Started: Dec. 1
Finished: Dec. 17
Notes: Back in the '80s I read all of Saberhagen's Swords novels and loved them. This book is actually a collection of three novels which provide background material for the Swords series. I should have read this decades ago, but time slips past. At least I'm here now.
Mini review: This one was a bit hit and miss for me. The first two novels of these three were fun in that goofy 70s fantasy kind of way, but the third became bogged down for a long while until the last 50 pages or so, but those 50 pages turned out to be the best part of all. And I had forgotten how wooden Saberghagen's characters could be, especially his protagonists; the villains here had far more life than any of the good guys, but especially the protagonist, Rolf. My complaints aside, this was a nice blast from the past.
I read this a good many years ago now. Don't remember a lot of details but I liked it considerably. I actually haven't read the Swords novels, though I have them around here.
ReplyDeleteI love Empire of the East. Though I admit the more Saberhagen I read, I agree with your evaluation that he sometimes has trouble making his heroes pop off the page.
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