@RUTGERS.ARPA:Todd.pasa@Xerox.ARPA (04/19/85)
From: Todd.pasa@Xerox.ARPA I just finished reading Fred Saberhagen's Book of Swords trilogy (available from the SF Book Club as /The Complete Book of Swords/), and thought a few comments might be in order. First, I thought an earlier book based in the same mileau two thousand years earlier, /Empire of the East/, is truly one of the best SF or Fantasy novels I've ever read. It seems to be standard operating procedure now for a publisher to release a blurb from a 'respected author' favorably comparing their latest fantasy release to /The Lord of the Rings/. /Empire of the East/ is the only novel I've yet read that comes anywhere near this pretty unreasonable expectation. You can bet that my enjoyment of his earlier work set some high expectations the Swords trilogy had to live up to. Second, I read the book quickly. It was certainly readable, as is most of Saberhagen's stuff, and on the first reading of such a work, I'll generally rip through the book in a matter of hours. As I did. So, my thoughts on these books are not particularly deep. ****** Mild Spoiler ****** Something to keep in mind when reading the Swords trilogy is that it was written to be the database for a computer game. (?!) To my knowledge, no such game has yet appeared, but occasionally I could see situations that were eminently transferrable to a micro game. In the second book when the good guys were in a cylindrical room with twelve doors, only one of which led to safety, for example. Some of these events struck me as being unpleasantly 'old hat', and to some extent ruined what might have been an even better book. The biggest flaw of the books, however, was that the author several times killed off one of the main characters, only to reveal to the reader later (sometimes MUCH later) that the character wasn't really dead after all. This led to lots of joyful reunions which were by and large and mercifully short. This is not to say that I don't appreciate a good unkillable character, but one is my limit, and subtle hints that he/she is still alive and conniving are greatly appreciated. The character of the Emperor is a perfect example of this, but several others seem to be brought back for no apparent reason. ****** End Spoiler ****** The Swords trilogy is not the best of its genre, but it is still a worthwhile read. The second book had a tendency to drag, but the first and third really sparkled. Maybe in another two thousand years we'll get a sequel. --- JohnnyT By the way, the respected author comparing /Empire of the East/ to /Lord of the Rings/ was Niven. "Give 'em hell, Larry."
@RUTGERS.ARPA:stever@cit-vax (04/23/85)
From: stever@cit-vax (Steve Rabin ) I was able to finish Empire of the East, but just barely. I found the plot boring and the language unimaginative and plodding. In contrast, I like his vampire stories a lot. His Berserker stories are quite good too. -s