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Lost Swords #4-6
The Lost Swords: The Second Triad
Contents:
•The Fourth Book of Lost Swords: Farslayer's Story • (1989) • novel by Fred Saberhagen
•The Fifth Book of Lost Swords: Coinspinner's Story • (1989) • novel by Fred Saberhagen
•The Sixth Book of Lost Swords: Mindsword's Story • (1990) • novel by Fred Saberhagen
•The Fourth Book of Lost Swords: Farslayer's Story • (1989) • novel by Fred Saberhagen
•The Fifth Book of Lost Swords: Coinspinner's Story • (1989) • novel by Fred Saberhagen
•The Sixth Book of Lost Swords: Mindsword's Story • (1990) • novel by Fred Saberhagen
558 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 1994
3 people are currently reading
570 people want to read
About the author
Fred Saberhagen
335 books496 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 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 30, 2021
The adventures of Mark, Ben and the rest continue in the second Trilogy of the Lost Swords. After a brief diversion at the end of Book 3, we return to the main storyline....sort of.
Book 4: Farslayer's Story, starts off with the mermaid that Zoltan encountered in Book 1, who also made a brief cameo in Book 2. A young magician named Cosmo promises to restore her human form, and is able to do so for brief periods of time. When she finds Farslayer in a shipwreck (last seen in Book 1 when one villain cast it against another), she gives it to Cosmo as a token of appreciation. However, Cosmo is part of a family engaged in a Hatfields & McCoys type feud with another local family. They cast Farslayer back and forth, nearly wiping out their family. At this point Zoltan & Yambu enter the story, along with some of Wood's new henchmen. Zoltan is determined to save his mermaid love. Mark & Ben show up shortly thereafter, but though they are able to thwart the henchmen, Farslayer is ultimately cast to a far-off land.
Zoltan here is still in the throes of a teenage crush, and it affects some of the maturity and leadership he was starting to develop. Mark, Ben and even Yambu play smaller roles here, as the focus is more on Wood's henchmen, and an unlucky hermit who gets caught up in the struggle.
Book 5: Coinspinner's Story: Arguably one of the more "popular" swords, Coinspinner's tale is set almost in the middle. Mark & Ben are noticeably absent in this story, and there are hints that Mark's wife Kristin, who has a very small role in this book, is starting to get annoyed with their questing, a sentiment which will play a greater role in Book 6. But the main focus of this book is Adrian. Prince Murat of Culm, a neighboring kingdom, asks for permission to borrow Woundhealer from Tasavalta, and when Princess Kristin refuses, he uses Coinspinner to steal it anyway. But he is betrayed by his cousin, who steals Coinspinner, and then promptly loses it to Wood. Wood uses the luck of Coinspinner to try and trap Prince Adrian in a magic trap. But even with luck on Wood's side, Adrian is able to save himself with his powerful magic, which he still doesn't quite control. Adrian ends up in a far-off land, where incidentally Coinspinner has also appeared, having zapped itself away from Wood, who wanted to destroy it with Shieldbreaker lest it fall into the hands of his enemies. Coinspinner falls into the hands of a gambler who wants to use it to bankrupt the Red Temple. Karel and Rostov play minor side-hero roles here, as they and Murat, along with Wood, try to track down Coinspinner, ending up in a chaotic scene in the Red Temple casino.
Book 6: Mindsword's story. Murat (aided as we find out later by Coinspinner) finds the Mindsword deep in the mountains. Turns out his very brief encounter with Princess Kristin left quite the impression on him, and he intends to give her the Mindsword as an apology gift for stealing Woundhealer, and then confess his love for her (I'm sure it sounded better in his head). But he has a run-in first with some bandits, and then with a Tasavaltan patrol, and each time he draws the Mindsword to prevent a battle, thus creating a small but loyal army. There are some improbable events that move this story along. We find out a major villain from the first trilogy still lives. and Murat has a young adult son that joins him on his mission. Mark and Ben return for this story, and Mark plays a greater role here. It gets complicated when Murat unexpectedly finds Kristin at her summer home, and is forced to use the Mindsword when her guard tries to make a surprise attack. Each Sword has its own unique power, but also its own unique weakness. It seems that the Mindsword will cause devotion the person, but not necessarily to the person's orders. They may disobey or plan their own schemes if they believe that it's necessary to protect their master. A little less clear is whether or not Murat's increasing madness had to do with possessing the Sword. The book ends in what may be a tragedy. Most of these books have had a brief wrap-up chapter or at least a couple of paragraphs, but this one ends rather abruptly. The villains are thwarted but it still has sort of a cliffhanger.
The books are progressing towards an inevitable showdown between Wood and Mark, but it's still unclear how we are going to get there. I do think that the 5th and 6th book flowed pretty well into each other, compared to the other volumes. The introduction of Murat as a minor character in Book 5, along with Kristin's private frustrations about Mark's adventures set up one of the central conflicts of Book 6.
Random thoughts (SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS)
* Zoltan agrees to accompany Yambu after the mermaid dies. What exactly she's seeking is still unclear, although it seems likely it's Adriane. At least, I hope that thread hasn't been dropped.
* Farslayer's weakness is it's user is supposed to inevitably not succeed. It has the most direct warning in the Song of Swards "In the end he will no triumph see". But Ben casts the blade at one point to save Mark, so because it wasn't "vengeance" does it not count?
* They cannot decide if Karel is a character or not. Some of the bits seem to be from his point of view, but then seem to switch. This is actually issue that is getting worse with each book, especially towards the ends of each volume.
* Adrian sneaking a peek at his female classmate was kind of creepy.
* The Emperor keeps popping up but not contributing anything useful. I was a bit annoyed with his lack of explanation about the fate of Soulcutter. With only two books left, I wonder if we will get any more backstory on him.
* They have yet to establish if Adrian or Stephen can banish demons. It seems likely Adrian can, but it would have been awesome if little Stephen had saved the day in Book 6 instead of Mark.
* The issues between Mark & Kristin finally give the book a little human touch to the characters. I hope they reveal what Karel saw when he looked at them both with Sightblinder, and also what route the story takes if Kristin ends up immobilized by her fall.
SWORD COUNT (End of Third Book)
Stonecutter, Sightblinder, Dragonslicer - All still in Prince Mark's armory.
Woundhealer - Lost somewhere along the way in Book 5.
Farslayer - After being cast by a bandit at the end of Book 4, it's whereabouts are unknown.
Mindsword - Now in the hands of Vilkata, the somehow-not-dead Dark King.
Soulcutter - The Emperor tells Mark he no longer has Soulcutter, but offers no explanation.
Wayfinder - Unseen since book two of the original trilogy. But the next book is "Wayfinder's Story" so we will see.
Shieldbreaker - It seems that it has made it's way back to Tasavalta, as the demon Akbar drops it to battle Ben, and then is banished by Mark in the very last pages.
Coinspinner - We learn Murat had it for awhile, long enough to find where the Mindsword was located (I would have loved to read more about this). But as always, the Sword of Chance goes where it wants. Walls and magic shields cannot hold it.
Book 4: Farslayer's Story, starts off with the mermaid that Zoltan encountered in Book 1, who also made a brief cameo in Book 2. A young magician named Cosmo promises to restore her human form, and is able to do so for brief periods of time. When she finds Farslayer in a shipwreck (last seen in Book 1 when one villain cast it against another), she gives it to Cosmo as a token of appreciation. However, Cosmo is part of a family engaged in a Hatfields & McCoys type feud with another local family. They cast Farslayer back and forth, nearly wiping out their family. At this point Zoltan & Yambu enter the story, along with some of Wood's new henchmen. Zoltan is determined to save his mermaid love. Mark & Ben show up shortly thereafter, but though they are able to thwart the henchmen, Farslayer is ultimately cast to a far-off land.
