28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vivid backgrounds, well rounded characters, great story., November 18, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: The Swordsman's Oath: The Second Tale of Einarinn (Mass Market Paperback)
The Swordsman's Oath picks up the tale of trying to deal with the Elietimm from the Ice Islands, in the Spring after the action in The Thief's Gamble. This book centres on Ryshad, a sworn man for one of the mainland Lords, who first appeared about half way through The Thief's Gamble.
Juliet McKenna has an unusual style in this series, the 'focus character' is told in the first person, and the surrounding characters in the third person. In The Thief's Gamble the first person viewpoint was Livak, a thief and gambler, but in the Swordsman's Oath the viewpoint has switched to Ryshad. This is initially disconcerting, especially in scenes with Livak, but I soon settled into enjoying this book. While The Thief's Gamble was good, The Swordsman's Oath is better and Juliet McKenna has clearly matured as a writer.
In The Swordsman's Oath the reason why some old family treasures have some strange properties are fully explored in a very entertaining story, which has its roots hundreds of years in the past. More is also learnt about the Ice Islanders strengths and about possible methods for combating them, but there is definitely no easy answer.
Juliet McKenna writes some very convincing characters, and then puts them in some truly testing situations. Some of the things she does to Ryshad really shouldn't happen to any self respecting warrior. I was also pleased to notice that a secondary character, who first appears in Thief's Gamble, happens to be gay. It doesn't have any bearing on the story, it is just the way he is. This is a pleasing matter for the fantasy genre, where gay characters are relatively rare, and where gayness is far too often the signal for villainy.
She also draws an interesting picture of slavery, and the differences in reactions between that of a lifelong slave and of someone who is enslaved as an adult. This is no sentimental picture supporting slavery, as the effects of the lack of individual rights and freedom is made all too plain, as is the terror of casually applied brutality. However, neither is it an antislavery diatribe with all the slave owners as cardboard cut-out villains, in fact some (but not all) are likeable people. As ever she draws a vivid picture which shows all the sides of a situation. Well written Juliet, more power to your keyboard.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Swordsman's Oath, April 2, 2001
This review is from: The Swordsman's Oath: The Second Tale of Einarinn (Mass Market Paperback)
After orienting myself with the switch in the first person character, I found this book thoroughly engrossing. My attention was captured and retained in the first book, The Theif's Gamble, and I was definitely entertained with the strong character of Livak. However, I found this book even more riveting than the first and look forward to what McKenna will do if there indeed is another book in this series as it seems was set up. These books are entertaining and not too far fetched, given the allowance of magic in her world. McKenna has created an avid and thorough history and proves her forethought into this with the multiple letters and passages she provides at the start of each chapter. I highly recommend both books and, if you have only read the first, urge continuance into the intricacies woven in the next chapter of the series.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful 2nd book, April 10, 2001
This review is from: The Swordsman's Oath: The Second Tale of Einarinn (Mass Market Paperback)
Having just finished this book about 1/2 an hour ago....I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was disconcerting at first to get used to the main voice being Ryshad instead of Livak, but once I was accustomed to it, I was fine. I enjoyed the glance into the Archepelago culture and Hadrumal. I thought the characters evolved nicely as well...not too quickly and not too wildly. As there is apparently a third book coming out, I hope we find out just WHY the Elietimm are so crazy. I suppose it could be their solitary climate, but I hope there's a better reason in store for us. Nice to see Artifice users on OUR side now :) Still a great world with a great history...meaning that it seems well developed. A truly fantastic author and a wonderful read. I would recommend reading the Thief's Gamble first however.
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