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Lost Swords #4
The Fourth Book of Lost Swords: Farslayer's Story
Long, long ago, the Gods forged Twelve Swords of Power, each with a unique and deadly quality. They forged too well, for the swords could kill the Gods themselves. Then the swords were lost, scattered across the land; and many are they, both good and evil, who are desperate to find them again. This story is of Farslayer, the sword that can kill from across an entire world. The game is fierce; the prize is the sword. The players are Black Pearl, an ensorcelled mermaid, and Cosmos her treacherous lover; Prince Zoltan and Prince Mark; the evil macrowizard Wood; and an enigmatic woman who arrives astride a griffin.
249 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 1988
14 people are currently reading
529 people want to read
About the author
Fred Saberhagen
335 books494 followersFred Saberhagen was an American science fiction and fantasy author most famous for his ''Beserker'' and Dracula stories.
Saberhagen also wrote a series of a series of post-apocalyptic mytho-magical novels beginning with his popular ''Empire of the East'' and continuing through a long series of ''Swords'' and ''Lost Swords'' novels. Saberhagen died of cancer, in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Saberhagen was born in and grew up in the area of Chicago, Illinois. Saberhagen served in the [[U.S. Air Force]] during the Korean War while he was in his early twenties. Back in civilian life, Saberhagen worked as an It was while he was working for Motorola (after his military service) that Saberhagen started writing fiction seriously at the age of about 30. "Fortress Ship", his first "Berserker" short shory, was published in 1963. Then, in 1964, Saberhagen saw the publication of his first novel, ''The Golden People''.
From 1967 to 1973, he worked as an editor for the Chemistry articles in the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' as well as writing its article on science fiction. He then quit and took up writing full-time. In 1975, he moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
He married fellow writer Joan Spicci in 1968. They had two sons and a daughter.
Saberhagen also wrote a series of a series of post-apocalyptic mytho-magical novels beginning with his popular ''Empire of the East'' and continuing through a long series of ''Swords'' and ''Lost Swords'' novels. Saberhagen died of cancer, in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Saberhagen was born in and grew up in the area of Chicago, Illinois. Saberhagen served in the [[U.S. Air Force]] during the Korean War while he was in his early twenties. Back in civilian life, Saberhagen worked as an It was while he was working for Motorola (after his military service) that Saberhagen started writing fiction seriously at the age of about 30. "Fortress Ship", his first "Berserker" short shory, was published in 1963. Then, in 1964, Saberhagen saw the publication of his first novel, ''The Golden People''.
From 1967 to 1973, he worked as an editor for the Chemistry articles in the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' as well as writing its article on science fiction. He then quit and took up writing full-time. In 1975, he moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
He married fellow writer Joan Spicci in 1968. They had two sons and a daughter.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
September 19, 2023
Just supremely enjoyable pulp fantasy. An easy read and a fun one.
June 20, 2022
So far probably my least favorite of the whole series. The concept is so great but the writing style is just wearing me down.
February 25, 2017
After a hiatus in The Third Book of Lost Swords: Stonecutter's Story, Fred Saberhagen goes back to his main characters Mark, Ben and Zoltan.
One of the better books in this saga, the story is told to the reader in a very peculiar way, sometimes giving an illusion of long and sometimes short periods of time to pass that further reading proves wrong, it is a style that can easily leads to a disastrous book, but Saberhagen did manage to do it in a viable way, and it ended up pretty good. Looking for information about the editor I found none in the kindle version of the book, found only the cover artist's name, which I'll not share here because there are more than one cover for this book and I don't know who made the others.
Also, many of the characters interactions are presented in a very different way, mostly told by the narrator's perspective and keep simple and fast. This had been seen in previous books of Swords, but I think it is far more evidently this time.
Also bad guys are people too.
One of the better books in this saga, the story is told to the reader in a very peculiar way, sometimes giving an illusion of long and sometimes short periods of time to pass that further reading proves wrong, it is a style that can easily leads to a disastrous book, but Saberhagen did manage to do it in a viable way, and it ended up pretty good. Looking for information about the editor I found none in the kindle version of the book, found only the cover artist's name, which I'll not share here because there are more than one cover for this book and I don't know who made the others.
Also, many of the characters interactions are presented in a very different way, mostly told by the narrator's perspective and keep simple and fast. This had been seen in previous books of Swords, but I think it is far more evidently this time.
Also bad guys are people too.
December 26, 2012
Saberhagen weaves a tale of tragedy and vengeance in the The Fourth Book of Lost Swords: Farslayer's Story.
Zoltan, paired up with Yambu, the former Silver Queen turned pilgrim, is on a self-imposed mission to find the lonely mermaid he encountered years ago on his first adventure. Planning to proclaim his undying love and hoping to find a cure for her cursed condition, he arrives in the feud torn valley just a short time after Farslayer, a god-forged sword with the power to enact vengeance upon anyone, human or immortal, is unleased between two rival families with dire results for both.
Black Pearl, the mermaid, cautiously welcomes Zoltan but hides the fact that she had all but forgotten him and now pines for someone else, Cosmo Malalo, who disappeared into the night with the horrific Sword of Vengeance on the night it was put into play.
What I enjoy most about this book is that it makes you think. The characters are dynamic, imperfect people capable of doing wonderful things one moment and horrible the next.
A good read.
Zoltan, paired up with Yambu, the former Silver Queen turned pilgrim, is on a self-imposed mission to find the lonely mermaid he encountered years ago on his first adventure. Planning to proclaim his undying love and hoping to find a cure for her cursed condition, he arrives in the feud torn valley just a short time after Farslayer, a god-forged sword with the power to enact vengeance upon anyone, human or immortal, is unleased between two rival families with dire results for both.
Black Pearl, the mermaid, cautiously welcomes Zoltan but hides the fact that she had all but forgotten him and now pines for someone else, Cosmo Malalo, who disappeared into the night with the horrific Sword of Vengeance on the night it was put into play.
What I enjoy most about this book is that it makes you think. The characters are dynamic, imperfect people capable of doing wonderful things one moment and horrible the next.
A good read.
October 13, 2016
This was a good series back when they came out and I was still a young reader. However, having spent a some considerable time tracking down these books, I started reading them again. I should have left my fond memories stay fond memories (I did the same thing with Katherine Kurtz' Deryni Chronicles, much to my chagrin). But I hadn't read this when I was young, so I thought that maybe this series would turn around for me. It didn't.
I loved the concept, swords with amazing powers scattered across the world which were made by the gods (who now kind of want them back, since they are god-slayers), but mankind still loves power and therefore struggles ensue. Only problem, the writing is very poor. I barely made it through this story and about the first paragraph of the next book and had to call it quits. Sad, really, because I liked the idea (and I spent a considerable amount of time collecting these books).
I loved the concept, swords with amazing powers scattered across the world which were made by the gods (who now kind of want them back, since they are god-slayers), but mankind still loves power and therefore struggles ensue. Only problem, the writing is very poor. I barely made it through this story and about the first paragraph of the next book and had to call it quits. Sad, really, because I liked the idea (and I spent a considerable amount of time collecting these books).
February 1, 2016
I read the Sword books in high school. I remember liking them and enjoying having the magic revolve around the weapon rather than a person. In this series I remember liking some books more than others so some of them should probably be rated 4 stars but I don't remember which were the better ones, it has been too many years. This will be the same review for all of the books in the series except for the last two which were published after I left high school and so were not read at the same time.
December 1, 2010
see first book of swords for my review of the series. Its been a while so I may blunder but I seem to recall there weren't any exceptions to the awesomeness outside of the fact that the first three were a little slower than the rest.
June 18, 2014
This is a rather odd fantasy setting, but I really enjoy these books.
December 25, 2011
The farslayer's sword is the sword of vengeance with which two feuding families slaughter each other. Zoltan meets the mermaid, Black Pearl, again.
January 2, 2016
Informative to the series, but too much about human stupidity for my taste. I had a hard time getting through it despite its entertainment value.
September 13, 2016
Totally enjoyed the entire series. Classic Fantasy!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews