Scan barcode
laneyofthenight's review against another edition
4.0
The twelve swords is a five star concept, but the book felt a bit tedious at times.
My only problem with the plot is personal in that I despise the ‘so dystopian it’s gotten back around to medieval fantasy”. In this case in particular, it added nothing to the story and in my opinion actually detracted from the world on the rare occasions it was mentioned. However, as said, it’s done so rarely and contributes so little to the plot that it’s very easy to ignore it and pretend it’s not a thing at all.
There were also times the writing itself got tedious and felt like it added very little other than filler. I have high hopes that those portions come around to relevancy in later books, but at the moment they don’t seem to.
Overall, I loved it though. I think the swords are a great concept and left off on a good note. Mark and the other characters are only just being established in this book, but they have a lot of promise.
Of note: there are spoilers to future books of the series in the list of twelve swords that is pulled from Saberhagen’s notes at the end of the book.
My only problem with the plot is personal in that I despise the ‘so dystopian it’s gotten back around to medieval fantasy”. In this case in particular, it added nothing to the story and in my opinion actually detracted from the world on the rare occasions it was mentioned. However, as said, it’s done so rarely and contributes so little to the plot that it’s very easy to ignore it and pretend it’s not a thing at all.
There were also times the writing itself got tedious and felt like it added very little other than filler. I have high hopes that those portions come around to relevancy in later books, but at the moment they don’t seem to.
Overall, I loved it though. I think the swords are a great concept and left off on a good note. Mark and the other characters are only just being established in this book, but they have a lot of promise.
Of note: there are spoilers to future books of the series in the list of twelve swords that is pulled from Saberhagen’s notes at the end of the book.
theaudioauditor's review
3.0
Audio book review.
Super interesting for the first half. I really love the setup, the god forging the swords and handing them out, the grisly way they needed to be anointed, the heritage and passing it down to the next generation. I really liked the son returning to the forge and meeting the gods in person. Their banter could have made an entire book for me. I love the idea of the game the gods are playing, and I wish they played a larger role in this setup book. You can totally tell it's setting up a larger arc, a fuller story, full of lore and all 12 swords. We get maybe 4 or 5 swords in this tale, and I was starting to get them mixed up at the end. There's an appeal to building a large world, but I'm the type of reader to still want a satisfying full story all in one book, maybe something that can stand on its own as one complete thing. Idk. Even about 2/3 of the way, I had the second book in my wish list to buy, but then removed it after getting to the end. My mind was wandering so bad, and I couldn't tell you exactly what happened. Setup for the next book, definitely. I wish I were more invested.
Super interesting for the first half. I really love the setup, the god forging the swords and handing them out, the grisly way they needed to be anointed, the heritage and passing it down to the next generation. I really liked the son returning to the forge and meeting the gods in person. Their banter could have made an entire book for me. I love the idea of the game the gods are playing, and I wish they played a larger role in this setup book. You can totally tell it's setting up a larger arc, a fuller story, full of lore and all 12 swords. We get maybe 4 or 5 swords in this tale, and I was starting to get them mixed up at the end. There's an appeal to building a large world, but I'm the type of reader to still want a satisfying full story all in one book, maybe something that can stand on its own as one complete thing. Idk. Even about 2/3 of the way, I had the second book in my wish list to buy, but then removed it after getting to the end. My mind was wandering so bad, and I couldn't tell you exactly what happened. Setup for the next book, definitely. I wish I were more invested.
mrbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Classic Read...Saberhagen at his finest. Much better then his Beserker series. One of my favorite authors. RIP Fred!