At Swords' Points [Paperback]

Andre Norton (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 246 pages
• Publisher: Unicorn Press (1985)
• ISBN-10: 0910937281
• ISBN-13: 978-0910937283
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,578,069 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intrigue in postwar netherlands, December 12, 2008

By 

Baslim the Beggar "Baslim" (Ventura County, California) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: At Swords' Points (Hardcover)

I first read this book in the early 1960s. On re-reading it now, I find it to be a very good story for young adults. Of course, the style is a little dated for today, but it is a good story and well told. This was Andre Norton coming into her best years of writing.

The protagonist is Anders Quinn, whose half brother has been killed in a hit and run accident in Netherlands. His brother worked for Army Intelligence and he seemed to know his time was short. He sent Anders a piece from a set of historically famous figurines. Anders takes the piece to Lorens van Norreys, a jeweler (and from the previous books in the series, a intelligence agent). The upshot is we get a trip to postwar Netherlands with fascinating descriptions of historical places.

It's not all description of places, though. We move along in the murky film noir world of people engaged in activities that one does not talk about. I rather liked the part about "the man who makes memories" i.e. a man who crafts new identities for people.

It's a typical Norton juvenile. Our hero gets in over his head (sometimes literally), but has experienced guides along most of the way. He has a talent (an eidetic memory - very useful) and a flaw (bad leg, which causes him a lot of pain). He also has a lot of self-doubt, but then he is a younger version of the more experienced men guiding him.
The first two books in the series were "Sword is Drawn" and "Sword in Sheath"

5.0 out of 5 stars Book purchase, October 27, 2011

By 

bigfig - See all my reviews

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This review is from: At Swords' Points (Hardcover)

Excellent experience and i had no hassle with the ordering or purchase of this book. Will do it again and again and again.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars nice conclusion, August 21, 2007

By 

Elmore Hammes "Writer and Reader" (Anderson, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Final book in the Sword espionage trilogy, this one invoked more of a murder mystery feel than the other two.

An interesting story, even if a few minor plot points weren't dealt with all that thoroughly - more of a "oh by the way this is what happened" at the end.