Swordspoint and Tremontaine
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Swordspoint, Tremontaine |
| Abbreviation(s): | |
| Creator: | Ellen Kushner, Delia Sherman, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Teresa Gratton, Joel Derfner, Mary Anne Monhanraj, Malinda Lo, Racheline Maltese, Patty Bryant, Paul Witcover |
| Date(s): | 1987 to present |
| Medium: | Books, audiobooks, online collaborative serials |
| Country of Origin: | |
| External Links: | Ellen Kushner.com, Tremontaine on Serialbox, Ellen Kushner on wikipedia |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
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Ellen Kushner's 1987 book, Swordspoint and its sequels The Fall of the Kings (with Delia Sherman), and The Privilege of the Sword and the collaborative online prequel serial Tremontaine are mannerpunk or urban fantasy. The first book was particularly notable for the gay romance between the main characters, and the other works include various genders and sexualities.
Plot Summary
Set in and around an unnamed city, the first book follows the adventures of the swordsman Richard St. Vier; his lover, the disgraced scholar Alec; their neighbors in the lower-class quarter known as Riverside; and the nobles who plot and scheme for power. Later entries in the series follow Alec's relatives and descendants, or elaborate on events occurring prior to the original novel.
If Swordspoint was written today, the entire internet would ship Alec/Richard [1]
Not Based on Media Characters
In 1990, a fan attended Gaylaxicon and reported that:
One rumor to lay at rest: Ellen Kushner was at this con, and she made it clear that SWORDSPOINT is based on her original characters, NOT on any media characters (a popular rumor has it that SWORDSPOINT started as a Bodie/Doyle novel. Not true). [2]
From a fan in 1994:
In the early 80s, I met Ellen Kushner (she saw me reading manga at a convention and asked about them) and read Swordspoint in MS [3] just before its publication. I can testify that no, it was not influenced by any media fandom in the slightest (and the author will froth at the mouth if you suggest such a thing to her); the basic idea was something she'd already been playing with for a decade or so.[4]
Fan Comments
1995
After reading Swordspoint and really liking it, I decided TCT didn't feel slashy to me because I couldn't superimpose any of the slash couples onto Mario and Tommy. Swordspoint felt more like fan fic to me, the relationship between Richard and Alec was familiar and I could cast a slash pair I like into their roles easily. [5]
There's a great deal to be said for fantasy-and- historical backgrounds in escape literature, and indeed, I adored Swordspoint less for the undeniably slashy but rather vague leads, than for the idiotic sword-etiquette-and-sorcery folderols of the society they moved in, that could have furnished a trilogy, and maybe should have. There was an awful lot of story implied but never spelled out in it. Fascinating. [6]
Selected Fanworks
- Fanart of Alec and Richard by ace-artemis-fanartist.
- Richard St. Vier by Katharine Linnea
- Totally Correct Tremontaine by artsy-alice.
- Lunch with Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman - Fan interview by Oshun
Links & Resources
- Swordspoint Series - Ellen Kushner at Archive of Our Own
- _riverside, LiveJournal (2005-present)
- Swordspoint Fanfiction, masterlist compiled by wordsofastory (2007)
- Swordspoint Fandom: an Overview by tryfanstone at crack_van (2008)
- Swordspoint recs at crack_van (2008-2010)
References
- ^ [1] Tumblr post by destinyisevitable, March 31, 2014.
- ^ Susan Douglass in Short Circuit #3 (October 1990)
- ^ "MS" means "manuscript".
- ^ from a fan in Strange Bedfellows APA #5 (May 1994)
- ^ from Strange Bedfellows (APA) #8 (1995)
- ^ from Strange Bedfellows (APA) #9 (1995)