Zoltan here is still in the throes of a teenage crush, and it affects some of the maturity and leadership he was starting to develop. Mark, Ben and even Yambu play smaller roles here, as the focus is more on Wood's henchmen, and an unlucky hermit who gets caught up in the struggle.
Book 5: Coinspinner's Story: Arguably one of the more "popular" swords, Coinspinner's tale is set almost in the middle. Mark & Ben are noticeably absent in this story, and there are hints that Mark's wife Kristin, who has a very small role in this book, is starting to get annoyed with their questing, a sentiment which will play a greater role in Book 6. But the main focus of this book is Adrian. Prince Murat of Culm, a neighboring kingdom, asks for permission to borrow Woundhealer from Tasavalta, and when Princess Kristin refuses, he uses Coinspinner to steal it anyway. But he is betrayed by his cousin, who steals Coinspinner, and then promptly loses it to Wood. Wood uses the luck of Coinspinner to try and trap Prince Adrian in a magic trap. But even with luck on Wood's side, Adrian is able to save himself with his powerful magic, which he still doesn't quite control. Adrian ends up in a far-off land, where incidentally Coinspinner has also appeared, having zapped itself away from Wood, who wanted to destroy it with Shieldbreaker lest it fall into the hands of his enemies. Coinspinner falls into the hands of a gambler who wants to use it to bankrupt the Red Temple. Karel and Rostov play minor side-hero roles here, as they and Murat, along with Wood, try to track down Coinspinner, ending up in a chaotic scene in the Red Temple casino.
Book 6: Mindsword's story. Murat (aided as we find out later by Coinspinner) finds the Mindsword deep in the mountains. Turns out his very brief encounter with Princess Kristin left quite the impression on him, and he intends to give her the Mindsword as an apology gift for stealing Woundhealer, and then confess his love for her (I'm sure it sounded better in his head). But he has a run-in first with some bandits, and then with a Tasavaltan patrol, and each time he draws the Mindsword to prevent a battle, thus creating a small but loyal army. There are some improbable events that move this story along. We find out a major villain from the first trilogy still lives. and Murat has a young adult son that joins him on his mission. Mark and Ben return for this story, and Mark plays a greater role here. It gets complicated when Murat unexpectedly finds Kristin at her summer home, and is forced to use the Mindsword when her guard tries to make a surprise attack. Each Sword has its own unique power, but also its own unique weakness. It seems that the Mindsword will cause devotion the person, but not necessarily to the person's orders. They may disobey or plan their own schemes if they believe that it's necessary to protect their master. A little less clear is whether or not Murat's increasing madness had to do with possessing the Sword. The book ends in what may be a tragedy. Most of these books have had a brief wrap-up chapter or at least a couple of paragraphs, but this one ends rather abruptly. The villains are thwarted but it still has sort of a cliffhanger.
The books are progressing towards an inevitable showdown between Wood and Mark, but it's still unclear how we are going to get there. I do think that the 5th and 6th book flowed pretty well into each other, compared to the other volumes. The introduction of Murat as a minor character in Book 5, along with Kristin's private frustrations about Mark's adventures set up one of the central conflicts of Book 6.
Random thoughts (SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS)
* Zoltan agrees to accompany Yambu after the mermaid dies. What exactly she's seeking is still unclear, although it seems likely it's Adriane. At least, I hope that thread hasn't been dropped.
* Farslayer's weakness is it's user is supposed to inevitably not succeed. It has the most direct warning in the Song of Swards "In the end he will no triumph see". But Ben casts the blade at one point to save Mark, so because it wasn't "vengeance" does it not count?
* They cannot decide if Karel is a character or not. Some of the bits seem to be from his point of view, but then seem to switch. This is actually issue that is getting worse with each book, especially towards the ends of each volume.
* Adrian sneaking a peek at his female classmate was kind of creepy.
* The Emperor keeps popping up but not contributing anything useful. I was a bit annoyed with his lack of explanation about the fate of Soulcutter. With only two books left, I wonder if we will get any more backstory on him.
* They have yet to establish if Adrian or Stephen can banish demons. It seems likely Adrian can, but it would have been awesome if little Stephen had saved the day in Book 6 instead of Mark.
* The issues between Mark & Kristin finally give the book a little human touch to the characters. I hope they reveal what Karel saw when he looked at them both with Sightblinder, and also what route the story takes if Kristin ends up immobilized by her fall.
SWORD COUNT (End of Third Book)
Stonecutter, Sightblinder, Dragonslicer - All still in Prince Mark's armory.
Woundhealer - Lost somewhere along the way in Book 5.
Farslayer - After being cast by a bandit at the end of Book 4, it's whereabouts are unknown.
Mindsword - Now in the hands of Vilkata, the somehow-not-dead Dark King.
Soulcutter - The Emperor tells Mark he no longer has Soulcutter, but offers no explanation.
Wayfinder - Unseen since book two of the original trilogy. But the next book is "Wayfinder's Story" so we will see.
Shieldbreaker - It seems that it has made it's way back to Tasavalta, as the demon Akbar drops it to battle Ben, and then is banished by Mark in the very last pages.
Coinspinner - We learn Murat had it for awhile, long enough to find where the Mindsword was located (I would have loved to read more about this). But as always, the Sword of Chance goes where it wants. Walls and magic shields cannot hold it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 5, 2022
It has been decades since I've read these, so I can't speak too much about them other than I liked them enough to read them all.
NOTES
I read several of the books in this series, in science fiction book club collections, using them in my Dungeons & Dragons game starting back in the late 80s and on through until now. Definitely stuff to plunder.
NOTES
I read several of the books in this series, in science fiction book club collections, using them in my Dungeons & Dragons game starting back in the late 80s and on through until now. Definitely stuff to plunder.
November 15, 2018
Some of the better stories in the series, this feels more like what I remember from reading it when I was a kid. Although there is much more suggestiveness than I remember so I would have a difficult time recommending it out now.
August 22, 2023
The Lost Swords: The Second Triad by Fred Saberhagen was an interesting omnibus that contains the fourth through sixth books of the Book of Swords series. Though I like the core idea and the basis of this fantasy world, the characters still fall flat especially the female characters.
April 29, 2022
So far, the best 3 books of the series - Farslayer's story being my favorite of the 3.
July 9, 2012
This is an omnibus, so I'm going to review the individual books as I go.
Farslayer's Story:
Farslayer's is a Romeo and Juliet, or maybe Hatfield and McCoy story. Farslayer, of course, is the sword that will fly off and kill anyone you care to name. The problem arises when the victim's friend scoops up the sword and sends it back at you. In a feud-locked river valley, people are getting full use out of this problematic - and apparently cursed - weapon. Add in our Usual Suspects - Zoltan and Yambu, Mark and Ben, a couple of mermaids and some random minions of the Ancient One, and there's enough trouble for a book. I don't totally love it - Zoltan's adolescent infatuation with the mermaid is just not that compelling, and very few of the characters are at all sympathetic (and most of them end up dead) but it's not actually bad. I do appreciate Saberhagen's continued creation of varied and non-stereotypical female characters - he's really good at making gender totally secondary to character, and, particularly in books of this era, that's a rare skill.
Coinspinner's Story:
Coinspinner's a a straight-up adventure focusing on Mark's adolescent son, Adrian, and new character Prince Murat, a hapless romantic who uses Coinspinner to steal Woundhealer from Tasavalta while Mark is away (and incidentally develop a huge crush on Mark's wife) and gets sucked in to the ensuing chase. It's not bad, again, but most of the characters are new and fairly flat - this one really is more about displaying Coinspinner's particular strengths and weaknesses in a variety of situations. Which are interesting - pure good luck leads to all sorts of wacky things, and Coinspinner's ability to simply disappear when it gets bored makes it the least trustworthy of the swords. Adrian has potential as a character - he's very inexperienced but possesses tremendous raw magical skill and obvious native wit - but he's overshadowed by the rescue party as well as the incidental holders of Coinspinner he meets along the way.
Mindsword's Story:
Again, this is really a book about the sword itself more than the characters, and this one actually works fairly well. The Mindsword engenders instant and overwhelming love and loyalty to the holder in anyone in a hundred meters. However, it's not mindless loyalty - people can lie to or disobey the wielder as long as they genuinely believe it's in his best interests. This makes the whole situation much more interesting that it would otherwise have been. The subplot is about Mark's wife Princess Kristen, somewhat distanced from her husband anyway by his constant absences, getting seduced by the Mindsword and not really seeming to want to recover. This gives the book something of a cliffhanger ending, although Kristen was never a particularly well-developed character so I find it hard to get too worked up about it.
Overall, solidly middle-of-the-road fantasy in a very neat world. No really outstanding volumes, like the first collection, but certainly nothing painful to read, either.
Farslayer's Story:
Farslayer's is a Romeo and Juliet, or maybe Hatfield and McCoy story. Farslayer, of course, is the sword that will fly off and kill anyone you care to name. The problem arises when the victim's friend scoops up the sword and sends it back at you. In a feud-locked river valley, people are getting full use out of this problematic - and apparently cursed - weapon. Add in our Usual Suspects - Zoltan and Yambu, Mark and Ben, a couple of mermaids and some random minions of the Ancient One, and there's enough trouble for a book. I don't totally love it - Zoltan's adolescent infatuation with the mermaid is just not that compelling, and very few of the characters are at all sympathetic (and most of them end up dead) but it's not actually bad. I do appreciate Saberhagen's continued creation of varied and non-stereotypical female characters - he's really good at making gender totally secondary to character, and, particularly in books of this era, that's a rare skill.
Coinspinner's Story:
Coinspinner's a a straight-up adventure focusing on Mark's adolescent son, Adrian, and new character Prince Murat, a hapless romantic who uses Coinspinner to steal Woundhealer from Tasavalta while Mark is away (and incidentally develop a huge crush on Mark's wife) and gets sucked in to the ensuing chase. It's not bad, again, but most of the characters are new and fairly flat - this one really is more about displaying Coinspinner's particular strengths and weaknesses in a variety of situations. Which are interesting - pure good luck leads to all sorts of wacky things, and Coinspinner's ability to simply disappear when it gets bored makes it the least trustworthy of the swords. Adrian has potential as a character - he's very inexperienced but possesses tremendous raw magical skill and obvious native wit - but he's overshadowed by the rescue party as well as the incidental holders of Coinspinner he meets along the way.
Mindsword's Story:
Again, this is really a book about the sword itself more than the characters, and this one actually works fairly well. The Mindsword engenders instant and overwhelming love and loyalty to the holder in anyone in a hundred meters. However, it's not mindless loyalty - people can lie to or disobey the wielder as long as they genuinely believe it's in his best interests. This makes the whole situation much more interesting that it would otherwise have been. The subplot is about Mark's wife Princess Kristen, somewhat distanced from her husband anyway by his constant absences, getting seduced by the Mindsword and not really seeming to want to recover. This gives the book something of a cliffhanger ending, although Kristen was never a particularly well-developed character so I find it hard to get too worked up about it.
Overall, solidly middle-of-the-road fantasy in a very neat world. No really outstanding volumes, like the first collection, but certainly nothing painful to read, either.
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.
Read
August 8, 2008Book of Lost Swords Omnibus 2: Farslayer's Story,Coinspinner's Story,Mindsword's Story
March 19, 2014
Awesome!
March 5, 2014
Nice series of stories fascinating development and lots of fun on the way. A new mythology and familiar concepts pull you in and make you feel at home.
December 24, 2015
Great read! Enjoyed most of it, some parts were just a tad difficult to get through, but were ultimately worth it. Great explorations of Saberhagen's world.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews