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Lost Swords #1-3
The Lost Swords: The First Triad
Contains: Woundhealer's Story / Sightblinder's Story / Stonecutter's Story
Young Kasimir was the custodian of Stonecutter, the sword which could hew mountains or diamonds with equal ease. But now, Stonecutter has been stolen, and Kasimir must recover it before it causes irrevocable damage.
Young Kasimir was the custodian of Stonecutter, the sword which could hew mountains or diamonds with equal ease. But now, Stonecutter has been stolen, and Kasimir must recover it before it causes irrevocable damage.
602 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1989
8 people are currently reading
668 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 - 22 of 22 reviews
July 31, 2021
This book continues the story of the Twelve (now ten) Swords of Power the we first saw in "The Complete Book of Swords." The world has been at peace for many years. Mark, one of the heroes of the first trilogy, is now Prince Consort of Tasavalta, and a father of two. Ben of Purkinje, the other hero of the first trilogy, is now Mark's trusted head of security (and still married to Barbara, but apparently neither is particularly happy). Mark has two of the Swords, Stonecutter and Shieldbreaker. Mark's oldest son, Adrian, is blind and prone to seizures.
Part one starts with a failed attack on the children (which along with Adrian includes Ben and Barbara's daughter Beth, Mark's younger son Stephen, and Mark's nieces and nephews, briefly mentioned in the last book of the original trilogy). Following the attack, Mark reveals that he has learned the location of the Sword Woundhealer, and he believes that it can help reverse the ailments that Adrian has.
As they set out on their journey to a White Temple that currently has the Sword, Mark's older nephew Zoltan sets out on his own solo quest, to find a mermaid he spotted during the failed kidnapping. The two journeys will eventually become intertwined, with old villains reappearing.
In Part Two, Mark is journeying to see a powerful wizard, and is kidnapped by a much more ancient and powerful wizard, who is set up to become the main villain of the overall arc. Ben and Zoltan are planning to rescue him, and their fortunes are changed by the sudden appearance of Sightblinder.
The third book takes an abrupt turn out of the main plot. A desert prince named al-Farabi has borrowed Stonecutter from Mark. Along the way, the Sword is stolen, and the young physician Kasimir and a renowned retired judge named Wen Chang go to retrieve it, and end up caught in a vast scheme involving both the Red and the Blue Temples.
This trilogy is much like the original one. Very little character development, with enough bursts of action to keep the plot moving along. Still, one becomes invested in the story, which makes the sudden detour in the third book all the more jarring. The stories seem to follow a pattern that you can almost predict (including the now-requisite Draffut cameo). The big reveal of the identity of the main villain for the arc is probably a lot stranger if you have never read "Empire of the East". If I could give half stars this would not be a four-star book.
(SPOILERS FOLLOW)
The reappearance of former Queen Yambu (now aged by drawing Soulcutter at the end of the previous trilogy) and the Emperor, along with the hint that their daughter Adriane is still alive, opened up a lot of possibilities that the reader wants to see through. But instead Fred Saberhagen apparently decided he wanted to write a Sherlock Holmes novel, and thought "the third book of this trilogy seems a good spot."
Other notes (LOTS MORE SPOILERS):
* Establishing Zoltan as a new character was a good choice, although he seemed a bit underutilized in the second book.
* It's hinted that Ben is not quite happy in his marriage, but the fact that he still loves Adriane, a character he barely got to know (and we learn didn't even sleep with) is still baffling.
* The way they set up Prince Mark and Baron Amintor like they are lifelong enemies is a device to make the plot more "good vs bad" but they hardly interacted in the first trilogy.
* I hope we get one more Draffut appearance but he's a little too deus ex machina at this point.
* I thought the reveal of the Ancient One's identity as Wood was going to be more dramatic. Also, they never quite explain how he survived the nuclear blast at the end of "Empire of the East".
* Zoltan going to serve as Yambu's bodyguard or "whatever capacity she might need" gave me strong cougar vibes. Anyone else?
