Fantasy with a talking/conscious artifact

Hi!

I'm in search of books with a talking/aware/sentient artifact, like a talking sword or a talking key or whatever. A thing that's (sort of) alive.

Preferably fantasy, preferably standalone, but other genres or series are welcome, too.

Thanks!

Skinny Legs and All.

Well, there is an early, rather episodic Mercedes Lackey called The Oathbound with a sentient sword with an agenda that conflicts with what its wielder wants. It's a sword+sorceress buddy movie swashbucker.

TW: this is a 90s book and like some of the fantasy of its time uses rape too casually as a cheap way to up the stakes.

Also the Belgariad 5 book series by David Eddings has a very tiresome magic royal orb (missing heir fantasy trope) The orb is as thinly characterised as the rest of the ensemble cast who can be most kindly described as archetypes.

>2 vwinsloe: Thanks! I'll check it out!

>3 nessreader: I know these. Very well, actually. They would fit perfectly, but I'm not ready for a re-read yet. :)

There's an evil talking sword in the Blue Oyster Cult song "Black Blade", whose lyrics were apparently written by Michael Moorcock, and which apparently reflects the lyricist's mythology in his sci-fi novels.

It doesn't exactly fit the bill, but Swordheart by T. Kingfisher has a person trapped inside a sword, and it's great.

Oh! And Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett has exactly what you want. I enjoyed it.

>4 Ennas:
Rats :) I'll spin that to tell myself that I was on the right track. Have you also read the 90s fantasy Sword of Maiden's Tears by Rosemary Edghill? It has *alluringly* librarian interest. Magic sword with a morally corrupting power akin to the One Ring. Thwarted by questing elflord and his local helpers, a group of trainee librarians in new york. The pov is the student librarians; the sword is strictly antagonist. It was going to be a 12 book series but only 1 to 3 were published.

The Raven Tower might fit the bill for you.

Thanks everyone! I'll check them out. They all look interesting. :)

>7 nessreader: You were definitely on the right track! I have read some Edghill books, but not that one. Librarians...yay!

Edit
Tap the touchstone and...I _have_ read that one. And pretty recently, too: 2017. O_O

There is always the Tuesdays at the Castle series -- written for middle grades, but the castle itself is a sentient character. I've read the first two and they were enjoyable (my kid adores them).

And of course there is the ever charming "The Luggage" from Terry Pratchett's discworld novels.

The math book from Shadows by Robin McKinley is sentient.
In theory the titular Blue Sword from The Blue Sword by her is also semi-sentient, although I've never felt it really seemed to act that way.

No idea where the touchstones went and it won't let me fix them. Adding them here:

Tuesdays at the Castle
Shadows
The Blue Sword

Thanks, merrystar! These look promising. :)

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson has a talking sword and it's basically a standalone (the sword makes brief appearances in some of his other books and Sanderson has said he may one day write a sequel).

>10 merrystar:. The Luggage is one of my favorite fantasy characters!

The SFF-KIT for February is about Sentient Things and should have some ideas: https://www.librarything.com/topic/328832

Thanks!

>15 SilverWolf28: That SFF category challenge looks very interesting. I might join you. :) (Lurking, that is.)

>13 Herenya: Nightblood, the talking sword in Warbreaker is an exceptional creation, I think.

He reappears in the current "Stormlight Archive" series, but it takes awhile to recognize him.

It's not fantasy per se, but Tibor Fischer's The Collector Collector is told entirely from the perspective of a sentient artifact. I can't get the touchstone to work, so the link is https://www.librarything.com/work/9633

>1 Ennas: Not a stand alone, but The Frog Princess book series has a sentient sword (who appears first in the second book and stays a pretty consistent presence). He's a special "singing sword" who wishes he were a pen because he doesn't like fighting.

>19 RosetheReader: Grin. That sounds like fun. Thanks!

Reddit members had a bunch of suggestions when a member asked for similar:
Spearwielder's Tale
Children of the Changeling
The Legend of Eli Monpress
Swordheart
The Palace Job
Six Sacred Swords
The Elder Empire
Seven Blades in Black
A Pilgrimage of Swords
Magnus Chase

Ann Leckie's The Raven Tower is an interesting fit.

Roshani Chokshi's Once more upon a time includes a horse blanket that's a minor character and occasionally provides commentary. The story plays well with various fairy tales and tropes and is a fun read.