The Two of Swords is a series of connected novellas, this first volume being the first third of them collected together. It features all of KJ Parker's usual wit, cynicism, and intelligent writing.

There are 3 main political factions: an Eastern and Western empire (roughly analogous to the Roman empires), with Blemya between them as a wealthy buffer state. The two empires are engaged in constant war, with their armies being led by brothers who hate each other. It's an interesting enough concept, but where the volume shines is in its structure. Each chapter is written from the POV of a different character, and picks up exactly where the previous chapter leaves off. Once we leave the POV character behind, they feature only rarely in the story. It's an interesting concept, and probably worked even better when read monthly in a serialized format.

Beyond the two empires at war, there's another faction called the Craftsmen, who are a sort of Freemasonry group. Several POV characters are Craftsmen, and their role in the story remains a mystery. Characters are allied to both states and to the Craftsmen, and allegiances and motivations are blurry. There's also this Tarot card system that features heavily with the Craftsmen, where characters are associated with different cards (like the Two of Swords) and nobody knows who anyone else is, and it's kind of confusing.

Frankly, there is not a ton of plot in this volume. There's a lot of setup and introducing characters and places and concepts, and hardly any of it is explained. At times, I didn't have a great idea of what was going on or if what was happening on page was actually important. But like everything I've read by Parker, it's smart and interesting, and I definitely plan on reading the next two volumes.