The First Swords: The Book of Swords Volumes 1, 2, & 3

Fred Saberhagen's Book of Swords novels have captivated fantasy readers for more than a decade. Here, now available in one volume, are the three books that started it all. For a game the gods have given the world twelve Swords of Power so that they might be amused as the nations battle for their possession. But Vulcan the Smith has had his own little joke: the Swords can kill the gods themselves. What started out as Divine Jest has become all too serious as the gods fight to recover the Swords, and mortals discover that the mantle of power is more delicious and more terrible than anything they could have imagined. Amazon.com Review The First Swords were forged by the gods as pieces in a great game, to be scattered across the world for mortals to fight over. Each of the 12 Swords was infused with a unique, powerful ability: the Sword of Siege could reduce a castle to rubble; Coinspinner would bring its wielder phenomenal luck; Shieldbreaker could best any weapon, even another Sword; Sightblinder would make its wielder appear to others as someone either greatly loved or greatly feared. These three books--the First , Second , and Third Book of Swords , first published in 1983 and 1984 and combined here in one volume--follow the slippery Swords as they pass from hand to hand, from queen to commoner and back again. This trilogy probably qualifies as a fantasy classic just because it's such a great story. And it's probably so well loved because Saberhagen is such a genius. But what really cements the Swords books in the fantasy canon is simply that they tell a smart, involving story without ever getting bogged down in details. Many current authors, with their endless sequels and flabby plot lines, could learn from Saberhagen's tight pacing. Just as his equally engaging Berserker stories are a must for SF fans, no fantasy reader should miss out on these well-executed (and addictive!) books. --Paul Hughes Review "Is Saberhagen a wizard? You decide. He is one of the most gifted writers of our time." -- Quasar Reviews "One of the best writers in the business." --Stephen R. Donaldson "Each of the Book of Swords is a model of action writing, clear-sighted, graphic, and agile...entertainment of high order." -- Publishers Weekly Enter Series Index : 01 of 03 Test Search : First Book of Swords / Fred Saberhagen Record Notes : Cover Checked 07 21, Perm IE IC 09 01 14 ES Group : Serified_E All Identifiers : isbn:9780312869168 Calc Series A (group): Book of Swords Test Compare Series to Entered: eq Formats : EPUB ES Cover Quality : ICBF ES Suffix : _ Quick Search : Fred Saberhagen Book of Swords ABook : E_Only Has Cover : Yes Test Text Series Index: 1 Single Author : Fred Saberhagen Raw Title : First Book of Swords Compare Author : eq Sorted Author by LN, FN: Saberhagen, Fred EBook : Have Calc Series Group : Book of Swords Title Length : 20 Title Parm A : First Book of Swords Calc ESI Combined : 01 of 190 Record ID : 2417 Enter New Series (Calced): Serified_E.Book of Swords.Scifan.01 of 03._.ICBF ES Name : Book of Swords Custom Series : SIPY.Book of Swords.Scifan.1 of 3._.ICBF Uncomma Author : Fred Saberhagen Number of Words in Auth: 2 ES Genre : Scifan Calc New Series : Book of Swords.... Calc ESI Part 3 : 03 Calc ESI Part 2 : of Calc ESI Part 1 : 01 Num of Aut : 1

Fred Saberhagen's Book of Swords novels have captivated fantasy readers for more than a decade. Here, now available in one volume, are the three books that started it all.

For a game the gods have given the world twelve Swords of Power so that they might be amused as the nations battle for their possession. But Vulcan the Smith has had his own little joke: the Swords can kill the gods themselves. What started out as Divine Jest has become all too serious as the gods fight to recover the Swords, and mortals discover that the mantle of power is more delicious and more terrible than anything they could have imagined.

One day in the middle of his thirteenth summer, Mark came home from a morning's rabbit-hunting with his older brother Kenn to discover that visitors were in their village.