Difficult to put hands on this anthology.

This series of short stories set in Saberhagen's Swords universe probably won't excite the new reader, but are quite interesting and enjoyable for the existing fan.

The stories covered range from explaining how Doomgiver caused the diaspora of the Swords outside the planned Great Game, to showing Coinspinner defeating Shieldbreaker, to various other features for otherwise little showcased Swords like Dragonslicer- in particular showing some of their secondary traits, like Dragonslicer making its bearer something a bit more than they were- a hero.

Not much to say otherwise without spoilers- if you were curious about adventures the other Swords had outside the main timeline, here is a sampling. ( )

I am irrationally fond of the Swords books, and Saberhagen's original story is a nice addition to the canon, but this is not a fantastic collection. The stories are competent, on the whole, but far from inspired - they really don't do anything interesting with the concepts. The little background on Doomgiver and the scattering of the Swords is welcome - it makes a single very brief appearance in the series (although this story suggests it's actually one of the most powerful Swords) - but otherwise this collection is only for completists. ( )

This is a collection of stories about the Twelve Swords of Power by a variety of authors. To those of you who've read Saberhagen's series, this should be familiar ground. The most interesting aspect of this book is seeing other people's takes on the magical Swords. Close after that is seeing stories about Doomgiver and Townsaver, which recieve scant attention in the original series, both being destroyed in the third book.

Of the eight stories in this book, "Woundhealer" is definitely the most interesting. Oddly, the Sword (and magic in general) receive only marginal attention in this story. Mostly it is concerned with the in-fighting and intrigue of the family of the lord of a small mountain holding. "Stealth and the Lady" also shares this oddity. Sightblinder, the ostensible subject, is scarcely mentioned.

The book is a mixed bag. "Woundhealer", "Blind Man's Blade", and "The Luck of the Draw" are engaging and amusing tales. "Dragon Debt" is little more than annoying, especially the contrived choice of the hero at the end.

If you're already a fan of the series, you should definitely pick this one up, as it fleshes out a few details you've probably been curious about. If you've not read them yet, it would be better to start with some of the others and come back to this one. The Empire of the East, though only slightly connected to the later books, is an excellent book, almost epic in scale. That would be an excllent introduction to the rest. Then come back to this one.

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