Customer Reviews

The First Book of Swords

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Seriously, this is a well-written and absorbing book. It's one of those volumes you might buy because the cover looks interesting or the synopsis on the jacket is intriguing -- but once you begin reading, you realise what a gem it is.

The story, in brief, centers around 12 swords forged by the olympian god Vulcan to give to mankind for the amusement of the gods. He enlists the aid of a local townsperson (Jord) during their creation and in return gives one of the weapons to him. Jord is killed but his son, Mark, carries on thru a series of adventures revolving around one sword or another.

The fascinating part of the book is the swords themselves. Each has a special power, and a special weakness. Each is totally different than any other. This first book touches on only a couple of the artifacts in any detail. Subsequent books tell the stories of the remaining swords.

For a good read with a decent amount of adventure and a plot that twists and turns, this book is hard to beat.

~P~

On the surface, this appears to be just another fantasy novel - young boy given a magical sword, sets out to seek his fate, blah blah bibbity blah. However, we see depths here, hints of a mysterious past in the world (technology was banished 2000 years ago for a length of time of 49,949 years - what a strange number - does it mean something), tales of other magical swords - which are apparently true, as evil-doers start coming out of the woodwork left and right seeking the boy to steal his magical sword in order to gain its power for their own.

While I would like to see deeper character development, or more details on the mysterious past (although, now I see while browsing through other available texts that the past is described in other books - what a pity, I'll have to buy more books, oh, woe is me ... *grins*), at the same time it would likely ruin Saberhagen's forward momentum to slow it down and do so.

I think I've discovered a new author to add to my list of "favorites" and a new list of books (what a HUGE list it is, too!) to add to my "want to get these" list. I would recommend to those who haven't yet discovered this classic gem of a book to run out and see if you can find a copy. I purchased mine in the omnibus The Complete Book of Swords, which might be easier to find nowadays.

A Review by Tim

Mark had a pretty average life for the time. Hunting game for the family and doing household chores for his mom. He probably didn't expect that one day he would have to leave his house to start life anew. But what is the secret behind his father's sword called Townsaver. And what game are the gods talking about. Now the life around Mark is changing, perhaps faster than he would ever would want or expect.

This book is a prime example of a fantasy novel. This book was a joy to read and easy to follow. When the story follows Mark excitement is sure to trail. But Fred Saberhagen kept changing point of view every chapter. The many mysteries are unraveled throughout the story, but once one is, a new one springs from it. This feature makes you never want to put the book down. Fred Saberhagen is great at portraying a medieval setting. But it is odd that when the book refers to the old world it seems like it's referring to modern time.

I would recommend this book to anybody but anyone into fantasy will love this book. This is a great read I can't wait to finish.

The Book of Swords series was one of the first series I read and is still one of my favorites, even after ten years and countless other literary adventures. Once you start this series, you'll find yourself living through the characters, first hoping they survive, then hoping they prosper. The Gods' role in the making of the swords, giving them to humanity, then, like a greedy child, wanting them back for themselves, imposes human qualities on them and makes their exsistance in that world much more believable while creating the background for the series. I found this to be one of the best tales of MAN VS. GODS I've ever read. Thanks Fred.

I found this book to be a very interesting experience. It is in no way typical. One trait I found fascinating about the plot is that there is no knight in shining armor. The main character happens to be a boy. I guess, while this gives me a break from everyday form-fantasy, I did gape incredulously at his strong resolve. It just seems out of character, to me, to a young person. I have never seen a human that age with such a terrible purpose. But all-in-all this is a very believable, entertaining story line.

The First Book of Swords is simple, but I loved it! Swords with special powers and kingdoms at war are not the most unique things in the world, but interesting characters, gods, and a fast paced plot push this book into greatness. I admit, the story was slow to start for me. The prologue was boring, and the main character walking around made me skip sections, but that was only a small part of the book, and I'm glad I stuck through it. I couldn't wait to find out what happens to the swords and the characters, and since it's only the first part of a trilogy I was even more happy. But, I have to say, I really expected more. If there were only a few more things this book would have been five stars. I would have liked to have seen more of the 12 magical swords, instead of just four. I thought there would be a big event with all of the swords coming together. I thought different people from around the world would come together in a big way, but that didn't happen. This novel also has a definite conclusion, and the second book does not pick up the plot at all. I really want to read about the people who own these swords and what they can do, instead I have to settle for a 200 page book revolving around a few characters making a trip. A few hundred more pages added to the end would have been nice instead of an unrelated second book. Oh well, this book by itself is fun, exciting, and entertaining, and I enjoyed it.

I may have made a tactical error, beginning this first volume of a trilogy before I had the second and third volumes in hand and standing by. Saberhagen is an old-school writer, best known for his "Berserker" series (which was also the model for Star Trek's Borg). This is straight sword-and-sorcery, but not really in the classic, Tolkien-esque mold. Saberhagen has the knack of combining fancy and fact in a way that's foreign to "high fantasy." It's 50,000 years in the future, after the end of our present technological age -- 2,000 years in the future even of Saberhagen's "Empire" series, upon which this present trilogy builds. And society is more or less medieval again. Barons and knights and dukes run things, with millers and blacksmiths and yeoman farmers occupying the lower rungs of society. But there's also sorcery and mythological beasts, the most powerful of which are dragons of many and diverse species. Most important, though, is the return of the gods -- or that's how they represent themselves, anyway. And the gods are engaged in playing a game (a motif Saberhagen often invokes). Young Mark is the focus of the narrative, the second son of a blacksmith who lost an arm to Vulcan while helping in the manufacture of twelve swords of power, each of them with a different profile or personality. The sword Mark's father was given in payment for his arm has come down to Mark, who now finds himself on the run from the forces of Duke Fraktin, who wants to obtain as many of the swords for himself as possible. He becomes involved with Nestor, an ex-knight turned dragon-hunter, who possesses another of the swords and is also of interest to the duke. Balancing the Bad Guys in this power struggle is Good Sir Andrew, a do-gooderish sort who also provides a bit of comic relief. Saberhagen's narrative style is straightforward and unadorned, letting the story tell itself, and it works. If you've read a lot of fantasy and semi-fantasy in its various forms, you'll be interested in seeing how he sets up the story within the real-world constraints he has set himself. I would have made some different choices, though. Vulcan, for instance, belongs to the Roman pantheon, but most of the society in this future world seems to be northern European in origin; I would have depicted the smith god as Wayland, for consistency. (But perhaps there are unmentioned reasons for all that, since parts of this novel are derived from earlier books and series I haven't read.) It's also strange to hear distances by wagon and the length of a sword blade described in metric measurements. But that's carping, and the story, which ends here with Mark in possession of two of the swords and escaping the destruction of Sir Andrew's castle, is well worth reading as he and his companions move off into the next stage of their adventure. Now if I can only find those other two volumes.

AS BEST DAMN SERIES I HAVE EVER READ BUT DONT BUY THE INDIVIDUAL BOOKS OF THE FIRST SET BUY THE COMPLETE BOOK OF SWORDS. I BELIEVE IF YOU BUY THE 1ST 2ND AND 3 RD YOU WILL FEEL SHORTCHANGED. IT SHOULD BE READ AS ONE BOOK AND SHOULD BE SOLD THAT WAY TOO. YOU WILL WANT TO GET THE WHOLE SERIES ALSO IM SURE. THE FIRST THREE BOOKS CALLED THE BOOKS OF SWORDS AND THEN THE FOLLOW UPS THE BOOKS OF LOST SWORDS 1 THRU 8 .

"The First Book of Swords" is the opening novel in "The Book of Swords" trilogy. It has an interesting storyline involving an assortment of deities supplemented with a variety of creative magical weaponry.

The book mostly follows Mark, a likeable young man whose father was one of the assistants in forging twelve supernatural swords. He meets up and adventures with a couple other individuals, Barbara, Ben, and Nestor. The solid background in the developing story establishes a thorough world for future fantasy adventures.

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. However introducing other godlike beings such as Ardneh, Orcus, and Draffut within the same world bears credit by showing a world in transition. The creation of weapons by a god that can supposedly destroy a god makes the story fascinating. A detailed map of the significant terrains would have been useful.

I would recommend this series to any fan of the fantasy genre.

Thank you.

Mark becomes the new bearer of Townsaver after an attack on his village kills his father Jord, the smith who helped forge the 12 swords of power, was killed. After the attack Mark must flee the village to prevent the sword Townsaver from falling into the hands of the Duke. On his journey he meets new friends and new adventures.