* Where did Adrian find Dragonslicer? The whole "twist" of him being the cartoon magician came to me before the reveal but still was a little goofy.
SWORD COUNT (End of Third Book)
Woundhealer, Stonecutter, Sightblinder, Dragonslicer - All (presumably) in Prince Mark's armory
Farslayer - After being sent by Amintor to take out Burslem, it's whereabouts are unknown.
Mindsword and Soulcutter - not seen since the battle between Yambu and the Dark King at the end of the first trilogy. The Emperor took Soulcutter from Yambu, but nothing in his brief appearance in this series suggests whether he still has it.
Wayfinder - Unseen since book two of the original trilogy.
Shieldbreaker - in the hands of the main antaganoist, Wood the Ancient One, so that should be interesting.
Coinspinner - Mark had it in between the end of the first trilogy and the start of this one, but then it walked away. The Sword of Chance goes where it wants. Walls and magic shields cannot hold it.
Part one starts with a failed attack on the children (which along with Adrian includes Ben and Barbara's daughter Beth, Mark's younger son Stephen, and Mark's nieces and nephews, briefly mentioned in the last book of the original trilogy). Following the attack, Mark reveals that he has learned the location of the Sword Woundhealer, and he believes that it can help reverse the ailments that Adrian has.
As they set out on their journey to a White Temple that currently has the Sword, Mark's older nephew Zoltan sets out on his own solo quest, to find a mermaid he spotted during the failed kidnapping. The two journeys will eventually become intertwined, with old villains reappearing.
In Part Two, Mark is journeying to see a powerful wizard, and is kidnapped by a much more ancient and powerful wizard, who is set up to become the main villain of the overall arc. Ben and Zoltan are planning to rescue him, and their fortunes are changed by the sudden appearance of Sightblinder.
The third book takes an abrupt turn out of the main plot. A desert prince named al-Farabi has borrowed Stonecutter from Mark. Along the way, the Sword is stolen, and the young physician Kasimir and a renowned retired judge named Wen Chang go to retrieve it, and end up caught in a vast scheme involving both the Red and the Blue Temples.
This trilogy is much like the original one. Very little character development, with enough bursts of action to keep the plot moving along. Still, one becomes invested in the story, which makes the sudden detour in the third book all the more jarring. The stories seem to follow a pattern that you can almost predict (including the now-requisite Draffut cameo). The big reveal of the identity of the main villain for the arc is probably a lot stranger if you have never read "Empire of the East". If I could give half stars this would not be a four-star book.
(SPOILERS FOLLOW)
The reappearance of former Queen Yambu (now aged by drawing Soulcutter at the end of the previous trilogy) and the Emperor, along with the hint that their daughter Adriane is still alive, opened up a lot of possibilities that the reader wants to see through. But instead Fred Saberhagen apparently decided he wanted to write a Sherlock Holmes novel, and thought "the third book of this trilogy seems a good spot."
Other notes (LOTS MORE SPOILERS):
* Establishing Zoltan as a new character was a good choice, although he seemed a bit underutilized in the second book.
* It's hinted that Ben is not quite happy in his marriage, but the fact that he still loves Adriane, a character he barely got to know (and we learn didn't even sleep with) is still baffling.
* The way they set up Prince Mark and Baron Amintor like they are lifelong enemies is a device to make the plot more "good vs bad" but they hardly interacted in the first trilogy.
* I hope we get one more Draffut appearance but he's a little too deus ex machina at this point.
* I thought the reveal of the Ancient One's identity as Wood was going to be more dramatic. Also, they never quite explain how he survived the nuclear blast at the end of "Empire of the East".
* Zoltan going to serve as Yambu's bodyguard or "whatever capacity she might need" gave me strong cougar vibes. Anyone else?
* Where did Adrian find Dragonslicer? The whole "twist" of him being the cartoon magician came to me before the reveal but still was a little goofy.
