Rating: 
Summary: GREAT IDEA, NOT A GREAT FOLLOW-THROUGH
Review: A friend of mine recommended these books to me and I thought i'd give them a try. Upon joining the Sci-Fi book club, I got them for a penny or whatever. Anyhoo..The idea is fascinating, twelve swords with special attributes. Unfortunately, I had a hard time throughout keeping some of the characters straight in my head and actually caring for them. At times i'd put the books down and read something else, and then come back to them. That's not to say it was bad, it just could've been better, in my mind, anyway. The potential was definately there. I'd say, they're good reading and recommend it if someone was going to give them or borrow them to you. Even check 'em out at the library, but, I wouldn't buy them, for full price, anyway. I'd say 2.5/3 stars outta 5. But hey..that's just my opinion.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT IDEA, NOT A GREAT FOLLOW-THROUGH
Review: A friend of mine recommended these books to me and I thought i'd give them a try. Upon joining the Sci-Fi book club, I got them for a penny or whatever. Anyhoo..The idea is fascinating, twelve swords with special attributes. Unfortunately, I had a hard time throughout keeping some of the characters straight in my head and actually caring for them. At times i'd put the books down and read something else, and then come back to them. That's not to say it was bad, it just could've been better, in my mind, anyway. The potential was definately there. I'd say, they're good reading and recommend it if someone was going to give them or borrow them to you. Even check 'em out at the library, but, I wouldn't buy them, for full price, anyway. I'd say 2.5/3 stars outta 5. But hey..that's just my opinion.
Rating: 
Summary: Fred Saberhagen's Swords Series
Review: After only reading the first book, I plan to purchase the entire series. Perhaps I'm a sucker for collectables, but this collection seems too good to pass up. If you like the Sword series, I'd also suggest two other authors.The first is Roger Zelazny. The Amber series is full of intrigue and action, not to mention it is 10 books long. Good stuff. You can get the 1000+ page complete series in an unabridged "big book". Second is R.A. Salvatore's Demon series. Demon Awakens, Demon Spirit, and Demon Apostile are 3 of the best literary works I have ever read. Even now, the series continues with a fresh take on the aftermath of the 3 original books. Also a must have. Hope this helps you make your decision =)
Rating:
Summary: Fred Saberhagen's Swords Series
Review: After only reading the first book, I plan to purchase the entire series. Perhaps I'm a sucker for collectables, but this collection seems too good to pass up. If you like the Sword series, I'd also suggest two other authors. The first is Roger Zelazny. The Amber series is full of intrigue and action, not to mention it is 10 books long. Good stuff. You can get the 1000+ page complete series in an unabridged "big book". Second is R.A. Salvatore's Demon series. Demon Awakens, Demon Spirit, and Demon Apostile are 3 of the best literary works I have ever read. Even now, the series continues with a fresh take on the aftermath of the 3 original books. Also a must have. Hope this helps you make your decision =)
Rating:
Summary: Adequate
Review: Don't expect too much from this novel and you will walk away happy
Rating: 
Summary: Can you say "formula"?
Review: Don't get started in this series. If you just want to read one or two of the books, you might come out of it ok... but if you read them all you will be sorely disappointed. Characterization is just flat out bad. The stories follow such a precise formula that each of the books is almost exactly the same length. I got them from the Science Fiction Book Club on the cheap, and even then I felt like I'd wasted my money. Go read George RR Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series if you want some -good- fantasy.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite "just-for-fun" novel...
Review: Fred Saberhagen has a wonderful talent for bringing his reader into his story. When one finishes this trilogy one has to be almost sad to put it down. The characters become real to the reader, and the storyline will grab the reader. These books are great for people who find mythology interesting. They put a new spin on an old lifestyle.
Rating:
Summary: Standard fare
Review: I am reviewing the first three books of swords, which I read in a single volume. I am generally unimpressed. Characterization is undistinguished. There is sometimes some spectacle, and this is the main thing that redeems the series, which looks like it could be extended forever. The books were interesting enough to read, some more interesting than others, but not interesting enough for me to seek out more. This is the sort of fantasy that takes itself too seriously. It lacks the interest of Michael Moorcock's dark "Elric" series, which sorted its (much more creative) episodes into smaller units (usually three per short book). Perhaps this Swords series was inspired by the Moorcock books... I recommend people check those out instead; while limited in the scope of their themes, I at least read another one of them occasionally (7 so far!) and continue to find them somewhat interesting. But the Swords books...I see nothing at all to distinguish the Swords books from jillions of other fantasy books that have been cranked out over the last 3.5 decades. I now favor the more lighthearted fantasies of L. Sprague de Camp, Fritz Leiber, and Robert E. Vardeman. For things with the sort of epic historical scope that Saberhagen's Swords aspire toward, why read FANTASY when there is so much NONFICTION about epic historical events that are far more interesting and relevant to people!!!
Rating:
Summary: Standard fare
Review: I am reviewing the first three books of swords, which I read in a single volume. I am generally unimpressed. Characterization is undistinguished. There is sometimes some spectacle, and this is the main thing that redeems the series, which looks like it could be extended forever. The books were interesting enough to read, some more interesting than others, but not interesting enough for me to seek out more. This is the sort of fantasy that takes itself too seriously. It lacks the interest of Michael Moorcock's dark "Elric" series, which sorted its (much more creative) episodes into smaller units (usually three per short book). Perhaps this Swords series was inspired by the Moorcock books... I recommend people check those out instead; while limited in the scope of their themes, I at least read another one of them occasionally (7 so far!) and continue to find them somewhat interesting. But the Swords books...I see nothing at all to distinguish the Swords books from jillions of other fantasy books that have been cranked out over the last 3.5 decades. I now favor the more lighthearted fantasies of L. Sprague de Camp, Fritz Leiber, and Robert E. Vardeman. For things with the sort of epic historical scope that Saberhagen's Swords aspire toward, why read FANTASY when there is so much NONFICTION about epic historical events that are far more interesting and relevant to people!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Good fantasy fun
Review: I am surprised at the some of the comments in the reviews below, because contrary to what they said, I found this series NOT to be standard fantasy fare. First of all, these books are linked to his earlier works such as Empire of the East, which are more Sci-Fi in nature. These books take place many millenia after the events of Empire of the East, many of the big main characters in that book have now become worshipped as gods. The series starts out with a bunch of new gods who have decided to play a game with men as chesspieces. To facilitate this game they have the god Vulcan forge 12 Swords of varying powers and then scatter them around the earth. They then sit back and watch how events unfold, presumably betting on various outcomes. But the real drama in the books is played out on earth, as various Swords come into possession of different people and are used for greatly varying purposes. I found the powers of the Swords themselves to be well-thought out and in many cases unprecedented in fantasy literature. One Sword makes it possessor appear as a loved/feared one, one gives the possessor invulnerability in battle against spells or weapons, one cuts through stone as easily as butter, one heals any wound, one controls minds, etc etc etc. The characters are less well-thought out than the Swords, but the tightly written plots are enough to keep the Reader interested. In the background of all this lurks one of the most interesting characters, the Emperor, who is some kind of magician of unsurpassed skill, but who rarely involves himself in human events. But this is no gray-bearded oldster in a conical hat, the Emporer wanders around the world, showing up briefly in the oddest places, hanging out mostly with the common people. Thus he has become something like a folk hero, who many believe does not exist. Who is he, exactly? And what kind of power does he really have? Where did he come from? And what does he want? For those answers you have to read all the books, not only the original trilogy, but the 8 books that follow. I highly suggest you do so.
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