Customer Reviews

Skryling's Blade (Rune Sword, Vol. 2)

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"Skryling's Blade" is the second book in the Young Adult fantasy series, Runesword. The story is continued by two completely new authors, Rose Estes (known for her early D&D Endless Quest and Greyhawk novels) and Tom Wham (board game designer). New authors for each book seem to have been the theme for this series in efforts to quickly crank out more stories. While the authors may be different, the characters pretty much remain the same. Cal the warrior, Bith the sorceress, Hathor the troll and Endril the elf are all back together again on their second adventure. The Norse God Vili (Brother of Odin) once again tasks them (somewhat indirectly) in finding and destroying the second Runesword, known as Sjonbrand the Skryling's Blade. Cal takes center stage in this story while Bith, Hathor and Endril take more of a backseat in the tale. Here are my thoughts on Skryling's Blade;

Pros

+ Quick and easy read.

+ Introduction of the dwarf character Gunnar Greybeard is a welcome addition to the cast, although I had some concerns (see Cons).

+ Cover by Larry Elmore.

Cons <Contains spoilers>

- Half the cast is imprisoned early on in the book leaving them largely absent from the story.

- Refers more heavily to Norse mythos compared to the first book. The characters even run into Thor himself on their adventures.

- The "Dark Lord" is still largely faceless and not really a character, just a name.

- Gunnar's character description sounded more like a garden gnome and not at all like the dwarf depicted on the cover art. Also, Gunnar's magical items and abilities were just too convenient and plentiful allowing the characters to travel and escape harm with little to no risk.

- King of the Skrisung awards Cal with magical items aplenty after Cal helps him defeat the creature tormenting his people. Why weren't the king and his people using these magical items to fight the beast wiping out their population?

- Bith and Cal's squabbling is still persistent and annoying.

- Abrupt and cliché ending.

- No world map.

Skryling's Blade was pretty much on par with the first book in the series. The story is loosely connected and the authors do make mention of the Outcasts previous adventure. My main issue with this series is believing the group of four characters stays together. Sure they're united at the beginning of each book by the god Vili to recover another Runesword, but beyond that it's sometimes difficult to see them adventuring together. Regardless, the books are short, easy reads so I'm continuing the series to see what the other authors can contribute.

I think Skryling's Blade is a veary good book for ages 12 through 18
Im a 13 year old that likes The Rune Sword series
This is one of my favorite books out of the other rune sword books i have read
If your are a reader right on
The only problem about this the Rune Sword books is once i picked one up i could never put it down
Another problem i have with it was when i read the last book i wished there where more of the Rune Sword books for me to read

I don't know about other reader's but i wish they made more of the rune sword books