The Burnished Blade [Paperback]

Lawrence Schoonover (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (1970)
• ISBN-10: 0345017846
• ISBN-13: 978-0345017840
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,504,517 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 A gem, August 20, 2006

By 

J. C. Mayor "bigtimereader" (Monroe, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This delightful peek into the beginning of the Renaissance starts with the death of Joan of Arc, from the view of a small boy, and ends with his marriage. Historically accurate, lively, and extremely well-written, it's a solidly good read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit dated, but still entertaining, September 4, 2009

By 

Misfit (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Burnished Blade (Mass Market Paperback)

The book begins in 1431 as a noble knight and his family on their way to Rouen are attacked by highwaymen and left for dead, although their young son survives the attack. With no knowledge of his family or name, he is adopted by Armorer Hugh of Milan and called Pierre. Hugh ensures that Pierre is well-educated and trained as a knight and when he travels to Paris on his guardian's behalf he saves the life of the elder daughter of the Count de la Tour-Clermont. When he's older Hugh obtains employment through the grateful Count (and madly in love with the younger daughter although he cannot have her) and is sent to Trebizond in the East on a mission to investigate an alleged smuggling operation.

What follows are Pierre's adventures with scheming Turks, Greeks, a corrupt noble or two (as well as the evil eunuch), lots of treachery and betrayals and sword fight or two as Pierre sorts through it all to get to the bottom of the mystery. That all sounds very exciting and while I did enjoy the novel and the author's writing, this was written in 1948 and it does show at times. Not the prose itself, I quite enjoyed that - but the *action* (except for the impaling, now that was gory as all get out) is going to come across as a bit tame for today's jaded readers, and despite the lurid cover there's not much sex or romance to be found. It is a good book, just not a great one.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Incredible!, July 22, 2004

By 

capedout (TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Burnished Blade (Hardcover)

Wonderful! Schoonover has done a spectacular job of moulding fiction with history without going overboard. I highly recommend it for lovers of 15th century France. A good read all the way!