Review: The First Book of Lost Swords: Woundhealer's Story by Fred Saberhagen

The First Book of Lost Swords: Woundhealer's Story by Fred Saberhagen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The First Book of Lost Swords picks up several years after the Third Book of Swords leaves off.

Mark, Ben and Barbara are still featured but tend to play a secondary role to Mark's nephew, Zoltan, and a mysterious old wizard who pops up in the strangest places to aid Zoltan in his travels. A new nemesis, The Master, is introduced and old enemies are reinvented. The storyline, as the title infers, revolves around Woundhealer, a sword with the power to heal and to transform a person's heart, but Shieldbreaker, Dragonslicer and Farslayer also play an important role.

Mark and Kristin's son, Adrian, suffers from blindness and seizures so Mark takes him. Ben, and a small escort of soldiers to a Temple rumored to possess Woundhealer (The Sword of Love) only to find it has been stolen only a short time before they arrive. Meanwhile, Zoltan is lured away from his home by a mysterious girl and captured by an old enemy. Through the aid of an odd wizard, Zoltan finds himself propelled into a quest to aid his Uncle Mark and Cousin Adrian and eventually finds himself in posession of another of the lost swords, Dragonslicer (the Sword of Heroes).

Some of the things I like most about this story are the interesting and magical characters, the quirky godforged swords, and of course the unexpected plot twists which I have left out of this review. However, I recommend reading the three Book of Swords volumes first. This story doesn't go much into the history of the featured characters or the swords and will be much more enjoyable if you go into it with a basic understanding of both.





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