The Swordbearer [Mass Market Paperback]

Glen Cook (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1982

A young man's dreams of warfare and glory turn into a bitter nightmare when an invading army, led by the Dark Champion Nevenka Nieroda and his twelve Dead Captains, the Toal, besieges his father's feudal fortress. Nieroda and the Toal demand the surrender of an ancient artifact long-believed to be a myth. With the walls breached and his family slaughtered - or worse - Gathrid flees into the wilderness beyond his familiar castle walls. Lost and alone in the woods, hounded by the Dead Captains, Gathrid takes refuge in a vast cavern. There he discovers an ancient sword - Daubendiek, the Great Sword of Suchara, the fabled weapon once wielded by the legendary tragic hero of an ancient age, Tureck Aarant. Daubendiek, a restless and thirsty blade, promises Gathrid the ability to claim his vengeance. But as he begins to take that vengeance, Gathrid starts to understand the terrible price that the sword will exact of him. Enemies soon become allies and strange bedfellows abound as the prophesies of an age swirl into chaos!

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Pocket; 1st edition (April 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671836870
• ISBN-13: 978-0671836870
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,513,271 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Man and a Sword, June 2, 2000

By 

Tuor (Bellevue, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Swordbearer (Paperback)

At the start of this book, one can get the impression that this is going to be a typical 'great-hearted boy warrior finds powerful magic sword and exacts glorious revenge/justice upon those who fiendishly slew his family' sort of story. It is not.

Before too long, the plotline begins to skew wildly around. In typical Glen Cook fashion, the story is gritty with believable characters that are not all good or bad. The pace and the writing is crisp and to the point. Finally, the story itself is fascinating and sometimes disturbing, but it always draws the reader along only to leave him hanging a bit at the end.

Cook is an excellent author, and one of the most underrated fantasy writers out there. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who likes the rougher side of fantasy.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "Swordbearer" a chrysalis for many Black Company themes, May 25, 2001

By 

phimseto (Chestnut Hill, MA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Swordbearer (Paperback)

Having purchased and enjoyed the entirety of Glen Cook's "Black Company" novels, I decided to look at some of his earlier works. "The Swordbearer" was the first of these, and proved to be a revelation into the evolution of a writer.

The story itself is stock - a boy finds a relic of times past and, upon doing so, becomes a player/pawn in an ever-continuing ancient game between supernatural powers. The human elements of the story are underdeveloped so that, when combined with a fairly quickly moving plot, leaves the reader trying to figure out what's going on more than absorbing whatever intended emotional impact there might be.

Overall, I would recommend the book to any Glen Cook fan and especially any fan of the "Black Company" series. Contained within "The Swordbearer" are many of the story elements and themes that Cook would later incorporate and improve upon in his "Black Company" novels. Among them are the concepts of soul-stealing, omniscient ability contained by a charcter via a special power or machine, and Cook's two biggest trademarks - a world of grey characters with little black or white, and an uncanny ability to create compelling and lavishly detailed battle sequences. "The Swordbearer" plot is driven by a number of pivotal battle sequences and it is during these moments that the book is at its strongest.

At its best, "The Swordbearer" is worth reading for any Cook fan who wants to see many "Black Company" staples take shape, and a good book for anyone looking for a light read. Although "The Swordbearer" is uneven throughout, its parts make up for the whole and make it a reasonable purchase for the curious or voracious fantasy reader.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Whatever Happened To It?, February 21, 2000

By 

Aaron M Kelley - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Swordbearer (Paperback)

In a world where day to day lives are destroyed by ancient magics come from dead cities, alongs comes a crippled boy wielding the Sword of Heroes to avenge his family. But, who is right? Who is wrong? What dark purpose drives the sword and the cruel dwarf that follows the Bearer? I first picked this book up at a Flea Market almost 20 years ago. It was a hardcover the size of most paperbacks of the time and I loved it! It is a classic tale of sword and sorcery written at a time when the classics were virtually unknown themselves. I always wondered when Mr. Cook would continue the story. I still wonder.