Saber and Shadow [Paperback]

S.M. Stirling (Author), Shirley Meier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1992

From the authors of The Cage. In the Fifth Millennium, there was no city larger or more corrupt than Illizbuah. The intrigues of its priests and lords, wizards, merchants and thieves were ancient and inbred and as formal as a dance. Here two homeless wanderers would set all their plans at naught and the city--and the world--would never again be the same.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Baen; First Edition edition (November 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671721437
• ISBN-13: 978-0671721435
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,775,388 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A bizarre adventure in a realistic future., September 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Saber and Shadow (Paperback)

This is one of the best books in the Fifth Millenium series. The budding romance theme is different from a lot of stories, being about two women.The city of Fehinna is realistic and vivid, from the sewers to the Sun Temple. I was a bit confused about the God-King, but I think that was the idea. I liked the pace of the book, fast but not so fast it's hard to understand; it was fun reading about such thoroughly human characters; they were never goody-goody idealists, particularly Shkai'ra. I wish the authors would write more about the Fifth Millenium.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshingly real characters!, September 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Saber and Shadow (Paperback)

Saber and Shadow is remarkable in its plot and setting as well, but I found the characters to be its main strongpoint. Megan and Shkai'ra are very well-developed characters, and the authors did not give in to the trend of making the main characters disgustingly idealistic. This book, as someone once said of the Illiad, "embodies all the ethical untidiness of living people." Three cheers for realistic characterization!

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice but tough comprehension, August 4, 2000

By 

Kristi (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saber and Shadow (Paperback)

I first read this book when I was a teenager back in the early-mid nineties. I just recently read it again, and I found things that I didn't understand the first time. Things like plot details and names.

The fight scenes are really cool, in fact this book and books by author Elizabeth Moon has inspired me to write my own fantasy novels (not published, but in the process) I love reading fantasy stories where the female is a strong character who can hold her own. It gives girls a chance to fantasize about being a warrior for once and not just the boys.

However, the plot took me a while to digest, even the second time around. I found myself having to back track to find out what was going on. And even now there are still instances where I don't know the exact details of what is going on. For example, not to give away too much of the plot, the female general's plans for war. I don't know the exact details and it wasn't explained clearly in the book, so I just accepted the fact that she's declaring war, but not entirely for the reasons she claims. It's little things like these that tend to get in the way of the entire plot. So it's easier to just accept the gist of what's going on and try to figure out everything else. I'd give more examples, but that would give away too much of the plot.

Also when I first read this, I was a teenager in high school, and the idea of a love affair between two women was new to me. I fact the whole IDEA of sex was new to me. Now, about eight years later, I kinda understand it a little more, and find it interesting that the authors would take the relationship of the two main characters to this level. It's not easy to imagine that sort of relationship, but that doesn't mean it can't happen. I'm not shocked, just impressed that they did that.

On the whole, not a bad book, but be prepared to read it a few times if you want to get all the nitty gritty details to really understand stuff. But if you don't, there's enough basic info to give you the general idea