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Tyrants and Kings #3
The Saints of the Sword
John Marco presents the riveting conclusion to his sweeping fantasy saga — in which three unlikely allies stand united against a terrifying crisis that threatens to devastate a world.
Biagio, Emperor of Nar, was once a madman and a tyrant. Now he wants peace. The irony is that no one believes him. Instead, the cruelest of his minions are amassing an army to usurp his throne, bringing a new scourge to a battle-scarred world.
But the wily Biagio has one more desperate plan. Alazrian Leth, bastard son of Aramoor’s governor, is barely sixteen, but this young prince secretly possesses rare magical talents. Biagio sends Alazrian on a near-impossible mission: to convince outlawed priest Jahl Rob and his followers — the fearless Saints of the Sword — to search for the exiled ruler of Aramoor and the mysterious people called the Triin.
If these ancient enemies can unite into one great army, a boy’s strange and wonderful magic may be the spark to heal a wounded world ... or set in motion an unimaginable betrayal.
Biagio, Emperor of Nar, was once a madman and a tyrant. Now he wants peace. The irony is that no one believes him. Instead, the cruelest of his minions are amassing an army to usurp his throne, bringing a new scourge to a battle-scarred world.
But the wily Biagio has one more desperate plan. Alazrian Leth, bastard son of Aramoor’s governor, is barely sixteen, but this young prince secretly possesses rare magical talents. Biagio sends Alazrian on a near-impossible mission: to convince outlawed priest Jahl Rob and his followers — the fearless Saints of the Sword — to search for the exiled ruler of Aramoor and the mysterious people called the Triin.
If these ancient enemies can unite into one great army, a boy’s strange and wonderful magic may be the spark to heal a wounded world ... or set in motion an unimaginable betrayal.
708 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1999
9 people are currently reading
495 people want to read
About the author
John Marco
36 books418 followersHello. Thanks for visiting my author page here on Goodreads. In case you don't know me, I'm John Marco and I'm a fantasy writer. My work includes the Tyrants and Kings trilogy and the books of the Bronze Knight Lukien.
My latest book, THE BLOODY CHORUS is now available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRTHJ768
My latest book, THE BLOODY CHORUS is now available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRTHJ768
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 18, 2012
John Marco has brought his Tyrants and Kings trilogy to a satisfying conclusion in The Saints of the Sword. Richius Vantran and his mortal enemy Emperor Renato Biagio return for this final installment in the trilogy, however this time the tables have turned and Biagio is seeking to ally himself with Vantran. Once again Biagio has a scheme and, though not as grand in scope as in The Grand Design, his plan seems pretty close to impossible. Can he get the ever troublesome and fierce Admiral Nicabar out of the picture and gain naval support for his venture? Will he be able to convince Richius Vantran that he has changed for the better in order to form an alliance bringing Vantran and the Triin into battle with the reclusive Highlanders in a battle against Talistan in order to stave off the possibility of world war?
As in the previous two books in the series, Mr. Marco does an excellent job weaving his plot and filling his story with interesting, multi-layered characters. The story is fairly quick paced with a lot of action and Mr. Marco has created some wonderfully vivid scenes throughout the book that will stay with the reader for quite some time.
Being a huge fan of the series, I would be overjoyed to see a fourth installment. However, I feel that this book does an excellent job of wrapping things up in the end and is a very satisfying conclusion to an excellent trilogy.
As in the previous two books in the series, Mr. Marco does an excellent job weaving his plot and filling his story with interesting, multi-layered characters. The story is fairly quick paced with a lot of action and Mr. Marco has created some wonderfully vivid scenes throughout the book that will stay with the reader for quite some time.
Being a huge fan of the series, I would be overjoyed to see a fourth installment. However, I feel that this book does an excellent job of wrapping things up in the end and is a very satisfying conclusion to an excellent trilogy.
March 17, 2014
This review is for the entire Tyrants and Kings series (The Jackal of Nar, The Grand Design and The Saints of the Sword). I stumbled upon these books when I was working at Borders about 15 years ago. Back then I wasn't as serious as I am now about the content of what I read, so I admit that I picked up the Jackal of Nar because it had a really cool cover. After reading it I was blown away by how good it was. At the time I was just getting into fantasy, but I had read enough to know that I wanted to keep reading. Anyway, fast forward 15 years later and I decided to reread this series with a more discerning reading palate to see if it still holds up to what I remember all those years ago. And guess what.....it does! One of the things that makes this series so good and makes it work where other fantasy books fail is that the characters evolve and change so much over the course of the series. Just when you think you have a character figured out, they do something totally out of left field that you didn't see coming. Richius Vantran is one of the most unlikely of "heroes" as a protagonist. Constantly examining himself and his decisions, there is a vulnerability there that is easy to relate to. The setting of the story is also one that I was instantly attracted to. The almost steampunk-like city of Nar is such a compelling locale to be placed in the center of a fantasy story. That's another reason why I like this series so much, Marco throws out all of the usual conventional fantasy templates. There are no endless quests here - only excellent political intrigues and a fantastic story that will keep you turning the pages until your wife yells at you to come to bed. If you haven't read John Marco before, that is your loss. The good news is that you can redeem yourself by picking up the Jackal of Nar, start there, and continue to read everything he has published since then. The guy should have way more notoriety than he has. Hopefully that will change as he continues to put out amazing books.
November 20, 2014
This third and final novel in the Tyrants and Kings trilogy continues the saga of the major characters of the first two books in fine fashion. I say “continues” the saga because the conclusion of the novel does not feel , at least to me, to be the final volume of the series. I don’t doubt that it is over but just as I found throughout this trilogy, this is not a black and white universe. The characters are not all good or all bad but very very gray. Similarly, the overall story covered by this trilogy is not neatly divided into three parts. Rather one gets the clear impression that we are seeing a critical bit of a vast history of this world. Important events must have occurred and important people must have lived both before and after this trilogy. That’s important and adds to my excitement in “discovering” this new author for myself.
This particular novel changes protagonists, leaving Richius (The Jackal) in a supporting role at best. As I mentioned before characters are gray so some that were “bad guys” in previous novels are now changing and trying for good outcomes, and vice versa. It’s an explosive turn of events and, fortunately, the author is up to the challenge. After all, it can’t be easy changing the reader’s mindset on the characteristics and motivations of people who they’ve spent 1400 pages learning to loathe.
Once again I feel the need to mention that I don’t consider these books to be “military fantasy”. There are battles and wars in them (some nice navy battle sequences) but very little time is spent on war strategy and even less on battle descriptions. Far more prevalent is the political machinations of the powerful. In fact in this volume, the preparation of the coalition and the views of those that oppose what is happening is where the plot is focused and when the final battles come in the last 20-30 pages, it’s almost anti-climactic. I will also reiterate that these novels are not magic-heavy. I love cool magic systems like Brandon Sanderson creates but unless it's unique, I prefer the magic to remain obscure and mostly unexplained. I don't want to feel like I'm rolling 20-sided dice to determine the outcome of the fireball spell.
All in all this is a great epic fantasy trilogy, well written, and certainly worth considering as additional fantasy material beyond today’s fantasy gods: Martin, Sanderson, Rothfuss, Abernathy, Weeks, Lawrence, etc.
This particular novel changes protagonists, leaving Richius (The Jackal) in a supporting role at best. As I mentioned before characters are gray so some that were “bad guys” in previous novels are now changing and trying for good outcomes, and vice versa. It’s an explosive turn of events and, fortunately, the author is up to the challenge. After all, it can’t be easy changing the reader’s mindset on the characteristics and motivations of people who they’ve spent 1400 pages learning to loathe.
Once again I feel the need to mention that I don’t consider these books to be “military fantasy”. There are battles and wars in them (some nice navy battle sequences) but very little time is spent on war strategy and even less on battle descriptions. Far more prevalent is the political machinations of the powerful. In fact in this volume, the preparation of the coalition and the views of those that oppose what is happening is where the plot is focused and when the final battles come in the last 20-30 pages, it’s almost anti-climactic. I will also reiterate that these novels are not magic-heavy. I love cool magic systems like Brandon Sanderson creates but unless it's unique, I prefer the magic to remain obscure and mostly unexplained. I don't want to feel like I'm rolling 20-sided dice to determine the outcome of the fireball spell.
All in all this is a great epic fantasy trilogy, well written, and certainly worth considering as additional fantasy material beyond today’s fantasy gods: Martin, Sanderson, Rothfuss, Abernathy, Weeks, Lawrence, etc.
