The Darksword Trilogy: Volume 1 - Forging The Darksword [Import] [Paperback]

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Books; paperback / softback edition (1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553175866
• ISBN-13: 978-0553175868
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,572,950 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A tale that differs from the norm., March 10, 2002

By 

Kinga - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forging the Darksword: The Darksword Trilogy, Volume 1 (Mass Market Paperback)

Upon talking to some other people who read fantasy, I found out that their general view on Weis and Hickman is usually one of apathy, or worse yet, contempt. Most of these people prefer books like the Wheel of Time series, which is fine, even though I think that that particular series has become nauseatingly boring. I've been reading Weis/Hickman books for a long time now, and while they certainly arent the best of the lot, they're a lot better than most: I certainly like them more than Jordan.

This particular book is probably among the best they've written. A strange, thoughtful tale, the book is a reasonably gripping read, that traverses vast periods of time within a few pages. (17 years to be exact: compare that to Jordan's crawling behemoth, that moves a few days in the space of a thousand pages.) The action itself takes place in a much shorter period of time though, which is just as well I suppose.
I wont bother with detailing the plot, except to say that it's above average and well-detailed. The book has a tangible sense of sadness to it, a wistfulness that is lacking in most fantasies. The characters are well portrayed: Joram is convincing as the unloved, bitter young man, Simkin is one of the more amusing characters in fantasy, and Bishop Vanya's amoral approach to manipulation hits close to home. But the real triumph of the book (and indeed the series) is Saryon. In my opinion, he is simply one of the best characters to have ever appeared in a fantasy. So much of fantasy is carried on the shoulders of testosterone-laden heroes, 'great' warriors who never make mistakes and rarely regret their actions. Even if they do show some semblance of sorrow and regret, it's as convincing as a fish putting on a bicycle show. Saryon is a bitter, twisted, tortured man, who, above all else, is a simple, gentle soul caught up in a world that has started to go very wrong for him. The loss of his faith, his yielding to temptation, and his spiral into darkness caused by the burdens that he bears are immaculately described, and are very believable. He is a metaphor for a darkness within all our souls, a darkness different from greed and evil, but one just as devastating: the terrible malady of weakness. I have to take my hat off to the authors: they really created something special with Saryon.
Unfortunately, things go downhill from here. The second book is almost as good, but the third is almost overwhelmingly dissapointing. I'll leave you to find out what happens of course, (if you ever get that far), but suffice it to say that I nearly threw down my copy about a 100 pages into it.
In short: horrible third book aside, this is an unfairly underlooked series. Pick it up, if you have the chance.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forging the Darksword., May 12, 2003

By 

mwarmin1 (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forging the Darksword: The Darksword Trilogy, Volume 1 (Mass Market Paperback)

The world of Merilon is one where magic is life -- individuals are born into their station and rank in life according to their magical abilites. However, more and more, Dead babies (babies lacking magic) are being born to the nobility. They are left to the Deathwatch, to leave this world they were not supposed to be born into; yet, Dead babies are hidden by grieving parents, or smuggled away, and are raised in the world ...

This is the story of the intelligent but tormented Catalyst Saryon, the outcast Dead murderer Joram, the lovable trickster Simkin, the bumpkin Mosiah, and the greedy and deceptive Bishop Vanya. Sent away because of an infraction against the Church seventeen years prior, the Catalyst Saryon must locate and turn in the murderer Joram. This quest takes him from a small farming village, to the dread Camp of the Technologists, science being the forbidden Ninth Mystery of the world. Drawn instantly to Joram, Saryon and he create the Darksword, a weapon with the power to drain an individual of all magic, with which one can rule the world.

Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, authors of novels in the popular Dragonlance saga, have written another excellent mind-consuming novel. I have read this work many times, and never tire of it's page-turning suspense! This is the first of four Darksword books. Originally written as a trilogy, a fourth book was brought out because so many people wanted to know "what happened next."

"What they do not understand, they fear. What they fear, they destroy."

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Magic at is best!!!, December 28, 1998

By 

"umbranihili" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Forging the Darksword: The Darksword Trilogy, Volume 1 (Mass Market Paperback)

This book have the same ingredients of the Death Gate Cycle: very deep characters, very real social system, and a complex set of secrets to keep you attached to the pages. The scene when Joram is taken by her mother to meet his father in the border, brougth tears to my eyes.

Saryon, Joram and specially Simkin are great. And the best of all: the existance of magic. For us, magic lovers, that is a world we like to live in.

Just read it.