What do you think?
Rate this book
The Sword of Shandar
Krimpal - the terror that is more God than man reappears from the 'between' worlds in grotesque shapes baring even more hideous power. Shogun Shandar's quest is to rid the planet Villar of this demon power. Trained in sorcery under the mighty magician Zhwarr, Shandar is the only being capable of uttering 'The Master Word' without being totally destroyed. But can the power of the word match that of the gods, the gods who have all of nature and more at their command? A power they will use to rid Villar of their most dangerous adversary: Man.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Read
July 4, 2026The Sword of Shandar by Victor Besaw
Manor Books
224 pages
1978
I get a thrill book-hounding and finding titles like this one that are all but forgotten. Reading them? Not so much. Books like this are often forgotten with good reason.
The Sword of Shandar is not a lost classic. It is seemingly rare but books published by Manor Books must have had limited runs. Perhaps they were disposed of for poor sales?
The artwork on the cover is uncredited. The cover itself is a double exposed blurry mess. I did find an unused cover sheet on EBay that was much clearer. Although I still cannot read the artist’s signature.
The title of the book is also confounding. What sword? Shandar uses a staff that he later alters into something like a wand or mace, but no sword.
The book has three parts. The first part Shandar, newly come into his power, seeks to free his people from the oppression of a foreign invader. His adolescent son is abducted in the second part. Then finally in the third part a fearsome unnamable foe of nightmarish potential endangers a distant ally.
There is very little to recommend this book. The main character overcomes all adversity with little or no effort. Battles are brief and glossed over. No actual hand to hand combat. The book is also riddled and infested with typos of all shape and size.
I did enjoy the campiness of the whole thing. I can envision most of this being reimagined as an old Roger Corman movie.
Manor Books
224 pages
1978
I get a thrill book-hounding and finding titles like this one that are all but forgotten. Reading them? Not so much. Books like this are often forgotten with good reason.
The Sword of Shandar is not a lost classic. It is seemingly rare but books published by Manor Books must have had limited runs. Perhaps they were disposed of for poor sales?
The artwork on the cover is uncredited. The cover itself is a double exposed blurry mess. I did find an unused cover sheet on EBay that was much clearer. Although I still cannot read the artist’s signature.
The title of the book is also confounding. What sword? Shandar uses a staff that he later alters into something like a wand or mace, but no sword.
The book has three parts. The first part Shandar, newly come into his power, seeks to free his people from the oppression of a foreign invader. His adolescent son is abducted in the second part. Then finally in the third part a fearsome unnamable foe of nightmarish potential endangers a distant ally.
There is very little to recommend this book. The main character overcomes all adversity with little or no effort. Battles are brief and glossed over. No actual hand to hand combat. The book is also riddled and infested with typos of all shape and size.
I did enjoy the campiness of the whole thing. I can envision most of this being reimagined as an old Roger Corman movie.
May 23, 2019
Exceptionally simplistic writing. The author will explain something, and on the next page a character will explain the same thing in almost the same exact words. There are no stakes, as the hero immediately overcomes any obstacle with his staff and/or a “word of power”.
There were a lot of typos, especially for a second printing. This was clearly rushed into paperback format, as footnotes that I assume were in a hardcover release now appear in the middle of the next page.
These footnotes are to explain terms thrown in, either a god or what “4th hour” means, so on. What is not explained is what a parthu is, so when Shandar gets clever and chops his magic staff down to a parthu in length to make it easier to carry, you will never know what it means. Why is stuff like this ever necessary?
There were a lot of typos, especially for a second printing. This was clearly rushed into paperback format, as footnotes that I assume were in a hardcover release now appear in the middle of the next page.
These footnotes are to explain terms thrown in, either a god or what “4th hour” means, so on. What is not explained is what a parthu is, so when Shandar gets clever and chops his magic staff down to a parthu in length to make it easier to carry, you will never know what it means. Why is stuff like this ever necessary?
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews