done before, but I don't think I've seen it done better. The protagonist, Eddie LaCrosse, is not so cynical that he is unlikeable, if liking the protagonist is crucial to your enjoyment, as it is to mine. The characterisation is serviceable, if not precisely subtle and multi-layered, and the fantasy world approximately Lankhmar in general tone.
The quotes on the back describe this book as hilarious, but I actually didn't find it all that funny: not as in "that's not funny, I'm offended!" but rather I really only found one or two points where I recognized that humour was supposed to be (and IMO, succeeding at) happening. Probably a sensahuma mismatch, your mileage may vary.
Now, (with vague spoilers) on to my caveats, building to an unhinged rant: the hard-boiled detective novel really is the novel of defensive white man-pain, and don't expect that to change here. Eddie's left a trail of dead women behind him, which is tragic, really. For him, obviously. The funny thing is that Eddie seems to recognize that he's nothing special, and that the women he loved and lost deserved to live as much as he did (if not more); and yet, this is Eddie's novel, and it's littered with dead women who give his backstory a tragic zest.
At point, Eddie needs information from an effeminate homosexual-- who abruptly drops his mannerisms, claims they're a show, and grudgingly gives Eddie the information he needs-- after his partner has been assaulted and his business been threatened. Maybe it wouldn't get to me so much if he wasn't the only queer presence.
A minor annoyance as well: the title. There is only one narratively significant blonde in the book, but nothing makes her particularly 'sword-edged,' and it annoys me that apparently a snappy title is more important than respecting the actual fact of her.
At the end, however, our hero retires to his hole in the wall detective agency, and in walks the identical twin of a woman he lost many years ago. I cannot actually think of a way to make the substitution of one woman for another more insulting. Oh, sure, Eddie muses to himself that "I knew she wasn't Cathy, of course; one woman couldn't replace another," and yet, she walks into his life in the last ten pages of the book, and could not be more obviously signalled to be the woman meant to make him happy if Bledsoe had festooned her with garlands spelling "SHE'S THE ONE." It's one thing to have an epilogue hinting that the protagonist is on the verge of finding romantic happiness, but to use identical twins in this way; rather than a book which acknowledges the differences between individual women, this one brings a woman in and the punch-line is that she's exactly the same. She is doubtless distinct from her twin in many ways, but the book ends, and the reader never hears of it.
First, in its favour, the book is a good example of the noire detective story in a fantasy setting. I've seen it done before, but I don't think I've seen it done better. The protagonist, Eddie LaCrosse, is not so cynical that he is unlikeable, if liking the protagonist is crucial to your enjoyment, as it is to mine. The characterisation is serviceable, if not precisely subtle and multi-layered, and the fantasy world approximately Lankhmar in general tone.
The quotes on the back describe this book as hilarious, but I actually didn't find it all that funny: not as in "that's not funny, I'm offended!" but rather I really only found one or two points where I recognized that humour was supposed to be (and IMO, succeeding at) happening. Probably a sensahuma mismatch, your mileage may vary.
Now, (with vague spoilers) on to my caveats, building to an unhinged rant: the hard-boiled detective novel really is the novel of defensive white man-pain, and don't expect that to change here. Eddie's left a trail of dead women behind him, which is tragic, really. For him, obviously. The funny thing is that Eddie seems to recognize that he's nothing special, and that the women he loved and lost deserved to live as much as he did (if not more); and yet, this is Eddie's novel, and it's littered with dead women who give his backstory a tragic zest.
At point, Eddie needs information from an effeminate homosexual-- who abruptly drops his mannerisms, claims they're a show, and grudgingly gives Eddie the information he needs-- after his partner has been assaulted and his business been threatened. Maybe it wouldn't get to me so much if he wasn't the only queer presence.
A minor annoyance as well: the title. There is only one narratively significant blonde in the book, but nothing makes her particularly 'sword-edged,' and it annoys me that apparently a snappy title is more important than respecting the actual fact of her.
At the end, however, our hero retires to his hole in the wall detective agency, and in walks the identical twin of a woman he lost many years ago. I cannot actually think of a way to make the substitution of one woman for another more insulting. Oh, sure, Eddie muses to himself that "I knew she wasn't Cathy, of course; one woman couldn't replace another," and yet, she walks into his life in the last ten pages of the book, and could not be more obviously signalled to be the woman meant to make him happy if Bledsoe had festooned her with garlands spelling "SHE'S THE ONE." It's one thing to have an epilogue hinting that the protagonist is on the verge of finding romantic happiness, but to use identical twins in this way; rather than a book which acknowledges the differences between individual women, this one brings a woman in and the punch-line is that she's exactly the same. She is doubtless distinct from her twin in many ways, but the book ends, and the reader never hears of it.
June 5, 2012
1.5
So...
Ok, for most of the book I'd say it was probably a 2-star read. It wasn't great, but it was an ok read. But it had it's issues.
One thing that was kinda cool was the use of Epona and Rhiannon. A fun fact that not everyone might know:
Epona is the name of the and Rhiannon is
Also the whole is part of the Rhiannon story in the Mabinogi.
That, and the general premise, are the best things about the story.
Of the complaints, one of my main ones was that while one of the main selling-points is that it has the feel of a UF detective story, it's set in a more traditional fantasy/medieval sort of time period. (Even though this isn't the first book to do this, it does seem to be a selling point for many people.) But my first complaint is that the traditional/medieval time period felt sort of tacked on. With the modern naming conventions and slang and whatnot, it read like a modern UF detective story, except there were horses instead of cars and swords instead of guns - and even that's not a given in more contemporary UF because even modern magical users seem to like their swords (see Michael and Morgan in Dresden, for example). So that was issue number one.
(The series most reminded me of was Hawk & Fisher by Simon R. Green. And, actually, this is one of those instances in which reading this book gave me a higher regard for Hawk & Fisher. I mean, say what you will about that series - 'cause it was certainly not without its own issues and flaws - but at least it felt to me like a more traditional/medieval fantasy setting and it had some decent female characters.)
Anyway, issue number two was that the detecting style in the book seems to be of the "lucky to be in the right time and place to get the vital piece of information you need" variety as opposed to the actual hunting down clues variety. It's a problem a lot of detective-type stories seem to have, though, so this, alone, wasn't the kiss of death.
So what was?
Well, here's where the ranting begins.
Ya know, I could forgive the fact that the character's are all kinda thin, and that I never really clicked with Eddie. I could even sort of look past the over-abundance of abuse/rape as tragic back-story, and even the kind of skeeviness of the sex scene with Eddie and Epona. I mean, , 'cause, hey, .
But when, towards the end, when Eddie goes into Rhiannon's cell and he
And speaking of WTF moments - what's with the - what's the fucking point of that whole scene?
And then there's something which is actually from the next book, but which you see in the preview section at the end of this book. Lola, his horse - the one, like, freaking healthy relationship developed in the whole first book -
And that HEA ending that was totally lame and came outta nowhere! Ugh!
So, yeah...
I so totally will not be continuing with this series. I mean, even if I can get past some of the WTF-osity of it, it'd still only be a 2, 2.5 star rating at best.
So after this, and not liking the first Tufa novel all that much, either, I think Alex Bledsoe is going into the "will never read again" pile. Buh-bye.
So...
Ok, for most of the book I'd say it was probably a 2-star read. It wasn't great, but it was an ok read. But it had it's issues.
One thing that was kinda cool was the use of Epona and Rhiannon. A fun fact that not everyone might know:
Epona is the name of the and Rhiannon is
Also the whole is part of the Rhiannon story in the Mabinogi.
That, and the general premise, are the best things about the story.
Of the complaints, one of my main ones was that while one of the main selling-points is that it has the feel of a UF detective story, it's set in a more traditional fantasy/medieval sort of time period. (Even though this isn't the first book to do this, it does seem to be a selling point for many people.) But my first complaint is that the traditional/medieval time period felt sort of tacked on. With the modern naming conventions and slang and whatnot, it read like a modern UF detective story, except there were horses instead of cars and swords instead of guns - and even that's not a given in more contemporary UF because even modern magical users seem to like their swords (see Michael and Morgan in Dresden, for example). So that was issue number one.
(The series most reminded me of was Hawk & Fisher by Simon R. Green. And, actually, this is one of those instances in which reading this book gave me a higher regard for Hawk & Fisher. I mean, say what you will about that series - 'cause it was certainly not without its own issues and flaws - but at least it felt to me like a more traditional/medieval fantasy setting and it had some decent female characters.)
Anyway, issue number two was that the detecting style in the book seems to be of the "lucky to be in the right time and place to get the vital piece of information you need" variety as opposed to the actual hunting down clues variety. It's a problem a lot of detective-type stories seem to have, though, so this, alone, wasn't the kiss of death.
So what was?
Well, here's where the ranting begins.
Ya know, I could forgive the fact that the character's are all kinda thin, and that I never really clicked with Eddie. I could even sort of look past the over-abundance of abuse/rape as tragic back-story, and even the kind of skeeviness of the sex scene with Eddie and Epona. I mean, , 'cause, hey, .
But when, towards the end, when Eddie goes into Rhiannon's cell and he
And speaking of WTF moments - what's with the - what's the fucking point of that whole scene?
And then there's something which is actually from the next book, but which you see in the preview section at the end of this book. Lola, his horse - the one, like, freaking healthy relationship developed in the whole first book -
And that HEA ending that was totally lame and came outta nowhere! Ugh!
So, yeah...
I so totally will not be continuing with this series. I mean, even if I can get past some of the WTF-osity of it, it'd still only be a 2, 2.5 star rating at best.
So after this, and not liking the first Tufa novel all that much, either, I think Alex Bledsoe is going into the "will never read again" pile. Buh-bye.
April 25, 2012
I had no expectations at all when I downloaded this book. I only did it because one of my groups was reading it, and a fellow member chose it, so I thought I would support him. I am glad I did.
It is a mash-up of something old and worn -- a couple of things that are old and worn, actually -- with a little of the new and kitschy. It's a bit of low brow hack and slash Fantasy fun with a kooky Goddess at its heart; it's a pretty straight forward Detective Noire -- including the requisite smart mouthed detective; and it's an Urban Fantasy with more than one urban centre.
It does them all with a refreshing bit of hip carelessness that manifests in the ways of Alex Bledsoe's world. The world is pretty much exactly like ours, except they're still using swords and crossbows as weapons and travelling on horseback. By exactly like ours, I mean that the concerns of any given populace are for working infrastructure, employment and getting by; I mean they're entertainment is the scandals of the rich and famous (in their case, Kings and Queens); I mean that nightclubs and casinos and bars are just like ours, name tags for servers included; I mean that leaving your horse parked somewhere overnight will get you a ticket, warning you not to do it again or face a fine; I mean that our hero is named Eddie LaCrosse, and the girls he loves are named Janice and Liz and Cathy. It's a clever way to approach a Fantasy world, this stripping away of all medieval pretensions, and it works wonders because it allows Bledsoe's sense of humour, which is decidedly contemporary, to come through without sounding dissonant. It fits because he makes it fit. And damn is it fun.
I want to keep going. I want more of Eddie. And that doesn't happen to me often when I stumble upon a series in the B-range of literature. Sure I'll bump against it, I may even like it well enough, but I tend to visit only once and never come back. I think this time may be different. The tales of Eddie LaCrosse are just too much fun for a one off.
It is a mash-up of something old and worn -- a couple of things that are old and worn, actually -- with a little of the new and kitschy. It's a bit of low brow hack and slash Fantasy fun with a kooky Goddess at its heart; it's a pretty straight forward Detective Noire -- including the requisite smart mouthed detective; and it's an Urban Fantasy with more than one urban centre.
It does them all with a refreshing bit of hip carelessness that manifests in the ways of Alex Bledsoe's world. The world is pretty much exactly like ours, except they're still using swords and crossbows as weapons and travelling on horseback. By exactly like ours, I mean that the concerns of any given populace are for working infrastructure, employment and getting by; I mean they're entertainment is the scandals of the rich and famous (in their case, Kings and Queens); I mean that nightclubs and casinos and bars are just like ours, name tags for servers included; I mean that leaving your horse parked somewhere overnight will get you a ticket, warning you not to do it again or face a fine; I mean that our hero is named Eddie LaCrosse, and the girls he loves are named Janice and Liz and Cathy. It's a clever way to approach a Fantasy world, this stripping away of all medieval pretensions, and it works wonders because it allows Bledsoe's sense of humour, which is decidedly contemporary, to come through without sounding dissonant. It fits because he makes it fit. And damn is it fun.
I want to keep going. I want more of Eddie. And that doesn't happen to me often when I stumble upon a series in the B-range of literature. Sure I'll bump against it, I may even like it well enough, but I tend to visit only once and never come back. I think this time may be different. The tales of Eddie LaCrosse are just too much fun for a one off.
August 3, 2020
I only have a modern, pop-culture familiarity with noir or tough-guy detective literature (read all the Spenser books, watched The Maltese Falcon once or twice). From that perspective, this book seems to be what the jacket advertises -- guy with some physical skills, some brains, and some attitude operates as the sword & sorcery world equivalent of a 1930s private investigator. The story works decently at that level.
Next level deeper, I'm divided. There is a great intersection of magic and mundane, and a great personal growth as Eddie's case and his back-story begin to interweave, but there is a sense that the world is not coherent and will come apart if the reader applies too much thought to it.
Mundane meets magic: ordinary folks seem to put stock in charms and spells, but they don't seem to work, either. Despite some weird occurrences, Eddie won't quite believe that gods may still occasionally walk among men, but he will follow omens and portents. I think the author does a decent job of here, especially approaching the Big Reveal.
Eddie's Growth: easily a pure fantasy story of it's own, the author carefully reveals it and it works. This part alone elevates the story to 4-stars for me. Can't say more or I'll wreck your enjoyment of the book.
The Dark Ages, 1930s Style: toughest for me to accept. We seem to have a medieval society that supports a varied middle-class, general literacy, some sort of mass-production (Eddie knows at least one sword by a model name, like a gun...), modern health and hygiene, and some sort of economy that allows very specific trades such as "sword jockey" and "confidential courier" to flourish. It takes some strong suspension of disbelief to keep Eddie's world functioning smoothly.
An enjoyable fiction, and look forward to more, but not without a few scratches where the serial numbers have been filed off...
Next level deeper, I'm divided. There is a great intersection of magic and mundane, and a great personal growth as Eddie's case and his back-story begin to interweave, but there is a sense that the world is not coherent and will come apart if the reader applies too much thought to it.
Mundane meets magic: ordinary folks seem to put stock in charms and spells, but they don't seem to work, either. Despite some weird occurrences, Eddie won't quite believe that gods may still occasionally walk among men, but he will follow omens and portents. I think the author does a decent job of here, especially approaching the Big Reveal.
Eddie's Growth: easily a pure fantasy story of it's own, the author carefully reveals it and it works. This part alone elevates the story to 4-stars for me. Can't say more or I'll wreck your enjoyment of the book.
