The Second Book of Swords

De: Fred Saberhagen

Narrado por: Derek Perkins

Mark and Ben travel deep into the Blue Temple's hidden horde of treasures in an attempt to recover gold and Swords for Sir Andrew. Gods, demons and human traitors have other plans for the Swords and for the adventurers. When playing the game of the gods no one's survival is secure, even a god's.

©1983 Fred Saberhagen (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

The Great Heist

Another great book about the swords of power. Familiar characters return and continue their development. Looking forward to the next book!

Pass on it

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

minimum 15 words and 25 characters

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

minimum 15 words and 25 characters

Did Derek Perkins do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

minimum 15 words and 25 characters

Could you see The Second Book of Swords being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

minimum 15 words and 25 characters

Any additional comments?

minimum 15 words and 25 characters

I'm tempted to suggest starting with this book

I initially read this novel (and the rest of Saberhagen's Swords series) as a teenager in the 1990s and could not get enough of it. I was disappointed when I ran out of books to read in this series. Now, a couple decades later, I'm giving them another read, now that I have a bit more to compare the series to in my memory / library.

With very little additional information, this novel could easily have been the first in the series. The series would benefit from more action / adventure / character development in the first novel a reader experiences. There's far too much world-building in the first novel and not enough focus on the main protagonists. The Second Book Of Swords is a far more enjoyable story. The adventure and perils are exciting. The world building is still happening, but it's not the main purpose behind this novel. All in all, I'd rather read this book then go back to the first one for background later.

Derek Perkins is still a fine narrator. His characters are unique and his voice acting conveys the proper emotions.

I'll rate this one, "I loved these as a kid and now that the adventure is in progress, the series is fun."

Great Characters in this Book

Where does The Second Book of Swords rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

For fantasy & adventure, I'd say that this ranks as an easy yet provocative listen. The story is clear and the characters are carved from a who's who in archetypes. Just the type of story that you'd imagine an old storyteller would spin while laying back in front of the fire and just letting your imagination be guided by a purposeful story. No wandering here and clearly everything you'd want from a quest including friendship, betrayal, intrigue, twists, timely visits from the gods that are a far cry from deus ex machina, lost and found, etc. Just short of a real myth!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Mitspieler has got this hands down. This book was populated by a slew of supporting "roles" that gave a lively feel to the main plot, but Mitspieler rocked (no spoiler from me) with a show of prudence and cunning that ultimately became the entire opposite...how even the wisest often make decisions based on their emotions...

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Narrator took on various roles and voices, but an older or another voice would have helped in scenes where the listener might have to wait a bit to find out who is speaking/has spoken

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No laughing or crying here. Just a healthy adventure with twists and turns

Any additional comments?

Well worth it for fans of Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones. In fact, right up in the same league...yet different, as all books should be

unique stories

for me these books are a trip down memory lane I remember some 15 years ago purchasing the hard copies from a bookstore on just a whim because the name sounded cool. I remember being in France in this fantasy story land of magical swords and scheming gods that were playing a very cruel game. if nothing else the song of swords will catch you in a trance and have you humming it or sing it all the time having found these books on audible after so long it was hard not to purchase damn and hear the stories come alive again