The Swordbearer

by Glen Cook

Forged on the anvil of death, imbued with the souls of its victims and bearers, the sword had chosen Gathrid. In his hands, it would taste blood and cleave its own path through war, seeking vengeance for mortal, and immortal, treachery. A young boy's dreams of glory and war turn into a bitter nightmare as his father's kingdom is overrun by an invading army. Lost and alone in the woods, he finds an ancient sword that promises him the ability to claim his vengeance. As he begins to take that vengeance, he comes to realize the price that the sword will demand of him. Enemies soon become allies and strange bedfellows abound as the prophesies of an age swirl into chaos.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, High Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Ebooks, Epic Fantasy, Audiobook

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Glen Cook was born in New York City, lived in southern Indiana as a small child, then grew up in Northern California. After high school he served in the U.S. Navy and attended the University of Missouri. He worked for General Motors for 33 years, retiring some years ago. He started writing short stories in 7th grade, had several published in a high school literary magazine. He began writing with malicious intent to publish in 1968, eventually producing 51 books and a number of short fiction pieces.
He met his wife of 43 years while attending the Clarion Writer's Workshop in 1970. He has three sons (army officer, architect, orchestral musician) and numerous grandchildren, all of whom but one are female. He is best known for his Black Company series, which has appeared in 20+ languages worldwide. His other series include Dread Empire and and the Garrett, P.I. series. His latest work is Working God’s Mischief, fourth in the Instrumentalities of the Night series.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/glencook

Reviews

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has a despicably miserable 3.55-star rating, which is bloody shrimping outrageous seems to indicate that:
a) Goodreads has been hacked
b) Everyone who read rated the book rated read it wrong
c) All of the above

Glad we cleared that up. Moving on and stuff.

This is a coming-of-age story. I really hate coming-of-age stories. But Glen Cook wrote this one and it is a truth universally acknowledged that Glen Cook is a god, ergo I just had to give the book a try. And it turned out to be Slightly Very Good (SVG™) indeed (as my rating might quite possibly suggest).

And why the fish did I like the book so much, you ask? First, because it's not your typical/standard/boring/average/lackluster/take your pick coming-of-age story. And second, because it's Elric of Melniboné on steroids. Featuring Stormbringer 2.0, aka Daubendiek. Now that is some sword! It has a mind of its own! It loves to chop chop chop undiscriminatingly (which can be a little bit of a problem sometimes)! It chuckles! It growls gleefully! It wails malevolently! It absorbs not only souls but also sorcery and languages and memories and stuff! Go home, Stormbringer, you're drunk outclassed!



Then there's Glen Cook's writing. It's gritty, it's terse, it's straight-to-the-gut point, it's pragmatic, it's realistic. Descriptions are blissfully sparse, sentences are blessedly short. There are no good guys, only bad guys, yay! Liars and assholes abound! Everyone is flawed (and how), double yay! There is deceit and scheming and backstabbing galore! There is humor and irony! Everything I love, basically. Which might or might not explain why I sort of like CookBooks™ (not to be mistaken with cookbooks) in general, and this one in particular 😬. And that is all. Let's dance and stuff.



Wait. That is not all, actually. My ever-decaying grey cells forgot to mention two things about this story: First, there are some super cute and cuddly pets in it (they'd make a pretty great addition to my Crustacean Armies of Doom and Obligation, methinks) and second, there's a guy who walks around with an ever-babbling and chattering, cursing demon head. And that is slightly glorious if you ask me.

The end.



[Pre-review nonsense]

Of course I loved it, it's Glen Cook you silly shrimp.



➽ Review to come and stuff.

[Christopher Buza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having recently purchased the audiobook from Audible, I felt the need to return to and review this quick and entertaining read.

I’ll begin by briefly addressing my one negative point. In this book, more so than in any other of Cook's that I've read, the possibility of being overwhelmed by a flood of names is deeply present. Take, for example, the following excerpt from the first few pages of the novel:


"[They] lived in a small fortress called Kacalief. Their father was Safire, or knight protector. The Dolvin's Savard March, guarding the kingdom of Gudermuth's easternmost frontier, had been in dispute between the Kings of Gudermuth and Grevening for decades. The Sheriff of Rigdon, a town on the Grevening side of the border, had a habit of sending small bands of bravos over to cause trouble."


That is quite possibly the worst single paragraph in the text; when he wants to, Cook can make George R.R. Martin's penchant for complex family trees look like a mild fascination. Fortunately, the majority of the novel that follows is free of this kind of grating parade of titles.

After that somewhat rough opening, the narrative really starts to shine. The novel is a coming of age story that focuses on themes of masculinity and addiction, painted against a backdrop of fantasy warfare and millennia-old divine grudges. As with several of his other works, Cook addresses masculinity's relationship with violence through the engrossing lens of aggressive female characters, in this case by way of the central antagonist Nevenka Nieroda. Nevenka’s entire identity—but in particular her gender—is a convoluted point of engagement for the reader, becoming an obsessive fascination of our adolescent protagonist. Cook's simultaneous gendering and de-gendering of violence calls into question its relationship with masculinity, making his oft-praised point that war is in the business of killing men rather than forging them. While this message is perhaps not as effectively conveyed as in some of his other works, such as his most successful release, 'The Black Company' series, it is certainly more affectively conveyed. Through the lens of our teenage protagonist, the emotional punch of this novel is a bit more potent than the cynical, distant accounts of Cook's more prominent works. It reads less like the ‘The Things They Carried’ and more like a well-constructed YA novel.

Beyond his character-driven plot, Cook continues his trend of using selective description to draw the reader into a fantasy world that both feels lived-in and produces wonder in the reader. Forgoing the extensive appendices so often found in today’s fantasy novels, Cook’s use of a limited third-person perspective allows us to walk around in the world he’s invented, stumbling upon its wonders and quirks just as our protagonist does. It all contributes to the novel’s large sense of scale in a compact page count.

As a coming-of-age novel that lies somewhere between the graphic fantastical extremes of C.S. Lewis and George R.R. Martin, it hits all the right notes and does its job well. Moreover, it does so with a sub-300 page count. If you're looking for a quick read with a compact and potent sense of philosophy and atmosphere, give this one a shot.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting tale of swords and souls - Cook's take on Elric?

Ending seems to be crying out for a sequel that never was...

(This edition has a pretty dire cover)

[Jeffrey Monzingo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent enough book from Glen cook. It seems that it was published between the first dread empire trilogy and the first black company trilogy. It feels like more of a bridge between the two series. Has a lot of ideas that either carried over from the dread empire series or would go into the black company series

[Shaun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early on I was a bit worried that this was going to be a very generic Fantasy thing. A young boy, gets a magic sword that is immensely powerful but bears a terrible price, a dread emperor with undead agents, it was beginning to feel like something like the Sword of Shannara. I shouldn't have been so worried, ultimately it felt very much in line with the other Glen Cook books I've read (the entirety of Black Company)

That said, he did seem to become a better author as he gained more experience, which makes sense. Released 2 years before the fist Black Company Novel (and who knows, possibly written even before that, I have no idea.) A lot of the ideas he would introduce here he did better with later on.

I wouldn't say this is an essential read, but being that it is a standalone novel, I could see someone trying it out before investing in his longer series, just keep in mind his writing gets better in time.

[Josh Bizeau · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a shame Glen Cook has never continued this tale; the ending inarguably leaves room for a follow-up and we as readers can only hope Glen returns to this particular world of his creation one day. "The Swordbearer" is a deftly-written, action-packed high fantasy tragedy with a truly compelling and sympathetic lead character and a host of memorable side personalities. A young boy's idealistic dream of becoming a warrior is thrust upon him all too suddenly and violently in a manner that not only demands he grow up whether he likes it or not but own up to those demons most dark and personal as his goddess-determined fate forces him to become the wielder of a blade that incorporates the souls and memories of those he slays into his own consciousness.

The promise of character development through personal tragedy and global disillusionment inherent in a tale of this magnitude is taken full advantage of by Mr. Cook who manages to add a heaping dose of political double-talk, intrigue and personal betrayal into the mix along with his penchant for a full serving of crackling, perfectly-scored swords-and-sorcery action; no one quite writes action with the rhythm, timbre or intensity of Cook. If you love Glen's work, you shouldn't miss this particular stand-alone read. The worst thing that can be said about it would be that the author has never explored further into the world of our hero Gathrid and his dwarf companion Theis Rogala. I truly hope Cook decides to return to this particular miniature saga in the future; it would be a tremendous character study well worth further pursuit.

[Viktor Davion · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the first pages this book reminds me of Elric tales by Moorcock. Mainly because of the sword Daubendiek and eternal game of Ancient Old Ones. Story is captivating, there are no dull places in it. I read it in one breathe. Book exploits my favourite themes of free will and conscious, though not in a serious-minded manner. But this is fantasy, not some philosophical work, so no wonder). Plot holds some mysteries from the very beginning and many of them unfolds at the end. Book could become good start for nice series of stories about Swordbearer. But sometimes it's better to leave story without sequels, I guess.
Mood is dark, grim and sad at the end. In my opinion this story is good example of dark fantasy and sword and sorcery genre, recommended for every fan.

[Cheruv · Rating 4 out of 5]

I vacillate between 3.5 - 4*s
I'm sure I haven't read this book before. However, for some reason most of this book felt so familiar.
I really enjoyed this coming of age story and the intricacies of the "bad" guys not always being so bad, and the "good" guys revealing themselves to not always be so good.
This book was suggested to me by my wife, she knows my tastes pretty well, and she was right.
This was a good book, and I really enjoyed most of it.
Thanks dear ;)

[Zohaib · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story itself is amazingly captivating. It played the strings of my imagination in a very dark, off-time way. Having said that, I wish the book was written with a little more clarity. It can get confusing at times. Especially with the dialogues and names. But don't let that stall you from reading it till the end. Would have given it 5 stars, had it been written better.

Peace!!

[Lorewarden]

This is my first Glen Cook novel, and all I knew about him going into this is he is much more known for his dark fantasy Black Company series. The novel starts by seeming to set up a typical "provincial boy gets magic sword which thrusts him into a powerful new role" fantasy story, but there's more to this short standalone novel than that. The protagonist finds himself questioning matters of good and evil, and fate vs. choice, and there's definitely some dark twists that I guess the author is known for in later novels. Overall an interesting read that admirably tackled a big job in such a short book.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

A man tries to reject destiny

[Jacilda Refalo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish there was more of this story.
it makes me want to read the Malazan books of the fallen again as it's the only book I know of with the same feel.

[Cory K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of like Warbreaker. Cool ideas. I’m just spoiled by series and super world built stuff
Praise Malazan forever

[Pye Josephus Joestar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this book, I couldn't put it down once I started reading, it was short but sweet, the characters were all really awesome and the villians were pretty kick ass for the most part. The world building was pretty decent too except for the few name drops of legendary heroes/villians/kings that were never delved deeper into. The book was action packed and had some really creative concepts. My favorite part of the books is reading how the main character Gathrid grows over, I believe it's 2 years? The end was interesting as well and definetly left it open for a sequel if Glen decided to write one, which I am all for because this is one of my now tops favourite books.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a novel it's okay, though it's fairly confusing, what with a million place names, and characters that appear for two pages and then are referred to 200 pages later. As an outline for a multivolume doorstopper fantasy (at least four volumes), it's fantastic.

[Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This reads like a half baked story. Too much world building and too many characters for a story under 250 pages. It was often hard to follow switching between characters names and titles. You don't get to know and appreciate the characters and you're left with a cliffhanger open ending to a sequel that never was. The story is there, the execution is not. I won't reach for this one again.

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

Violent, dark, nearly hopeless and yet strangely uplifting, this book is entirely in Glen Cook's style. Yes, even though I've only read two (this one included), I'm quite sure it's his style. Epic battles, casual destruction of human life and human works, all seemingly pointless and yet a point is found somewhere in all that carnage.

A weak, nearly crippled kid sees his home kingdom destroyed by a superior enemy force. They appear the epitome of evil at first, and he vows revenge, though at first all he needs is to survive. He flees, and in a cavern finds a sword and a strange dwarven companion. The sword gives him power, the dwarf - hard, blunt advice for a harsh world where naive idealism has no place. And the boy finds himself enslaved to this strange sword and its insatiable power for destruction, a power he cannot at all control. And as in any other Glen Cook novel (I'm sure) things aren't very simple. Evil is not quite evil, good is not quite good and the whole world often appears little more than someone's feverish dream.

As far as I know there are no real sequels to this one. I'll keep looking, because the end is surprisingly open and unsatisfying. When you read this one, keep a full weekend open: you will not be able to put it down until the wee hours. I definitely could not.

[Joanna Marino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great novel. I've said it before, but you can really see how Glen Cook has some themes that he likes and revisits in many of his novels. There are many character parallels between this book and the Black Company series. The Toal and the Taken are very similar. Nieroda and The Lady, also very similar. Really, this was a very well-written, full story. Obviously, since its a Glen Cook novel, there are long drawn-out battle descriptions, but they're more clearly written than they were in the Dread Empire series. There seems to be a open road to a second novel, and I wonder why he didn't pursue it. I'm guessing it's because he took so many elements from this novel into The Black Company. I really enjoyed it and surprisingly enjoyed the ending - an area that seems to continuously be Cook's weak point. This novel has a polish to it.

[Steven Wilber · Rating 2 out of 5]

Premise was good but execution was lacking

[Frank Vasquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

First few chapters are a bit tough to chew, but once you get into the meat of this it’s quite a quality cut. Gathrid is a young lame introvert on the verge of manhood that doesn’t seem promised, and not especially so after his kingdom is assaulted by an immortal evil and its army led by undead sorcerer warriors. He stumbles upon an ancient sword with the power to save his life and cut down entire armies if he’ll only commit to feeding it with every soul it encounters. Thus begins in earnest this tale of bloodshed, intrigue, and, honestly, a jumbled cliff notes version of a version of The Black Company that is somehow less cynical than you’d expect. This is a coming of age story and an YA-inversion that will definitely be overlooked by the majority of modern readers, especially in light of some very tongue in cheek commentary on misogyny and gender roles. I hesitate to say it takes brains to read this one, when really it must be said that anyone that’s read a hero’s quest or two and is already sick of the cycle of those and want more in the vein of the talking sword and sorcery sagas contained in the narrative of one book will be happily entertained. As with all of Cook, it’s incredibly readable, once you get into the flow of the writing style. He tends to eschew unnecessary details except to point out, hilariously and often as a respite, that any other fantasy story would bog you down in unnecessary details and lineages as well as flowery language that would not serve the prose or the narrative well. Highly recommended, although I admit I don’t know many who would actually be willing to enjoy this.

[AoC · Rating 2 out of 5]

In all honesty you could call this a precursor to The Black Company before author actually fleshed out some of the ideas and, probably more importantly, spread them out a bit considering he eventually had more space to work with. There's also some Elric of Melnibone in there as well considering we follow a weakling youth who finds himself a magical, soul devouring sword seemingly blessed by a hungry goddess with a lot more in store than he suspects at first. It all definitely falls on the curse side of things despite the benefits, doubly so when you consider Suchara is not the only divine pretender with a champion... and said other champion happens to be the emperor in a war currently underway. Politicking and army maneuvers strongly featured in the first half of the book tend to be left by the wayside as Gathrid realizes more of his would-be heroic fate accompanying the mythical blade and immortal servant with a tendency to kill previous wielders at some point. Problem with The Swordbearer seems to be there's a whole lot to it that either had to be trimmed down in order to get a manageable final word count or just lack of coherent vision of Cook's part. When you add that initial onslaught of names it spews at you to get the idea this is epic fantasy after all it just comes off as glorified basic, I guess?

[Zheena · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Swordbearer by Glen Cook is a short fantasy read about a boy plagued by a bout of polio wishing that he could someday become a legendary hero. So much in fact that he wishes a war would break out in his homeland! But when war does arrive it's not at all as he romanticized it would be. He escapes his battle torn home and discovers a magic so old and powerful that basically gives him the dream he so yearns for, to become a hero of legend. But what makes a hero?
The character progression for Gathrid in this story really is phenomenal and the other characters in this story deserve a shout out as well. The dwarf, Rogala was a great side partner, I really wanted to learn more about his past. Plus the main villain (its a Glen Cook novel after all so there's more then one villain) Nevenka Nieroda was truly badass.
Needless to say we see the main character Gathrid grow up and realize that sometimes the dreams of a youth aren't what was expected. That they are just dreams after all.

[Coldbrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming of age with a sword, sorcery, and cynicism

A minor nobleman's young son--sidelined into a scholar's life after a childhood bout of polio--stumbles into a life of big "D" destiny when he ends up wielding a black, soul-drinking blade on loan from Elric. Mix in manipulative gods, major magic items, an elder race, ancient sorcery, warring, conniving, scheming kingdoms built on the bones of other scheming warring kingdoms for 100 centuries or more. Sprinkle generously with dollops of cynical world-weary observations by the sword's eternal caretaker and companion to the Swordbearer.

Despite the many familiar fantasy tropes (or perhaps because of them?) I find myself re-reading this every 3-4 years, even when there are dozens of new books waiting in the queue. Competent and compelling, it's a staple in my store of literary comfort food.

[David Palazzolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glen Cook spent a lot of time developing this new fantasy world, charting its history, bringing in ancient mysteries and evils (all relevant to the story) and crafting interesting lead characters, but as much as I enjoyed The Swordbearer, I wish it were quite a bit longer. Not only because I would have liked to have an extended stay in this world, but it would have made for a much better novel. As it is, the novel felt a little cramped, and many characters were not fleshed out as much as they should have been—which is a shame, because this book has a high body count and several of the deaths should have had more impact. Having said that though, the final chapter has plenty of surprises and sets things up for a sequel that I don’t think ever materialized.

[Reagan Chiu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cook is a skilled writer that gives us a cautionary tale of the consequences of getting exactly what you wanted but in the worst way possible. I found the story itself to be interesting, but what brought this down to 3 stars for me was how the political drama was a little hard to follow. It's a very important aspect to the narrative, but we're thrown so names and their goals so quickly that it was hard for me to keep track of everyone.
I really enjoyed the last two chapters though, and the novel ended on a more hopeful note than I was expecting. While the story does get messy and gritty and violent, its the hope at the end that keeps this out of the grimdark genre.

[Serge · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's so much happening to the major characters and so many twists and turns that it feels like I've just read a whole series. On the other hand, the end seems like it was set up for at least one more book which never came. Covers a lot of themes similar to the Dark Company series. Overall I feel like it's an early book from before Cook's writing got more polished, interesting but not a must-read.

[Youmna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

Cook clearly explores themes in this early book which he goes on to flesh out fully in The Black Company. Possessed black riders, female antagonist, change of antagonist midway through the story, likeable (?) antihero. It's all there, but clumsily executed.

If you like Cook's writing and want to see the origins of at least some of his most popular books, read this but have low expectations.

If you're interested in reading good work by this author, skip this book.

[Stefan Koepeknie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Skip this and read the entire Black Company series.
An early write by Cook that shows the greatness to come.
You see a lot of the war weary, resigned to the death and dying, Black Company regulars in the dwarf character.
It's not great. So many characters and undeveloped plots crammed into a relatively short book.

[Drew McCaffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun and strange book. Like much of Cook’s early stuff, it reads a bit raw, a bit disjointed at points. It leans on some of the tropes and sentiments of more old school fantasy, but in typically Cook fashion it undercuts them at the same time. The final pages were an unexpected and melancholic turn.

[José Alejandro Vázquez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Habiendo leido mucha de la obra posterior de Glen Cook esta novela se siente como un primer experimento de lo que luego se convertiría en La compañía negra.
En sí la historia tiende más al estilo de un Campeón Eterno condenado y la narrativa tiene sus altos y bajos, plus un ritmo a veces irregular. Pero se puede leer y disfrutar.