Publisher - Titan

Published - Out Now

Price - £8.99 paperback £4.68 Kindle ebook

Exile. Mercenary. Lover. Monster. Pennyblade.

Kyra Cal’Adra has spent the last four years on the Main, living in exile from her home, her people, her lover and her past. A highblood commrach – the ancient race of the Isle, dedicated to tradition and the perfection of the blood – she’s welcome among the humans of the Main only for the skill of her rapier, her preternatural bladework. They don't care which of the gleaming towers she came from, nor that her grandmother is matriarch of one of Corso’s most powerful families.

But on the main, women loving women is a sin punishable by death. Kyra is haunted by the ghost of Shen, the love of her life, a lowblood servant woman whom Kyra left behind as she fled the Isle.

When a simple contract goes awry, and her fellow pennyblades betray her, Kyra is set onto a collision course with her old life, and the age-old conflict between the Main and the Isle threatens to erupt once more.

The anti-hero is often easy to get wrong. I think a lot of the time it’s used for heroes who just brood a lot. If they still do the right thing even while making grumpy snark about it then the hero is still a little too strong. For me an anti-hero is someone who is in this for themselves and does the right thing if the price is right. There should be a nervousness about what exactly will they do this time. In JL Worrad’s fascinating dark and bawdy Pennyblade we have a truly unique non-human anti-hero who keeps us entertained and guessing all the way to the final page as to her actions.

Kyra Cal’Adra is now a Pennyblade a hired sword working jobs as they come - provided they pay. The legality of such jobs is very much not that important as much as it keeps Kyra, fed, clothed and able to afford the delights of women of negotiable affection. Her latest job though has left her on the run, sacrificing those she was working with as needed and now a prisoner in a home for Wayward women nursing her injuries. The Church have decided Kyra is of use to them. She is to investigate strange events on the coast. But these start to link to Kyra’s past for she is no human mercenary but a former noble of the Commrach from the Isles (do not call her Imp, Pixie or elf) now in exile and she is finding her last coming to haunt her once again. Or possibly trying to kill her.

This is a really enjoyable tale for those of us who enjoy characters of questionable morality. Good and evil is less the battle here more than wealth and power. Worrad delivers a fascinating lead character who acts more on her own instincts of self preservation and desire than higher morals and yet we soon get on her side and intriguingly for a non-human character we get to understand where she comes from.

This is delivered firstly by Kara’s voice. She is bawdy, constantly annoyed, sarcastic and dangerous. We see from the off that she is a skilled fighter but also that when the chips are down she puts herself shockingly first. No Honor amongst these thieves. It puts us on our toes is she a villain or a mercenary or something else and the answer is all of the above to humans and for herself she acts to her own nature. The impressive thing is how Worrad makes us understand her.

We have two plot timelines the first is where Kyra is now and she’s pretty much at the bottom of society. She follows the money and focuses on what she needs now be it - money, violence or sex. Placing her in a Wayward Women’s home is not the best idea! However the story opens out into where Kyra is hired/blackmailed by the enigmatic Sister Bernadette into investigating a cult of devil worshippers. It’s a well plotted mystery with subterfuge, intrigue and lots of betrayals. Kyra does what is needed but she’s a chaotic element in bigger schemes so nothing is going quite to plan fortunately Kyra thrives on improvisation which keeps the reader on their toes.

We then alternate with a few years earlier and where Kyra is a noble of the fascinatingly inhuman Commrach an ancient and powerful race who we find are fascinated by the idea of creating perfection int their species but also a series of noble houses all striving for power be it via marriage, political alliances or violence - sometimes we see all three. Worrad makes these sections relatable, there are hints of a Venetian/Italian medieval time with masks, rapiers and daggers, duels and intrigue but we also get stressed that they’re not human. They’re stronger, they care little for issues of gender and sex and indeed sex is for them part of life which they don’t understand human hang-ups about. At the same time though family is all and Kyra is expected to do the bidding of their formidable and dangerous grandmother either her only ally her equally flamboyant twin. Here Worrad does make Kyra slightly different to her more in the moment future self. She is fascinated with being famous, she loves her family honour and yet we see vulnerability too as she meets a servant named Shen who remarkably appears to have her heart. Watching Kyra start to act for others and also knowing how very different she is in the future make us see things aren’t going to go well and that sense of looming disaster gives these flashbacks power. We just aren’t sure as Kyra is so unpredictable exactly how it ends.

Nearly Worrad brings the stories together creating a bigger tale of human and Commrach intrigue and into which the chaotic element that is Kyra just choose a side or does she? It’s well crafted often bloody and yet delicious noir fantasy noir and that we may side with Kyra regardless that this not exactly saint like character. That Worrad achieves doing just that is a lovely piece of empathic writing

Pennyblade works incredibly well for those of us who enjoy fantasy with a more Grimdark tone. It’s bawdy, violent and yet also intriguing and with Kyra’s unique voice an example of great storytelling t make a reader understand not just a central character but also their world and how they see it. It’s a tasty dark treat to read and definitely not a role model to follow. Highly recommended!