March 7, 2009
A very good book. It was so much better than the other two and it had a very good ending. I think it was sort of left open for Alazrian but I think we probably have seen the Jackal's adventures have pretty much come to an end. I really enjoyed this series and will look for more by this author.
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June 1, 2013This book saddened me, knowing it was the end of the series. You can see John Marco grow as a writer, but always, he was a great story-teller.
December 20, 2019
It is done. I picked up book 2 a few years ago, grabbed books 1 and 3 for a $1 each on Amazon, and read it on and off over the year. I have to say, it was better than I expected it to be. According to the blurbs the first book was Marco's "debut novel". While definitely more grounded then some fantasy out there, there is very little overt magic, and much more focus on intrigue and politic-ing the over all series is a pleasant read. The final book, is a little too much paint by numbers, with many things happening simply because they have to, with no real reason why, but it is still enjoyable to read the characters arc to the conclusion. I liked this series, I liked this new author, if anything more from him surfaces, I will make an honest effort to check it out.
June 6, 2017
Although I'd say this was the weakest book of the three, and indeed at times it felt like it was a little too rushed, I was still amazed by Marco. The plot of this trilogy has an amazing amount of bends and turns, and even the things that are expected are portrayed so beautifully that it is hard not to enjoy them. The way the characters are shown, flaws and all, was masterly. An amazing trilogy that has been more thab worth my time reading!
September 9, 2020
Absolutely amazing read!! A thrilling plot that keeps the pages turning. Intense, interesting dialogue, has some of the best dialogue I've ever read! It is the concluding book in the Tyrants and Kings trilogy and it wraps the story up nicely...I highly recommend this trilogy!
February 6, 2022
good if not predictable
Good, kinda predictable but good. Better than book 2 not as good as 1. I enjoyed it. Worth a read and good ending
Good, kinda predictable but good. Better than book 2 not as good as 1. I enjoyed it. Worth a read and good ending
November 16, 2015
I waited an anxious year to read this final book in the trilogy. When I got my hands on it, I could not wait to start reading it. And when I sat down and read the first chapter, I sighed contently as I became enveloped in the excellent writing style and the engrossing storyline. It was like a breath of fresh air from the novels that I had been reading. Once again, John Marco has outdone himself with this last book in the Tyrant and Kings Trilogy.
The characters are richly developed, the storyline is intriguing, and the world is fascinating. I did find it interesting that it took so long to bring Richius into the picture, but I did not realize then that he was not the main character in this story. This story is more about the evolution of one man from an evil monster into a good ruler. And, does revenge play a part in this story like it did in The Grand Design? You bet! Something intriguing is always happening.
Although there is not as much fighting in this story as previous ones, it is not missed as the tension builds to a climax that I found very hard to ignore. I found myself unable to put this book down quite a few times at night and would look over at the clock and groan as it read somewhere between 1:30 and 2:30 AM. Who needs sleep anyway?
So, if you are looking for a great military fantasy trilogy, Tyrants and Kings is a wonderful series. Don't be intimidated by the size of The Saints of the Sword. In hardback, it is around 550 pages while in paperback, it will probably be closer to 650. Every page is wonderful and shouldn't be missed.
I rated this book a 9 out of 10.
The characters are richly developed, the storyline is intriguing, and the world is fascinating. I did find it interesting that it took so long to bring Richius into the picture, but I did not realize then that he was not the main character in this story. This story is more about the evolution of one man from an evil monster into a good ruler. And, does revenge play a part in this story like it did in The Grand Design? You bet! Something intriguing is always happening.
Although there is not as much fighting in this story as previous ones, it is not missed as the tension builds to a climax that I found very hard to ignore. I found myself unable to put this book down quite a few times at night and would look over at the clock and groan as it read somewhere between 1:30 and 2:30 AM. Who needs sleep anyway?
So, if you are looking for a great military fantasy trilogy, Tyrants and Kings is a wonderful series. Don't be intimidated by the size of The Saints of the Sword. In hardback, it is around 550 pages while in paperback, it will probably be closer to 650. Every page is wonderful and shouldn't be missed.
I rated this book a 9 out of 10.
