Review: Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher

Daggerbound

T. Kingfisher

(Swordheart #2)

Publication Date: August 25, 2026

Hardcover, 448 pages, Bramble

Genres: Adult, Romantasy, LGBTQ+

Goodreads

New York Times bestselling author T. Kingfisher returns to the charming fantasy world of Swordheart in this delightful and unexpected new romantic adventure.

 

Learned Edmund, a disillusioned scholar, is transporting yet another precious relic from one stuffy temple to a different stuffy temple. Another great adventure for the ages…

 

But when Edmund is set upon by bandits, in desperation, he breaks the cardinal rule and grabs for the relic, an ancient sword. To his surprise, instead of unsheathing a rusty, ancient weapon, an alarmingly handsome man appears, wielding daggers of blue steel and cutting the thieves down.

 

This man is the Dervish, an immortal warrior who’s been trapped for centuries in a sword of enchanted steel, and is angry as hell about it. He hates the curse that put him there, and he wants to hate Edmund, just as he has hated every wielder before him.

 

But the damned scholar is just so sweet and clever and kind. And while the Dervish may be able to protect Edmund from bandits, cultists, dragons, and strange inhuman diplomats, he may find it much harder to protect his own heart.

My Review

If you miss the whimsy and fun of fantasy but still want adult romances, adventures, and themes like overcoming trauma and finding your place in the world, then the interconnected Swordheart series is for you. It has cute badger-like creatures called gnoles, cursed swords with trapped warriors, and relatably awkward protagonists. Both the first book and Daggerbound had me flying through chapters to see what crazy shenanigans the characters were going to get into next.

Daggerbound starts out similarly to book one, Swordheart, with an awkward human in danger drawing a magical warrior-possessed sword. Edmund is a scholar who's leaving his order and has a ton of random knowledge about ants, trees, gnoles, and all kinds of odd things. He also loves books. (Very relatable.) The Dervish, our second protagonist, comes out of the sword and is forced to protect Edmund because of his curse. The Dervish is suave and handsome, despite his past trauma, and boy, does he know it. Edmund, on the other hand, is adorable but seemingly oblivious to the obvious. They make a great pair. 

Edmund and The Dervish (yes, that's his actual name, and yes, that's my biggest pet peeve of the book) stumble along two companions on their journey to the city of Archon's Glory. Those two, without giving away spoilers, do make the story very entertaining. If you were a fan of Brindle in Swordheart, I think you'll be happy with these new characters.

The worldbuilding in this series is interesting. Swordheart and Daggerbound take place in a world that seems to be based on the orders of different religions and their respective devotees, yet the book doesn't focus on those dynamics. It focuses on random groups of people/beings traveling for fairly low-stake reasons when compared to high fantasy's usual "save the world" storyline. Essentially, it's just a long adventure walking from one city to another with strange fantastical happenings along the way. The series reads like a cozy romantasy. It's light-hearted and fun, despite its darker moments.

All in all, I thought Daggerbound was a great sequel to a laugh-out-loud first book. I don't think there's even a slight chance book one readers won't enjoy this installment. It has the same amount of heart and atmosphere, just with a new romance to root for. I'm excited to see what chaos is in store for book three.

*Note: I received a copy of this book to review from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way affected my opinion/review.