The Wooden Sword (Walensor, No. 1) [Mass Market Paperback]

Lynn Abbey (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Berika is a shepherd from Gorse who wants to avoid marriage to Hirmin, a man disfigured in body and mind, and she prays for any way out of it. What she gets is Dart, who might be a fetch, a kind of demon, but is in fact the long-lost brother of the Donitor, Fenklare's political leader. Berika and Dart leave Gorse to find their destiny, but suddenly Berika is reluctant to go, in one of many mood shifts the young woman undergoes for the sole purpose of moving the plot along. Indeed, the entire novel consists of things just happening for no reason save to advance the plot. The wooden sword of the title does not appear until Dart needs it to kill Hirmin, after which it is more or less ignored. Once Hirmin is dead, Abbey (coeditor of the Thieves' World series) doesn't seem to know what to do with Berika, who floats through the book being alternately worried, confused and manipulated by Driskolt, the Donitor's son, who wants revenge for humiliation at Dart's hands. The characters are neither well drawn nor sympathetic; the plot is full of contrivances and the prose poorly constructed. While the ending is inconclusive, no sequel is announced.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-- This would merely be a throwaway setup for the second book in a fantasy series if it weren't for the absorbing characters who are developed. Berika ought to be a stock peasant with a calling, but somehow she rises above simple explanations by the tragedies that shape her fate. Her need to escape from her limitations is not just theoretical, but a life-and-death struggle. Similarly, Dart is not just the handsome savior prince with a mission, but a confused man without a past and imperative drives he cannot understand. Both figures are compelling in their all-too-human failings and conflicts. This purchase may commit readers to following a series, but it has virtues that make it a standout in the genre.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 247 pages
• Publisher: Ace; First Edition edition (September 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441908667
• ISBN-13: 978-0441908660
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 3.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,848,845 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite good ONLY if you have the next book, December 2, 2001

By 

Mary Gollihugh "aka 'Ash' or Mariance" (On the Lake Erie Shoreline, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wooden Sword (Walensor, No. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

"You can't judge a book by it's cover" is all well and good, but all we have is blurbs and recommendations if we do not wish to read every single book in any given store.
So I bought it because the blurb and the cover were interesting.
After reading it, I was very disappointed to be left hanging in the midst of the story! I can get that in real Life! I want my happy ending! Sheesh!
Now I find there Is Indeed a following book "Under the Web". I'll bite. But I really wold have prefered to have known ahead of time I was only getting half the story.
My recommendation is to only purchase this book If you can get it with it's follow up, otherwise, skip it.
The characters are good from my point of view because they do stupid things at the wrong time, act like idiots, but have a greater depth to themselves ... pretty much like real people. Sometimes they say one thing, and do another, while trying to be good, honorable people to their own minds. Just like the rest of us.
It is my fervent wish that books were always offered bundled with the others in their series, not as an only point of sale, but for those of us who are interested, but dislike being left hanging. They could at least Mention it.
Thank you for reading my two cents worth (grin)
~Mariance

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A new world, and an unused plot, April 5, 2000

By 

Kathleen Loughlin (oceanside, ca USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wooden Sword (Walensor, No. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Running away from a marriage she does not want, Berika daughter of a shepard, prays to the forest goddess and finds Dart. Man, demon, fetch, you don't know, and the whole story takes you on a trip where you can not preguess the plot or the ending. The only problem with this book is that it is very much a lead in to the next book. Fortunately Lyn Abbey wrote the sequel 'Under the Web' instead of leaving us hanging. My big regret is that there isn't a whole series of these books. Lyn Abbey has a tendency to create a fascinating new world, write a book or two, and then drop it. On the other hand, Lyn Abbey's books never seem to accumulate the fame that they deserve, so perhaps somewhere there IS a third book, waiting to be published.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful but loses momentum and interest near the end, April 7, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Wooden Sword (Walensor, No. 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

"Of all the living things in Eyerlon, the trees were the oldest... and the wisest. A generation ago, the ancient forests of Walensor swallowed up the young princeling Dart. All the kingdom presumed him dead. But, enclosed in the bark of the oldest tree, Dart was still alive--a human vessel of the trees' greatest secrets ... and most powerful magic. Twenty years later, Dart was released. The trees had given him the most precious of gifts: A wooden sword, a harp, and timeless wisdom. The trees also gave him a great and terrible mission: To save his world from a powerful tyrant, a dark wizard of smoke... and fire."

When I began reading this book I could not put it down. Following Berika and her frustration at not being able to reach the Web, her meeting with Dart, and their subsequent journey... this all was wonderful. However, about halfway through the book it began to lose the charm and style of the beginning and I began to lose interest. A good book for fantasy lovers, if you can pick a copy up.