Nightsword (Autographed): Contains: Nightsword [Hardcover]

Margaret Weis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 19, 1998

Join bestselling authors Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, world-builders extraordinaire, as they triumphantly return to their epic galaxy-spanning fantasy adventure that began in The Mantle of Kendis-Dai. Enter a remarkable universe where science and magic co exist in uneasy equilibrium. A cosmos populated by elves, dragons, minotaurs, and synthetic minds. . . where ultimate power rests in a fabled sword able to bend reality itself to the will of whoever wields it . . .

Thousands of years ago, the mad emperor Lokan controlled the Nightsword--and imposed his twisted desires on all that lived. At his slightest whim, whole worlds were destroyed, and entire races were transformed. Then Lokan mysteriously vanished behind the Maelstrom Wall, into the quantum chaos of the galactic core. But legend says that somewhere behind the Wall, lost amidst the ghost ships of Lokan's doomed fleet, the Nightsword is hidden, its awesome energies waiting to be used again . . . for good or evil.

While most dismiss the legend as fairy tale, others believe, and hunger for such godlike power. Though no one knows the course Lokan's fleet followed millennia ago, several have tried to track it, only to perish in the treacherous quantum fields behind the Wall. But when Earther astronaut Jeremy Griffiths donned the Mantle of Kendis-Dai and became blessed--and perhaps cursed--with infinite knowledge, he learned the exact direction of Lokan's ill-fated route. And now the secrets stored in his head have made him the target of everyone who has ever coveted the Nightsword for their own ends.

A man with unrivaled magical abilities and insidious instincts, Targ of Gandri yearned for the Nightsword to rule the universe once and for all. His protégé and now-nemesis, Merinda Neskat, believes the sword has the power to restore the ancient empire of Kendis-dai--the goal to which she has dedicated her life. For the mysterious Sentinels of the Order, the artifact would ensure the success of their rebellion and grant them victory in their long struggle for total domination. Caught in the middle, Jeremy Griffiths wants only to get his crew safely home to Earth--and to impress the bewitching, bewildering Merinda Neskat. Yet he is caught firmly in the middle of galactic agendas beyond his control, and this new quest will prove to be the challenge of a lifetime . . .

Starshield: Nightsword is a dazzling addition to Weis and Hickman's interstellar epic of magic and adventure--a series destined to stand with Dragonlance® and Death Gate as classics of modern fantasy.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Avast, ye Earthlubbers! Weis and Hickman are launching a new star pirate voyage in their Starshield series, trying to revive characters already sagging in The Mantle of Kendis-Dai. According to their 3000-year-old myth, galactic superhero Kendis-Dai used the Nightsword, a "selective causality device," to force his mystico-scientifc empire into one huge human-dominated quantum zone. Stolen first by arch-villain Lokan and now sought by a motley collection of Earth astronauts, multiracial space pirates and assorted Inquisitors led by Targ, an Oedipal misfit, the Nightsword promises infinite power to its possessor. Merinda Neskat, heroine of this neo-Trekkie saga, lurches from one purportedly fatal encounter to another, plying her wiles alternately on effete U.S. astronaut Jeremy Griffiths and hunky pirate captain Evon Flynn in a predictably eternal triangle. Though Weis and Hickman struggle to make each life-form group speak its own comical variety of English, all characterizations in this exponentially inflated comic book are equally lackluster. When Merinda for the nth time skewers the tepidly malignant Targ, the appropriate reaction is not a bang for the bucks the book costs but a whimper of relief that it's overAfor the time being. Author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Mentally bonded with the legendary Mantle of Kendis-Dai, Earth-born Jeremy Griffiths now joins his companion, the Vestis Merinda Neskat, in a desperate race across the galaxy to discover the long-lost artifact called the Nightsword. Pursued by enemy forces whose alliances shift with the tides of fortune, the pair of interstellar seekers learn that truth and trust are rare commodities in a universe of ever-changing paradigms. Coauthors Weis and Hickman have reached the top of their storytelling form with this latest series, a fast-paced, panoramic blend of space opera and high fantasy that should have a wide readership among both sf and fantasy fans. This sequel to The Mantle of Kendis-Dai (Ballantine, 1997) is strongly recommended for most libraries.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Del Rey (May 19, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345430042
• ISBN-13: 978-0345430045
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Margaret Weis graduated from the University of Missouri in 1970 with a BA in Creative Writing and Literature. Following a career in publishing she became an editor with TSR in 1983, and now lives with her husband and two cats in a converted barn near Lake Genva, Wisconsin.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good read for the open minded, March 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Nightsword (Hardcover)

As with the previous Starshield book (Sentinels), Nightsword offers a unique blend of the fantasy and science fiction genres. Understandably, any combination of these two different genres may result in story line elements that some readers find difficult to accept. I felt that Weis and Hickman's attempt at streamlining the two genres had some interesting results. However, I did find it a little difficult to believe in space faring vessels that had closer resemblance's to sea going ships. Nonetheless, their method of introducing dragons, elves and minitors as alien species was engaging.

I did feel that Nightsword had a weaker plot than its predecessor. There did not seem to be as much action and the ending was anticlimatic. Though it did promise the involvement of planet Earth in the third volume of the Starshield saga.

The characters in Nightsword are typical of Weis and Hickman. They have close resemblance to character types in some of their other works. Griffiths does have a likable character. he is portrayed as gullible, naive and sometimes funny. He is not the typical action adventure type you would expect to find as the main character of a fantasy/SF story line. However, his link to the mantle does place him in a unique position. A role that he obviously would rather do without.

While Nightsword lacked some of the power of its predecessor and to other works by Weis and Hickman, it was still an enjoyable read. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasy and science fiction and has an open mind. I am looking forward to the next volume in the saga.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A unique gem of unknown number of facets, December 30, 2002

By 

Yiwei Sun - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nightsword: A Starshield Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

The first Starshield novel introduced us to a galaxy that was beyond our wildest imaginations, literally. Fantasy stories that have come close to integrating technology into the story line is such stories as the Darkover novels. But, even Darkover used psionics and crystal lattice technology. This new "Starshield" universe is one that starts out with a bang that is followed by the sonic boom in its wake. It integrates the principles of "mysticism" and "technology" to create a universe that is at once both magical and technological. In this world, you can have the technologically savy spy and also have the great sorcerer in the same person. Combining the aspects of fantasy adventure with the grand space fleets of space opera. This is a collaborative book and somehow I think that the authors used everything they learned from their previous 9 book series, "The Death Gate Cycle", to improve upon their new series.

Explaining how such a "universe" composed of both magic and technology is difficult, but not impossible. This book certainly requires a new level of belief, that the fantasy or sci-fi genre has already created.

The second book of the Starshield series starts off with a prologue of events 53 years before the end of the first book. Then it continues immediately after the first book in the Chapters of Alpha. The Mantle of Kendis-dai is real and therefore logically the Nightsword and the Starshield are real also. This is a story of the mad and somewhat enigmatic quest of 6 factions striving to retrieve the Nightsword in its last resting place. Along the journey, the book recounts various tales and legends which fill in the gaps left out in the history of the first book. Various questions about the "quantum wave fronts" are answered like how exactly does one travel from one quantum wave to another with several types of engines? The story is along the same lines as a treasure hunt, with secret maps with the X that marks the spot, to various betrayals for the treasure. Except this is a treasure that everyone wants, the power to shape reality itself. This book also explains why Griffiths, one of the protagonists of the story, has met only humans among the stars so far. The hands of various contributors are seen in this story, in addition to the authors. The people at the Starshield website has helped add their own views to the story, thereby enriching it. Many subtle mysteries are in this story, which replaces the gap caused by the rather lack luster plot line as compared to the first book.

A fine sequel to "The Mantle of Kendis-dai".

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't wait for more!, July 28, 2000

By 

Rick Douglas Janssen (Lake Zurich, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nightsword (Hardcover)

This second installment of the Starshield series is a stunning achievement. Now that the reader is familiar with the nature of the Starshield universe one can fully appreciate the story.

While not as well known as Weis and Hickman's Dragonlance saga, this series has all the promise of being as epic on a stellar level.

The secrets revealed in the final pages of this book are such that I cannot wait to read the third installment. Unfortunately, I have heard no news of the next book being written. It would be a shame to kill the series on such a power and gripping novel.

I highly recommend this book.