SWORD COUNT (End of Third Book)
Woundhealer, Stonecutter, Sightblinder, Dragonslicer - All (presumably) in Prince Mark's armory
Farslayer - After being sent by Amintor to take out Burslem, it's whereabouts are unknown.
Mindsword and Soulcutter - not seen since the battle between Yambu and the Dark King at the end of the first trilogy. The Emperor took Soulcutter from Yambu, but nothing in his brief appearance in this series suggests whether he still has it.
Wayfinder - Unseen since book two of the original trilogy.
Shieldbreaker - in the hands of the main antaganoist, Wood the Ancient One, so that should be interesting.
Coinspinner - Mark had it in between the end of the first trilogy and the start of this one, but then it walked away. The Sword of Chance goes where it wants. Walls and magic shields cannot hold it.
April 1, 2025
The concept of these swords being not just normal weapons but having their own unique powers that encompass more than just the ability to overcome other weapons is a really interesting concept. This particular book has stories of Woundhealer, Sightblinder, and Stonecutter. The series started out feeling like a story to help someone just getting into high fantasy. The increased violence in the second story really felt like it came out of nowhere and caught me of guard. Then the third story felt like an homage to Sherlock Holmes. Sometimes my interest was lost because things were moving very slowly but the overall story was intriguing. It did feel like this could be an adult cartoon or comic book with the episodes being centered around the 12 Swords.
August 20, 2017
Saberhagen was a prolific author of both fantasy and science fiction. Most of his science fiction is related to or part of the Berserker series, which had widespread effects in the world of sci-fi movies especially. His fantasy books are largely sword-and-sorcery epics related to the stories of twelve swords of power created by the gods. This book tells the story of three of those swords. Saberhagen has a matter-of-fact style that doesn't do much to stir the reader's emotions. But the storytelling is competent, and even thrilling at times. The last section of the this book, Stonecutter's Story, reminded a little of Sherlock Holmes, both in substance and in style.
February 1, 2022
With the exception of the 3 part of this Omnibus. This was a fine set. Hard to find a proper ISBN for this book. As there doesn't appear to be one. I joined SFBC (book club size) in Feb 1996 So I got the entire 10 book series in 4 books 3 , 3 , 3 and 2. Then one with various authors around June that year. I got these books for free for joining. Naturally the colors in the 2 middle Omnibus books hardbacks were odd.. But why not.. :)
January 19, 2018
Epic story filled with a great amount of detail. Uses the swords as an allegory for the desire for power and riches that create discord in society. Requires a great deal of effort to follow the various story lines, but the effort will prove worth it in the end.
October 22, 2018
Not as cohesive between stories as I remember, and a bit slower as well. But interesting. I'm reading them again, I had read them approx. 25 years ago and was interested in refreshing myself, but their not quite what I remember.
June 24, 2019
As with its predecessor, The Complete Book of Swords, these are solid sword & sorcery stories. They never rise to great literary heights, but they are engaging and generally well-written. The three novellas collected here really are each more or less standalone stories, even more so than the three stories in The Complete Book of Swords, and they vary somewhat in both quality and tone.
The first part, "Woundhealer's Story", is probably my favorite of the stories in this series so far; it has a nice twist that I didn't see coming, but that makes perfect sense in hindsight, and I'm a sucker for that sort of thing. I found the second part, "Sightblinder's Story", a little slow and somewhat less interesting than the others, in part because most of the new characters (Ninazu, Honan-Fu, and Arnfinn) are somewhat bland. The third part, "Stonecutter's Story", came as something of a surprise, not only because it features new characters only tangentially related to the protagonists of the previous stories, but because it turns out to be a pretty good pastiche of the detective genre, transplanted into a fantasy setting. And Saberhagen proves competent with it; the solution to the mystery is non-obvious but satisfying.
The first part, "Woundhealer's Story", is probably my favorite of the stories in this series so far; it has a nice twist that I didn't see coming, but that makes perfect sense in hindsight, and I'm a sucker for that sort of thing. I found the second part, "Sightblinder's Story", a little slow and somewhat less interesting than the others, in part because most of the new characters (Ninazu, Honan-Fu, and Arnfinn) are somewhat bland. The third part, "Stonecutter's Story", came as something of a surprise, not only because it features new characters only tangentially related to the protagonists of the previous stories, but because it turns out to be a pretty good pastiche of the detective genre, transplanted into a fantasy setting. And Saberhagen proves competent with it; the solution to the mystery is non-obvious but satisfying.
July 6, 2012
This is an omnibus, so I'll be adding reviews as I finish the books.
Woundhealer's Story:
We meet up with the main characters of the Books of Swords (Mark and Ben and their families) about ten years later. Mark's a ruling prince, his firstborn son is blind and epileptic, and he decides to go chase down Woundhealer to cure him. In the meantime, his nephew Zoltan takes over the young adventurer role and wanders off on his own.
The framing of this series is a little odd - the book is not really much about Woundhealer, although it's the spur that starts off much of the action. This is really just the first entry into the larger arc about Mark and his family's adventures (although they are all certainly related to the Swords.) It's not bad, although Zoltan's little offshoot tale feels a little unbalanced, and while the main arc is resolved, it doesn't have much of a climax. Not perfect, but not bad.
Sightblinder's Story:
Sightblinder's is a tighter story arc than Woundhealer's, and that helps, although it's a little impersonal - despite the peril our regular heroes are put in, they're still far from home and fighting an enemy that's a little too mythic to be really engaging. The character that really starts to shine here is the ex-queen Yambu - she was interesting in The Third..., and is even better now that she's a free agent and more or less one of the good guys. This is not my favorite of the stories, but like Woundhealer's it's solid enough.
Stonecutter's Story:
This is probably my favorite Swords book overall - even more so than The Second... It's a Sherlock Holmes pastiche set in a distant city with all-new characters and only the most indirect relationship to Mark. Stonecutter would be a tricky Sword to write about - it's awfully specialized - but the murder mystery format brings out many of the possibilities without losing focus in mundanity. The Watson-analogue is delightful - intelligent but naive, earnest without being tedious - and the Holmes-analogue is suitably mysterious and is shown to have a deep and interesting background. The complicated triple-bluff of the plot is well-executed, and there are enough hints throughout that an alert reader could conceivably figure out what's going on before the reveal. It's really a very solid mystery.
Woundhealer's Story:
We meet up with the main characters of the Books of Swords (Mark and Ben and their families) about ten years later. Mark's a ruling prince, his firstborn son is blind and epileptic, and he decides to go chase down Woundhealer to cure him. In the meantime, his nephew Zoltan takes over the young adventurer role and wanders off on his own.
The framing of this series is a little odd - the book is not really much about Woundhealer, although it's the spur that starts off much of the action. This is really just the first entry into the larger arc about Mark and his family's adventures (although they are all certainly related to the Swords.) It's not bad, although Zoltan's little offshoot tale feels a little unbalanced, and while the main arc is resolved, it doesn't have much of a climax. Not perfect, but not bad.
Sightblinder's Story:
Sightblinder's is a tighter story arc than Woundhealer's, and that helps, although it's a little impersonal - despite the peril our regular heroes are put in, they're still far from home and fighting an enemy that's a little too mythic to be really engaging. The character that really starts to shine here is the ex-queen Yambu - she was interesting in The Third..., and is even better now that she's a free agent and more or less one of the good guys. This is not my favorite of the stories, but like Woundhealer's it's solid enough.
Stonecutter's Story:
This is probably my favorite Swords book overall - even more so than The Second... It's a Sherlock Holmes pastiche set in a distant city with all-new characters and only the most indirect relationship to Mark. Stonecutter would be a tricky Sword to write about - it's awfully specialized - but the murder mystery format brings out many of the possibilities without losing focus in mundanity. The Watson-analogue is delightful - intelligent but naive, earnest without being tedious - and the Holmes-analogue is suitably mysterious and is shown to have a deep and interesting background. The complicated triple-bluff of the plot is well-executed, and there are enough hints throughout that an alert reader could conceivably figure out what's going on before the reveal. It's really a very solid mystery.
November 16, 2013
I have read the Complete Book of Swords many times over the years. It is a fantastic book. I have also read a fair amount of Mr. Saberhagen's other work and been equally satisfied.
I picked up this book at a used book store thinking that it might be as good as the "Complete" was. Or at least be close.
Not so much.
Where the "Complete" tells the story of the swords as they wend their way through the world by flashing to different characters and interactions, The Lost Swords is really pretty linear.
The newness of powerful magic swords has worn off and now people simply see them as tools to be used in their quests for power.
By the end of the book, I was just happy to be done reading it.
I picked up this book at a used book store thinking that it might be as good as the "Complete" was. Or at least be close.
Not so much.
Where the "Complete" tells the story of the swords as they wend their way through the world by flashing to different characters and interactions, The Lost Swords is really pretty linear.
The newness of powerful magic swords has worn off and now people simply see them as tools to be used in their quests for power.
By the end of the book, I was just happy to be done reading it.
December 26, 2012
I recommend reading The First Swords before the The Lost Swords: The First Triad. Things will make much more sense to you if you do. All are worth fetching a copy.
This volume combines the first three volumes of the Books of Lost Swords and continue some years after The First Swords leave off. The gods and goddesses who put the swords into play are long gone, but the swords still wreak havoc in the world.
This volume combines the first three volumes of the Books of Lost Swords and continue some years after The First Swords leave off. The gods and goddesses who put the swords into play are long gone, but the swords still wreak havoc in the world.
July 19, 2020
Read the Lost Swords trilogy as a young teen. I think the only fantasy book I read before them The Legend of Huma. At the time I didn't even know about the earlier Book of Swords trilogy nor the greater Ardneh stories. Need to come back and read these again and that whole cycle sometime. At the time discovering the true nature of the demons and where they were sent when banished just blew my mind. Remember loving the resolution of Mark's son's illness and being intimidated by the evil Wood.
October 3, 2008
Mark seeks Woundhealer to heal his blind son; The Ancient One takes over an island fortress in a big lake and Mark and Ben challenge him using Sightblinder; Stonecutter is stolen from the desert prince Mark lends it to and the great detective Wen Chang tries to get it back
July 17, 2014
While this series is supposed to be a "classic", I was a bit disappointed . . . and the more I read about the backstory, the more I find it an ill-fitting mix of post-apocalyptic sci-fi and fantasy. It wasn't bad, it just didn't appeal to me as much as I had hoped.
January 31, 2013
Good old classic (epic) fantasy with some nice twists, like a decent home cooked meal, it might not be haute cuisine, but it's still damned good.
March 8, 2013
I read half of the first novel but when the hero used the macguffin to do what the whole plot was about AND it didn't work, I lost interest. Maybe I'll try it again in the future.
March 19, 2014
Fred Saberhagen has not let me down so far with his Sword series! From the very first line to the last word.
March 5, 2014
Loved this collection of stories. It smacks simultaneously of Greek myth and Lord of the Rings. Wildly inventive and fun to read the development of the characters as the stories progress.
November 23, 2015
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Great stories. Woundhealer took a few to get into, but it ended up pretty good. Shockingly my favorite was Stonecutter. Give it a shot.
July 24, 2015
one of the more interesting takes on sword and sorcery fiction, where the weapon itself and not the character wielding it is the main focus. I found it to be an excellent read
January 22, 2017
Also read 12/88
Read
August 8, 2008Book of Lost Swords Omnibus 1: Woundhealer's Story,Sightbinder's Story,Stonecutter's Story
March 19, 2014
Awesome!
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews