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Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: An outstanding story of loyalty, love, honor, conjuring and deception. A story of a king and a swordsman bonded to the king by sorcery. This story follows the bond between the king and his swordman and the dangerous missions faced. This book shows how people are played as pawns in the game of thrones. The characters are well developed and the story is a little dark but well done. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy. All I can say is that I couldn't wait to finish it to find out what happens. I couldn't wait to read the 'Lord of the Firelands' and 'Sky of Swords'. The other two titles are the same story from another point of view, but don't be put off by that, they are great stories as well with a wonderful twist!
Rating: 
Summary: Slow to Unfold
Review: I found the book a little slow to unfold. I considered not finishing it at one point, but I am glad I did continue to read. The last half of the book is a much better and more engaging read. I would say overall it is a slightly better than average Fantasy.
Rating: 
Summary: Not up to standard
Review: I have passionatly loved every book in this series and in the junior companion series until I read this one. Why? First because this book changes the tone of the series and has zero joy anywhere inside it. Second because it's ending cheaply nullifies the journey of the heroine to pull the author out of the paradox he put himself into in the second (vastly superior) novel. Duncan is a masterful writer and after the first two novels he set expectations for this book very high. But mainly it is because the heroine is such a useless tool and you have to live with her for 300 pages! You have to try and evoke some sort of compassion for your main character, but in this book he failed miserably. His next book in this series, Paragon Lost, is due out in October 2002. I hope it will erase this book from my mind and recapture the glory of the first two novels as well as the delight you find in the King's Daggers companion novels.
Rating: 
Summary: I Am SO IMPRESSED!
Review: I must say this first of all: Dave Duncan is the best male writer of female characters I have ever encountered. Until I was recommended "The Gilded Chain" by Amazon I had not touched a modern fantasy book by a male author other than Guy Gavriel Kay for several years. I was completely sick of the silly, illogical, and improbable female characters male authors often create. I figured I'd just read "Chain", be disgusted, and toss it away. Three books later... In no way, shape, or form does Mr. Duncan demean Princess Miranda--or indeed, any other female characters in any of the Blades books. Miranda was a real person, not just a male writer's opinion of what a woman should be. Throughout "Sky of Swords" she displays strengths, failings, and needs any male author would give a male character. I was never embarrassed or annoyed by her behavior, which is saying something. In fact, I admired her tenacity and courage. Nothing infuriates me more that watching a female character do something incredibly stupid "because she's a woman", and that's what the male author thinks a woman would do in that circumstance. In "Sky of Swords", Miranda makes mistakes because she is human and inexperienced -- and Mr. Duncan makes sure we know that. I was also impressed with the way Mr. Duncan handled Miranda's affair with Sir Dog. He had her choose not the handsomest of her guard, nor the cleverest, but the one who would be kindest and most gentle. He does not encourage the reader to brand Miranda with a great big red letter "A", not even when she steals a kiss from Sir Eagle as a teenager. He recognizes (gasp!) that women are sexual beings and have desires of their own -- and that this is NORMAL! As "Sky of Swords" is really more about Princess Miranda and her ascension and downfall than anything else, the Blades took more of a supporting role in this book. However, the Blades' presence was felt and affected the outcome of the story. Definitely a great addition to the series. Kudos, Mr. Duncan. I am seriously impressed.
Rating:
Summary: A complex, dark swashbuckling adventure
Review: Like other fans of "The King's Blades," I was eagerly awaiting this book to find out if it resolved the confusing contradictions between the endings of the previous novels. Be warned-yes it does. You will either love it or hate it, but it is resolved. Duncan once again spins a taut, gripping tale-this time concerning political intrigue surrounding the Princess Malinda (a minor character in the previous novels), and the bloody civil war brewing over her potential succession. Unlike "Lord of the Fire Lands," more attention is paid to the Blades in this volume. Malinda's personal guards are well-drawn characters (especially Dog), and Malinda herself is fleshed out into a far more complex and sympathetic personality than before. I didn't think much of her in previous books, but she's great in this one-both tragic and heroic. Plus you get the usual swordplay, treachery, conjuration and war Duncan is so good at. As with "Fire Lands" the last page ends rather abruptly (bringing the reader full circle back to "The Gilded Chain") but the story didn't disappoint me at all.
Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars for the Series as a Whole
Review: Something needs to be kept in mind whenever reading a series by Dave Duncan, and that is that he's BRILLIANT. That doesn't just mean that he creates entire worlds that are unique, richly detailed, and believable. It doesn't just mean that his characters are fully fleshed out individuals. It means that when you read the ending you say "Wow! How did he come up with that." Well, it's because he's brilliant. It also must be because he started with an idea of the ending and crafted the entire story to lead up to it. Unfortunately it's difficult to review his stories without giving the ending away. If you've read some of Duncan's other series, like "The Seventh Sword", "A Man of his Word", or "The Great Game", you'll know what to expect. "The Sky of Swords" is the conclusion of a trilogy. The first book is "The Gilded Chain" about a character named Durendal. The second book is "Lord of the Fire Lands" about a character named Radgar, although many of the characters from the first book also appear in the second. The problem is that something happens in the second book, which specifically doesn't happen in the first. Resolving this contradiction is really the whole purpose of the third book. Although it's possible to read this as a stand-alone novel, it's really a bad idea. The thing about resolving the contradiction is that the characters haven't read the books, and don't know that there's a contradiction. Events have to occur which force them to want to change things. For this reason "Sky of Swords" is not as happy a book as the first two were. It's rather dark and depressing, as the characters are being driven to desperation. It wouldn't be much fun to read this story by itself. The ending not only resolves the contradiction though; I found it very satisfying.
Rating:
Summary: Sky of Swords - An exceptional conclusion to the trilogy!
Review: The first two King's Blades tales, "The Gilded Chain" and "Lord of the Fire Lands" were absolutely phenomenal stories and it only stands to reason that this third one, "Sky of Swords" would carry on that literary excellence and indeed it well does. What makes this third novel that much more interesting is that the entire premise is in contradiction to the conclusion of the first novel "The Gilded Chain" because at the end of "Lord of the Fire Lands" King Ambrose IV is killed off some twenty years prior to when he was killed off in "The Gilded Chain." With superb writing skills that include well tuned pacing and characters with extraordinary depth, Dave Duncan weaves the tale of Malinda, King Ambrose IV's daughter. The Premise: This novel is perfect in the sense of overwhelmingly superb political/court intrigue as we follow Princess/Queen Malinda's life from the point of her marriage to Radgar that was briefly described in "The Gilded Chain" and carried out to detail in "Lord of the Fire Lands." Princess Malinda must now find a way to survive as she is in the precarious position of being the heir apparent behind her sickly infant sibling who is king and her [illegitimate]half brother who becomes regent based on King Ambrose IV's will... What follows from there is nothing less than another stunning success in the King's Blades tales as we're treated to more incredible "history" of the King's Blades and a character in Malinda that is full of depth. I highly recommend not only this third and final novel in the King's Blades tales but all three just as the author notes in the beginning of each book that they can all be read independently of each other but that would truly leave one in the loop on the overall story. {ssintrepid}
Rating:
Summary: Not very exciting
Review: This book is literary genius. The historically conflicting endings of the first two books are resolved in a clean and brilliant stroke. The main character is likeable, and her perspective sheds an intersting light on the two main characters from the first two novels. About half-way through Sky of Swords, when truly shocking things had been happening that are in total conflict with the first novel, the light suddenly went on in my head as suddenly I *knew* what Duncan was doing. And I was truly impressed. Altho it has been recommeded that they should be read in the cyclical order of Gilded Chain, Sky of Swords, then Lord of the Firelands, despite Firelands having been published before Sky, don't ruin that one moment of realization that is so rare in any work of fiction by doing this. Read them in the order that they were published. Pure literary genius.
Rating:
Summary: Wild about Duncan's Blades!
Review: This was the first of Dave Duncan's books I read; it will not be the last. I devoured this book in a night (and that is the staying up all of the night to read the book variety of night)and then hotfooted to the library to get the rest of the series- The Gilded Chain, Paragon Lost, and Lord of the Fire Lands (and the juvie series Sir Stalwart, etc.) At last count, I have now reread the whole series three times- and I've only known about it for a month. This is the only one of the series from a woman's point of view, which makes it interesting- all the other Blade books are man's POV. The plot of the book is recurrent, if you have read any of the others, but the characterizations and the humor make the writing sing! Malinda is a willful, spoiled princess, marriage bait, and is surrounded by the young, handsome, and alarmingly virile King's Blades, ensorcelled bodyguards bound to protect their wards at all costs, even their lives. Malinda's father, King Ambrose, dies, and she is endangered by the Court and the intrigues of those who would use her for power. Wonderful, wonderful books- I haven't been so entranced since I discovered Mercedes Lackey in the 80's.
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