The Reluctant Swordsman

The plot was straight-forward, easy to follow, and was enjoyable to listen to.

If you are looking for an enjoyable story, you might like this one. It is not full of intrigue, or complicated, or full of politics. It is a simply story, simply told. Having said that, I would say that I enjoyed listening, both to this book, and to the following two books in the series. The story isn't complicated; It doesn't arrive at the end you would think it will come to from the beginning, but the ending was not terrible either. All in all, I enjoyed listening to it.

Before you decide, though, please find out what other reviewers think. All things aren't for everyone. I always like recommending that the reader considers other reviews before deciding.

I strongly suspect that this is a rewrite of some ancient Incan story, mixed with the book of jobe,with a pinch of fantasy soul translocation. Well written and a whole lot of fun. I have to get up tomorrow at 5.30am, it is now 11pm and I am downloading the next book. Don't you just hate those sort of authors. Elol

I thought that the basic idea for the story was a good one and fairly original. I just felt that there was a lot more that could be done with that idea. I'll not put any spoilers in here, but I have to say that with Wally's old memories and talents, he should have figured things out much faster. I'm speaking of the entire series here, but even in the first book there weree things a person from our world should have been able to sort out on their own. In the second boook, I figured out what was going on and I don't even have the chemical background that Wally does. There seemed to be some plot holes that Duncan could have filled in with a little more thought and effort.

I think so. Despite it's flaws it is still a good story. It is fun and fresh and exciting. If you have a credit you're looking o burn, go ahead and pick it up.

I read the reviews on this book and I got a good feeling for the series. I am always reluctant to speak against some of the reviewers I follow. After all I follow them because they seem to like the same book choices I do. I have to say though this time the reviews were wrong.

Dave Duncan did not build the characters or the world at all. The opening goes like this, in todays time a man named Smith dies. Three chapters later you find out that the dead guy was sharing the body of a Swordsman. There is very little character building for Mr. Smith/Swordsman. The swordsman had also died so that Mr. Smith could take over his body. A small god then gave Mr. Smith all the knowledge he needed to be a master swordsman. Poof there you go. I am a big believer in knowledge about the characters. Part of my enjoyment is deciding if a character would make a certian decision or not. If the author fails to develop the characters personality, I do not know enough to make that call. I love the story line itself but I did not like where the author went with the story.