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The Seventh Sword #2
The Coming of Wisdom
The Goddess had rescued Wallie Smith from certain death, endowed him with a magnificent new body, and gifted him with the legendary Sapphire Sword of Chioxin. She asked only one service in return...
So Wallie became the Goddess' champion -- and promptly found himself on the losing side in a battle against magics far beyond any the priests of the Goddess could hope to summon, After eons of exile, sorcerers walked the World again, claiming lands and souls for their Fire God.
Wallie quickly found that swords were no match for spells -- and how could mere mortals prevail against the powers of magic?
So Wallie became the Goddess' champion -- and promptly found himself on the losing side in a battle against magics far beyond any the priests of the Goddess could hope to summon, After eons of exile, sorcerers walked the World again, claiming lands and souls for their Fire God.
Wallie quickly found that swords were no match for spells -- and how could mere mortals prevail against the powers of magic?
339 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 12, 1988
87 people are currently reading
607 people want to read
About the author
Dave Duncan
140 books590 followersOriginally from Scotland, Dave Duncan lived all his adult life in Western Canada, having enjoyed a long career as a petroleum geologist before taking up writing. Since discovering that imaginary worlds were more satisfying than the real one, he published more than 60 novels, mostly in the fantasy genre, but also young adult, science fiction, and historical.
He wrote at times under the pseudonym Sarah B. Franklin (but only for literary purposes) and Ken Hood (which is short for "D'ye Ken Whodunit?")
His most successful works were fantasy series: The Seventh Sword, A Man of His Word and its sequel, A Handful of Men, and seven books about The King’s Blades. His books have been translated into 15 languages, and of late have been appearing in audiobook format as well.
He and Janet were married in 1959. He is survived by her, one son and two daughters, as well as four grandchildren.
He was both a founding and honorary lifetime member of SFCanada, and a member of the CSFFA Hall of Fame.
He wrote at times under the pseudonym Sarah B. Franklin (but only for literary purposes) and Ken Hood (which is short for "D'ye Ken Whodunit?")
His most successful works were fantasy series: The Seventh Sword, A Man of His Word and its sequel, A Handful of Men, and seven books about The King’s Blades. His books have been translated into 15 languages, and of late have been appearing in audiobook format as well.
He and Janet were married in 1959. He is survived by her, one son and two daughters, as well as four grandchildren.
He was both a founding and honorary lifetime member of SFCanada, and a member of the CSFFA Hall of Fame.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
July 10, 2020
Fantasy series with four books. Blessed by the river goddess with expert swordsmanship and a sublime blade, reincarnated Wallie/Lord Shonsu tries to interpret the riddle to please the river goddess, meanwhile gathering a small group of comrades, including swordsmen, slaves, sailors, spies, and priests. Intelligent plot nicely paced out with likable characters, a thread of humor, and a spot of romance. It all comes down to defeating the sorcerers who worship the fire god and use literacy as a weapon against the ignorant.
Major discredit: Women in this series are described only in terms of beauty, sex appeal, and what they can do for men.
Major discredit: Women in this series are described only in terms of beauty, sex appeal, and what they can do for men.
April 4, 2013
[7/10]
In this Seventh Sword sequel, the swordsman is no longer 'reluctant' - Wally Smith refers to himself as Shonsu and he has accepted the role of Goddess Champion, even if he (and the reader) is still clueless about what the mission is actually about. All he has is a 'gnomic utterance': a puzzle in the form of prophecy, and a band of brothers and sisters to help him along. And a World to discover:
Now he was going to be given a chance to see a whole new planet and an ancient and complex culture, albeit a primitive one. He felt like school was out at last.
The other name of the World is River, not unlike the worldbuilding in Philip Jose Farmer books. The personification of the Goddess is the River, with every human settlement connected somehow to the huge body of flowing water that encircles the World. Most of the novel is a travelogue by ship from one city to another, learning about trade and about the different customs of the world. A potential adversary for the Champion is offered in the form of Sorcerers, who are the sworn enemies of the Swordsmen caste and who are slowly conquering with magic the cities controlled by said Swordsmen.
The book starts with a murder investigation in a small settlement, giving Shonsu / Wally a chance to show off his sense of humour:
Wallie had thought that his mission would require him to play hero in a barbarian epic, not detective in a whodunnit.
- How do you kill a man with music, Holmes?
- Elegantly, my dear Watson.
This slightly irreverent tone makes most of the charm of the book, with Shonsu brilliantly seconded by the urchin Katanji and by his older brother Nnanji. Honakura and Jja were a little useless on the trip, more like passive observers than active participants in the plot. But we get a whole bunch of 'water rats' : sailor slash pirates slash merchants slash swordsmen and whoosh!. They might become Shonsu's promised army, if they can restrain from killing him long enough to make friends.
I'm also starting to detect a predilection in David Duncan to include a lot of attractive women in his narrative, more often than not scantily dressed. Duncan is not quite guilty of sexism, but is flirting with it. In his degense I will state that his women are also fierce, smart, independent and damn good fighters. Again the novel is saved by the humorous tone and by friendly innuendo when dealing with sexuality.
The reason I rate this slightly lower than the debut of the series, is the very big role given in the story to prophecy and divine intervention. Some plot twists do not function at all without 'deux et machina', but on the plus side, this provokes some very interesting debates about free will and ethics when faced with doing God's Will. Second complaint is the apparent lack of wisdom in Shonsu when he has to guess the nature of the sorcerer's magic powers.
The book ends is great style, with a pitched battle and some revelations that leave enough things unanswered for the next book.
Wisdom seldom gave answers; it only redefined the questions.
A big advantage of these older fantasy series, is the fact that you don't have to wait for years for a sequel, and you can jump right into the next installment while the story is fresh in the mind. I plan to do just that.
In this Seventh Sword sequel, the swordsman is no longer 'reluctant' - Wally Smith refers to himself as Shonsu and he has accepted the role of Goddess Champion, even if he (and the reader) is still clueless about what the mission is actually about. All he has is a 'gnomic utterance': a puzzle in the form of prophecy, and a band of brothers and sisters to help him along. And a World to discover:
Now he was going to be given a chance to see a whole new planet and an ancient and complex culture, albeit a primitive one. He felt like school was out at last.
The other name of the World is River, not unlike the worldbuilding in Philip Jose Farmer books. The personification of the Goddess is the River, with every human settlement connected somehow to the huge body of flowing water that encircles the World. Most of the novel is a travelogue by ship from one city to another, learning about trade and about the different customs of the world. A potential adversary for the Champion is offered in the form of Sorcerers, who are the sworn enemies of the Swordsmen caste and who are slowly conquering with magic the cities controlled by said Swordsmen.
The book starts with a murder investigation in a small settlement, giving Shonsu / Wally a chance to show off his sense of humour:
Wallie had thought that his mission would require him to play hero in a barbarian epic, not detective in a whodunnit.
- How do you kill a man with music, Holmes?
- Elegantly, my dear Watson.
This slightly irreverent tone makes most of the charm of the book, with Shonsu brilliantly seconded by the urchin Katanji and by his older brother Nnanji. Honakura and Jja were a little useless on the trip, more like passive observers than active participants in the plot. But we get a whole bunch of 'water rats' : sailor slash pirates slash merchants slash swordsmen and whoosh!. They might become Shonsu's promised army, if they can restrain from killing him long enough to make friends.
I'm also starting to detect a predilection in David Duncan to include a lot of attractive women in his narrative, more often than not scantily dressed. Duncan is not quite guilty of sexism, but is flirting with it. In his degense I will state that his women are also fierce, smart, independent and damn good fighters. Again the novel is saved by the humorous tone and by friendly innuendo when dealing with sexuality.
The reason I rate this slightly lower than the debut of the series, is the very big role given in the story to prophecy and divine intervention. Some plot twists do not function at all without 'deux et machina', but on the plus side, this provokes some very interesting debates about free will and ethics when faced with doing God's Will. Second complaint is the apparent lack of wisdom in Shonsu when he has to guess the nature of the sorcerer's magic powers.
The book ends is great style, with a pitched battle and some revelations that leave enough things unanswered for the next book.
Wisdom seldom gave answers; it only redefined the questions.
A big advantage of these older fantasy series, is the fact that you don't have to wait for years for a sequel, and you can jump right into the next installment while the story is fresh in the mind. I plan to do just that.
November 23, 2016
Chronique tirée de mon blog :
Un second tome vraiment très sympa !
On est vraiment dans la même ambiance que dans le premier tome, c'est à dire cette façon de se sentir décalé dans ce monde qui semble avoir des règles absurdes.
Wallie est toujours perdu, il ne comprend pas pourquoi il est dans ce monde, dans ce nouveau corps et avec toujours ce vocabulaire qu'il ne peux pas utiliser. D'un coté ça le frustre mais d'un autre coté il faut avouer que ça n'a pas que des mauvais cotés.
En fait il s'adapte plutôt bien. Et c'est un plaisir de voir sa façon d'arriver à évoluer dans ce monde. Comment il forme ces acolytes et tout ce que ça peut donner comme résultat. En quelque sorte sortir de ce racisme ambiant et réapprendre à faire confiance et à redevenir humain en quelque sorte.
Surtout que pour la première fois depuis le début il sens que le vent ne lui est pas favorable. Il essaye de comprendre ce qu'on attend de lui mais il se rend vite compte qu'il est dans la panade car il ne comprend rien aux instructions de la déesse. Il tente vainement de suivre ses instructions et il fait que son sursis n'est pas éternel, qu'on attend quelque chose de lui.
Ce n'est qu'a la fin qu'il comprend enfin, et c'est vraiment ce point qui est génial car franchement l'auteur m'a réellement prise par surprise. Je ne m'y attendais absolument pas.
Résultat je ne peux pas vous en dire plus sur ce point parce que ça spoilerait totalement l’intérêt du livre.
Et cette fin relance vraiment tout en fait. Maintenant on comprend.
J'ai l'impression que Wallie essaye, en plus de sa tache première, d'ouvrir les yeux aux habitants de ce monde, de leur montrer qu'il n'y a pas que les règles (stupides ou pas) dans la vie, qu'on peut être humain et bienveillant envers ceux qui sont différents. Bon après il est limité, il doit lui aussi suivre les règles et ne peux pas y échapper, mais il les contourne quand il juge qu'elles sont handicapantes ou injustes.
C'est ce coté la qui m'a le plus plu dans ce tome. Dans le précédent Wallie ne comprenait rien et il se battait contre le système, sans trop de succès. Mais ici il rentre vraiment dedans et il se bat avec les règles et ça fait toute la différence.
Au final pour l'instant je crois que j'ai bien préféré ce tome au premier, les personnages évoluent énormément, on apprend à être nuancés en fait envers les habitants qui ne semblent plus aussi stéréotypés qu'avant. Wallie fait de son mieux pour survivre tout en s'intégrant dans le monde et essayant de faire changer les meurs barbares.
Une bonne lecture qui m'a relancée dans la série que je vais essayer de finir assez rapidement !
16/20
Un second tome vraiment très sympa !
On est vraiment dans la même ambiance que dans le premier tome, c'est à dire cette façon de se sentir décalé dans ce monde qui semble avoir des règles absurdes.
Wallie est toujours perdu, il ne comprend pas pourquoi il est dans ce monde, dans ce nouveau corps et avec toujours ce vocabulaire qu'il ne peux pas utiliser. D'un coté ça le frustre mais d'un autre coté il faut avouer que ça n'a pas que des mauvais cotés.
En fait il s'adapte plutôt bien. Et c'est un plaisir de voir sa façon d'arriver à évoluer dans ce monde. Comment il forme ces acolytes et tout ce que ça peut donner comme résultat. En quelque sorte sortir de ce racisme ambiant et réapprendre à faire confiance et à redevenir humain en quelque sorte.
Surtout que pour la première fois depuis le début il sens que le vent ne lui est pas favorable. Il essaye de comprendre ce qu'on attend de lui mais il se rend vite compte qu'il est dans la panade car il ne comprend rien aux instructions de la déesse. Il tente vainement de suivre ses instructions et il fait que son sursis n'est pas éternel, qu'on attend quelque chose de lui.
Ce n'est qu'a la fin qu'il comprend enfin, et c'est vraiment ce point qui est génial car franchement l'auteur m'a réellement prise par surprise. Je ne m'y attendais absolument pas.
Résultat je ne peux pas vous en dire plus sur ce point parce que ça spoilerait totalement l’intérêt du livre.
Et cette fin relance vraiment tout en fait. Maintenant on comprend.
J'ai l'impression que Wallie essaye, en plus de sa tache première, d'ouvrir les yeux aux habitants de ce monde, de leur montrer qu'il n'y a pas que les règles (stupides ou pas) dans la vie, qu'on peut être humain et bienveillant envers ceux qui sont différents. Bon après il est limité, il doit lui aussi suivre les règles et ne peux pas y échapper, mais il les contourne quand il juge qu'elles sont handicapantes ou injustes.
C'est ce coté la qui m'a le plus plu dans ce tome. Dans le précédent Wallie ne comprenait rien et il se battait contre le système, sans trop de succès. Mais ici il rentre vraiment dedans et il se bat avec les règles et ça fait toute la différence.
Au final pour l'instant je crois que j'ai bien préféré ce tome au premier, les personnages évoluent énormément, on apprend à être nuancés en fait envers les habitants qui ne semblent plus aussi stéréotypés qu'avant. Wallie fait de son mieux pour survivre tout en s'intégrant dans le monde et essayant de faire changer les meurs barbares.
Une bonne lecture qui m'a relancée dans la série que je vais essayer de finir assez rapidement !
16/20
June 2, 2015
reviews.metaphorosis.com
3 stars
Wallie Smith, chemical engineer now in the body of Shonsu the master swordsman, has a goddess' riddle to work out, and little in the way of hints. But he has a fellowship of able assistants of all stripes, and the best he can do is try to muddle it all out.
The Coming of Wisdom has all of Dave Duncan's usual light fantasy charm and personality, but less in the way of structure and plot. It's a solidly entertaining continuation of the storyline, but not much more, and the ending is weak.
Duncan most often writes about likeable everyman heroes in difficult spots; part of his appeal is his ability to bring readers along to ponder ethical and practical dilemmas. He accomplishes that ably in this book. Wallie, from a different world, struggles constantly to understand and work with local strictures and mores that seem impractical and even dangerous. He's been given divine proof that things are different here, and he'd better conform, but struggles to keep his own moral sense intact. Duncan does a nice job of making the struggle entertaining.
At the mid-point of the series, larger moral issues have faded into the background a ways. While Wallie struggled with slavery in the prior book, here it's an accepted fact. He owns his lover, and that's the way it is. To his credit, Duncan mostly pulls that off - Wallie seldom loses sight of the fact that it's not an equal relationship (with one uncomfortable exception). Other slaves don't come off as well, and there's one change of cast that not only highlights the issue of slavery, but suggests that Duncan simply changed his mind partway through the story, as he dumps a character who never did much but stand around and stare. There's a possibility it was an intentional plot support, but it comes off as clumsy and jolting. There are several minor inconsistencies in the world and environment that stick out as well. Gender continues to be out of balance, with a very male oriented story. At one point, Wallie determines that a young priestess 'deserves' a better life - as far as I can tell, only on the basis that pretty (and smart, but the emphasis seems to be on pretty). One woman has 'an old man's eyes' - seemingly because they're hard and cunning.
Duncan's strength has always been more in friendly style than intricate plot, but most of his stories can hold their own. In this book, however, after a time the plot seems to degenerate into a long chase scene. Go to city, have adventure, figure out part of the riddle, go to another city... While Duncan handles one of the key puzzles well, he fails to consider a host of possible explanations for others, and seems to forget one entirely. The goddess needs Wallie, and won't promise miracles, but does quite a lot of intervening. The approach holds up for a good while, but loses appeal toward the end. A parallel to Philip Jose Farmer's classic river series goes seemingly unacknowledged.
The more problematic issue, however, is the ending. As the end of the book approached, I wondered more and more intensely how Duncan would be able to pull off a finale in just 50 pages... 40.... 30... 10... The answer is, of course, that he doesn't. There's a little set piece to balance things a bit, but basically the book just stops, leaving the big action for book three. It's disappointing, and far from making me anxious for the conclusion of the trilogy, suggests that I know pretty well what's coming.
All in all, a decent read, and a modest continuation of the series, but not Duncan’s best, and not satisfying in itself.
July 29, 2025
“Friends are harder to make than enemies, but they are more useful.”
Duncan’s borrowed body tetralogy continues as Wallie/Shonsu unravels how this feudal shogunate-analog society works, let alone raise an army to fulfill his divinely-appointed destiny. Nothing comes easily. Except he gets nudges—in the form of good fortune—when he makes correct decisions.
At that point the fight was as good as lost for [redacted]. [redacted] could hold them off while Wallie … scrambled out through the window. Then he was over the rail also, and the sharks were in the swimming pool.
Fun fantasy adventure. Wallie’s his American memories and experience leads him astray, of course. His brave new world requires him to operate way outside his comfort zone. And he makes some egregious decisions.
There was no way Wallie could ever reconcile a shame culture and a guilt culture. The ways of thinking were too unlike. But he had to try—try to show [redacted] that what he had done was not such an atrocity to him.
Duncan stretches historic and literary archetypes to fit his story. Issues of caste, slavery, hierarchy, and divine intervention provide Wallie with dilemmas which are seldom as clean cut as modern morality would suggest. A sprinkling of humor and humility softens the hard lessons.
Wallie Smith knew that noise. That was no thunderbolt—that was a shot. The coming of wisdom. The Goddess had chosen the soul of a chemical engineer, and he had been too damn dumb to see why.
Duncan’s borrowed body tetralogy continues as Wallie/Shonsu unravels how this feudal shogunate-analog society works, let alone raise an army to fulfill his divinely-appointed destiny. Nothing comes easily. Except he gets nudges—in the form of good fortune—when he makes correct decisions.
At that point the fight was as good as lost for [redacted]. [redacted] could hold them off while Wallie … scrambled out through the window. Then he was over the rail also, and the sharks were in the swimming pool.
Fun fantasy adventure. Wallie’s his American memories and experience leads him astray, of course. His brave new world requires him to operate way outside his comfort zone. And he makes some egregious decisions.
There was no way Wallie could ever reconcile a shame culture and a guilt culture. The ways of thinking were too unlike. But he had to try—try to show [redacted] that what he had done was not such an atrocity to him.
Duncan stretches historic and literary archetypes to fit his story. Issues of caste, slavery, hierarchy, and divine intervention provide Wallie with dilemmas which are seldom as clean cut as modern morality would suggest. A sprinkling of humor and humility softens the hard lessons.
Wallie Smith knew that noise. That was no thunderbolt—that was a shot. The coming of wisdom. The Goddess had chosen the soul of a chemical engineer, and he had been too damn dumb to see why.
August 19, 2017
This book was solidly 4 stars. Its not a thrill a minute but it is intelligent and interesting. The main character is brought from our world to a bronze age world with gods. The gods give him a quest but cannot directly interfere with human free will. So the quest is given to him as a riddle.
This book only has one serious negative- it ends just when the hero solves the riddle. As a result it didn't feel like a complete story. Normally that sort of crap comes across as the author milking his readers for more money but not here. Here the author is telling a story so large it doesn't fit in one book. Normally that would annoy as well, after all, if the author was good he could eliminate unnecessary parts to fit the entire story in one book. This story, however, isn't just about the quest but is also about the growth of the main characters. So it doesn't feel like the author included unnecessary scenes or world-building, it just feels like the author is telling a story too long for one book. Therefore I will be moving on to the next book in this series.
This book only has one serious negative- it ends just when the hero solves the riddle. As a result it didn't feel like a complete story. Normally that sort of crap comes across as the author milking his readers for more money but not here. Here the author is telling a story so large it doesn't fit in one book. Normally that would annoy as well, after all, if the author was good he could eliminate unnecessary parts to fit the entire story in one book. This story, however, isn't just about the quest but is also about the growth of the main characters. So it doesn't feel like the author included unnecessary scenes or world-building, it just feels like the author is telling a story too long for one book. Therefore I will be moving on to the next book in this series.
December 23, 2018
Book 2 in the series and now we begin to see what Wallie's mission is going to be in this new world with his new body. And while I gave this 4 stars, it is really on 3 1/2 as the plot begins to drag and the coincidences start piling one on top of the other. We also get a host of new characters who add to the number of characters but add no depth to the story.
In this book, Wallie and Nnanji (along with Jja and Katanji) meet up with Brota, Tomiyano, and Thana (and the rest of the ramshackle crew of the Sapphire, a trading boat on the River), and begin to unravel more of the riddle of Wallie's mission. But now Wallie and Nnanji and Honakura are acting perplexed about everything that kind of seems obvious. We still have defined character, but the plot is beginning to drag and Wallie seems to be becoming more idiot swordsman than divine messenger of the Goddess.
While there is a little less action in this book than the previous one, there is still good pacing and still much of the conflict of 20th century Wallie with barbarian world Shonsu. Dialogue is good and realistic, but I wish everyone didn't get dumber in this book. Still a good book, but not on par with the first one. If you want to continue the series, this is one to read, but if you're expecting more of what made the first one so good, this is a disappointment.
In this book, Wallie and Nnanji (along with Jja and Katanji) meet up with Brota, Tomiyano, and Thana (and the rest of the ramshackle crew of the Sapphire, a trading boat on the River), and begin to unravel more of the riddle of Wallie's mission. But now Wallie and Nnanji and Honakura are acting perplexed about everything that kind of seems obvious. We still have defined character, but the plot is beginning to drag and Wallie seems to be becoming more idiot swordsman than divine messenger of the Goddess.
While there is a little less action in this book than the previous one, there is still good pacing and still much of the conflict of 20th century Wallie with barbarian world Shonsu. Dialogue is good and realistic, but I wish everyone didn't get dumber in this book. Still a good book, but not on par with the first one. If you want to continue the series, this is one to read, but if you're expecting more of what made the first one so good, this is a disappointment.
December 13, 2011
The Seventh Sword #2
Book Description:
Wallie Smith is staring death in the face; only a miracle can save him. And then one does! The Goddess appears to preserve his soul, but she does much more than that. She promises to bestow upon him a new and powerful body, and, more importantly, to endow him with the fabled Sapphire Sword of Chioxin. But nothing in this world or any other comes without a price. The Goddess demands that, for her services, Wallie become her champion. It will be an honor to serve such a presence, to have the chance to be victorious over all challengers. But Wallie and his sword quickly find themselves outmatched in a world of high-stakes magic. Even the Goddess's priests cannot offer any resistance to the invading sorcerers and their quest to conquer souls for the Fire God. Wallie will need to find in himself and in the world the powers that will save all mortals. He will need to find The Coming of Wisdom.
-This is one of those trilogies I could read over & over again.
Book Description:
Wallie Smith is staring death in the face; only a miracle can save him. And then one does! The Goddess appears to preserve his soul, but she does much more than that. She promises to bestow upon him a new and powerful body, and, more importantly, to endow him with the fabled Sapphire Sword of Chioxin. But nothing in this world or any other comes without a price. The Goddess demands that, for her services, Wallie become her champion. It will be an honor to serve such a presence, to have the chance to be victorious over all challengers. But Wallie and his sword quickly find themselves outmatched in a world of high-stakes magic. Even the Goddess's priests cannot offer any resistance to the invading sorcerers and their quest to conquer souls for the Fire God. Wallie will need to find in himself and in the world the powers that will save all mortals. He will need to find The Coming of Wisdom.
-This is one of those trilogies I could read over & over again.
July 21, 2008
The Seventh Sword Trilogy continues as Wallie/Shonsu, Nnanji and their retinue first encounter the dread sorcerers. Dave Duncan continues to flesh out his incredibly original World and explores freewill versus destiny, the nature of miracles, and faith responses.
Additional plotlines are developed as well as the swordsmen are scrutinized and exposed. Nnanji's childlike idealism becomes tempered by experience but his zeal remains untarnished. And Wallie begins to discern why The Goddess chose him to replace Shonsu after the letter's failure.
This is a wonderful read set in a diverse place and continues to plumb depths many novels of this genre ignore or pay only superficial attention. Check it out but read the Reluctant Swordsman first if you have the opportunity.
Additional plotlines are developed as well as the swordsmen are scrutinized and exposed. Nnanji's childlike idealism becomes tempered by experience but his zeal remains untarnished. And Wallie begins to discern why The Goddess chose him to replace Shonsu after the letter's failure.
This is a wonderful read set in a diverse place and continues to plumb depths many novels of this genre ignore or pay only superficial attention. Check it out but read the Reluctant Swordsman first if you have the opportunity.
August 16, 2008
Genre: High Fantasy
Second book in the _Seventh Sword_ series. It continues to be fast-pased and quite interesting. The structure of this book is an action-mystery. It turns out that the world that Wallie has been dumped in has sorcerers who seem to be the reason the Goddess has brough Wallie to this world. The question of what they can do, and how it works is the crux of the novel. I love the twist at the end - it's a rare one in fantasy, in my experience - but if I gush about it I'll give away the whole book ;-).
Second book in the _Seventh Sword_ series. It continues to be fast-pased and quite interesting. The structure of this book is an action-mystery. It turns out that the world that Wallie has been dumped in has sorcerers who seem to be the reason the Goddess has brough Wallie to this world. The question of what they can do, and how it works is the crux of the novel. I love the twist at the end - it's a rare one in fantasy, in my experience - but if I gush about it I'll give away the whole book ;-).
August 31, 2019
Awesome series!
March 31, 2023
Good second book, bit winded but good.
The second book continues right where first left off... But then it really drags. The main character is confused by his quest, and so the whole book is basically one town to the next why is this happening why is this happening look at this clue look at that clue. It takes time to build the supporting characters and you do like the story as a whole it just was slow. You can tell it's building for a big showdown one way or the other but some of the clues and the knowledge is the chemical engineer main character, it was a bit ridiculous that is common sense work sometimes but not other times... However overall the story is fun entertaining in a simple good read I really enjoyed it. Not a book you read straight through because it just doesn't hold that kind of interest. I also found that the end of the book just like the first book, was a bit forced in everything happened at once in the last 15 pages. The book sets up nice to move into book 3 which I will read as I do like the overall world in story.
The second book continues right where first left off... But then it really drags. The main character is confused by his quest, and so the whole book is basically one town to the next why is this happening why is this happening look at this clue look at that clue. It takes time to build the supporting characters and you do like the story as a whole it just was slow. You can tell it's building for a big showdown one way or the other but some of the clues and the knowledge is the chemical engineer main character, it was a bit ridiculous that is common sense work sometimes but not other times... However overall the story is fun entertaining in a simple good read I really enjoyed it. Not a book you read straight through because it just doesn't hold that kind of interest. I also found that the end of the book just like the first book, was a bit forced in everything happened at once in the last 15 pages. The book sets up nice to move into book 3 which I will read as I do like the overall world in story.
August 2, 2017
Dave Duncan's "The Coming of Wisdom (The Seventh Sword Book 2)" picks up immediately after the end of the previous book. It's written in the same style as that book, so you know what to expect here. One thing that I did find better is that this book stays on story better than the first book (the earlier work having a lot of "setting the stage" stuff). Duncan also does some nice work with entwining various plot aspects together. About the only thing that bothers me is that the "mystery" of the sorcerers is blatantly obvious after a certain point and the protagonist doesn't see it. But, I'm certainly happy with the book and am rating it at a Very Good 4 stars out of 5.
The novels in Dave Duncan's "The Seventh Sword" series are:
1. The Reluctant Swordsman (The Seventh Sword Book 1)
2. The Coming of Wisdom (The Seventh Sword Book 2)
3. The Destiny of the Sword (The Seventh Sword Book 3)
4. The Death of Nnanji (The Seventh Sword Book 4)
The novels in Dave Duncan's "The Seventh Sword" series are:
1. The Reluctant Swordsman (The Seventh Sword Book 1)
2. The Coming of Wisdom (The Seventh Sword Book 2)
3. The Destiny of the Sword (The Seventh Sword Book 3)
4. The Death of Nnanji (The Seventh Sword Book 4)
October 31, 2025
This book ultimately just wasn't as good as the first in the series. While neither book is particularly deep, the first book was at least a fun adventure, while this one has more a slow, plodding tone. The biggest issue is that while the big mystery of the book (the source of the sorcerer's powers) seemed fairly easy to figure out rather early in the book, and was rather blindly obvious by the halfway point of the book, the main character wasn't able to figure it out until just about the very end. This was frustrating and made the main character seem like an idiot. On the bright side, the book did introduce a number of fun characters and there were some fun adventure sequences. They just weren't quite enough to keep the story moving.
December 11, 2022
Vietoj #DaveDuncan The Kings Blades antros dalies perklausiau #TheSeventhSword antrą dalį. Nu kam nepasitaiko, bet idant pastaruoju metu esu kelis kart perskaitęs knygą antrą kart, o va dabar išvis pro šalį, tai akivaizdu, kad turiu užeit į Goodreads'us ir pasitikrinti, nes matyt senatvė ateina ir tas pojūtis "iš kur aš žinau kaip bus toliau" yra ne todėl, kad "mačiau serialą/filmą" arba ne todėl, kad "turinys labai standartinis", o todėl, kad aš, asilas, skaitau tą pačią knygą antrąsyk. Nu kaip bebūtų, šita serija labai vidutiniška, todėl neskaitysiu toliau nei trečios, nei praleistosios pirmos. Soso. #TheCommingOfWisdom #LEBooks #Audiobook
September 15, 2017
Shonsu/Wallie is still trying to figure out what the Goddess wants him to do for her. A large portion of this book is spent with he & his adventurers on shipboard, trying to win over the sailors, avoid being killed by the sorcerers, and figure out what, exactly, the sorcerers are up to. Towards the end, after some scary near misses for he & his group, he has a revelation and scores a hit on the sorcerers. Side note, the whole sex slave Cowie thing seemed a bit uncomfortable & unnecessary to the plot.
November 9, 2018
I first read this book some twenty years ago (long before Goodreads hence the relative recency of its posting) and am re-reading in honour of his recent passing.
There is an "innocence" to Mr. Duncan's writing that just makes reading one of his books an exercise in fun light reading. This is no Game of Thrones or Dragonbone Chair. It is a perfect example of the type of light fantasy that 1980's Del Rey excelled in, but Mr. Duncan was a master at it.... and reading one of his books is always a pleasure.
There is an "innocence" to Mr. Duncan's writing that just makes reading one of his books an exercise in fun light reading. This is no Game of Thrones or Dragonbone Chair. It is a perfect example of the type of light fantasy that 1980's Del Rey excelled in, but Mr. Duncan was a master at it.... and reading one of his books is always a pleasure.
July 15, 2021
Summary: Well written, good plot, interesting characters, great premise (although a bit weird). Recommended
Plotline: Follow on from book 1, river bound this time with a focus on sorcerers as the bad guys
Premise: A world that very different to ours, very unusual and the way mr Smith is brought into it quite unique. Weird but it sort of works, though obviously beyond logic. But the sorcerers aren't they just have a few industrial tricks
Writing: Easy read, good characterisation, the reader is there in the action
Ending: Good ... all set for the next book
Pace: Never a dull moment!
Plotline: Follow on from book 1, river bound this time with a focus on sorcerers as the bad guys
Premise: A world that very different to ours, very unusual and the way mr Smith is brought into it quite unique. Weird but it sort of works, though obviously beyond logic. But the sorcerers aren't they just have a few industrial tricks
Writing: Easy read, good characterisation, the reader is there in the action
Ending: Good ... all set for the next book
Pace: Never a dull moment!
April 23, 2019
Not particularly exciting continuation of the first novel. As mentioned in my review of the first book, the world building is pretty simplistic and vague. The big mystery proposed in this book, the "wizard's" powers, is pretty obvious in terms of what they are doing. Some new characters were added, but they are becoming more archetypal and wooden. The story still had a good pace and the plot is interesting enough to get me to book 3, but not overly impressed so far.
April 17, 2021
Middle book. Lots happens. If you liked book one, chances are good you'll like this, as well.
There were a few times that I wanted to reach in and shake Walshon (Wally/Shontu). He's ignoring all kinds of clues, and forgetting that the goddess picked him, specifically. And I have to remind myself that I've read it before. I don't remember how much I figured out the first time, it was a very long time ago.
There were a few times that I wanted to reach in and shake Walshon (Wally/Shontu). He's ignoring all kinds of clues, and forgetting that the goddess picked him, specifically. And I have to remind myself that I've read it before. I don't remember how much I figured out the first time, it was a very long time ago.
July 17, 2021
Book 2 of The Seventh Sword series continues the adventures of Wallie Smith, now known as Shonsu the Warrior, as he and his companions sail the seas in search of solving riddles and mysteries. His band of travelers are on the lookout for 'sorcerers', who seem to be the main opposition to the quest imposed on them by The Goddess. Very enjoyable story continues for two more volumes. I'm looking forward to it.
May 1, 2022
The Coming of Wisdom is a good follow up to the first of the series. Sadly, it does suffer from a lot of the issues that second books in a trilogy often have. The main detractor in my opinion was,
May 12, 2018
2nd part of a 4 book binge read. Shonsu has been given a task by the goddess. He has gathered the requisite 6 companions for the quest, now he just has to figure out what the quest actually is. Swords and Sorcery, but pretty well written and enjoyable.
May 22, 2022
This is a fine Dave Duncan series. I enjoyed reading it although I thought that books 2 and 3 were weaker than books 1 and 4. The middle books just seemed to drag a bit although the story was quite interesting and well done.
March 5, 2024
I admit, the honor system is a bit much at times, but the character growth is impressive, and the story line entertaining. Nnanji’s development into a good man is really well done, and I particularly like sly little Katanji and how clever he is. This series remains firmly lodged in my heart.
May 15, 2017
The story continues and the battle between the sorcerers and swordsmen progresses. It's a fun trilogy so far but I'd figured out the twist in book one and was waiting for Wallie to catch up.
August 9, 2017
Fun. However, the big reveal was very odvious for most of the book. Minus one star for stupidity.
September 25, 2017
Great follow up second book! Adventure, good guys and sorcerers, swords vs technology!
March 29, 2018
The second book in the series, greatly helped my estimation of where the story could go! Simply marvelous story telling!
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