The Dark Ages, 1930s Style: toughest for me to accept. We seem to have a medieval society that supports a varied middle-class, general literacy, some sort of mass-production (Eddie knows at least one sword by a model name, like a gun...), modern health and hygiene, and some sort of economy that allows very specific trades such as "sword jockey" and "confidential courier" to flourish. It takes some strong suspension of disbelief to keep Eddie's world functioning smoothly.
An enjoyable fiction, and look forward to more, but not without a few scratches where the serial numbers have been filed off...
September 6, 2009
4.5 stars. Excellent debut novel. Great noir, fantasy story set in a fully realized fantasy setting. With as many fantasy novels as are out there, it is really nice to find a well written story that does not fit neatly in the familiar mold. This certainly fits that description. The second novel in this series is out and I look foward to reading it. Recommended.
August 28, 2024
Spring came down hard that year.
And I do mean hard, like the fist of some drunken pike poker with too much fury and not enough ale, whose wife just left him for some wandering minstrel and whose commanding officer absconded with the pay.
Alex Bledsoe is familiar I think with the dictum that you should grab your readers by
This is my first story by him, and the opening gambit is part of why I continued with the adventures of Eddie LaCrosse, an ex-mercenary turned sword-for-hire and private detective in a small river town that has just experienced catastrophic flooding.
It was a good place for someone like me, a private sword jockey with a talent for discretion, to quietly ply his trade. Clients liked coming to a small town where they could pass unrecognized. Some days were lucrative, most were not, but it all evened out at the end.
Bledsoe also knows his classic noir first-person delivery rules: world-weary, slightly cynical, seasoned with bitter humour and clever similes. Eddie gets hired to track down and bring back home a runaway princess: a sort of standard gumshoe case that the experienced reader can already predict will twist into some sort of byzantine plot with far-reaching branches into a grimy underworld.
The very thought of describing the way Princess Lila had gone off to be a girl-toy for a bunch of randy border raiders left him too embarrassed to even meet my eyes.
I should have left expectations at the door, because the missing princess story is just a red herring used to make the reader familiar with the detective and with the world he moves in. There are bigger fishes to fry here, and Eddie LaCrosse is forced to confront some ghosts from his own past as he is asked to return to the court of his father, another royal with a more serious case of murder on his hands: the new queen is accused of having murdered her own child, the recently born heir to the realm, and Eddie is asked to clear her name before a bloody revolution engulfs everything in flames.
“You believe this Epona is a goddess?”
The hard-boiled story with a fantasy setting is rather cleverly turned into a fantasy novel told by a gumshoe with a sword. I liked the way the novel changed gears, even if the clear references to the Mabinogion flew over my head (I haven’t read the original myths yet) . With characters named Epona and Rhiannon and with magical groves and white horses and immortals walking the earth it should have been easier to make the connection. but maybe I enjoyed the ride better for not knowing what to expect.
I believe I have even spotted some references to the myth of Circe and of a roving sailor named Andrew Reese in the book.
“I formed an island safely off the trade routes but near enough I might be visited. I made it a paradise, with plenty to eat and drink, but completely uninhabited. And then I waited. I had plenty of time, you understand.”
The merit of Alex Bledsoe here is in how he blended in these well-known legends into his own secondary-world construction. The finer points of the plot are already a little hazy for me, since I read the book on vacation in southern Italy where I had a lot of distractions available. So I wouldn’t go so far as to call the book memorable or eye-opening. But is is a good story, cleverly-plotted and decently paced. For a debut novel, I also think it is well-written, with very few false notes or awkward moments.
I might give the second book in the series a try eventually, but before that I feel an urge to return to another fantasy sword-jockey with a good delivery named Garrett in a series written by Glen Cook. I am already up to book seven in that world and I liked what I read so far a little better.
April 3, 2012
I originally started reading this as something light to read in between heavy, dark, deep books. But then I found that I just couldn't put it down and had to keep going til it was over.
A brilliant blend of medieval fantasy and noir detective this book really hit the right marks for me. The witty, self-deprecating, flawed and human detective/swordsman was such a great main character I easily fell behind him. The main story, while predictable, was entertaining and gripping the whole way though.
Another review I read mentioned inconsistencies, like a name-tag on a waitress, but they weren't mistakes but intentional anachronisms that really gave this book a sense of the familiar mixed with fantasy. These little humourous details that shouldn't exist in the setting of the world but work perfectly. Reminds me a lot of Douglas Adams more subtle humour. The best humour is most often that which isn't pushed into the audiences face.
A great book I must now get my hands on the sequel.
A brilliant blend of medieval fantasy and noir detective this book really hit the right marks for me. The witty, self-deprecating, flawed and human detective/swordsman was such a great main character I easily fell behind him. The main story, while predictable, was entertaining and gripping the whole way though.
Another review I read mentioned inconsistencies, like a name-tag on a waitress, but they weren't mistakes but intentional anachronisms that really gave this book a sense of the familiar mixed with fantasy. These little humourous details that shouldn't exist in the setting of the world but work perfectly. Reminds me a lot of Douglas Adams more subtle humour. The best humour is most often that which isn't pushed into the audiences face.
A great book I must now get my hands on the sequel.
February 21, 2021
This was one of my audiobook series-sampling listens, to see if I might want to pursue this series in print someday.
Audio Narration
The narrator is Stefan Rudnicki. Listening to him was a relief after the narrator of the last audiobook I listened to! Rudnicki reads with what I would consider a normal pace. His tone is matter-of-fact and not overly dramatized. He has a distinctively deep voice that’s pleasant to listen to, but I did think that negatively affected his ability to do different character voices. His male voices were ok, but his female voices were a little painful. They sounded too pouty, angry, and/or flirty, more so than I thought was intended by the text. Even so, I liked him better than many narrators I’ve listened to, and I would happily listen to another book he had narrated.
Story
The story centers around a detective named Eddie LaCrosse. We start off with a mission that has little relevance to the main story, I guess mostly to provide an introduction to the character and the world he lives in. The main story picks up shortly after that and involves Eddie investigating a murder for his best friend, the King of the city where he grew up. Apparently the Queen has (I’m putting it in spoiler tags for excessive grossness more than for spoilerishness; it’s revealed relatively early) .
This feels like urban fantasy. The word choices, the expressions, and the attitudes all feel much more modern than the setting actually is, but the world’s inhabitants ride horses and fight with swords. It was a little jarring at first, but I got used to it. Eddie has what I would consider the stereotypical detective’s tragic past, but at least he isn’t an alcoholic, so that was something. There isn’t a lot of magic in the book. There is some, but I can’t explain it without spoiling the story.
I chuckled several times at the humor, but this book can't stand too much logical scrutiny. Things tend to happen too coincidentally and/or conveniently. The main character does things that hardly seem like the best way to go about solving the mystery, yet his actions lead him to one tenuous clue after another until he eventually finds the answers. Meanwhile, he fails to predict some obvious things and gets into trouble I would have considered avoidable.
Although this is the first book in a series, it tells a complete story. It worked well for me as an audio, holding my attention but not demanding too much of it so that I could easily cross-stitch while I listened. I don’t think I’ll keep this series on my list to follow up on in print someday, but I wouldn’t be afraid to try the author’s work again either.
Audio Narration
The narrator is Stefan Rudnicki. Listening to him was a relief after the narrator of the last audiobook I listened to! Rudnicki reads with what I would consider a normal pace. His tone is matter-of-fact and not overly dramatized. He has a distinctively deep voice that’s pleasant to listen to, but I did think that negatively affected his ability to do different character voices. His male voices were ok, but his female voices were a little painful. They sounded too pouty, angry, and/or flirty, more so than I thought was intended by the text. Even so, I liked him better than many narrators I’ve listened to, and I would happily listen to another book he had narrated.
Story
The story centers around a detective named Eddie LaCrosse. We start off with a mission that has little relevance to the main story, I guess mostly to provide an introduction to the character and the world he lives in. The main story picks up shortly after that and involves Eddie investigating a murder for his best friend, the King of the city where he grew up. Apparently the Queen has (I’m putting it in spoiler tags for excessive grossness more than for spoilerishness; it’s revealed relatively early) .
This feels like urban fantasy. The word choices, the expressions, and the attitudes all feel much more modern than the setting actually is, but the world’s inhabitants ride horses and fight with swords. It was a little jarring at first, but I got used to it. Eddie has what I would consider the stereotypical detective’s tragic past, but at least he isn’t an alcoholic, so that was something. There isn’t a lot of magic in the book. There is some, but I can’t explain it without spoiling the story.
I chuckled several times at the humor, but this book can't stand too much logical scrutiny. Things tend to happen too coincidentally and/or conveniently. The main character does things that hardly seem like the best way to go about solving the mystery, yet his actions lead him to one tenuous clue after another until he eventually finds the answers. Meanwhile, he fails to predict some obvious things and gets into trouble I would have considered avoidable.
Although this is the first book in a series, it tells a complete story. It worked well for me as an audio, holding my attention but not demanding too much of it so that I could easily cross-stitch while I listened. I don’t think I’ll keep this series on my list to follow up on in print someday, but I wouldn’t be afraid to try the author’s work again either.
March 20, 2012
This was an odd book. I had never read anything by Bledsoe before...I gather there are a couple of other books. What he goes for here is sort of cross between sword and sorcery fantasy and hard boiled detective fiction. He does a pretty good job to. I vacillated on how high to rate this one and finally settled on 4 stars. While it can run hot and cold and at times the "suspension of reality" bit runs awfully close to silliness, it's over all a good read. Picture Sam Spade or Philip Marlow with a sword peeking over his shoulder instead of a revolver in a shoulder holster.
April 25, 2017
What a fantastic book! A friend recommended this to me because he knows I like the Garrett novels by Glen Cook—i.e. hardboiled detective in a fantasy setting. And that's a good description of this book as well, though it isn't really that similar to Cook's novels in anything more than a basic tone.
Eddie LaCrosse is a middle-aged sword jockey known for both his skill at arms and his intelligence (oh, and discretion). If you need someone to poke into dark holes that might poke back, he's your man. And, in keeping with all hardboiled detective stories, Eddie is a fascinating blend of cynic and optimist who lets his heart lead him into trouble his head (and arm) will need to get him out of.
This book is an establishing story that explores Eddie's past as much as his present case. In it, you get to find out why he is who he is and why he does what he does. It's a great kickoff to the series and I highly recommend that, unlike my friend, you start with this book if you're going to take it on. Eddie's past isn't pristine, by any measure, and Bledsoe does a fantastic job giving us all the parts that make up this complex character and why his motivations play out the way they do—why he loves deeply but has avoided the ones he loves and why he still honors those friendships when they call to him in their hour of need.
The best parts of what I loved about the story are hugely spoilerific, so I'll just stick with how great the character is and how engagingly the story is presented. Seriously, this is easily one of my favorites for the year and will be put on my “re-read soon” list.
Eddie LaCrosse is a middle-aged sword jockey known for both his skill at arms and his intelligence (oh, and discretion). If you need someone to poke into dark holes that might poke back, he's your man. And, in keeping with all hardboiled detective stories, Eddie is a fascinating blend of cynic and optimist who lets his heart lead him into trouble his head (and arm) will need to get him out of.
This book is an establishing story that explores Eddie's past as much as his present case. In it, you get to find out why he is who he is and why he does what he does. It's a great kickoff to the series and I highly recommend that, unlike my friend, you start with this book if you're going to take it on. Eddie's past isn't pristine, by any measure, and Bledsoe does a fantastic job giving us all the parts that make up this complex character and why his motivations play out the way they do—why he loves deeply but has avoided the ones he loves and why he still honors those friendships when they call to him in their hour of need.
The best parts of what I loved about the story are hugely spoilerific, so I'll just stick with how great the character is and how engagingly the story is presented. Seriously, this is easily one of my favorites for the year and will be put on my “re-read soon” list.
April 7, 2012
3.5 stars.
So, when I was asked to make the "member's selection" for April 2012 in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Group, I decided that I wanted to find something different from the standard fare. Something that was accessible as well, and it would be nice if it was actually good.
I had recently read The Hum and the Shiver by the author and found it to be an excellent book. It hit all the requirements I was looking for, actually. It had been recommended to me by Ala, another member of the above mentioned group. So that's where I narrowed my search. I could have easily picked TH&TS, and it would have been fine, but I wanted to read another cool new book.
So I found this one, Bledsoe's first novel and the first in his Eddie LaCrosse series. I read the blurb and thought it might work. A quick, light read that had shades of Jim Butcher and the Urban Fantasy craze, as well as the more traditional fantasy fare.
What I got was different than expected. It fit all those things, but was something else. It was almost like Elmore Leonard had decided to write a fantasy story. A pure noir driven mystery with agun sword for hire with lots of sexy women thrown into the action. Wow. Very cool. With all the twists and turns I'd expect from such a marriage.
So is born, Sword Noir. And it's a pretty fun ride.
So, when I was asked to make the "member's selection" for April 2012 in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Group, I decided that I wanted to find something different from the standard fare. Something that was accessible as well, and it would be nice if it was actually good.
I had recently read The Hum and the Shiver by the author and found it to be an excellent book. It hit all the requirements I was looking for, actually. It had been recommended to me by Ala, another member of the above mentioned group. So that's where I narrowed my search. I could have easily picked TH&TS, and it would have been fine, but I wanted to read another cool new book.
So I found this one, Bledsoe's first novel and the first in his Eddie LaCrosse series. I read the blurb and thought it might work. A quick, light read that had shades of Jim Butcher and the Urban Fantasy craze, as well as the more traditional fantasy fare.
What I got was different than expected. It fit all those things, but was something else. It was almost like Elmore Leonard had decided to write a fantasy story. A pure noir driven mystery with a
So is born, Sword Noir. And it's a pretty fun ride.
August 27, 2020
Notes:
Series is currently on Audible Plus
4 Stars for Narration:
Stefan Rudnicki is always going to be Hari/Caine to me. He was also pretty good as Eddie LaCrosse.
Solid jump into a new series without any cliffhangers. I enjoyed the adventure & getting to know Eddie.
Series is currently on Audible Plus
4 Stars for Narration:
Stefan Rudnicki is always going to be Hari/Caine to me. He was also pretty good as Eddie LaCrosse.
Solid jump into a new series without any cliffhangers. I enjoyed the adventure & getting to know Eddie.
January 2, 2024
It was PERFECT! Perfect for me, of course. A neo-noir detective story in a fantastical setting. Just what I needed.
این از اون کتابهایی بود که نباید از روی جلدش قضاوتشون کرد. من فکر میکردم یه داستان عامه پسند (کلمه مناسبی نیست ولی مترادف دیگه ای به ذهنم نمیرسه) قراره بخونم ولی یه نثر استادانه، یه داستان پرملات و یه غافلگیری خوشایند نصیبم شد.
این از اون کتابهایی بود که نباید از روی جلدش قضاوتشون کرد. من فکر میکردم یه داستان عامه پسند (کلمه مناسبی نیست ولی مترادف دیگه ای به ذهنم نمیرسه) قراره بخونم ولی یه نثر استادانه، یه داستان پرملات و یه غافلگیری خوشایند نصیبم شد.
June 5, 2021
Not as idiotic as the title might suggest.
A detective noir feeling urban fantasy story with the usual drawbacks of this genre and a somewhat hand wavy plot at times.
A detective noir feeling urban fantasy story with the usual drawbacks of this genre and a somewhat hand wavy plot at times.
May 6, 2022
I'm in a group that does a monthly challenge. For April the challenge is to read the books I’ve been saving for a rainy day, with the intent being that I find something I love. So far this hasn't happened, but at least I've checked several of them off my list.
I wanted to like this because I enjoyed the mystery and fantasy combo but this was disappointing. There were several times I wanted to quit, but I stuck with it to the end.
I dislike the way women are portrayed in general in this book, and I suspect all the author's books will be the same. One part in particular that annoyed the heck out of me, was a character alluding to the fact that horses are a sexual thing to women. This kind of crap thinking is why it took women so long to be able to ride astride a horse, instead of on those dangerous side saddles. It was a tiny blip of a conversation in the book, that most people will probably read and move past without much thought, but it struck the wrong nerve with me. There are lots of other examples of the way the female characters are treated in this book that just didn't sit well with me. None of them had any real good substantial roles in the book, not even Epona. It was always about sex or abuse in some way.
Then there's Eddie, who didn't come off as very likable to me. I wanted to like him, but he never really let me. I especially disliked the way he treated Rhiannon near the end when he wanted to see the mark on her thigh. He had her thinking he was going to rape her. There was no need for that.
Of course, I'm sure you've guessed that I will not be continuing with this series.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader.
I wanted to like this because I enjoyed the mystery and fantasy combo but this was disappointing. There were several times I wanted to quit, but I stuck with it to the end.
I dislike the way women are portrayed in general in this book, and I suspect all the author's books will be the same. One part in particular that annoyed the heck out of me, was a character alluding to the fact that horses are a sexual thing to women. This kind of crap thinking is why it took women so long to be able to ride astride a horse, instead of on those dangerous side saddles. It was a tiny blip of a conversation in the book, that most people will probably read and move past without much thought, but it struck the wrong nerve with me. There are lots of other examples of the way the female characters are treated in this book that just didn't sit well with me. None of them had any real good substantial roles in the book, not even Epona. It was always about sex or abuse in some way.
Then there's Eddie, who didn't come off as very likable to me. I wanted to like him, but he never really let me. I especially disliked the way he treated Rhiannon near the end when he wanted to see the mark on her thigh. He had her thinking he was going to rape her. There was no need for that.
Of course, I'm sure you've guessed that I will not be continuing with this series.
Review also posted at Writings of a Reader.
March 9, 2017
I have no idea what the title had to do with the story...
July 13, 2025
Hard-boiled fantasy detective is a concept I can get behind. The story is interesting enough. There isn't much beyond that to recommend. I want to like this so badly.
May 8, 2025
A hard-boiled detective story mixed with fantasy. I really enjoyed this despite feeling that the mixing of the two genres diluted them both a bit rather than make either of them better. I also appreciate how Bledsoe wrote this as a serious detective novel, when moving it into silliness or comedy would have been pretty easy.
November 19, 2012
I met Alex this past weekend at Context 25 - he was the author guest of honor. We chatted quite a bit and he's a nice guy with a sense of humor so I figured I'd read his first book. I'm 3 chapters and so far, I'm interested :)
I finished this a couple nights ago. The plot was intriguing and kept me reading. The main character was likable and not one of those perfect guys - in fact he did some really stupid things and was rescued a lot. This was Alex's debut novel and it had all the problems of a first timer, but I think I notice those things more because I mentor writing students.
One thing that stood out was the names of the characters and some of the wording. I fully understand that not all fantasy novels are set in Medieval Europe as mine are also not set in ancient times and I use more modern vocabulary. But for some reason King Phil and Princess Janet just stood out. The main character is Eddie and there's another man called Mike. And he mentions getting grounded. I guess the names seemed too common - but that's a minor nitpick. All the other world building details were well drawn.
Overall, a solid first book and fun read.
I finished this a couple nights ago. The plot was intriguing and kept me reading. The main character was likable and not one of those perfect guys - in fact he did some really stupid things and was rescued a lot. This was Alex's debut novel and it had all the problems of a first timer, but I think I notice those things more because I mentor writing students.
One thing that stood out was the names of the characters and some of the wording. I fully understand that not all fantasy novels are set in Medieval Europe as mine are also not set in ancient times and I use more modern vocabulary. But for some reason King Phil and Princess Janet just stood out. The main character is Eddie and there's another man called Mike. And he mentions getting grounded. I guess the names seemed too common - but that's a minor nitpick. All the other world building details were well drawn.
Overall, a solid first book and fun read.
April 11, 2012
This was a fun and quick read, quite different from most other fantasy that I've come across. It's basically a combination of traditional fantasy elements (kings and queens and swords and stuff like that) with an urban fantasy type writing style and paranormal detective type plot. If that sounds awkward... It totally wasn't. It worked. It wasn't perfect; there were some weird little inconsistencies, and some story points that were a little too happily-ever-after for me, not to mention a lot of right-place-at-the-right-time involved in solving the case, but despite all of that it was still a fun ride. I just went with it, didn't dwell too much on the little things, and ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Three and a half stars, and I'll definitely be continuing on in the series.
July 30, 2009
Imagine a fantasy set in a Western European medieval style world complete with castles and monasteries. Let us not forget the hamlets and towns surrounded by large walls. You travel by foot, horse, cart and boat. Weapon of choice: Sword, dagger, bow, crossbow, spear and lance. Different religions, beliefs and myths are sprinkled across the land like so much dust and the political situation is best described as Kleinstaaterei.......
Read my full Review: The Sword-Edged Blonde
Read my full Review: The Sword-Edged Blonde
October 23, 2020
Listened to this one on Audible Plus. The narrator is good and the mystery is good. It sounds so much like a old time detective series that I had to keep reminding myself that it was fantasy.
September 16, 2017
Well, I wasn't sure what to expect when I decided to listen to this. All I knew was that it was written by Alex Bledsoe. I should have known that would be enough.
It's a strange fusion of hard-edged fantasy noir. It's a fantasy setting featuring a private investigator with a noble past he's trying to forget about. There were allusions to fairy and fae, and a "goddess" with what could be considered magic, but essentially this was a detective story.
A very good detective story. I'm going to listen to more of them.
It's a strange fusion of hard-edged fantasy noir. It's a fantasy setting featuring a private investigator with a noble past he's trying to forget about. There were allusions to fairy and fae, and a "goddess" with what could be considered magic, but essentially this was a detective story.
A very good detective story. I'm going to listen to more of them.
August 31, 2016
**edited 02/02/14
~3.5.
Eddie LaCrosse has been on the run from his past for years, slumming it in backwater towns and trying--mainly unsuccessfully--to make a reasonably ethical living as a private detective and sword for hire. However, when an old friend, King Phil, seeks him out, Eddie travels back to his old kingdom to help. Phil is certainly in need of assistance: his beautiful wife Rhiannon has been accused of murdering their young son, and as she was caught literally red-handed, there seems little doubt of her guilt. Yet matters are made even more complex when Eddie thinks he recognizes Rhiannon and she maintains ignorance due to a mysterious amnesia. Eddie straps on his sword--an old Fireblade Warrior three-footer--and sets out on a quest to uncover Rhiannon's past in the hope of saving her future.
The Sword-Edged Blonde is fun and light, a noir pastiche set in a Celtic-mythology-based alternate world.
...
Due to my disapproval of GR's new and highly subjective review deletion policy, I am no longer posting full reviews here.
The rest of this review can be found on Booklikes.
~3.5.
Eddie LaCrosse has been on the run from his past for years, slumming it in backwater towns and trying--mainly unsuccessfully--to make a reasonably ethical living as a private detective and sword for hire. However, when an old friend, King Phil, seeks him out, Eddie travels back to his old kingdom to help. Phil is certainly in need of assistance: his beautiful wife Rhiannon has been accused of murdering their young son, and as she was caught literally red-handed, there seems little doubt of her guilt. Yet matters are made even more complex when Eddie thinks he recognizes Rhiannon and she maintains ignorance due to a mysterious amnesia. Eddie straps on his sword--an old Fireblade Warrior three-footer--and sets out on a quest to uncover Rhiannon's past in the hope of saving her future.
The Sword-Edged Blonde is fun and light, a noir pastiche set in a Celtic-mythology-based alternate world.
...
Due to my disapproval of GR's new and highly subjective review deletion policy, I am no longer posting full reviews here.
The rest of this review can be found on Booklikes.
April 26, 2014
What the hell? Why all the good ratings/reviews? This book was a complete waste of time, although at least I borrowed it from the library so it wasn't also a waste of money. It's basically a mediocre at best noir-ish detective story with a fantasy overlay slapped on. And by slapped on, I mean, changing the word "gun" to "sword" but not reconsidering or reworking anything of substance. The writing was lazy, the plotting was lazy, and the characterization nearly nonexistent. Every few pages something happened that made no sense whatsoever, except that it was easy for the author. Honestly, I'm somewhat surprised this was even published, much less that people actually seem to like it. Dan Brown is better than this.
August 10, 2010
Serviceable but nowhere near brilliant swords and (a little) sorcery noir. Good: taut plot and pacing, nice world-weary tone, and a thankfully light touch on the violence (Bledsoe doesn't seem to be fascinated by cruelty and perversion, nor assume that his readers are, unlike many noir authors). Bad: no real sense of place or culture, minimal complexity, and superficial typecast characters (especially the women). To sum it up: Bledsoe seems to be very much in the Dan Brown tradition -- generating formulaic, derivative, and inexpertly written books that are nevertheless page-turners.
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