May 22, 2013
Pretty anti-climactic ending to the trilogy. There just wasn't much that went on. The first book was the most exciting by far. This book was still decent.
Problems:
1. You hardly get to read about Richius. You get about 1/3 of the way into the book before we see him at all.
2. Pretty much all of the characters you care about get treated like absolute crap the entire book, for pretty much no reason, and they never defend themselves, they just keep apologizing. It was pretty frustrating.
3. Big nations are at war, and you will read stuff like this, "Sir, the army is too big, we don't have a chance. How many are there? At least 300." 300? This is the type of army that can conquer nations? In the first book the huge armies were 2-3000. That was bad, this got ridiculous.
Problems:
1. You hardly get to read about Richius. You get about 1/3 of the way into the book before we see him at all.
2. Pretty much all of the characters you care about get treated like absolute crap the entire book, for pretty much no reason, and they never defend themselves, they just keep apologizing. It was pretty frustrating.
3. Big nations are at war, and you will read stuff like this, "Sir, the army is too big, we don't have a chance. How many are there? At least 300." 300? This is the type of army that can conquer nations? In the first book the huge armies were 2-3000. That was bad, this got ridiculous.
July 23, 2023
Excellent ending to an excellent trilogy. I rate it slightly lower than the previous two books because some of the newer characters were just not much to my taste. Richius has pretty much completely disappeared from the stage and that was a bit of a bummer.
Really great story, well planned and orchestrated, great action as usual. The dialogues, as before, are a bit off, but John Marco's strongest point is evoking strong emotional reactions in his readers. So often that I've gotten misty-eyed after one of the many, many raw scenes, it really increases one's experience of the books.
I cannot recommend these books enough.
Really great story, well planned and orchestrated, great action as usual. The dialogues, as before, are a bit off, but John Marco's strongest point is evoking strong emotional reactions in his readers. So often that I've gotten misty-eyed after one of the many, many raw scenes, it really increases one's experience of the books.
I cannot recommend these books enough.
July 19, 2010
I just finished Marco's Tyrants and Kings. I thought the 1st and 3rd book were better than the 2nd. I liked the premise of the 2 warring nations, and the way that one was more industrial, the other more magic. I did find some of the dialogue uneven when some of the characters used modern phrases. I'm glad I read the series , but will check reviews before I pick up more from this author.
January 24, 2016
Much better than the 1st 2 books. The pivotal character in the story is introduced in this 3rd book. By taking the focus off of the hapless Richius, the narration becomes much more focused. This book does not tie up all the loose ends. It seems as if the author wanted to write another book in the series, but was unable to.
June 21, 2015
Dernier chapitre de la trilogie, Les Saints de l'épée souffre des mêmes défauts que ses prédécesseurs. En effet, si Des Tyrans et des Rois nous offre un cadre intéressant, le tout est un peu gâché par certains dialogues et situations "too much".
September 18, 2007
Not a bad book, not my favorite by Marco. Lacked a little bit of the suspense and twists his other books have.
October 28, 2025
Biagio is pretty awesome in this one.
February 25, 2011
Second time around. Loved this series.
May 3, 2012
Doesn't wrap stuff up as nicely as I would've liked, but an otherwise fine conclusion to a better than average fantasy series.
March 1, 2016
Good final book in this series. Great series as a whole. Good story. Very enjoyable.
December 25, 2016
Biago, the madman, tyrant has changed and wants peace. His elaborate plan to achieve his goal makes for an exciting and complex read. This is the third book and it delivers one good read.
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May 21, 2018"If you aren't good enough without it, you'll never be good enough with it"
In this book we come full circle with Richius finally accepting whats happened in his life (the loss of his friends and home) and being at peace with who he is (jackal/hero/betrayer). Now that he is no longer driven by the desire to regain his crown, he is offered the opportunity to do so. What ensues is a giant politcal/military clash with new alliances and old enemies. A fast paced finale that takes you all over the continent to bring you right back where it all started.
In this book we come full circle with Richius finally accepting whats happened in his life (the loss of his friends and home) and being at peace with who he is (jackal/hero/betrayer). Now that he is no longer driven by the desire to regain his crown, he is offered the opportunity to do so. What ensues is a giant politcal/military clash with new alliances and old enemies. A fast paced finale that takes you all over the continent to bring you right back where it all started.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews