Setting aside around 140 pages in. There was a lot of swashbuckling chucklesome promise in the opening couple of chapters, but from there it got bogged down in endless characters-thinking-about-history (both personal and broader), with a special offender being a villainous POV character I would happily drown in a bucket for being a whining entitled douchebag. (I don't mind villains being douchebags, I do mind regular POV characters being douchebags.)

Just not for me.

This is sorta a steampunk world. I really enjoyed this book ( )

I actually really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the next 2 which I think will get better stars from me. The story really gets going by the end and I want to know what happens next.
It is a good sized book and fun with interesting magic, papers, tattoos etc in it. I reckon I just needed some time to get into it.
The reasons I did not put more stars are a few things: I like to get lost in the story of a book but the chapters with the titles interlude stop the flow of it for me. As the characters were the same it got a bit confusing about where we were in the story as well. The clockwork stuff was interesting and different but there didn't seem much point or reason behind some of the workings like the city moving, maybe that will become clearer in the other books? Also for at least the first part of the book I sometimes felt the characters had come to conclusions that weren't very explained. ( )

Julia Knight is also Francis Knight, an author whose name has been on my radar since her Rojan Dizon trilogy, though this is the first time I’ve read her work. As soon as I found out about Swords and Scoundrels I knew it was going to be just right for me. As it happens, I’m a super mega fan of anything to do with swashbuckling duelists, and I could always use more scoundrels in my life. That and the cover is stunning too, not to mention the tagline made me chuckle.

Plus, a brother-sister team? Count me in. Older sister Kacha has devoted a lifetime to the training and mastery of sword fighting while growing up in the Duelist’s Guild, but she’s not content with being just good – she wants to be the best. Problem is, so does Vocho, whose whole life spent in his big sister’s shadow grates on him something fierce. Neither skill nor reputation would come to much use though, when both of them get thrown out of the guild for an infraction, and the siblings are forced to turn to banditry in order to make a living.

One day, a routine stick-up of a carriage goes wrong when their target turns out to be protected by a group of heavily armed men, including a powerful magician as well as Petri Egimont, Kacha’s former lover. The siblings manage to escape the scene with their lives and a mysterious locked chest. What it ends up containing though, is something much more valuable and dangerous than mere treasure, and Kacha and Vocho are about to discover just how far their enemies will go to get it back.

For readers who are looking for a fast and fun read, Swords and Scoundrels is perfect. There are a lot of things I liked about it: the smooth flow of the writing, the quick pacing, the witty dialogue, and plenty of adventurous action. But by far the novel’s greatest strength is its characters, and the complex sibling relationship between Kacha and Vocho, which Knight deftly conveys.

The focus on the brother and sister team was what immediately stood out for me when I read the description for this book, so it was no surprise when I also felt that was one of the most developed aspects of the story. As anyone with a sibling can attest, sometimes getting along with your brother or sister can be hard. Growing up, I probably spent as much time fighting with my own little brother as we did doing fun stuff together. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I was also definitely the overachiever and the more responsible one, so for many reasons Kacha and Vocho’s rivalry struck me on a personal level. After all, siblings can drive you crazy sometimes, but they’re still family. Despite their differences, Kacha and Vocho stick together. They look out for one another. Arsehole or not, no one better lay a finger on Vocho, because if anyone’s going to kick his ass, it’s going to be Kacha herself. No one kills my brother but ME, damn it. Yep, I can sympathize with that sentiment.

We also find out more about the characters through a series of interlude chapters woven through the narrative. These begin in the past, chronicling the siblings’ admission into the Duelist’s Guild and their subsequent rise in their ranks, before gradually moving forward to present day where we find out why the two of them were kicked out. Sure, there were a few times where the placing of these interludes confused me and also disrupted the flow of the story, but generally these flashbacks helped by adding depth to character development and plot.

Like many first books of a series though, Swords and Scoundrels also had its weaknesses, mainly when it comes to the world-building and secondary characters. For the first half of the book, whenever the focus wasn’t on the protagonists, my attention would flag. I understood why Petri Egimont’s perspective needed to be there in order to show the other side of the situation, but understandably his sections simply lacked the draw and energy compared to Kacha’s or Vocho’s. Fortunately, towards the end of the book Egimont’s role became bigger so this became less of an issue, and I can see this improving in the sequel as well. The next book will probably also expand on the world-building, hopefully filling some holes left by this one. There’s magic in this world, but most of what we know about it is that magic and those who use it are bad and dangerous. Plus there’s also an insanely cool society and religion revolving around clockwork that I would really like to know more about.

Ultimately, the most important thing is that Swords and Scoundrels is great entertainment, and there’s more where that came from, too. All three books in this trilogy will be released in relatively quick succession, with book one releasing on October 6, 2015, book two Legends and Liars due on November 10, 2015, and book three Warlords and Wastrels on December 15, 2015. That’s great news for me, because I’m definitely on board for another duelist adventure. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Brother and sister trapped in a dangerous plot with betrayal at every turn, will they ever find the truth?

Opening Sentence: “They say an ounce of blood is worth more than a pound of friendship.”

The Review:

Vocho and Kacha are disgraced duelists because Vocho is wanted for the murder of a priest he was hired to protect. While in hiding they turn into highwaymen to make a living. Passing themselves off as farmers where they live until one night they rob the wrong carriage. Kacha ends up dueling a former lover, Petri, and Vocho has a disturbing encounter with a magician. They come out of the encounter successful with a chest.

It’s not until later that they realize they have stumbled upon something bigger than they know. Together with their neighbor, and maybe not such a good friend, Dom, they set up to figure out what the paper inside the chest means for their country. Along the way they discover betrayals from everyone around them. Will they survive until they can figure out what is really going on?

To make matters worse, Vocho has vague memories of doing things he wouldn’t normally do, including murdering that priest. What will this mean for his sister in the end?

This is the first book in the Duelist Trilogy, and it so good. Vocho and Kacha are great swordsmen until Vocho murders the priest. Kacha, his sister, believes him when he tells her he didn’t do it, but Vocho suffers from a bad case of lying to himself or is he…

This is a great fantasy with bad magician’s, revolutions and people being controlled and betrayed at every turn. I really couldn’t stop reading this and I can’t wait for book 2 to come out, which luckily is just a few weeks away!

Notable Scenes:

“A projectile weapon is only for those with no class or no balls.”

“A duelist might have to kill, to protect whoever he was guarding, to finis the job, though they were expected to refrain whenever possible.”

“She was the heart of the guild, that nameless duelist.”

“The priest was the catalyst, the starting point.”

“Dated the day after that bloody priest had died.”

FTC Advisory: Orbit provided me with a copy of Swords and Scoundrels. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )