The Last Book of Swords: Shieldbreaker's Story (Swords Series) [Mass Market Paperback]

Fred Saberhagen (Author)

Book Description

Series: Swords Series | Publication Date: June 15, 1995

Long ago, the gods forged Twelve Swords of Power and threw them on the gameboard of life for greedy mortals to scramble over. Too late, the gods learned that they had forged too well; the Swords could kill the gods themselves.

Now, ages later, the Swords are back in human hands, as powerful as ever. Vilkata the Dark King returns from exile seeking revenge on those who defeated him. His first goal is the vault in which is enemy Prince Mark has placed the remaining Swords; with these in hand, none can oppose his rule. Only one untested warrior stands in his way: fourteen-year-old Prince Stephen, with Shieldbreaker in hand.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A wicked magician and a batch of demons almost succeed in taking over Sarykam, capital of Prince Mark of Tasavalta, in this lackluster 11th, and final, volume of the series that began with The First Book of Swords . Vilkata the Dark King and his shape-changing demons return from the Moon, where they had been sent by Prince Mark, who can hurl demons into the heavens with an incantation. Employing the power of the Mindsword, which gives the holder the allegiance of all beings he encounters, Vilkata gains the fealty of the city and palace occupants except for 14-year-old Prince Stephen, son of Mark. The prince makes his escape using Shieldbreaker, the Sword of Force and the strongest of the dozen created by the Gods, and Sightblinder, the Sword of Stealth; he loses the former to Vilkata, although the Mindsword is destroyed. Then the Dark King gains an ally in the adventurer Baron Amintor, wielder of Coinspinner, the Sword of Chance, and sets out to consolidate his hold on the city by destroying all other swords. Meanwhile, Stephen tries to make his way to his father to seek aid. Saberhagen's saga ends happily and at a good time, since his original concept has run out of steam with tired and sketchy characterizations and plot and only brief appearances by many players from other volumes.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

In the concluding volume of Saberhagen's Swords saga, battle extends from palace to peasant hut--indeed, all the way to the moon--and is loaded with remnants of premagical technology as well as the secret of why the Old World fell and magic came to rule. Key to the battle against Vikata the Dark King is Prince Mark's second son, Prince Stephen, who turns out to be a formidable wielder of swords. By the time journeys and battles are done, the only one of the twelve swords that survives is Woundhealer, for even the terrifying Shieldbreaker has perished. Followers of the Swords tales will find the last much to their taste, so fantasy collections should supply it. Roland Green --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Tor Fantasy (June 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812505778
• ISBN-13: 978-0812505771
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,151,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Do not read this book!!!, July 2, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Last Book of Swords: Shieldbreaker's Story (Swords Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

If you enjoyed the rest of the series, stop and don't read this book. Yes, you will be left wondering what happens to the rest of the swords, who is the Emperor, what happens to Mark and the rest, but live with the curiosity. This book goes beyond anticlimactic, it is just awful. The ending and the explanation of the Emperor is so...I can't even find words for how disappointing it is.
I'm left wondering if Saberhagen didn't outgrow the series and quickly wrote Shieldbreaker's story to bring the series to a close so he could move on to other endeavors. I can not believe that he actually thought that this ending would satisfy his readers.

I can not stress enough how thoroughly disappointing and frustrating the ending of this book is. Saberhagen should personally apologize to everyone who read this book

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars a disappointing end to a great series, February 24, 2000

By 

"theukulele" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Book of Swords: Shieldbreaker's Story (Swords Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've been following this series all the way from its beginning with the Empire of the East series and I was extremely disappointed with the seemingly rushed way this one was written. Egad, what a goofy way to explain the Emperor figure. I was hoping for an intelligent tie in back to the Empire of the East premise, but ah well. The rest of the series is great.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Lame Book of Swords: HeartBreaker's Story, December 8, 1999

By 

Harold Hagstrom Jr (Bellevue, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Book of Swords: Shieldbreaker's Story (Swords Series) (Mass Market Paperback)

I bought all paperbacks from the first trio through last book and sat down and read them from beginning to end. I have to conclude that this story was the most disappointing of all of them. Unfortunately for me Sheildbreaker's book was the reason why I force fed some of the other bad ones. This book in paticular is bizzare and inconsistent as far a as plot and environment with respect to the series. In summary, I didn't like the way the other swords played out and I thought the characters were neglected and unengaging. As far as I am concerned this series found a creative niche to add personality and intrigue to all the swords, quite uncommon for this genre surprisingly, however, the plots, stories, chararcters, ideas and action scenes fell well short of a great series let alone good stories. I am sorry, but I cannot recommend this book (or series) to anyone. For what it is worth, Book 2 of swords was the best of them all. In some way, I wish the author could have a do-over with the swords concept. Great ideas, not so good implementation.