Third Book of Swords

Rating:
Summary: a mixture of magic and mythology [spoilers noted]
Review: "The Third Book of Swords" is the third and final novel in "The Book of Swords" trilogy approximately four years following the prior book. It has an interesting storyline involving an assortment of deities supplemented with a variety of creative magical weaponry.

The book splits time mostly between Denis and Mark. I find Mark a charming personality who could have been managed with greater attention while Denis is a new character, left as a complete enigma. The remaining group of characters who got the series thus far is downgraded to secondary characters. A subtle revelation regarding the Emperor adds an interesting twist.

[minor spoiler]

Earlier in the series, Shieldbreaker successfully defended a wielder against an attacking warbeast, slicing off its paws. In this novel, Vulcan is attacking with Shieldbreaker a group of humans who grapple him unarmed to the ground. The interesting fact is the Sword passes through the unarmed people in an immaterial state but harms the god. In the spirit of the fight, I would consider the human hands a choking weapon. The swarming of unarmed humans to subdue the Sword wielding god compared to the warbeast is a large flaw in the story.

[end minor spoiler]

Assorted spelling errors, in greater number than the earlier novels, slows down the reading. While the book starts quite descriptive, by the end the storytelling is hurried. I do not care for the mixture of Greek and Roman names for the gods and goddesses, I would prefer to stick with one mythological theme. A detailed map of the significant terrains would have been useful.

Given the power of the Swords in an appealing world, I would recommend this series to any fan of the fantasy genre.

Thank you.

Rating:
Summary: Fred Saberhagen is simply one of the best fictional authors!
Review: Fred Saberhagen is simply one of the best fictional authors in the business. I got this book to complete a collection I started years ago. If you've never read the "Swords" books, you are really missing out. This series is one of the greatest works of fiction of all time and a great majority of the material in these books can be referenced to some work of fact or fictional literature from the past. His style of writing is simply amazing and will captivate you and entertain you for years to come as you read and re-read his books over and over again.

Rating:
Summary: Fred Saberhagen is simply one of the best fictional authors!
Review: Fred Saberhagen is simply one of the best fictional authors in the business. I got this book to complete a collection I started years ago. If you've never read the "Swords" books, you are really missing out. This series is one of the greatest works of fiction of all time and a great majority of the material in these books can be referenced to some work of fact or fictional literature from the past. His style of writing is simply amazing and will captivate you and entertain you for years to come as you read and re-read his books over and over again.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: If you like the Lord of the Ring books you will love these books. This one happens to be one of my favorites. As our main hero Mark works his way around the country he finds all sorts of answers to questions readers had since the first book. The battle for the swords rage between humanity and the gods; both trying to concour it all. Its a must read for fantasy adventure fans.

Rating:
Summary: Strictly for the D&D crowd
Review: Saberhagen turns in a moderately entertaining and fast-paced effort. It's a strictly by-the-numbers little guys find magic dingus to fight overwhelmingly superior bad guys tale. Saberhagen just can't make me care about any of the characters. Major plot events come across as contrived. For example, old Draffut, our favorite God in the Machine, just happens to be waiting in a ravine to give Mark just the right sword for the needs of the moment. Nothing in the books prepare the reader to really believe that Vulcan can suddenly be trounced by a pack of unarmed mortals; the whole scene is ludicrous. Like too many fantasy efforts, what started out as a promising set of characters and situations is concluded by bombast. We even get the obligatory dark lord at the city gates scene. Yeah, there's a twist, but not a believable or even particurly well-described one. Typical of Saberhagen's inability (in this series, mind you; I'm not critiquing his body of work here) to follow through on promising beginnings is the character of the Emperor. Saberhagen teases us throughout the series with dark and not-so-dark hints and glimpses of the Emperor; but when he is finally trotted out into the light of day, he is a disappointment. One is left wondering what all the buildup was about. Which is exactly how one is left feeling about the book as a whole.

Rating:
Summary: Strictly for the D&D crowd
Review: Saberhagen turns in a moderately entertaining and fast-paced effort. It's a strictly by-the-numbers little guys find magic dingus to fight overwhelmingly superior bad guys tale. Saberhagen just can't make me care about any of the characters. Major plot events come across as contrived. For example, old Draffut, our favorite God in the Machine, just happens to be waiting in a ravine to give Mark just the right sword for the needs of the moment. Nothing in the books prepare the reader to really believe that Vulcan can suddenly be trounced by a pack of unarmed mortals; the whole scene is ludicrous. Like too many fantasy efforts, what started out as a promising set of characters and situations is concluded by bombast. We even get the obligatory dark lord at the city gates scene. Yeah, there's a twist, but not a believable or even particurly well-described one. Typical of Saberhagen's inability (in this series, mind you; I'm not critiquing his body of work here) to follow through on promising beginnings is the character of the Emperor. Saberhagen teases us throughout the series with dark and not-so-dark hints and glimpses of the Emperor; but when he is finally trotted out into the light of day, he is a disappointment. One is left wondering what all the buildup was about. Which is exactly how one is left feeling about the book as a whole.