🎧Daggerbound by T Kingfisher #TKingfisher @jsvilinsky.bsky.social @macmillanaudio.bsky.social #LoveAudiobooks @RobinBridgeFour

Item: Daggerbound
Rating: 5
Author: Robin

Posted August 24, 2026 by Robin in Book Review / 0 Comments

Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

🎧Daggerbound by T Kingfisher #TKingfisher @jsvilinsky.bsky.social @macmillanaudio.bsky.social #LoveAudiobooks @RobinBridgeFour

Daggerbound by T Kingfisher
Narrator: Jesse Vilinsky
Series: Swordheart #2
Published by MacMillan Audio on August 25, 2026
Genres: Fantasy Romance
Length: 18 hours, 9 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple

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.

Once upon a time, I was girl who had never heard of T. Kingfisher and I think my reading life was 10-15% less happy because of that. But then in 2021 something magical happened when I read the first book in the Swordheart series and fell…in…love. It was everything Romantasy should be but rarely is. It is a great blend of fantasy worldbuilding AND a slow build romance that you could enjoy and get behind. Daggerbound is the second book in this series and while I generally am very on the fence about same sex book romances, I enjoyed everything about the slow build behind this one.

If you read the Clocktaur War series you may remember Learned Edmund, who initially had some very unusual/usual views about women. He has decided to leave the order he has been a member of most of his life, but as a cover he is going to deliver a sword and some books to someone in the capitol. Everything should have been easy, but Edmund seems to attract trouble at every turn and when he pulls out the sword, he finds it also held a man, a very attractive man. The Delvish was a mercenary until his captain lead them into a bad bargain and he ended up curse to be bound to protect whoever wields the sword. Edmund is different than all his prior wielders and if he can keep the man alive, he just might be able to help him find a way to break the curse.

“I gnoll thinks maybe we should go around.”

“Yes.” Said the Dervish “Yes, that seems like a very good idea. We want to be well around it by the time it gets cold and decides to…Edmund, are you sketching it?”

“Only a quick sketch.” The scholar said. He had put his glasses on and pulled out his notebook almost as fast as the Dervish could draw his daggers.

I have been waiting, with baited breath for the sequel to Swordheart for five years and I was so worried it wouldn’t live up to original. I had nothing to be concerned about as Edmund and the Dervish have a fun dialog between them and the romantic tension was delicious. Add in a fan favorite priest of the White Rat, Zale, to travel with and few new friends one a Gnoll and Francis a Pill Bug of unusual size. How could it get any better…but wait there is more. Halla and Sarkis and Brindle all make an appearance too and it was everything I wanted it to be and more. Halla is probably one of my favorite characters in fiction and I loved seeing how she has kept up her discombobulating ways as they are truly epic.

“What gets me,” said Zale as the sounds of arguing faded from the yard, “Is how rarely they interrupt. You can see them getting impatient. But for some reason they hardly ever cut you off. You’re like a snake charmer that babbles instead of playing the flute.”

“It’s a gift.”

Kingfisher has again produced something wonderful in this World of the Rat. It has action and adventure along with heartfelt moments and humor. Edmund’s way of looking at the world is wonderful. The Dervish, so broken after so many years in the sword with the trauma that came from having some incredibly harsh masters, never expected a wielder to treat him as a person. Edmund’s understanding and kindness, something the Dervish never expected, helped him start the journey of healing.

There is a real plot behind the story, smart dialog, hilarious moments and just a fun time all around. I’m so happy with how well Daggerbound was crafted. Kingfisher has done it again and created a story I can’t wait to read again and again. She build adult complex characters with flaws and quirks and doesn’t shy away from the good and bad sides of them. They feel like whole people instead of caricatures of people. It is what makes T. Kingfisher an auto buy for me no matter the genre she is writing in, though her romantasies are my favorite.

Narration:

This is one of those times that I think the audio helps make the story even more enjoyable. There is a subtle humor to T. Kingfisher’s writing and having the correct narrator can help because they assist in the comedic timing in some of the dialog and events. Jesse Vilinsky returns to guide the reader through this adventure. The dialog, the characters, the accents, everything was on point and practically perfect. I loved the narration of this story and know that it captured the heart of what Kingfisher’s vision. Highly recommend the audio. I was able to listen to the story at my usual 1.5x speed.

Performance: ★★★★★
Character Separation: ★★★★★
Diction: ★★★★★
Pacing/Flow: ★★★★★
Sound Effects: none

Listen to a clip: HERE

About Jesse Vilinsky

A trained actress from the USC School of Dramatic Arts, alumnus of the prestigious British American Drama Academy, and accomplished voiceover actress lending her talents to numerous film and television productions, Jesse now brings your stories off the page with nuance and grace, and now and again – the appropriate dose of humor.

Jesse specializes in realistic teen and children’s voices, as well as a proficiency in many accents, including: New York, Boston, Southern, British, Irish, Russian, German and Italian.

Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Instagram

About T Kingfisher

T. Kingfisher is the vaguely absurd pen-name of Ursula Vernon. In another life, she writes children’s books and weird comics, and has won the Hugo, Sequoyah, and Ursa Major awards, as well as a half-dozen Junior Library Guild selections.

This is the name she uses when writing things for grown-ups.

When she is not writing, she is probably out in the garden, trying to make eye contact with butterflies.

Website | Blog | Goodreads | Amazon

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Robin

Reviewer at Books of My Heart

Reading is my #1 addiction…I’d go to a support group for it but who are we kidding - I have no intentions of quitting anytime soon. By day, I’m a quality engineer and can be found sciencing and listening to books. On nights and weekends, I’m a wannabe Spartan and am often training and listening to books. I straight up LOVE almost everything by Brandon Sanderson and Ilona Andrews; they are my flagship authors and I might be slightly impartial where they are concerned. My other guilty pleasures are unusual fairytale retellings and uber alpha males.

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