I will start today with a disclaimer. Today’s review is of a book about which I am absolutely not at all objective. Edwin Winfred Chapman is one of my dearest friends in the world. Ed is a writer and editor whose work I respect deeply and I am their second-biggest fan. So when Ed told me that they have a new book out, I could not wait to read it. 

The Sword of Nothing-At-All, was a fantastic (in all senses of the word) alt-reality  medieval epic, with everything I could possibly have asked for.  You can find it on Amazon, Books-a-Million, Walmart.

Maisey is a young woman who works for, but not with, the town Watch, dressing in men’s clothes, but not being allowed the same authority as a man. Juniper is a gambler, who uses trickeries and, maybe, enchantments to win. The two of them are deeply bonded. When the Night Hive sends a officer on one of the giant bees they use as steeds to take Juney away to her father by blood, Maisey runs after to rescue her. With the help of cheap-man Finn, an evil Queen, a kidnapped Princess, and the luck of those who are loved, Maisey and Juney’s adventure will remake the entire world. 

This was such a good read, I slowed myself down to a crawl as I read, so I could take each scene slowly, and enjoy the wordplay, the character interaction, the alternate version of reality that combines several real realities  and a few real unrealities into one whole.

I know, because I was told, that this book was not written for me, but I had not been told, I might have thought it was. ^_^ Maisey and her crew fight monsters in the Dog March and in society. There are street fights and grand battles, songs, and rituals,  monsters and magic swords, noble horses, snarky people and joyous moments.  There are happy endings, and sad middlings, and the world is never entirely what it seems, until it is exactly what they make of it. 

The Sword of Nothing-At-All fully scratched an itch for a sapphic medieval tale that I always have.  I highly recommend it to everyone who has ever read a light novel. It has no pictures, but the writing does it all (even a little isekaiing for good measure,) only better. 

Did I mention that there are giant bees? There are giant bees!

Ratings: 

Story – 10
Characters – 10 
Service – Yep. It makes sense.
Yuri – 10

Overall – 10

Thank you so much Ed for the chance to read and share this novel. As always, I hope to read the sequel. ^_^