Pennyblade by J.L. Worrad

(Titan Books, 2022)

Reviewed by Susan Peak

This book is about relationships and power, with relationships in the foreground. There are two key sets of relationships: between Kyra and her twin brother Kyran, and between Kyra and two women: Shen and Sister Benadetta. At the opening of the story, Kyra is in effect exiled from her home and making a living as a mercenary—a ‘pennyblade’. This exile has come about through the machinations of Kyra’s grandmother, who wants the family, of which she is head, to increase its power; Kyra was reluctant to cooperate.

The structure is one of switching in time from one chapter to another, giving the background as the main story is told. This is handled very well. As a technique, it can be intrusive, but Worrad makes the story flow well, and I found it added to the interest of the story as the two timelines converged. The story as a whole is well-written and engaging.

The tone of the book is gritty, bordering on grimdark. There’s a lot of sex, centred on Kyra and Kyran, but it seems to be compulsive same-sex behaviour. It’s not particularly titillating. Quite a lot of violence, too, but it is in context, as are a few unpleasant scenes.

The sex shown in the book is amongst the ‘elves’ and seems to be a function of how bonds are reinforced in their society: Kyra and Kyran are each same-sex focused, and there are several orgies, told mainly from Kyra’s point of view. Worrad uses these scenes to convey Kyra’s character, and she comes over as being selfish, focused on what she wants and on the short term. She is a misfit: she doesn’t really fit into her own world, and she definitely doesn’t fit into the human world.

There’s little worldbuilding. Kyran, Kyra and Shen are all of the same vaguely ‘elvish’ race, while Benadetta is human, as are other characters. No substantive ethnic or world detail is given. The ‘elves’ have their own country, as do the humans, and relations between the two are uneasy, especially at the personal level. Shen is of an elven sub-race, and her relationship with Kyra is disapproved of. Background information is provided on a ‘need to know’ basis, which some readers may find frustrating. There seems to be at least a little magic in this world, there’s a chain which binds a woman emotionally to the man she is married to. Again, no explanation of this, and it does come over as a plot device when it is used. There is also a religious element in the story, vaguely ‘Christian’ in feel—there are religious orders of women, and Benadetta is a sister in one of them (this name echoes St Bernadette). The order that is mentioned seems only interested in control—one of the power themes in the book.

I got the strong impression that Worrad wanted to write about women—certainly, the men in the story are secondary—but without writing specifically about human women (hence two of the key female characters being ‘elvish’) and while avoiding the cultural and social background of our own world. Yet, as often in our world, females in his story are subjugated in various ways—to power, to their sex drives—and it also appears to be only women who have the marriage chain applied to them. But we don’t see enough of men in the ‘elvish’ society to make a comparison.

In summary, a book with limitations, but interesting and readable.

Review from BSFA Review 20 - Download your copy here.